Page 30 of Book Club Confidential

“He’s fine,” Hallie said. “I like him too.”

Tessa cringed. “She used the f-word.”

“Fine is not good enough,” Kate said. Her face nearly filled the screen as she pulled her phone close. “You’re going to marry him. He’s supposed to feel like the missing part of your soul. Your best friend in the world. Your person. The one you would run to if you just won a gold medal or a Super Bowl.”

Tessa considered the situation while Kate panicked. “Do you feel the same way about Eloise as you did about Bryce when you first met him? All the same butterflies and physical attraction?”

Hallie nodded. “Kind of. I mean, I’m not nineteen anymore, so my physical responses to most things have changed, but as soon as I saw her, I didn’t want to look away. I liked her face and her style. I liked her hair and her nails. I like all those things about you guys, too, so I didn’t realize until later—” She wet her lips, uncharacteristically cautious, before continuing. “When I found myself staring or trying to recall her voice or laugh after work—when I was home alone—I knew this was different. Being near her gets me all jazzed up, and making her laugh makes me feel like I won the lottery.”

Kate’s stunned expression softened, and her eyes rounded in adoration. “I love that for you so much.”

“Awesome,” Hallie deadpanned. “I can’t do anything about it. I wouldn’t know how or where to start anyway. But when I brush against her behind the counter, or she puts a hand on my arm or shoulder.” Hallie closed her eyes. “I want to go somewhere we can be alone and talk until I know everything about her. I want to lie in the grass under the stars and just hold hands until the sun comes up.” Her cheeks pinked, and she set the phone down. Her ceiling came into view.

“Aww,” Kate said. “This is the kind of love you deserve. We all deserve a peaceful, precious life like that.”

“It kind of puts a pea under the wedding mattress, though,” Tessa said.

Hallie groaned somewhere off camera.

“What are you going to do about Bryce?” Kate asked. “How will you tell him?”

“I’m not telling Bryce,” Hallie said. “His head would explode. Nothing I just confessed matters anyway, because I have no idea if Eloise feels the same, and I’m getting married in less than a month.”

The friends went silent.

Tessa bit her tongue and waited while Kate pressed her lips together and her gaze darted around. It was only a matter of time before her obsession with true love made it impossible for her to—

“What if she’s the one?” Kate asked.

Tessa smiled. There it was.

“The one what?” Hallie asked.

“Your one true love!” Kate hollered. “Your soulmate!”

“What if you two finish each other’s sandwiches?” Tessa added.

Kate nodded. “Exactly!”

Hallie snatched up the phone, coming back into view with a snap. “That would be incredibly hard to explain to my fiancé and the four hundred guests scheduled to see us get married, now, wouldn’t it? Plus, my mama would barehand murder me if I broke off an engagement with Bryce Haymaker. His family is rich-rich, and there’s a statue of his papa outside the library, for goodness’ sake.”

Tessa pinched her bottom lip between two fingers. Kate might obsess over romantic love, but the topics of careers and finance gave Tessa hives. “You can’t judge your success in life by who you marry,” she said, working to keep her tone pleasant and her decibels low. “The same is true for the success of that person’s family, or that person’s personal success. You are you. You’re not your partner or their family.”

Hallie stared blandly back.

“And,” Kate added, “you can’t risk missing out on life with your soulmate because you married someone who looked better on paper. Haven’t you read The Notebook?”

Hallie moved to the floor and rolled onto her carpet, taking the phone with her. “Of course I read The Notebook. This is nothing like that. I’ve only ever really dated Bryce. He’s supposed to be my endgame. How was I supposed to know my latent lesbian tendencies would kick in so late in my thirties?”

“You can’t care what your mom thinks or wants for you anymore,” Kate said. “You have to live your life, not hers.”

“I know,” Hallie said. “I don’t care what Mama thinks. I just don’t want to end up like her. You’ll say I won’t, but I say it’s all a downhill slide that starts with me making impulsive feelings-based decisions. Like ruining a cakey future that’s being handed to me on a silver platter, all because my coworker makes me feel some kind of way.”

Tessa nodded. Hallie had a complicated relationship with her mother. She’d raised Hallie like a bestie instead of a daughter, encouraging her to have a good time as often as possible. Life was short. YOLO and all that. As a result, Hallie was confident, courageous, and on a somewhat destructive path when she started college. She found herself quickly there. While most students initially fumbled the complete freedom, Hallie had thrived on consistency, predictability, and control. She’d also loudly rejected the things she didn’t want centered in her life. Namely, men and liquor. Eventually, she met Bryce, and he made it past her walls, but she rarely drank anything with alcohol.

The night Hallie met Bryce was composed of a series of mishaps. First, Tessa, Hallie, and their friends had missed the last bus back to campus after partying in a nearby town. Then, nearly broke, they’d decided to stay at a new friend’s house instead of paying double the price for a rideshare back to UVA. Somehow, Hallie, the only sober one, had entered the wrong address into the app, landing them on the northeast side of town instead of northwest. They’d entered a dive bar to use the bathroom while trying to figure out their mistake.

And there was Bryce onstage, singing with a punk band.