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CHAPTERONE
Gem
The lighting was terrible, the floor sticky, and the whole place smelled of stale beer and fried food, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. All jammed together in an L-shaped corner booth. Between Laney’s insistence on being able to walk through “the cutest little town” she’d ever seen, and Bronte’s demand for wherever they went to have food, I was celebrating my birthday at the dive bar down the street from my apartment in my hometown of Galena, Illinois. We were all together. That was what mattered.
“So, how does it feel to be twenty-five?” Sam asked, tossing her long lavender-hued hair to the side.
I was the first one out of our little foursome to turn twenty-five, and we’d made a pact long ago to be together as often as possible. Birthdays, special occasions, the good, and the bad, we would be there for one another, always.
“I can rent a car now,” I said, lifting my glass to the other girls. “But I don’t feel any older or wiser after turning a quarter of a century.”
Bronte scrunched up her button nose. “Maybe tomorrow.”
Laney arched one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Or maybe next year.”
I tossed her the bird.
As with any group of friends, we each had a role to play. Laney was the de facto leader, the most outgoing of us all. Bronte was the sweet one, everyone’s conscience. Sam was the brainy one, the problem-solver. And me? I was the wild one.
I never backed down from a challenge and loved a good dare. I practiced yoga yet had never learned to hold my tongue. I changed my major three times and still wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I grew up.
“I, um…” I cleared my throat. “I opened up a savings account.”
“No shit!” Laney crowed. “You actually read that article I sent you?”
Sam shifted in her seat to see past Bronte to Laney. “What article?”
“It was about money management and retirement. My dad sent it to me…you know him.” Laney rolled her eyes. “But I thought it was helpful, so I sent it to this one,” she said, tipping her chin in my direction.
“What did it say?” Bronte asked.
“It explained how much you should be saving every month.” I skipped over the fact that even though I’d opened the account, it didn’t actually mean I had any money to save. And I still didn’t quite have a hold on the whole compound interest thing yet.
Sam poked my shoulder with her index finger. “Look at you, being all adult-like. Turning over a new leaf, huh?”
“Yeah,” Laney added. “I’m glad you don’t have your money buried in a jar in your backyard.”
I gave in to a laugh. She wasn’t far from the truth.
“Tell me—” Bronte started, propping her elbows up on the table, but the uneven legs wobbled, and her still-full gin and tonic spilled over. Sam grabbed a couple napkins to soak it up, while Laney bit her bottom lip, probably trying to rein in her booming laugh before it started.
I snorted. “You were saying?”
Bronte’s clumsiness borderlined on a sitcom gag, but after all these years, we were used to it. “I was saying, what’s your goal for this year?”
“My goal?” I gathered my long hair over my shoulder and started to braid it. “You’re funny.”
Sam sat back against the booth. “It doesn’t have to be a goal. Maybe a wish?”
Bronte shook her head. “A goal,” she repeated, digging through her purse. “Let me just get…”
“Please don’t.” Laney reached her arm over to stop Bronte from pulling out what would assuredly be a pen and paper from her purse to make some kind of list or plan or contract. Bronte was the only one to ever actually stick to New Year’s resolutions. “We’re celebrating. And I only have twenty-four hours before I need to be back in California, so I’m not wasting them on whatever test you’re about to give us.”
Bronte tucked a chunk of dark hair behind her ear. “Not a test. I thought we could all come up with something to focus on for this coming year, you know, like a—”
“This is notSisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” Laney sliced her hand through the air. “This is a Friday night with cheap drinks and three of the people I love most in the world.” She lifted her vodka and soda. “So, drink up.”
I raised my glass. “Agreed.”
