“I had nothing to do with this.”
Erica walked over to our table with Melissa in tow. Our preteen hostess seemed to have grown into a young lady in the year I’d known her. She now willingly wore dresses and shiny lip gloss,though she lamented that her mother wouldn’t let her wear ones with color. She was still a menace on the softball field. She’d also been seizure free for the last six months.
Melissa set a plate of Mavis’s blueberry muffins on the table, adorned with a lit candle in the shape of a number one.
“It’s been exactly one year since you came into town,” Melissa informed me, probably reading my confused expression. “And we wanted to celebrate.”
“That’s so sweet.” I swallowed a lump in my throat and blinked back tears.
“Well, you can’t cry yet, Emma.” Erica laughed. “We have one more anniversary surprise for you.” She walked toward the back of the restaurant. I furrowed my brow in confusion and looked at Dan.
“Okay.” He smiled. “This one I actually did know about.”
“What are you…” My voice died when I heard the rhythm of clicking heels that I would have recognized anywhere. I whipped around toward the sound, and my eyes filled with tears when I saw Maxima striding toward our table. She wasn’t alone. My work wife was joined by my college roommate. The diner was filled with a high-pitched squealing noise, and it took me a moment to realize that it was coming from me as I jumped up from the table and ran toward my best friends with my arms outstretched. We squeezed each other for a very long time before we finally returned to our table.
“I actually have to run a couple of errands.” Dan grinned and stood, making room for Max and Rebecca to slide into the booth.
“What errands?” I asked. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No.” He smirked and shot a knowing glance at my friends, who returned his look with furtive glances of their own. “Enjoy yourlunch, love. I’ll see you at home later.” He leaned down and kissed me. “Ladies.”
He was greeted with a chorus of high-pitched calls of “Bye, Dan.”
“What the hell was that about?” I asked after we watched him disappear from the restaurant.
“I really like him for you, Em.” Becks smiled at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.” It was such a relief to hear this from Rebecca, and I couldn’t believe I had been so worried about her reaction to my breakup with Teddy. Speaking of breaking up with Teddy, as I predicted, he had a bit of a rough time repairing his image after word spread about his disastrous visit to town. His senate race failed, and he was fired from his firm. The Atlanta elite began to distance themselves from him, as well as a very prominent New York surgeon and his wife, who was currently grinning at me from across the booth.
“I know,” Max chimed in. “She’s glowing.”
“That’s sweat.” I rolled my eyes. “It is hot as hell outside.”
We laughed.
“I might have been wrong about this whole farm, small-town thing.” Max waved an arm around the diner before breaking off a piece of a muffin and shoving it into her mouth.
“You’re not thinking about leaving LA, are you?” Erica asked. When I’d turned down Nina’s job offer for good, I suggested that she offer the West Coast office to Max, who jumped at the chance to leave Atlanta.
“Hell, no.” She laughed with a mouthful of muffin. “I’m loving Cali too much. But I have to say, this place has definitely grown on me.” We all laughed.
“Is that why you’re wearing overalls?” I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head at her denim jumpsuit.
“Overalls?!” she scoffed, scandalized. “Bitch, these are Versace!” The table erupted in cackles, and I almost choked on my muffin.
We spent the rest of the afternoon talking, eating, and planning our next girls’ trip. Over the past year, the four of us had grown incredibly close. Their love for me wasn’t the only thing my three closest friends had in common anymore.
“Taste this sauce.” I held a wooden spoon full of pasta sauce out to Dan, with my hand cradled underneath to catch the drips. He shot me a skeptical look.
“Is it safe?” He smirked with a raised eyebrow.
“The last batch wasn’t that bad.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“It wasn’t that good,” he murmured, “but you are definitely improving.” He leaned forward and kissed me, but he still hadn’t tasted the sauce.
“Seriously, taste it,” I pleaded. “My mother helped me with it.”
“Oh, yeah?” He eyed the sauce with renewed interest. “How is Celeste?”
“She’s great.” I turned back to the stove and resumed stirring, giving up on my taste test. “She and Daddy are leaving for Barbados tomorrow.”
