Divine Blue [Book One]

Chapter Five

Sandra was sitting on the long L-shaped leather sofa in the living room with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon as Taylor entered through the front door. She was watching the news and turned her head to Taylor as she heard the door shut. "My girl has friends! Come sit down with me. Tell me how your night went," Sandra said to Taylor, patting the seat next to her.

Taylor's mind ran like a movie reel as she relived the last few minutes with Adrienne. She set her backpack down in the foyer and moved over to the couch. She flopped down on the other end and pulled her legs onto the couch with her.

"It was so awesome." Taylor told her about each of her new friends—how Adrienne had invited her out, that Beth was the self-described genius who hated life in Aurora, Kelsey was the foul-mouthed realist, Grant and Rhiannon were the star-crossed lovers, Matthew was the awkward puppy dog lusting over Taylor, and Lizzie was the mastermind behind it all.

"Ohhhh... So there's a Matthew that likes you?" Sandra asked her.

Taylor gawked at her. "That was your only takeaway?"

"I'm a big proponent of awkward puppy dogs," Sandra replied taking another big sip of her wine, her blonde curls bobbing. "Is that who brought you home?"

"No, that was Adrienne. Did you see her sweet car?" Taylor asked, probing Sandra to see if she had witnessed any of the encounter she had with Adrienne. Taylor wasn't ready to talk about any of this with Sandra just yet, though she felt Sandra wouldn't react harshly.

"I didn't. What kind of car does she have?" Sandra asked.

Taylor gave Sandra a hard stare. "1966. Pontiac. G.T.O. I died when I saw it," Taylor told her, giving emphasis to each piece of the description.

"I'm no car expert, but I do know that is a beautiful car. What is a 16-year-old doing with a car like that?" Sandra asked.

"She worked on it with her dad, and he gave it to her for her 16th birthday. I'm super jealous." Taylor grabbed a handful of peanuts from the jar Sandra had on the coffee table.

"I will get you a car. I promise. Just letting you get settled in first," Sandra told her.

"Oh, Sandra. No, I didn't mean it like that. I don't expect you to buy me a car."

"All girls your age need a little car. It was the perfect opportunity for me to address it." Sandra smiled at her and grabbed some peanuts for herself.

***

Sandra took Taylor to dinner the night after her adoption was finalized. Taylor had learned a lot about Sandra within time, but she still felt as if there were pieces of Sandra that were shrouded in mystery.

"Can I ask you a really personal question?" Taylor asked her.

"Certainly, you can! Shoot," Sandra replied.

"Have you ever been married, or are you seeing anyone?"

Sandra laughed for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts. "Well, I'm not an old maid, if that's what you're wondering. I've never been married. Not that I'm opposed to it, but I'm not really the conventional type. I'm not dating anyone right now, either. I wanted to be able to focus on you. You don't deserve for me to be distracted."

Taylor felt pity for Sandra. She had grown especially close to Sandra over the past few weeks, and as much happiness Sandra had brought into her world, she wanted Sandra to have the same.

"You look sad, Sweetie. Don't be sad for me. I promise you I am doing just fine," Sandra reassured Taylor. "I'm probably not very successful at meeting people, particularly in this town, because I'm regarded as a very 'challenging woman,' which is a much nicer way of saying that I'm a royal bitch."