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“Too true.” She laughed. “Hey, I won’t pretend going to New York can’t change you a bit as a person. At least I came back with the same name.”

It had only been a few months, the blossoms of spring starting to come out again, and Lindsay still hadn’t found thespace to tell anyone why the name change. But Bayview was relaxed as always and just happy she’d quit trying to run away—the move back to Bayview was seamless, and I still woke up some mornings just a little bit giddy that she was here to stay and I got her to myself.

Aside from people constantly fumbling calling her Harper and having to stumble correcting themselves, everyone was just glad she was back. She’d tell everyone one day—had told me herself that she wanted to and just needed more time.

She could take all the time she needed. I’d gotten her hooked in, and she was stuck in Bayview for life now.

“I’m notscaredof my girlfriend, I just want her party to be perfect. And I’m not accepting my awful friend doing anything to ruin it.”

“Who was the one eating the ingredients for the dinner?”

“What a great question! I don’t know.”

She laughed, swatting me with a potholder. “It’s going to befine,Pais. I know how to put together an event. You just want red carpets to spoil your girlfriend.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you’re any better? Making out with my sister right in front of me every fifteen minutes…”

“You think more about me making out with Aria than I do. Fix your mind.” Her expression softened, a gentle smile creasing the corners of her eyes. “Lindsay’s going to love it, okay? She’s been happy in a way I’m not used to since she came back, and it’s really good to see. Seems like she actually gives a damn about the books at the shop, unlike its previous owner.”

“Yeah, turned out books weren’t my thing any more than lizard breeding was.”

“Bets on how long you’ll actually last running the bakery?”

I laughed. “Hell if I know. It’s fun right now, though. Not gonna be the end of the world if I change my mind. Not like I’llregret having done it. You and your stuck-in-the-mud girlfriend could take notes.”

“I’ll die before I’m taking notes from you, weirdo,” she laughed, and I heard the front door rattle and push open, and I forgot the entire conversation instantly and nearly pushed Emberlynn over sprinting towards the door.

Blue hair. I deflated. Kay stepped in through the door with a big, bright smile, holding a tray of bubble tea, and she waved. “Hey, Pais!”

“Yeah, just give me my tea.”

She laughed. “You’d been hoping to see your girlfriend, huh?”

I looked away. “You take way too much joy in that word. Be smug about it and I’ll bite you.”

“Wouldn’t it be a problem if she were here right now? Kind of ruins the surprise party if it were her here now…”

“Shush. Sometimes I get excited and I stop thinking. And don’t make any comments about why I’m excited.”

“Mm-hm.” She handed me two cups of tea. “Well, here’s one for you, and one for yourgirlfriend,” she sang, stretching out the word, and I took the two of them, hunching my shoulders.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re just jealous my girlfriend is way more interesting than yours.”

“What? Oh my god.” She put her free hand on her hip. “Gwen’s perfect.”

“Gwen’s about as fun as watching paint dry, but I guess you do you, Kay.”

She laughed, eyes sparkling. “Hey, it takes all sorts, you know? Even you!”

“That sounds a lot like an insult, but I assume you wouldn’t have the boldfaced audacity to insult Paisley Macleod to her face.”

Annabel showed up behind me and saved me from Kay insulting me any further by saying how her boring girlfriend was in the back garden with Aria, and I made myself useful by frantically pacing the place until the appointed time. Once the fated time finally arrived and Annabel and Aria had their share of laughs at how much I was tormenting Emberlynn in anticipation, I crouched by the couch waiting in bated silence as footsteps came up to the front door. And not a moment too soon, because my legs were starting to cramp.

The door unlatched and swung open. “Paisley—” Lindsay’s voice called, but she didn’t get a chance to fit another word in. I jumped out shoutingsurpriseor maybe I was just shouting, I always got excited and lost track of it—I bumped the lamp and Emberlynn had to stop it from falling over, and Lindsay stopped suddenly in the doorway, lurching and nearly falling over as we all cheered for her. Lindsay hung her head. “Paisley—Jesus Christ. I said it’s not a big deal.”

I flung myself on her, falling into her so she had to stumble with a grunt to catch me and keep upright, and I buried my face in her shoulder. “I decide what’s a big deal, and you know it.”

Lindsay—who I’d kind of attacked while she was carrying a shopping bag—shifted to hold her bag better, and I stepped back to let her set it down, giving me the kind of weary smile I was low-key obsessed with her giving me all the time. Nobody else in the world who could be so sick of me and still love me.