Return to You by Samantha Chase Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Samantha Chase
gotten their groove back, and after they had covered all of Selenaâs reunion business, they had gone dress shopping and grabbed some dinner before heading back to Jenâs.
Sitting in front of the TV in their pajamas, each with a pint of Häagen-Dazs in their hands, they watched episodes of Friends .
âI always thought weâd be like that,â Jen said around a spoonful of rocky road ice cream, pointing her spoon at the television.
âLike what?â
âLike the cast of Friends. You know, weâd have an apartment together, hang out with people all the time.â She shrugged. âI mean, back then, it seemed like the ideal thing. I remember us talking about it when we were younger, and I couldnât wait until we were old enough to make it a reality.â
Selena knew her friend wasnât really trying to make her feel bad; she was just sharing her feelings. Instead of apologizing and going down that road, she opted for playful. âWho would you be? Monica? Rachel? Phoebe?â
âYou would definitely be Monica,â Jen said with a laugh. âYouâre OCD just like her.â
Selena shrugged. âI donât see that as a bad thing. What about you?â
âHmmâ¦Iâd like to say that Iâm Rachel becauseâ¦well, you know, sheâs the beautiful one, but I have a feeling that Iâm way too wacky for that. So I guess itâs Phoebe. And thatâs a good thing because she was the cool one.â They laughed at the scene playing out before them on the TV, and once the episode ended, Jen turned back to Selena. âCould you imagine us living in the city? Who would we want living across the hall from us?â
They laughed themselves silly with possible scenarios until all of the ice cream was gone and neither was able to keep their eyes open any longer. âAs much as Iâm enjoying this,â Selena said as she stood and yawned, âI need a solid night of sleep that wasnât brought on by dancing till I dropped.â
âAgreed.â
Settling into the spacious guest room, sleep didnât claim Selena as fast as she thought it would. Lying in the dark, she thought more about her conversation with Jen. The reality was that even if she hadnât moved away, she and Jen wouldnât have gotten an apartment together because she and James were together back then and had planned on getting married.
Just the thought of that made her stomach do its familiar clenching. If things had been different, if life hadnât been quite so cruel, would they still be married now? What would their lives be like? Shifting into a more comfortable position, Selena rolled onto her side, let her eyes drift closed, and felt her body begin to relax. It wasnât often that she let herself think about what could have been, but right now it felt appropriate.
They would have kids, she thought, at least three. That had been their plan. They had talked about it often enough. They wanted two girls and a boy. Selena wracked her brain, and for the life of her she couldnât remember why it was that they had wanted that particular configuration, but there it was. They had wanted to have a son first and then the girlsâtwins had even been discussed, but there was no history of that in their families so theyâd let that dream go.
James would have his own landscaping business. He had always talked about how he wanted to go to school to learn about landscape design and architecture, and she imagined heâd have a large company by now, with multiple crews working for him. Selena would be at home raising their family. Back in high school, she thought sheâd go to college and study something, but the bottom line was that all she really wanted to be was a wife and a mom. When Selena had been with James then, she knew it was what he wanted for her too. She smiled. Life had been so simple once. While she was happy with her current life, the
Sitting in front of the TV in their pajamas, each with a pint of Häagen-Dazs in their hands, they watched episodes of Friends .
âI always thought weâd be like that,â Jen said around a spoonful of rocky road ice cream, pointing her spoon at the television.
âLike what?â
âLike the cast of Friends. You know, weâd have an apartment together, hang out with people all the time.â She shrugged. âI mean, back then, it seemed like the ideal thing. I remember us talking about it when we were younger, and I couldnât wait until we were old enough to make it a reality.â
Selena knew her friend wasnât really trying to make her feel bad; she was just sharing her feelings. Instead of apologizing and going down that road, she opted for playful. âWho would you be? Monica? Rachel? Phoebe?â
âYou would definitely be Monica,â Jen said with a laugh. âYouâre OCD just like her.â
Selena shrugged. âI donât see that as a bad thing. What about you?â
âHmmâ¦Iâd like to say that Iâm Rachel becauseâ¦well, you know, sheâs the beautiful one, but I have a feeling that Iâm way too wacky for that. So I guess itâs Phoebe. And thatâs a good thing because she was the cool one.â They laughed at the scene playing out before them on the TV, and once the episode ended, Jen turned back to Selena. âCould you imagine us living in the city? Who would we want living across the hall from us?â
They laughed themselves silly with possible scenarios until all of the ice cream was gone and neither was able to keep their eyes open any longer. âAs much as Iâm enjoying this,â Selena said as she stood and yawned, âI need a solid night of sleep that wasnât brought on by dancing till I dropped.â
âAgreed.â
Settling into the spacious guest room, sleep didnât claim Selena as fast as she thought it would. Lying in the dark, she thought more about her conversation with Jen. The reality was that even if she hadnât moved away, she and Jen wouldnât have gotten an apartment together because she and James were together back then and had planned on getting married.
Just the thought of that made her stomach do its familiar clenching. If things had been different, if life hadnât been quite so cruel, would they still be married now? What would their lives be like? Shifting into a more comfortable position, Selena rolled onto her side, let her eyes drift closed, and felt her body begin to relax. It wasnât often that she let herself think about what could have been, but right now it felt appropriate.
They would have kids, she thought, at least three. That had been their plan. They had talked about it often enough. They wanted two girls and a boy. Selena wracked her brain, and for the life of her she couldnât remember why it was that they had wanted that particular configuration, but there it was. They had wanted to have a son first and then the girlsâtwins had even been discussed, but there was no history of that in their families so theyâd let that dream go.
James would have his own landscaping business. He had always talked about how he wanted to go to school to learn about landscape design and architecture, and she imagined heâd have a large company by now, with multiple crews working for him. Selena would be at home raising their family. Back in high school, she thought sheâd go to college and study something, but the bottom line was that all she really wanted to be was a wife and a mom. When Selena had been with James then, she knew it was what he wanted for her too. She smiled. Life had been so simple once. While she was happy with her current life, the