Heather laughed and rolled her eyes. “He didn’t say that.”
“No, but it’s true. That ring needs more sparkle.”
Heather pulled the bag towards her and fished the two small boxes out. “It doesn’t need more sparkle,” she said, slipping the ring onto her left ring finger and admiring her hand. “It’s simple and understated, and it matches Marcus’s ring. I love it.” She leaned over and gave Marcus a kiss on the cheek, then slid the second box toward him.
The two rings did make a perfect set, Carly thought as Marcus opened his box. Marcus had chosen to use his late father’s wedding ring, a plain yellow gold band, as his own ring. Heather had chosen a two-tone braided band, which made it look as though Marcus’s ring had been wound around a white gold one.
Marcus put his ring on and rotated it a few times. Then he cleared his throat. “Fits just fine,” he said. “Thanks for picking them up, Carly. I know you probably didn’t imagine spending your holiday running errands for us.”
“Actually, that’s exactly how I imagined it,” she said brightly. “That’s what a maid of honor is for, right?”
“Right,” Heather agreed, “but you should take this afternoon off. Want to go to the beach?”
“Fuck yeah, girls’ day at the beach!” Carly almost shouted, and both Heather and Marcus laughed.
Carly took a deep breath as she watched the water sparkle and lap at the white-yellow sand. Shelly Beach was a small, sheltered cove surrounded by dense green forest. Sydney’s best kept secret, Heather had called it. It was a beautiful little haven on the very edge of the world. Looking out at the water, she’d never have guessed there was a city of four million people behind them.
“You’re never coming back to New York, are you?” she said, letting the breath out on a sigh. She said it to the water, and she said it with a smile, but Heather wasn’t fooled.
“I miss you, you know. A lot.” Heather put her arm around Carly’s shoulders, and even though it was too hot to be touching another person, Carly didn’t move away.
“I know,” she nodded. “I miss you, too. New York misses you. The company’s not … It’s just not the same without you.” Heather gave her a wistful smile and squeezed her arm around the back of her neck. Her palm was sweaty against Carly’s shoulder, and Carly didn’t care.
“I don’t miss the company. It never felt like home, even when it was my entire life. And I’ve got a new company now, and it feels like where I belong. But I’ll never have a new Carly. There’s only ever going to be one Carly.”
Carly nodded tightly, surprised to find that her eyes were watering. She’d known all this was true, but she hadn’t realized until she heard it out loud how badly she needed to hear her best friend say those words. Heather had her whole new life, with her fiancé and her secret beaches, and Carly’s life had stayed exactly the same, except that now her best friend lived on the other side of the world.
“How’s Melissa doing?” Heather asked, and Carly gave her a shaky smile. Now that Jack had left the company, never to be heard from again, his ex-girlfriend had really come into her own. She and Melissa weren’t exactly friends, because you could never truly be friends with someone who had cheated with your best friend’s fiancé. But they’d been cast in a few dances together this year, and Carly had come to enjoy Melissa’s presence in the studio. Certainly, now that Jack was gone, Melissa seemed more sure of herself. She was a consistent dancer, she listened closely when other people were talking, and she wasn’t afraid to tell a choreographer when a step wasn’t working or when she and the other dancers needed more rehearsal time.
“She’s doing okay, I think.”
“Just okay?”
“Better than she was. I think she was in pretty bad shape after Jack left. He casts a pretty long shadow.”
“Don’t I know it,” Heather replied with a humorless laugh.
“I think she might run for union rep, actually,” Carly said. “She’s organized, she’s opinionated. I think she’d be a good advocate for the other dancers.”
“I wonder who she learned that from,” Heather said, her tone arch but admiring.
Carly twirled an imaginary mustache. “Someone has to take my place as resident troublemaker when my knees finally give out. Mwahahaha!”
Heather chuckled. “Come on, let’s go cool off,” she gestured toward the water. They walked down the warm sand and dropped their bags, then stripped off their clothes and jogged into the water. It was blessedly cool after their walk under the relentless sun. Up to her waist, with the water lapping gently at her ribcage, Carly turned to her friend. Might as well tell her.
“Catherine’s changed the promotion schedule, and now she’s announcing before the spring season.”
Heather’s eyes went wide. “Oh, wow, that’s a big change.”
“I know,” Carly nodded, hitching her mouth up into ano big dealsmile and trying to project the confidence of someone who had everything under control, even as a hot wave of panic rose in her gut. Time was running out before she walked away from ballet—or was pushed again. “But I’ll figure something out.”Please, God, let me figure something out.
Heather looked over at her, and even through the reflective sunglasses, Carly could tell Heather’s eyes were narrowed in skepticism.
“What?” Carly said defensively. “It’s fine.”
This time Heather pulled her glasses down so Carly could see just how little she believed her.
“Honestly, it’s—”
