Mary accepted and took a huge bite.
“Seriously, though, what’s wrong with you?” Lydia asked Lizzy, her arms splayed across the table and her chin resting in her hand.
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Lizzy replied.
“God, you’re the world’s worst liar.” Lydia snorted out a laugh.
Suddenly, Lizzy was aware that all her sisters were staring at her, waiting. She had hoped that if she continued to deny it, kept pretending she was okay, people would stop caring enough to ask. But she hadn’t considered how that wouldn’t work here. Her sisters would never stop caring. They would annoy her and berate her until she finally opened up because here, with them, she mattered.
Her heart ached with the realization. And while she knew she didn’t have the strength to reveal all the details about Will, she suddenly knew she had to tell them about Columbia.
“Okay,” Lizzy said, releasing a long breath. “Promise you won’t freak out.”
Kitty perked up. “Who’s freaking out?”
“No one,” Mary said around a mouthful of cupcake.
“Well, maybe Lizzy,” Lydia added.
“Everyone stop talking!” Jane demanded in her best first-grade-teacher voice.
Lizzy smiled. “I just… I think I’m ready for grad school. I’m going to get my master’s.”
A moment, then the room exploded with screams.
“Finally!” Jane exclaimed. “You were talking about it last year, but then you just dropped it after everything happened with Dad!”
“It’s about time!” Kitty threw her arms around her. “Have you applied anywhere? Are you sticking with foreign affairs journalism, or thinking about something else?”
Even Mary was smiling. “You could do an investigative piece on Long Island’s lack of recycling centers!”
“Oh my God, you should do celebrity reporting!” Lydia squealed. “You could work at TMZ!”
The five of them were dancing around now, jumping up and down, laughing and hugging so much that Lizzy didn’t know why she hadn’t told them before. Suddenly, everything was on the tip of her tongue—her acceptance to Columbia, the lingering hope of starting in January—but she was interrupted by the sound of the bell ringing out from the bakery’s front door.
“Excuse me.” A deep voice interrupted them.
The sisters turned around in unison to see Charlie Pierce in the middle of the room, his hands in his jeans’ pockets.
“Hi,” he said meekly.
Jane inhaled sharply, Kitty and Lydia glared at him, and Mary picked up her squeegee like it was a weapon. Meanwhile, Lizzy looked to see if he was alone.
He was.
“Hello,” Jane responded after a moment.
Silence descended on the room. No one moved. Lizzy wasn’t even sure if they breathed.
Then the front door swung open again and Mrs. Bennet fell into the shop, her neon-green leggings blinding. “Guess what! Donna just called and said that Hank called Tristan to thank him for repaying everything, and Tristan didn’t know what he was talking about! And then Barb said that someone saw Charlie Pierce in town and now everyone thinks he—”
Her gaze found Charlie and she froze like a deer in headlights, her eyes wide and purse still precariously balanced over her arm.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Bennet,” he said with a small smile.
Mrs. Bennet blinked, as if to reset her brain. “Oh! I didn’t know you were here, Charlie! How lovely.” She moved sideways to the front table and slowly set her purse down, her eyes clocking each person, then lowered herself into a chair, as if all she needed was some popcorn to watch the show.
Charlie’s gaze was locked on Jane’s.
