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“Almost,” she agreed, thinking of the old Neil Diamond song about becoming a woman soon.
Her eyes caught on the champagne again and then settled on a little gift box wrapped in white and blue. “You guys. I can’t believe you did this. Thank you.” She was surprised that her throat felt thick with emotion.
“Thanks for spending your birthday with us,” Lauren said.
She nodded. If she’d wanted to spend her birthday with her father, she would’ve needed to remind him that it was her birthday. After her mom had died, he’d remembered only every other year or so.
Lauren gestured toward a seat. “Have some champagne and open your present. It’s from both of us.”
Isabelle groaned. “It’s from Lauren. I was a complete shit. I meant to shop, but then I didn’t leave my house all week.”
“You’re painting,” Veronica said, waving a hand in dismissal. “I’m honored you’re even here. And you showered!”
“Right?” she cried, gesturing up and down her body, eyebrows raised in apparent shock at her own appearance.
Veronica picked up the small box and ran her fingers through the sapphire-blue ribbons. “It’s so pretty.” She tugged at a ribbon and then carefully unwrapped the shiny white paper. The box beneath was black. She eased the top off and gasped. Inside was a silver pendant stamped with a drawing of a fountain pen. “Oh, it’s beautiful!”
“Turn it over,” Lauren urged.
She flipped the silver disk over and felt tears blur her eyes. Dear Veronica was etched on to the back in elegant script. “I love it,” she whispered.
“Come on. I’ll help you put it on.”
Lauren eased the necklace over her head and fastened it while Veronica lifted the pendant to look at it again. “You’re the best, Lauren. Thank you.”
“Just drink your champagne,” Lauren insisted. Veronica did as she was told and was tipsy before the server came to take their order. The champagne was good, and the waiter was cute, and Veronica’s cheeks hurt from laughing before they even got their entrées. It was one of her best birthdays ever. And these amazing women were her friends. It felt a little like the life she’d always dreamed she’d have in New York.
She put down her fork, took a deep breath and set her shoulders. “Guys, I need a little help.”
Isabelle gestured toward her plate. “I’ll finish that steak for you, if that’s what you’re after.”
Veronica pushed her plate toward Isabelle. “Go ahead, but that’s not what I meant. I need help with a letter.”
“For your column?” Lauren gasped. “Oh, my God, I’ve always wanted to help with your column. Is it a question about being a sexy middle-aged librarian? Because I know all about that.”
Veronica laughed. “No.”
Isabelle held her fork up. “Hot chick on the run from the feds?”
“No! I just... Well, here’s the thing. A woman wrote to say she got a job offer in a big city, and she wants to go. It’s her dream life. But she’s engaged to a man here in Jackson who wouldn’t be willing to leave, and he doesn’t know about the offer. She wants to know if she should chase her dreams or stay here and marry the man she loves.”
Lauren nodded. “So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is—” Veronica cleared her throat “—I want to tell her to stay. I want to tell her that following her dreams is a terrible idea.”
They both frowned at her. “Why?” Isabelle asked.
Here it was. The truth. Her ears buzzed with anxiety. “Because,” she said, “I followed my dreams and it ruined my life. That’s what I want to tell her, and I have no idea if it’s the right answer or not.”
Her friends stared at her. Veronica stared back. Or tried to. But her gaze flicked back and forth between the two women, then finally dropped to the table. They looked too shocked. And probably a little disappointed.
“What do you mean,” Isabelle started, “that it ruined your life?”
She slumped. She’d never told them any of this. As far as they knew, she’d spent a few years living it up in New York and then she’d moved back here to work at her hometown paper. “I was a complete failure in New York,” she admitted. “I thought that my life was going to be there, and the truth is I was miserable. It took me four years to admit defeat and move back here.”
“But that’s not defeat,” Lauren said. “You got some experience—now you have a job you’re great at here in Jackson.”
Veronica nodded, but it wasn’t true, and eventually her nod switched direction and she was shaking her head. “I’d been planning to make my life in New York City since I was a little girl. It was all I worked for. I never even considered having a serious boyfriend, because I didn’t want to end up in the position that this woman is in. I thought...”
