Overjoyed

By Briar Lane

Lainey and Alex have been best friends since they were young girls. They went to college together and now live in the same city, though it's far from their hometown. They do everything together, including celebrating the holidays, and always have. But Lainey wants more and has for a long time. She is ready to settle down, meet a man, and eventually have children with them. She desperately wants a family of her own while Alex is happy to continue her single lifestyle as she's never had much interest in men.

But when Lainey can't meet a man she has chemistry with in her current city, she turns to her ex boyfriend, James. As they rekindle their relationship, Alex finds herself caught in the middle. She begins to realize her feelings for Lainey may extend beyond friendship. Does Lainey feel the same?

Briar Lane's Christmas novella tells a sweet story of a new romance between old friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Briar Lane
• Release date: Nov 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393095477

Book preview

1

Alex

Iwrapped my scarf around my neck a little more tightly as the chilly breeze began to blow through the cracks, making me cold.

I hadn’t been expecting it to be too cold today. I usually handled the winter weather really well. In fact, I loved the winter. But, it was extra cold outside today for some reason.

I didn’t mind. I still enjoyed the walk over to Lainey’s house. She lived only a few blocks from my apartment, and though I’d alwas driven over to her in the summer because I hated the heat, I loved walking once it got cold.

My foot was leaving imprints in the snow and I was making little patterns out of them. It was weird and possibly childish, but I just adored fresh powder.

But then again, I was a little childish. No, wait, maybe childish was a bad word, actually. I preferred child-like.

I wasn’t an immature person. As Lainey often reminded me, I was possibly even hyper-mature. Even in high school, I’d never ventured in to trouble and had always been the ‘mom friend’ of my group. I’d done excellent in school with the focus of getting into a great college, which I had, and then I’d immediately bought myself a small condo after a few years of vigorous saving at my well-paying job as a software developer. I had a life plan and always stuck to it.

And yet, I always found myself finding joy in such little, childish things. The sound of leaves crunching, frozen yogurt at the end of a long day, old cartoons I’d used to watch as a child, and underwear and socks with the most ridiculous patterns painted all over them.

It was a weird combination: my level of maturity and the kinds of things I liked. I was who I was, though, and seldom did I try to be anyone I was not.

I reached Lainey’s apartment in about ten minutes, and, as I approached the big red door with the numbers 27 painted in black across it, I began to shiver a little bit. When she opened it, she was bundled up in a sweatshirt and pajamas pants.

Alex, you seriously walked here?! she asked in surprise. It’s freezing!

It’s not too bad, I lied, as I stood there shivering.

She rolled her eyes. Come in, come in! she said hurriedly, as she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

I got donuts last night at the grocery store, she said, as she nodded toward the kitchen table.

Excellent! I said, as I immediately opened the box and took a bite of one.

Every Saturday, we switched off going to one another’s houses and eating breakfast while catching up on our weeks. Whoever’s house we were at was responsible for providing breakfast, though no cooking was necessary if we didn’t want to. We had donuts and muffins often, and I couldn’t complain, because I loved both.

Saturdays were my favorite day of the week and had been for years. Ever since Lainey had moved out here, we’d had this standing date. We almost never missed it, unless it landed on a holiday or something. We hung out other days, too, but I liked the consistency of the Saturdays.

So, James called me on Wednesday, she said, after grabbing her own donut and lying herself down on her fuzzy, light pink couch. It sounded ridiculous, but in her cutesy apartment, it actually really worked. She had a knack for interior decorating that I didn’t have at all.

He did?! I asked in surprise.

James was Lainey’s on-and-off boyfriend, though they hadn’t been together in years. Not since she’d moved here. They had been high school sweethearts. We’d all gone to school together in our hometown, and they’d stayed together for all of high school.

They weren’t really on-and-off due to not being good for one another and always breaking up and getting back together. No, they always had legitimate life circumstances that seemed to get in the way of their relationship. First, it had been Lainey going off to college, then, it had been Lainey graduating and moving here while he was still in college, and then, when he’d graduated and gotten a job offer somewhere else.

They’d always managed to stay in touch when they broke up, but they would also try to move on. They didn’t expect the other to ever stop dating, and so they didn’t. Lainey dated; she used all the dating apps and went out rather regularly. I was sure he did, too.

Which was something I couldn’t even remotely relate to, because I didn’t date. I didn’t see the point.

I carefully observed Lainey’s face, as she found the words to tell me about her conversation with James. Had it been a bad one? A good one? I couldn’t tell. Maybe it’d been a little of both?

Well, first he told me he was single right now… that he hadn’t been seeing anyone in a while, and he’d been thinking of me… she trailed off.

Ah, now I understood why it had been both a good and bad look. Because she really did have feelings for James and would like to be with him, but, of course, she couldn’t be. And him calling to say he was still as interested in her as ever was only going to make things more difficult for her.

What did you say? I asked, preparing myself to give some comforting advice.

I mean… I told him the same. Except that I had been dating, of course, but it’d been really frustrating, and I hadn’t met anyone that I liked even half as much as I liked him. That I missed him, too.

Oh, Lainey, I rubbed her shoulder.

It sucks, you know? I try so hard, You see that. I really don’t want to be single and alone, but every guy I meet… I don’t know. It just ends up impossibly hard every time. I feel like I’m never going to find someone I like.

But you will! I assured her. You’re beautiful, smart, funny, and you’ve got a decent job in a publishing house. You’re the whole package.

I wasn’t just saying that because she was my best friend. She truly was a wonderful person with endless amazing qualities. In fact, that was probably why she was my best friend. There were very few people with whom I truly connected and was able to stay friends. But with Lainey, I’d been her best