Chapter Ten
Ava
I paced the brick floor of The Rolling Scone, my heels click-clacking in time with my racing heart. I’d closed early today just to spend time with them—if they came, that was.
I shook that nonsense right out of my head. I’d even dug stilettos and a mini dress from my college days out of the back of my closet.
They would come. Of course they would come. They were my friends, right?
I glanced at the clock hung above the counter. 1:22 PM. They still had eight minutes before they were technically late, but I doubted Jules would be here on time, and it wouldn’t be out of character for Viv to be behind schedule either.
1:23.
Gianna was usually early, but she was the one I worried over most. If someone didn’t show at all, it would be Gianna. Not because she didn’t want to be our friend, but because her job was somehow even more demanding than mine. I knew she worked late because she often responded to my texts in the middle of the night.
Still 1:23. I groaned, running my hands through my hair and walking to the cafe table where I’d laid a spread of chocolate chip cookies, pierogi, and a double-layered strawberry cake.
1:24.
They weren’t coming. They were smart women. They would know that coming to celebrate my thirtieth birthday would mean facing the aftermath of the pact. It was easier to skip the party than to have to let me down in person, wasn’t it? But, honestly, how could I have known none of us would actually be married yet? At eighteen I imagined some of us would have children by now.
Viv married right out of college, and I thought for sure that was the end of the pact—until she signed her divorce six months ago. Jules got engaged twice, but never married. Riley broke up with her long-time boyfriend a few years ago and hasn’t had a relationship since. And Gianna—I snorted in amusement just imagining her settling down. She was more of a one-and-done kind of lady.
The bell chimed above my door just as I was straightening a pile of napkins. Turning, I hurried to pull Riley into a hug.
“You came!” I exclaimed a little too loudly, a little too close to her ear.
She smiled at me, that same warm smile that Riley always had for anybody. Dependable and responsible with perhaps the world’s biggest heart—that was my Riley. She was the only one who came to the bakery’s opening four years ago.
“Of course I came,” she replied. “What kind of a friend would I be if I missed your birthday party? Plus, we’ve been trying for like the last five years to get all of us together for a weekend. Your birthday is the best reason ever to finally make it happen.”
I took a step back so I could inspect the adorable green dress she’d worn, a frilly, summery number that looked so perfect with her wild blonde curls. Instead of trying to force them through a straightener, she’d leaned into her natural texture, letting spirals of her wheaten hair fall well past her shoulders. A smattering of pale freckles dotted her nose and cheeks, her brown eyes crinkling as she met my gaze.
“I see you’re prepared,” she said, nodding toward my snack table.
“I wanted it to be special,” I explained, leading her over and handing her a plate.
“You always do. The small moments of my life have grown far less glamorous since I left town.” She grabbed one of the cookies and looked back at me. “Happy Birthday, Ava.”
The bell jingled again and Jules and Viv walked in, looking gorgeous as ever. Jules was shorter than all of us except Riley—who claimed she was five feet tall, but refused to submit to measurement. Jules was nearer 5’2, and Viv 5’4. Gianna and I towered over them at 5’10 and 5’8, respectively.
Jules wore a white, backless boho maxi dress to match the white balayage on her long brown waves. Apparently she’d swapped colors sometime after college. If Gianna had the lips of the group, Jules had the eyes. Perfect grey-green almonds with lashes I would kill for, Jules always looked like a fairytale princess from a Disney movie. Her round face and willowy frame only added to her general look of whimsy.
Viv trended in the opposite direction. Her long, dark hair was perfectly blown out to match her A-line little black dress and punchy red lipstick. She wasn’t old money, but if she’d had a pearl necklace I would’ve mistaken her for it. Her big brown eyes were pretty, but I always though Viv had the cutest nose, odd though that commendation may be. Small, neat, and straight, the button-shaped tip gave me the urge to “boop” her every time I got too tired.
Excitement lit up my little bakery as we all ran towards each other for the kind of hug you only get from childhood friends—that one where you’re jumping up and down, seeing who can squeeze harder, and smiling till it hurts. For a split second, I could’ve sworn I was eighteen again, just having another girls’ night.
“Oh my God, Ava, this place is incredible!” Jules cried, wandering around the bakery and inspecting everything with her hands.
“I can’t believe you actually did it,” Viv put a hand on my shoulder. “I cannot imagine the amount of work it took to get here.”
Riley and Viv headed for the food, but Jules had stopped mid-stride in front of my photo wall. I joined her, trying to decide which picture had caught her attention: Serving my first cupcake on opening day. Posing like a goof with the key after closing the sale. Before and after shots of the renovation. The one year anniversary party I held that had really gotten me on the map. I even had one of the last ones taken of me with my parents and a fantastic photo of all of us girls decked out as bridesmaids at Viv’s wedding.
“I’m so sorry,” she frowned. “I’m sorry I missed it, Ava. I’d already bought my plane tickets by the time I found out, and I couldn’t get them changed. How can I make it up to you?”
I waved my hand, pushing her apology away. “It’s not a big deal,” I assured her. “I totally get it. I wouldn’t expect you to change your entire trip itinerary just to be here for a store opening.”
But I had thought she’d be there. I thought they all would.
“Wait, you didn’t make it either?” Viv chimed in. “Damn, I’m sorry, Ava. I thought I was the only one who couldn’t get here. Jules is right, we’ll make it up to you.”
I felt Riley’s eyes on me, but I didn’t make contact. She’d walked into the shop that day to find me bawling my eyes out behind the counter because my friends hadn’t come. But I didn’t want to make waves, not when I was planning to pitch them the bed and breakfast. I needed all the goodwill I could garner if I was going to pull off the pact.
“It’s fine,” I insisted. “It wasn’t like I had a line out the door on day one.”
“But friends should be there for each other,” Riley said, her voice soft but firm.
Viv’s face fell, and I felt Jules tense beside me.
“They’re here now,” I replied, forcing a smile I didn’t feel just then. “So let’s celebrate!”
We took seats around the table, no one commenting on Gianna’s absence. I grabbed a plateful of the tasty spread of treats I’d prepared, cutting the cake and plating four pieces. Riley and I each took one, but I noticed that neither Viv nor Jules ate anything.
“Really, you guys, that was four years ago,” I told them, hoping I hadn’t already botched the night. “It doesn’t matter.”
Jules winced. “I’m vegan now.” She looked like she thought I was going to fly off the handle at what was, in all honesty, not shocking in the least. Jules had always been into all the alternative stuff—yoga and meditation and crystals and nature.
“I’m now wondering how that didn’t happen sooner,” I laughed, standing to grab her one of the vegan breakfast muffins I had left over from this morning’s batch. It wasn’t as common in our small town, but there were enough vegans that I made a few specialty items each day.
She smiled, relief in her sage-colored eyes. “You and me both.”
“Are you vegan, too?” I asked Viv so I knew whether or not I needed to get her a muffin as well.
Viv’s adorable nose wrinkled in a look that fell somewhere between rage and defeat. “I’m allergic to wheat.”
Riley inhaled sharply, her mouth falling open. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“Oh, how I wish I was,” she grumbled. “It’s been really fun, let me tell you.”
“How allergic?” I asked, suddenly aware of the fact that there was probably wheat floating through the entire bakery. “We can get out of here.”
She shook her head. “No, no, it’s only if I eat it, thank God. I’d be dead otherwise.”
“I have, like, a thousand questions about that,” I told her, handing Jules her cranberry orange muffin and making a quick trip to the kitchen to grab some berries and whipped cream for Viv.
“You’re going to start playing with gluten free baking now, aren’t you?” Riley snorted in amusement.
“You bet I am.”
An amiable silence descended as we snacked. It felt like any other summer before they’d left. Riley, Viv, and Gianna came back home most summers through college, but Jules had only come back for a couple weeks after her freshman year before disappearing more or less for good. I hadn’t seen her in over ten years, aside from Viv’s nuptials. Even though we had a group text, Jules wasn’t the best communicator. I’d personally witnessed her get a message while we chatted, read it, then set it back down mumbling, “I’ll deal with that later.” I also know for a fact that she did not deal with it later, and not out of malice.
Riley and Viv came back for holidays now, but Viv often came and went the same day. When we could make it work in our busy schedules, we met up, but it wasn’t for more than an hour or two. She was some kind of big marketing exec now, and she worked more than she didn’t.
After Gianna graduated law school, she moved down to Indianapolis and started working with an international firm. The last time I saw her was Christmas Day five years ago, just before she moved to Indy and just after I bought the bakery.
Just as I was about to start interrogating Jules over what she’d been doing for the past ten years, the bell above the door rang again. As one, we turned to watch Gianna step into the bakery looking like a supermodel.
Her black hair fell just below her shoulders in a casually classy style I could never replicate. Gianna raised one of her dark arched brows, the corners of her pouty lips lifting in the whisper of a smile. Wearing long, tan dress pants and a tailored, sleeveless cream blouse, she looked like she’d come straight from work even though it was Saturday afternoon.
For several breaths, we all stared at each other, as though processing the fact that Gianna had actually come to the party. When I finally overcame my shock at seeing her in person, in my bakery, I flew out of my chair to give her the same rib-squeezing, best-friend hug that I’d given all my other girls.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she apologized, squeezing me right back. “We have a deposition next week that got called on short notice and—”
“You’re here and that’s all that matters,” I interrupted.
The smile on her face brightened the whole room. “I missed you guys.”
I was going to fight my hardest to get everyone on board with the bed and breakfast, and I had no doubt in my mind it would be a battle. But, no matter what happened going forward, my one consolation was that in spite of all the years apart, in the end it was that silly pact that brought us back together.
Pouring each of us a flute of champagne, I stood and raised my glass. They raised theirs, the conversation quieting. One by one, I toasted each of them.
“To Jules, for helping me cut off my bangs and enter my pink hair phase.” I paused as she lost her battle with giggles at the ridiculous memory.
“To Riley, for going all the way to Denver with me for a football-filled weekend of fun.”
“That was to feed my own addiction to the Broncos and you know it,” she chuckled. “But I wouldn’t have gone without you.”
“To Viv, for having the best destination wedding ever and giving us all an excuse to make bad decisions together in Italy.”
All the girls lost it on that one, and for good reason. What happens in Italy stays in Italy.
“To Gianna, for rescuing me when I fell off the pontoon that one summer.”
Gianna nodded and pointed at me like a rock star. “I got you, girl.”
“To best friends.”
They all stood, raising their glasses even higher and shouting at the top of their lungs. “To best friends!”
“I’m so glad you’re all here,” I told them. I didn’t mention how worried I’d been that none of them would come. “How long can you stay? We have so much catching up to do.”
“Actually,” Riley began, shifting in her seat and setting down her champagne glass, “I was wondering if you were serious about starting that B&B.”
My jaw wasn’t the only one to hit the floor. Gianna nearly choked. Viv’s eyes went wide, and Jules leaned back to give Riley her full attention. Here I was doing my best to ease into my big ask, and Riley straight-up volunteered.
“Really?” I couldn’t help but wonder aloud. “I mean, yes, absolutely I am.”
“Are you serious about actually upholding the pact?” Gianna asked.
“I made a promise,” Riley reminded her, “and so did you. You know we all loved the idea, even though we thought it unlikely. And I, for one, am more than ready for a new direction in my life.”
I bit my lower lip so I didn’t burst into tears right then and there. Riley really wanted to do it. She actually was planning to come back home.
I still had at least one of my girls.
“I’m in.” Jules raised her glass in celebration before draining it. “I’m between jobs anyway and there’s nothing left for me in Indy. Plus, I can’t let you two have all the fun.”
Gianna and Viv exchanged a look that I didn’t much care to put a name to. “This is a joke, right?” Viv asked. “We can’t just quit our jobs and move back here.”
“I hate my job,” Riley told her. “I’d rather be back here than take one more phone message.”
“I didn’t work my ass off in law school just to start back at square one,” Gianna added, not unkindly. “If there was any way I could do it, you know I would, but my life is in Indy now.”
I smiled at her. “I know, but I’m still determined to convince you. It won’t be the same without you two.”
“Ava,” Viv took my hands in hers, “it will never be the same. Even if we all move back and open the B&B and live out our wildest childhood imaginings, we’re different people now. We can only move forward.”
I wanted to say so many things. I wanted to tell her I knew that we couldn’t go back in time, that nothing mattered except our friendship, that it wouldn’t be the same but it would be close enough for me. Instead, I blurted out, “It went up for sale this week. And there’s an open house right now.”
“The Van Kamp place?” Riley sat forward. “What are the odds that it would happen right around your birthday?”
“It’s a sign,” Jules declared. “There are no coincidences.”
I’d never seen Viv roll her eyes so hard.
“There are only coincidences,” she retorted.
Gianna looked from Jules to Viv. “There are both.” Then she turned to me. “Didn’t you just open this place? How are you planning to run the bakery and start up a bed and breakfast?”
It was a valid concern. I had been asking myself the same thing for much of the past year once I realized how close we were to reaching the terms of the pact.
“I’m going to hire employees for the bakery.” Even saying it aloud hurt a little. The Rolling Scone was my baby, and I had refused to entertain the idea of letting someone else get involved. But actually pulling off the pact—that called for drastic reconsideration. I should’ve hired at least one employee right from the start, but I’d continued putting it off.
“How much is it up for?” Viv asked.
“Three hundred thousand,” I told them. “I took a tour this week and I don’t think it will need a tremendous amount of work, but it will definitely need some. Especially the upstairs.”
“It’s been vacant as long as I can remember,” Gianna countered. “There’s no way everything’s functional.”
“We should all definitely take a tour,” Riley set down her champagne. “What do you say, ladies? Should we crash the open house?”
I hesitated. Riley and Jules were the only two fully on board so far, but everyone would have the same gut reaction as I did when they learned about Ben McKinley’s involvement.
“There’s something I should tell you before we go,” I choked out. “You’re not going to like the realtor.”
“Who is it?” Riley asked.
Rolling my lips together, I grimaced at Jules in an attempt to soften the coming blow.
“No,” Gianna gasped. “Tell me it’s not who I think it is.”
“I promise I will deal with him,” I vowed, hopefully heading off any protest. “Jules, you don’t even have to speak with him.” As much as I hated the prospect of spending any amount of time with Ben, if it meant keeping Jules on board and getting my girls back, then I’d do whatever it took.
“But I’ll have to see him if he’s the one giving the tours,” she groaned.
“You can walk in front of us?” Riley tried. “Then he’ll always be behind you.”
“That’s not better.” Jules sat quietly, twirling her white-tipped hair. I could see her mind working as she stared blankly at the table.
The rest of us just waited. We knew she’d come up with her own solution before we could suggest anything helpful. Jules wasn’t the most reliable, but she was easily the most creative—and that included problem-solving.
Sure enough, by the time I’d refilled everyone’s champagne, she’d reached a decision.
“I’m all in on the project,” she said evenly, grabbing her newly-filled glass, “but I’m not interested in seeing Ben any more than I have to. You guys should do a tour tonight. And take tons of pictures so I can start planning the decorating.”
My shoulders sank toward my chest. I’d really hoped she would come along. “Are you sure, Jules? I feel weird going without you.”
“I’m sure. It would just be so uncomfortable. If Gianna and Viv are really leaving in the morning, you need to go tonight or they won’t see it at all.” She smiled brightly. “I’ll head next door to check out that new brewery.”
“If it were me, I’d show up just to make him uncomfortable,” Gianna offered. “Asshole.”
“Here, here,” Viv agreed, raising her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”
“To the assholes we left behind, may they rot in their bad decisions!” Jules toasted.
Unanimously, we shouted our agreement, taking the sort of long drink that implies we related to that sentiment from personal experience. I’d had a few boyfriends over the years, mainly in high school and college. Even though things hadn’t worked out, I was grateful that I’d never dated anyone like Ben. The sweet, fizzy champagne tickled my throat as I drank.
“Ladies,” I declared, standing too quickly and realizing I should have maybe had lunch before drinking all that celebratory bubbly, “let’s go storm that manor house.”