The Partner Plot (The Greene Sisters, #2)

by Kristina Forest

Willow Ridge, New Jersey, her small, stifling hometown where no one and nothing changed.

bright green polymer-clay drop earrings.

Willow Ridge was one of the first Black municipalities established north of the Mason-Dixon Line. It had a reputation for being a tight-knit community filled with Black people from all walks of life. Thanks

And where the hell could he get a decent cheesesteak around here?

And so began their journey of first love. In Xavier, Violet found what she hadn’t been able to find in anyone else. A kindred spirit, an understanding. A mutual support of each other’s desires and dreams. A feeling of being wholly accepted.

one of Xavier’s friends from basketball camp. Violet got a small X on her left hip, and Xavier got a violet flower on the inside of his right bicep.

Valentine’s Day was nothing but a capitalist scam, and the world would be a much better place if everyone accepted this simple truth about this senseless holiday.

It was just that he found dating to be so exhausting.

It had been almost nine years since he’d last seen her. But he thought of her often, more than he’d ever admit to anyone. He wondered what their lives might have been like if they’d stayed together.

The pain from her breakup with Xavier had almost ended her. For a long time, it felt as though someone had died. The loss of Xavier’s presence in her life had been so soul crushing, she’d feared she’d never be the same. But eventually, the tears stopped and the pain dulled.

“There was also that time we drove to Wildwood and you drank half a handle of Jose Cuervo and tried to run into the ocean with the seagulls. Luckily I was there to save you.”

She rubbed a hand over her face, and that was when she noticed the most damning things of all. Two shiny gold rings on her left ring finger: a small white diamond set against a yellow-gold band, atop a matching plain gold band. Suddenly, memories from last night

“I thought you were out last night finally getting some D, but you were in the process of becoming somebody’s whole-ass wife.”

But unlike her tattoo, this mistake was one she could forget about.

“The clothes that you wear tell people who you are,” she said. “That’s something I think I’ve always known. I come from a small town where everyone dressed the same because they were following whatever trend was popular, and that uniformity bothered me. Fashion gives us the chance to be unique, to be individuals. Other people had sports or clubs. I expressed myself through what I wore.”

January tended to be rough for Xavier too. The holidays were long gone. The air was frigid. The sky looked dreary, and waiting for springtime in New Jersey felt endless.

“Xavier, what are you doing here? And why are you wearing glasses?” For some reason, this was the most shocking detail Violet was able to compute. Xavier was wearing a pair of thick, black, square-framed glasses. He looked like a hot librarian. No, a hot teacher.

“No, technically we did not get married,” Xavier countered. “The ceremony wasn’t real.”

In that moment, she felt small. Smaller than small. She was no longer the woman who’d moved away and made a name for herself through sheer determination. Once again, she was the unruly daughter who couldn’t be good like her sisters. She was the screwup, the black sheep of the Greene family. “We wanted it to be a surprise,” Xavier suddenly said.

ShopRite,

He was a fully fledged adult with plants and books and real furniture, and she’d had no part in any of it. He was foreign to her. Suddenly, she felt incredibly, confusingly sad.

Years ago, Violet had been drawn to him because he was someone new in a place riddled with boring familiarity. They’d bonded because they had both wanted to escape. But Xavier had decided to stay, and now he was integral to this community in a way she couldn’t have expected.

Social media makes knowledge more accessible.”

They might have easily embraced each other at night, but what were their rules in the light of day? In the end, he hugged her and breathed deeply when she wrapped her arms around him. Her hair smelled like the citrusy shampoo she used.

Xavier’s presence in her life wasn’t necessary to her survival. She could live without him. But she realized then that given the choice, she’d rather have him be part of her life.

southern New Jersey,

Their relationship wasn’t perfect, but it was real.

Why was it so easy for Violet to make sure that her assistant maintained a work-life balance, but she couldn’t do the same for herself?

Violet loved her tacky rings and the man who’d placed them on her finger.