Free In Her Way by Eryn Scott

scrunched and confused face. "Shoreline is kind of by Seattle, across the Puget Sound." Kaylee's face doesn't change, though, most likely because she may still think we're living on an island, so Neve gives up and keeps going with her how-she-got-here story. "My husband was looking for a change anyway, so we decided to move down here. He's a teacher and was able to get a job at the high school fairly easily."
    Kaylee smiles and nods. Then Sarah speaks up.
    "And I'm from here. I was three years in at Dr. Leroy's before he sold out." She makes a thumbs down motion. "But now I get to work with you ladies and I'm pretty excited about that!"
    "Heck yeah," Neve says.
    "What about you?" Sarah asks Kaylee.
    Kaylee's eyes widen as if she's surprised by the question that only makes sense after we've gone through all of our backgrounds. Her eyes dart to me, then Em, then they jump about the room like she's looking for something or someone.
    "Oh, me?"
    Sarah nods in encouragement. "Where are you from?"
    Kaylee licks her lips and then clears her throat. "Not here." She messes with her million bracelets, moving them up and down on her wrist. "Um, Colorado." She says the last part as if it's a question.
    Em and I look at each other quickly, the creases in our foreheads questioning her last statement as much as she seems to be.
    "Didn't you say you moved from Montana?" Em asks.
    Kaylee gasps. "Oh, yeah! That's it! I've moved around a lot. It gets hard to remember where I've been."
    All around our table, chins raise, heads tip slightly, and eyes narrow.
    I won't burden you with the mind-bending word scramble that follows. Kaylee's words, when they did consist of agreeing nouns and verbs, were confusing at best. She gave us story after story about moving from place to place, but never reasons why and never with correct details about the place she was describing. She talked about lifeguarding at a lake in Montana, in the winter. She told of her experience riding her bike everywhere when she lived in Arizona, in the summer. She even talked about how she missed all the trees there.
    Neve winces at the last part. "You mean the palm trees?"
    Kaylee sucks in a breath and nods, but luckily, we are all saved when the food shows up. Not that it is hard to do, but we lose ourselves in our dishes, if not only because we desperately want to be away from this confusing and awkward conversation (and very much because the food is steamy and delicious).
    So it is quiet at our table for a while, which is so very fine with me.
    One by one, as we finish, we lean back and scrunch down into the happiness of having a tummy full of great food and sparkly drink. I'm last, placing my hands on my stomach and patting it blissfully.
    "Yummers."
    Em snorts. "Jules, what have we said about yummers?"
    I tuck my chin. "To not say it?"
    She nods, her eyebrows raised seriously.
    "Sorry." I scrunch my nose at her. Our waitress comes by to collect our plates and drop off our check. Em gets out her card and slips it in with the charge slip.
    I smile a thanks at her and say, "Hey, you staying the night still?" When we'd decided on our opening day a few months ago, we talked about having a sleep over for old time roomies sake.
    She points at me. "Only if you promise to keep your cold feet to yourself." Sarah and Neve giggle and Em adds, "Every freaking time we share a bed, this one's feet find their way onto my legs -- or, one time, my back -- by the time I wake up in the morning."
    I open my hands and lift my shoulders. "Hey, I can't help it if they turn into heat seeking missiles once I go to sleep." I laugh.
    There's only one person not laughing, actually. Kaylee. She's looking really concerned, her forehead wrinkles and her lips press together in a straight line. We stop laughing and look at her.
    "You sleep in the same bed?"
    Em cocks her head. "Yeah."
    Kaylee's cheeks turn red. "Oh, it's just -- I'm not used to...." She looks down at the table.
    "We used to share a bed all the