Free Wish 01 - A Secret Wish by Barbara Freethy

getting a drink.”
    “Here? Out of all the bars in this city, you decided to have a drink here?”
    “It was an impulsive decision.” She paused. “How can you still be mad at me?”
    “I’m not angry. I haven’t thought of you in years,” he said. “And I’m sure the same is true for you. Once you left, you never looked back, did you?”
    She met the challenge in his gaze. “I tried not to.”
    “There you go.” He leaned against the counter behind him and crossed his arms. “So what are you doing here?”
    “I wanted to see my mom,” she said, not sure that was really the reason, but it was the only one she could voice.
    “I didn’t think you two spoke any more.”
    “We haven’t in a long time. We had a big blowout fight a while back.”
    He nodded. “She told me.”
    “You talk to my mom?” It was a stupid question. Of course he did. He worked at Murphy’s. “I should have realized. This is a bar after all.”
    “Not here,” he said quickly. “Nora doesn’t drink any more. I usually catch up with her at the diner.”
    “She gave up drinking?” she asked doubtfully.
    “Right after that fight the two of you had.” He gave her a hard look. “She felt really bad about ruining your birthday party.”
    “She should have felt bad. You have no idea how humiliating her behavior was.”
    “Not just for you – for her, too.” He paused, then added, “She always loved you, Carly, even when she screwed up.”
    “Which was a lot.”
    “Maybe. But it wasn’t just her mistakes that bothered you – it was who she was. She wasn’t enough for you. No one in this neighborhood was good enough for you, including me. So what the hell are you doing here?”
    She drew in a quick breath at the unexpected attack. “It’s my birthday,” she blurted out. “My fortieth birthday.”
    “I know how old you are, and what day it is, but you still haven’t answered my question.”
    “I don’t really know,” she said with a sigh. “Birthdays have always been a disaster for me, and I guess this one won’t be any different.”
    “You had some good parties when I knew you.”
    “Really? Like the one where you smashed my cake?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
    “On my eighth birthday. You shoved Peter, and he fell into the cake and set his hair on fire.”
    Alex’s lips turned up in a reluctant smile, reminding her of her best friend from childhood, the one who used to like her.
    “I do remember that,” he said. “You were so pissed and afraid you weren’t going to get your wish. You never told me if you did.” He gave her a quizzical look.
    “Does it matter?” She picked up her beer and took a sip.
    “So what happened tonight? Why aren’t you with your husband and your kids celebrating your birthday?”
    “I was with them for a while.”
    “And?”
    “My kids left. They had other things to do.”
    “More important than their mother’s birthday?”
    She didn’t like his question. More important, she didn’t like the perceptive gleam in his eyes. Alex had always been able to read her a little too well, and she didn’t need him knowing that her life was not as perfect as she’d planned. She never should have come back here. But now she couldn’t leave. She’d promised her mom she would pick her up in a few hours. Not that she had to stay in the bar. She could drive around, even go home and change clothes, then come back. It wasn’t that far. Going home, however, might involve Blake and explanations, and she couldn’t handle any of that right now, although, Blake was probably still at the party entertaining his friends.
    “What’s going on with you?” Alex asked, tilting his head thoughtfully.
    “I guess this birthday hit me harder than I thought it would.”
    “Forty is scary. Thank God I’m not there yet."
    “You’re a month behind me.”
    “But not there yet. I’m still young.”
    “Thanks,” she said dryly.
    “You know what I always admired about you,