“Well, of the two of us, she’s the only lesbian, so—”
“Lesbianwoundtending, Apes,” Ramona said.
April dropped her head into her hands. “God, okay, yes, I know.” She took a breath, remembering the feel of Daphne’s delicate skin under her fingers, the way she’d gasped a little when April had shifted her foot in a certain manner, the way—
Good goddess on earth, stop.
She lifted her head. “Look, someone had to take care of her. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Famous last words.”
April shook her head, because the entire thing was ridiculous. “Tell me about you. Quickly, before I say something else that lands me in an Iris Kelly rom-com.”
“Oh, have you read her latest? God, I love the enemies-to-lovers trope.”
“Mona.”
Ramona laughed, but then folded her arms, a sad expression settling on her face. “Your shop. Yourhouse.”
April closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. “Not right now. Please. We can dig deeper into every humiliating detail later, but please,please, tell me something about you. Anything.”
Ramona’s cheeks went a little pink and she looked down at her hands, tangling her fingers together. Her nails were painted a sparkly teal. A professional job, if April had to guess. Ramona could thread a needle in under two seconds, but she’d always been shit with nail polish.
“Well, actually, I wanted to come home for a lot of reasons,” Ramona said, lifting her gaze to April’s. “And one of them is that I wanted to…”
She searched April’s eyes for so long, April started to squirm. “You wanted to what?”
Ramona opened her mouth. Closed it again.
“Mona,” April said. “You’re scaring me. Is your dad okay? Olive?”
“No, no,” Ramona said, grabbing both of April’s hands. “They’re fine. Everyone’s fine. Olive’s coming home from Vanderbilt next week, in fact.”
April lit up. “So that’s why you’re home, then. I’m always playingsecond fiddle.” It was true, but it was a good truth—April adored Ramona’s little sister, Olive, and she couldn’t wait to see her.
Ramona laughed, but her eyes were still a bit hooded, a million thoughts behind them. “Olive is one reason, yes. But, honey, I—”
“Okay, well, that’s a great reason,” April said as her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She fished it out and glanced at Daphne’s text, asking where she was. “Shit, I’m going to be late.”
“Then let’s go,” Ramona said quickly, hooking her arm through April’s and heading back inside. “You’ve got to work, I know. I want to hear more about the Devon though. Do you have an idea yet?”
April swallowed, dread washing over her. “Not a one.”
Ramona smiled softly. “You’ll get there. You will. You’re extraordinary.”
April nodded, but honestly, she had her doubts, because Daphne’s work was truly extraordinary, and April hadn’t thought of herself in the same terms in a long time.
But Ramona did.
She looked at her best friend for a second, the most familiar face in her life. Despite her hurt feelings the last few months, despite the way she still felt tender, as though her heart was covered in a healing bruise, she’d missed Ramona so much. “I’m glad you’re here, Llama Face.”
Ramona smiled, but her eyes got a little shiny, which she covered quickly by pausing in the middle of the hallway and hugging April tight.
“I probably have time to deeply analyze your horoscope for the week,” April said.
Ramona laughed, then pushed April away. “Save it for a rainy day. We’re having dinner with my dad, but maybe we can meet up at Clover Moon later tonight?”
“You got it, Llama,” April said, grinning as they started walking again. And for a second—if she ignored that royalwe—it felt like old times. For a brief, lovely moment, while April tried to slap Ramona’s butt and Ramona dodged her, laughing and squealing like they were teenagers again as they went into the art studio, it felt as if the last two years had never even happened.
