Chapter One #3
His gaze darted around the busy venue, then something changed his eager expression to concern. “Will you make it out to Vera?” he asked.
Kate stilled, the autographed napkin already extended in hand. Her expression fell.
He chuckled. “Oh, sorry. You’ve finished. It’s fine. Really. That’s good.” He took the little square and stuffed it into his pocket. “Thank you.” With that, he turned, red faced, and hurried away.
Abject horror lingered behind Kate’s smile as she spun back to her friends.
“I wrote my phone number on that napkin. I thought we had a moment, and it would be cute if— Oh my God, I hit on someone’s boyfriend,” she hissed.
“This is why I never make the first move. It’s cute in books and movies.
Tragic in reality. I really need that drink now. Where is Mona?”
“Hey,” Hallie said. “There is nothing wrong with taking a shot.”
“Maybe Vera is his mom,” Tessa suggested. “Or a female bartender who couldn’t get away to ask you herself.”
Kate dropped her face into waiting hands. “Why is it that I am always on the hunt for my perfect meet-cute? But my perfect meet-cute is never on the hunt for me?” She banged her hands gently against her head.
Tessa set a palm on her friend’s arm. “Stop before someone takes a photo of you doing that.”
Kate stilled.
“How was the coffee date?” Tessa asked.
Kate released a heavy sigh. “Same as all the rest.” She gave a thumbs-down. “I asked him questions, and he talked about himself for an hour without asking anything about me in return. Then I paid my half of the check and left.”
Mona appeared with the drinks and appetizers as sunset turned to twilight.
“You know who’s at the center of all those true crime documentaries everyone loves?” Hallie asked. “Men.”
“And?” Kate grouched.
“Maybe men are the problem,” Hallie said. “We should probably only date women.”
Tessa lifted her flute. “If I could, I would,” she agreed.
Mona gave an exasperated look of understanding, then swept away.
A bolt of heat lightning flashed across the sky, and a few nearby patrons gasped.
The bubbles of Tessa’s champagne popped on her tongue. “You’re both still coming to the gala tomorrow night, right?” She needed their moral support. “If I fall in front of everyone on my way to accept the promotion, I need you to pretend you tripped me.”
“On it,” Kate assured.
“Thanks. This promotion feels like the only thing I’ve thought about since Xavier announced it.
Being named VP of accounts could put me in line for partner one day.
Do you know how incredible that would be?
This promotion could set me up to run my own marketing firm.
Now I just have to wait and hope that Xavier and I are on the same page. ”
“I can’t believe the gala is on a work night,” Hallie said. “How are all those nine-to-fivers supposed to enjoy themselves and get to work on time the next morning?”
“They don’t,” Tessa said. “It’s widely accepted to roll in late the next day.”
“Speaking of big events and planning,” Kate said, “when are the invites for your wedding going out?”
“Soon,” Hallie said. “I accidentally bought a roll of postcard stamps instead of regular ones.”
Kate’s thin brow puckered. “Last time we talked about this, you ordered ivory envelopes instead of white.”
Hallie nodded. “True. I got the new ones, then goofed the stamps. How was I supposed to know the doves were for postcards? Who sends postcards anymore?”
“Everyone?” Kate asked.
Tessa didn’t mail postcards, but she did know Hallie, and she was definitely dragging her feet sending the invites.
And it was precariously close to the big day.
As she was a staunch avoider of conflict, the stamp and envelope mishaps felt a lot like Hallie waving a big red flag.
She was the queen of avoidance, and Kate was right to prod.
Unfortunately, the only thing Hallie hated more than conflict was someone offering help unbidden, and Tessa preferred pleasing her friends to irritating them.
So she sat back and sipped her drink, then set it aside while the discussion went nowhere.
A moment later, she felt the distant rumble of thunder.
The table vibrated, and Bryce’s number appeared on Hallie’s phone screen. She swiped the call away.
It was monumentally unfair that Hallie had a fiancé she didn’t seem to want, while Kate longed for a partner she couldn’t seem to find.
All three friends wanted things that felt completely beyond their control, so far out of their reach they might as well be in different universes.
Thank heavens for books, Tessa supposed.
Books were the one place they reliably found satisfaction, escape, and joy.
It was too bad they were real people rather than the heroines in novels. Real people generally couldn’t afford to take huge risks or let go of a sure thing for the chance at something better.
“You know,” Tessa said softly, “I read somewhere that when you’re someplace you aren’t meant to be, there will be signs. We can choose to ignore the signs and dig in awhile longer, but eventually, the universe will make it impossible to stay.”
“Are you talking about me?” Hallie asked.
Was she? She’d thought so at first. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m talking to all of us.”
Kate tore her gaze from the attractive barkeep and tossed thick blond waves over her shoulder. “Maybe I’m in the wrong universe.”
Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and the fine hairs on the back of Tessa’s neck rose to attention. “I wish we could be the heroines in our lives,” she said. “And I wish that our lives were our favorite stories.”
Kate offered a small smile. “Me too.”
Hallie snorted. “Unfortunately, we’re just not that lucky. We get one life, and this is it.”
Tessa opened her mouth to say something more, but whatever was brewing in her heart and mind fell silent as electricity charged the air.
A bone-jarring clap of thunder turned her thoughts and eyes heavenward. Then the sky opened, and rain poured over them, drinks, appetizers, and all.