Ellen shrugged. “I don’t know. I think he might have. But we never talked about it, and we’ve been back on track ever since.”

They were silent for a moment, letting it all sink in.

“Anybody have anything else?” Patty asked. “Any of you used to be a man?”

They laughed and decided to order one more round before calling it a night.

“This was fun,” Anita said as they prepared to leave. “We should do it more often.”

“We should,” they all agreed, but they were each so busy now that she knew it couldn’t be a regular thing. It would probably be awhile before they could make time to meet like this again. The thought made her sad.

She cast a furtive glance toward the bar. She didn’t see Steven, but the bim he’d been hitting on was still in place, talking to someone else. She imagined him waiting for her behind one of the cars in the dark parking lot, taking his penis out and stroking it so that it would be hard when she saw him.

“Anyone need a ride?” she asked as they got up and headed for the door.

“No.”

“Nope.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m good.”

“Well, could one of you walk with me to my car? Just in case…” She left the sentence unfinished.

“One for all and all for one,” Patty told her. She hefted her purse. “My pepper spray’s ready to go.”

Once in the open air, they all grew a little tense. The night was dark, and The North Fork was not only set back from the highway but ringed by an intimidating line of ponderosas that effectively blocked any lights from the street behind it. There were still quite a few vehicles in the parking lot, and each time they walked past one, Anita tensed up, half expecting to see a dark figure leap out at her.

Ahead was her own car, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it.

Then she noticed the vehicle parked next to her Kia.

Steven’s truck from the nursery.

She audibly sucked in her breath, but Ellen immediately grabbed her hand in support, and Patty walked in front of them both, pepper spray at the ready.

He must have still been inside the bar, because there was no sign of him out here. There was no one in or around the truck, and Anita quickly said her goodbyes, got in the car, then watched and waited as her friends got into their own vehicles. They drove in a caravan onto the highway, staying together until they reached their own neighborhoods and honked their final farewells before branching off onto different streets.

3

“Can’t you sleep?”