Free Dear Mystery Guy (Magnolia Sisters Book 1) by Brenda Barrett

six months and you are not telling us."
    "Not this again." Kenzy went around to the other side of Della and stood beside Brigid. "What's the matter with you people? I tell you that I don't know who Hazel was seeing when she came to my place. It was a secret even from me."
    "Liar," Brigid snorted.
    Kenzy sighed. "Della is the only one of Hazel's sisters that has ever really liked me. You two have always been rabidly jealous of my and Hazel's friendship. You can let go of your possessiveness, people. We are all adults now."
    She pressed closer to Della who was half-hearing their whispered bickering. She was thinking of the wedding last Sunday, when she had seen Luca with his gorgeous looking girlfriend.
    Right at this moment she was running through the lady’s face feature by feature. She had an exotic look to her, with her eyes having a slight catlike curve, enhanced by mascara no doubt.
    Was that the sort of lady he liked? The sort of lady that you wouldn't miss when she entered the room?
    She wondered how old his girlfriend was. She could be anything from late twenties to late thirties. Who knew? She looked as if she took very good care of herself.
    What on earth was she doing in Della's dreams? It was ironic that she didn't even dream about Luca but his girlfriend.
    "I now pronounce you husband and wife," the minister announced, knocking Della out of her ruminating thoughts.
    Hazel turned to the small gathering and smiled. Caitlin groaned beside her.
    "What's done is done," Brigid said heavily, "but look on the bright side, the old man could kick the bucket any day now."

Chapter Nine
     
    Della checked her phone after it beeped. 'Happy New Year', the text message said . It was from Hazel.
    She had been getting text messages throughout the day wishing her a happy new year. Hazel was late. It was almost evening now. She was lying in bed. It was her month to sleep in the room. The bed had a hump in the middle, and it was sticking her in places that she didn't know had bones.
    She had spent New Year's Day alone, watching television and thinking about Luca and eating Keisha's leftover oatmeal and raisin cookies.
    She was grateful for the opportunity to talk to somebody. She had had enough of her own company.
    She replied to Hazel, Happy New Year. How are you Mrs. Baron?
    Bored, was the almost instant reply.
    Want us to go to 112 Norbrook Avenue? Della texted on a whim.
    What's there? Hazel texted back.
    Luca lives there, Della replied.
    Okay, Hazel texted back. Come pick you up in twenty minutes.
    Della jumped off the bed. Hazel must be really bored. Usually Brigid would be the one who would be up for this sort of adventure but Brigid had gone to what she termed the assembly of the in-breds, a rare and often conflict-filled family reunion with her mother's side of the family.
    Della pulled on a pair of jeans and an old long-sleeved red t-shirt. It had the faded lettering 'Magnolia House' at the front. It had been standard issue back when she was at the Girls' Home. Every quarter they had gotten brand new t-shirts in different colors, all of them with the Magnolia House name and a magnolia flower near the end of the name.
    She almost felt nostalgic for the home now. Every New Year they would assemble in the meeting hall, each bungalow represented by a color. Some do-gooder would give them a speech about the coming year and then they would have a treat.
    She remembered vividly when she was sixteen and suffering from a lack of self-esteem. She had been at the height of hating her scar and wishing that she had a voice. The motivational speaker for that year had been Viviene Rattray, a successful business woman and alum of Magnolia House.
    You could sense the strength and the formidability of the woman. She had started her speech by saying, "God sent me here today to tell one specific little girl that you are special to him.”
    She had looked out on the crowd of over fifty girls, and Della felt as if her eyes had connected with