“I do.” Hope leans forward, her gorgeous green eyes wide. Ash and Caro lean in, too. Hope Hanover can pull in whoever she wants, whenever she wants. It’s to her credit that she doesn’t wield this power as often as she could. “And that’s what I want to talk to both of you about. I think it’s time we met in person.”
“Yes,”Ash and Caro answer in unison, because the three of them have been saying this for ages now.
“I mean for real,” Hope says. “Let’s do it this time. My movie got canceled. I have three months with no filming.”
“Your movie got canceled?” Ash asks. “Are you okay? Is that okay?”
“Honestly, it’s amazing.” Hope folds her arms and sits back, a beatific expression on her face. “I said yes to it because it’s total Oscar bait, but it would have been so grim. I would have had to walk through endless mud wearing a period costume. Maybe while having my actual period. And everyone knows the guy they cast as a lead is an absolute narcissist.”
“Really?” Ash is momentarily diverted. “Aidan Stone? I thought he was a nice guy.”
“Oh no,” Hope says. “Total jerk.”
But even Ash doesn’t linger long on Aidan Stone, because a thrill is running through her at the thought of the three of them finally meeting in person.This might really happen.If Hope, who is actually famous, can come, then what excuses do the rest of them really have?
“I am so, so serious about this,” Hope says. “I’ll pay.”
“We’re not going to let you do that,” says Carolina.
“Absolutely not,” Ash agrees.
But Hope’s still going. “And another thing. I think weshoulddisappear.”
Ash and Carolina look at her, waiting.
“Like Agatha did,” Hope says. “We won’t tell anyone where we’re going. We’ll justgo.”
“Hope,” Ash says, in a tone of great severity. “Have you become embroiled in a scandal? Is that what this is about? Are you trying to lie low while something blows over?”
“No scandal.” Hope smiles at them. “Can you imagine it, though?”
“Being in a scandal?” Ash says wistfully. “I mean, maybe.”
“Not that.” And now it’s Hope’s turn to sound wistful. “Disappearing from our lives for a while?”
“I can’t.” Ash is rueful.
“None of us can,” Caro says, but there’s something in her voice that sounds like she’s opening the door to the possibility.
There’s a silence.Could they?
“Every single one of us deserves a break,” Hope says. “We’ve all had the world pulled out from under us the past few years.”
This is inarguable. There was the pandemic, of course. The way things have been going in the world, in general, and for them, specifically. Ash is juggling her business and her family. Caro has been swamped at work for years. Hope is an actress in her thirties in the most ageist career in the world.
And these are only the things they’ve told each other about.
“We won’tcompletelydisappear,” Hope says. “We’ll tell our people—families, work, whatever—that we’re going on a trip. But we don’t have to tell themwherewe’re going. We clear our calendars and get the hell out.”
“Do we tell them where we were when we get back?” Caro asks.
“If we want,” Hope says. “I don’t see why not.”
“If we do it,” Ash asks tentatively, “when would we go?”
“How about next week?” Hope asks.
Ash blinks. Caro folds her arms across her chest.
