Chapter 24
24
Holly
December 31
New York City
Holly opens Ivy’s bedroom door and freezes at the sight of her wedding dress—at least the train of it—stuck between Ivy’s closet door and the wall.
Ivy is behind her. “Oops. Should I have hidden that?”
“No. Not at all.”
Holly walks to the closet door and opens it—and there is the dress that once felt like it came straight out of her dreams. Now it feels like it comes from another era, another lifetime. “It is a nice dress, though,” she says, touching the impossibly soft silk.
“You looked like a Disney princess in it. In the best way possible.”
Holly’s smile is a little sad now. “I know.” She turns to her friend. “Tell me again about how you said, ‘Hold my mai tai,’ and then tried to drop a bombshell on Abby about her being on my honeymoon and not knowing it—only she already knew and…what did she say?”
“?‘It just makes good financial sense,’?” they both say at the same time, then fall back on Ivy’s bed, laughing so hard tears leak out of the corners of their eyes.
“I’m really grateful,” Holly says. “For everything that happened. Even the hard parts.”
“Me, too,” Ivy says. “Remember the last time we were here, in this apartment?”
“I do. I thought it was the worst night of my life. But it was leading me somewhere great. And you, too. That’s the best part—that we’re both so happy. Remember how I told you the guy for you was out there somewhere—”
“Maybe on a dude ranch in Montana, you said.”
“And then, along came the Hot Bartender. He really is hot,” Holly says, and Ivy rolls over, staring at her friend with wide eyes.
“Isn’t he? I mean, oh my God. He is so hot. And I resisted having sex with him forever. How did I do that?”
Holly laughs. “Well, wasn’t it just, like, a few days? But still. Very virtuous.” She laughs again, then peeks over Ivy’s shoulder at her bedside clock. “We’d better start getting ready. Our reservation is in an hour.”
They hop from the bed and share space at Ivy’s bathroom mirror as they put on makeup, then get dressed, Holly in a low-cut champagne silk sheath, and Ivy in a tight black cocktail dress with a hint of glitter woven into the fabric.
“Think the guys will actually show up?” Ivy jokes as they wait downstairs for their Uber.
During the few days they spent together in the Hudson Valley, Aiden and Oliver bonded, fast—at first because Oliver had heard of Air Works and was in awe of Aiden, and then because it turned out Aiden was a huge fan of Oliver’s work and even owned a few of his prints. Today they had spent the afternoon at MoMA together, checking out the Karl Blossfeldt exhibit, and were meeting Holly and Ivy at Alice, the restaurant where they’ve booked a table for their New Year’s Eve get-together.
As they settle themselves in the back of the car, Holly turns to Ivy.
“It’s okay, right?”
“What is?”
“That I’m showing up at our New Year’s Eve party with a new guy, when I was with Matt not too long ago, about to get married.”
“Does it feel right to you?”
“It feels like the rightest thing in the world.”
Ivy smiles. “Then it is. And besides, it’s just going to be us, and Ted and Ming—who already hated Matt, let’s face it. And Larry and Shira, who you are going to love.”
“I already do love that they have enough respect for our obsession with New Year’s Eve to have flown all the way in from Hawaii.”
“Trust me, they are the best.”
The car lets the best friends out in front of the restaurant, where Aiden and Oliver are already waiting for them, smiles on their faces when they see the women approaching as a gentle snowfall begins to blanket the city streets. Oliver gives a low whistle as he gathers Ivy into his arms for a kiss, and Holly feels yet another wave of happiness that, finally, her friend has found someone who makes her so happy. And who, yes, is very hot.
For Holly, the night is a blur of happiness. Food, drinks, friends—and Aiden by her side through all of it. Always just a glance, a smile, or a touch away.
Just before midnight, Holly taps on her glass. It reminds her of the night of her rehearsal dinner—but better, because she feels so much more relaxed tonight, so much more herself . “I’d like to make a toast,” she calls out, holding up her champagne glass. “To love, and to friendship. The two most important things in the world.”
“Hear, hear!” calls out everyone—including the man she suddenly and unexpectedly loves and already knows she couldn’t live without. The man she knows without a whisper of a doubt is her match, her destiny. And that he always has been, since they were trying to keep pace with each other in high school, and since he wrote her the card she has always cherished, and will for the rest of her life.
Moments later, as the clock chimes midnight and cheers erupt around the terrace, Holly and Aiden share a kiss just as perfect as all the other kisses they’ve shared. She watches as Ivy and Oliver do the same. Then the two men each step back, and Holly and Ivy rush across the room to embrace each other, their hearts full of love, joy, hope, and the delicious anticipation for all that’s to come, all that will be. The best friends agree in happy whispers that this is what makes New Year’s Eve the most special night of the year—but that Christmas is magical, too.