“Huh.” Tessa flounced against the swivel chair armrests. “Imagine that.”
Vivien laughed. “What did the fortune teller say?” she asked.
Kate smiled. “That you’d marry your partner in life.”
“I did,” Vivien said. “I married Ryan and we partnered in his business.”
Tessa snorted. “And you were whining because Madame C didn’t specify Peter McCarthy by name. Talk about being in a rut.”
“A happy one,” Vivien countered. “What did she say about Tessa? Was it in the diary?”
Kate nodded slowly, looking at her sister. “That you would have a child, but love someone else’s.”
Tessa gasped. “She was right!”
“It was a scam,” Kate insisted. “You two paid her five dollars each!”
“And here we are, enjoying the memory more than thirty years later,” Tessa said. “Worth every penny and the suspension of disbelief.”
Kate picked up her glass to finish the champagne, actually not able to argue that. “You told me then that my problem was I wouldn’t just go for it.”
“Speaking of nineties expressions,” Tessa joked. “But I was right. Just…go for it. Stop analyzing it. Stop running the equation. Just love the man and let the rest sort itself out.”
Vivien set down her glass and leaned in. “Can I make a suggestion? Something practical, since I know that’s your language.”
“Please.”
“Go on a date,” Vivien said. “Not a walk on the beach where you end up talking about faith and logistics. An actual, romantic, sweep-you-off-your-feet date where you remember why you fell for each other in the first place.”
“Make out in his truck,” Tessa added helpfully.
“I was going to say something classier than that, but yes,” Vivien said. “Bring theromanceback. You two have been so tangled up in the big questions that you’ve forgotten the simple answer—you love each other. Start there.”
Kate looked at the two of them, seeing the fierce, unwavering love of women who had known her at her best and worst and every messy place in between.
They were right. And she’d been stupidly stubborn and taking risks with a great guy.
“He’s gone to Atlanta for a few days,” Kate said. “But when he comes back, we could…I don’t know. Where could we go?”
“Somewhere beautiful,” Vivien said. “Somewhere you can dress up and feel gorgeous and let him see you the way he already does.”
“Somewhere with good wine and a sunset,” Tessa added. “And no children, no family, no Bible discussions. Just the two of you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’ll do more than think about it,” Tessa said. “You’ll plan it. And you’ll ask him out when he gets back. You’ll show him you know what matters, because if you don’t, Kate…” Tessa reached out and took Kate’s hand. “Honey, you’re going to lose him.”
She inched back, the proclamation giving her cold chills. “Do you agree?” she asked Vivien.
Her friend tipped her head. “I’m afraid she might be right.”
Akari came back with a sewing box and a measuring tape around her neck, beckoning Tessa to the platform.
Through the boutique window, the afternoon sun beamed gold across the street, and Tessa turned in white satin, and everything about this moment felt like the universe—orsomething—was offering Kate a choice.
Be right or be happy.
She’d been choosing right for fifty years. Maybe it was time to try the other one.
