Page 85 of Book Club Confidential

A soft knock came at the front door. Hallie pressed the binder protectively to her chest as she moved through the living room toward the sound.

“Who is it?” Tessa called.

“I don’t know.”

“Bryce?”

Hallie made a disgusted, throaty sound. “Yeah, right. He told me to hire a moving company to pack, and when I didn’t want to, he told me not to expect him to help me when he’d offered to pay to have it done.”

“How sweet.”

The knocking came again, faster and more fervent, bringing Tessa to her feet.

She checked her phone, suddenly worried something had gone wrong for her dad or brother. Relief washed over her as she hurried along in Hallie’s wake. No missed texts or messages from her family.

“Coming, jeez!” Hallie said, swinging the door wide.

A woman with wild brown hair and a large-rimmed black hat shoved her way inside.

“What the hell!” Hallie barked.

The woman slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, already pulling off her hat and—hair?

Kate dropped her disguise onto the floor and pulled Hallie into a hug. “Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t stay home when you’re going through such a huge transition. I’m gutted for even thinking it was okay to miss this.”

Hallie untangled herself, making a ridiculous face as she looked at Kate’s attire. “Is that a muumuu?”

“Yeah,” Kate said. “I borrowed it from my neighbor to avoid being spotted out and about after the whole Barenaked Katie debacle. That’s what they’re calling me online now, by the way. Like the band, Barenaked Ladies.”

“We got it,” Hallie said. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, you know,” Kate said on a long breathy exhale. “I’m down another five thousand followers. No big deal. I’ll have less of a web presence than my Great-Aunt Birdie soon, and she’s been dead since the early two thousands.”

“Aw.” Hallie hugged her again. “I have root beer.”

The microwave dinged in the kitchen, and the friends followed the sound.

Tessa uncapped another soda while Hallie stirred the melted caramels.

“You’ve still got it,” Kate said, admiring the decapping.

Tessa pumped her brows.

The trio took seats at the table, a sliced apple set on a napkin before each of them, courtesy of Hallie, the bowl of melted caramel in the center.

“Is that the Vampire Dinosaur Café book?” Kate asked, tugging a corner of the binder in her direction. “I loved watching you create this.”

Hallie munched on an apple slice, smiling again at the images on the pages. “I still get mad when I think about when I presented this in my entrepreneurship course. That professor pooh-poohed my dream and dismissed all my work. I thought he hated me, but in hindsight I think I scared him a little.”

Kate forced her bottom lip forward. “Unfair. This was incredible. I fully believed you’d open this place after graduation. I had big plans to feature your dirty sodas and Dark Night of the Soul Cheeseboards on my weekly restaurant reviews.”

“I forgot you did those!” Tessa said. She’d loved visiting new establishments with Kate and their friends. Trying different foods and meeting different people around the UVA campus and town had inspired her to get to know the people of her hometown after graduation. She didn’t just want to be an extra like in movies, adding to the backdrop or crowd scenes. She’d wanted to be a part of the community. A link between other players on set. And for a little while, she had been.

Hallie dug an apple slice into the caramel like a shovel. “I should’ve named the café Dark Night of the Soul and designed the interior like a gothic library. We could’ve catered for book events, had silent book clubs, invited authors to read their work and sign books— That would’ve been amazing.”

“I love that,” Tessa said. She could see the marketing plan coming together in her mind.

But she wasn’t an advertising agent anymore. She had no idea what she was now, or what she’d do next, because she hadn’t allowed herself to think about it yet. Opting instead to worry about her friends and her father, which felt more productive and important. She’d have to think about herself, and the mess she’d caused, later. But today wasn’t that day.