Page 48 of Book Club Confidential

Tessa agreed. “This is incredible. Do you miss the bob?”

“Hell, no,” Hallie said. “I only grew my hair that long and ditched the color to fit in better with Bryce and his family. He suggested I was too old to have unnaturally colored hair on my thirtieth birthday, and for a while I thought he might be right.”

Tessa frowned. She’d long suspected that Bryce was behind some of Hallie’s aesthetic changes. After all, he’d given up the edgier look he’d sported in college the minute it was time for graduation. “I’m sorry he made you feel like you couldn’t be completely you.”

Hallie waved a hand. “It was just hair.”

Tessa shook her head but didn’t push. “Anyway, you look hot.”

Hallie beamed. “I feel hot.”

Kate laughed. “To be clear, you did not have to do this for us. We aren’t judging how much or little any of us change in a month. We’re just supposed to pick some things and try.”

“This was long overdue,” Hallie said. “Bryce’s mom will stroke out and die when she sees me at the cake tasting tomorrow morning, but it’ll be too late to change it then.”

Kate lifted a hand overhead, drawing a young server’s attention. “Can we get a bottle of something sweet for the table. Red wine?” She looked to her friends, then back to the server. “Do you have a muscadine?”

“Yeah. I’ve got something new and local.”

“Perfect,” Kate said. She turned to Hallie.

“Can I get a Sprite with pineapple and coconut syrup?” Hallie asked.

“Sure, anything else?”

Hallie rolled her shoulders back. “I heard you’re hiring here.”

“Yeah. Applications are on the website. You can use the QR code on the menu to get there.”

“Thanks.”

The server walked away, and Kate leaned forward.

“Are you thinking about leaving the café?” Kate asked. Her brows rose and her eyes flared with interest. “Are you applying here? Is that why you chose this place tonight?”

Hallie frowned. “No. I just wanted to eat here, and I heard they were hiring. I was curious.”

The server returned a moment later with the drinks, then took her leave once more.

Tessa turned to Hallie. “Just curious?”

She sipped her drink, paddled the ice with her straw, and looked around the room. “Mm-hmm.”

Kate pulled on the place mat beneath Hallie’s glass when she set her drink down, causing the contents to gently slosh.

“Hey!”

“Stop making small talk. What’s going on?” Kate asked.

Hallie picked at the corner of her napkin.

“You’re a culinary genius,” Kate pressed. “Why not apply and see what happens? It can’t hurt, and if nothing comes of it, no one will know.”

Hallie looked up, cheeks slightly rosy with color. “Work isn’t the biggest problem I have at the moment.”

“Is it Bryce?” Kate asked. “Have you talked to him about how you’re feeling?”

“No, but I think I’m going to leave him.”