Page 2 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?

She imagined Rachel hooking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear with that confident little shake of her shoulders.

Her green eyes were likely sparkling, and her energy was even.

Nothing rattled her. Rachel dove headfirst into any situation and made a meal out of it.

Ella, not feeling so sure, scrubbed her face.

She needed to be more like Rachel and fast. “Thank you. I needed that.”

“And, I have the best idea ever. Move here already and keep me company. Yes, I said it again. You’ve ignored me the eight other times I’ve made the suggestion, but maybe now the time is right.

Move to charming little Everly Springs, Virginia.

I miss your face, and Oklahoma will get the hell over it. ”

Ella laughed. “Just like that, huh?”

“Yes. Exactly. You’re a free agent. Let’s get the band back together again. You’ll love it here. This town is cute enough to feel small, but DC-adjacent enough for cool cred. Best of both worlds.”

“A small town look-alike but not. So, it has chain restaurants? Is that what you’re saying?”

“We have a McDonald’s on the corner, if that’s your jam.”

“Well, now you’ve gone and done it.”

“I know your weaknesses.”

There was something about the way Rachel voiced that sentence and added a definitive period at the end that told Ella she wasn’t kidding. “I wish I could. I could use my chaos twin about now. Unfortunately, I can’t just pick up and?—”

“Can’t you, though. Now? After two seconds ago. Don’t answer. Reflect.”

Ella blinked and did just that. Rachel had a possible point this time. “Well, maybe a move wouldn’t be so crazy. Reinvention might be nice.”

“You know what I think?”

“What?” Ella asked, still numb, still staring at the now blank Zoom meeting that had ended with her job and her ego murdered in front of her face. All that had been missing was the theme music from Psycho .

“We join forces, like the good old days back in school, and smash up this world together while eating a lot of amazing microwave popcorn. Emphasis on the popcorn.”

Rachel was fantastic at packaging her thoughts and knew it. Ella loved that about her.

“I have the best ideas, and you’re going to agree about this one once you’re here. Say yes already.”

It was honestly nice to hear her excited about something.

Rachel had recently emerged from a breakup-induced depression that had clung to her for months.

She’d done a lot of lying around the house in yoga pants, FaceTiming Ella while sighing between tears.

It was almost as if someone had pressed pause on the cool and vibrant Rachel and replaced her with a shell of herself, who cycled through anger and sadness.

For Ella, so many miles away and helpless, it had been hard to watch.

Rachel’s ex-girlfriend had done quite a number on her, and it was refreshing finally to hear some enthusiasm in her voice.

Ella, also familiar with the grief associated with breakups, had done everything in her power to nurse her friend through it, including check-ins multiple times a day.

Now, it seemed Rachel was extending a hand to Ella.

It was the definition of friendship. It was what they did for each other, and in this moment, she was infinitely grateful for Rachel’s presence in her life.

Ella blinked and quirked her lips to the side as she ruminated.

“It’s tempting, Rach. It is. The microwave popcorn is a big selling point.

I’m giving you bonus points for including it.

” With the ghost of Zoom still leering at her, she closed the tab on her browser with a decided click. It felt damn good, too.

“I swear.” She could hear the clack-clack-clack of Rachel’s heels on tile.

She was walking somewhere at work, which, for Rachel, was Montclair’s, a well-known department store.

“Hot fucking popcorn would end wars if given the opportunity. Why do people celebrate things with steak and lobster when there’s popcorn just sitting there?

I’ll never get it. We, alone, know the secret, Ella Bella. ”

Ella grinned. “Let them spend their money while we’re awesome on the couch with a big, cheap bowl and comfy pants.”

In actuality, the proposed plan was sounding better and better with each passing moment.

Plus, Ella noticed she wasn’t spiraling after losing her job the way she would have been without Rachel on the other end of the phone.

The timing had been a gift. And without the job, there wasn’t a lot tethering her to Tulsa when she thought about it.

Her parents had recently retired from their twin careers as CPAs and spent much of their time traveling with their loud friends who ordered heaps of red wine, leaving Ella and her brother to keep up with them via their social media posts from various adventures.

A photo of the six of them clinking glasses in Copenhagen!

A similar photo of them cheersing in Munich!

How about another shot of raised mugs in Florence?

Sure, they’d invited her here and there, but she didn’t exactly have the time off at thirty-four years old to spend weeks in Milan or Corfu.

Not to mention, she’d stand out in those photos like a pop song on a playlist of golden oldies.

She also had a feeling they’d only invited her out of obligation.

The idea made her shift in her seat. She’d been an afterthought in that case, too.

“Seeing anyone special?” Rachel asked. “Because if not, I have a list of eligible women in this town, and even a few decent men, I could set you up with. Another check mark in the reasons to move column.”

“Thank you for honoring my fluidity, madam,” she said in her upper-crust speaking voice.

“It is my pleasure, other madam,” Rachel said, matching the voice they’d used in the old days of Lunsford Hall, lying on the floor of Ella’s room until 1 a.m., figuring out how they’d take over the world.

“But I think I’m good as is.” Romance, regardless of who, was not at all on the forefront of her mind.

Ella had purposefully steered clear of anything flirty or romantic for quite some time.

It had been eleven months since Britney LeCroy had called off their engagement exactly six days before their wedding.

They’d booked the cutest little chapel on the lake and had just turned in their final draft of the seating arrangement to the wedding planner.

Ella had even finished writing her vows.

But on a rainy morning in Ella’s kitchen, Britney had explained with very definitive hand gestures that their interests were in such conflict that they’d never make it in the long run.

The example she’d given when tossing their relationship in the trash?

Britney liked bird-watching, and Ella enjoyed lazy mornings at coffee shops.

She’d waited for more. There hadn’t been any.

Ella had stared in disbelief. Well, good God.

With those kinds of differences, they couldn’t possibly forge a successful future.

They’d be insane to try, Britney had said.

Ella could have argued that their unique qualities were what added texture to their relationship, which, in her opinion, had felt solid in every other sense.

Well, until that stomach punch of a moment changed everything.

Because the idea that Britney wasn’t all in was enough for Ella to allow her own heart to break and walk away in favor of a life with someone who loved her for those lazy mornings.

Her ego had sure taken a hit, though. And the new blind side this morning certainly didn’t help her feel like a valued human in the grand scheme.

She blew out a breath. “Maybe I’m coming to Virginia.”

“What’s that you say?” Rachel asked. Ella could almost see her placing a victorious hand on her hip. Very few people said no to Rachel, and this was another example. Honestly, it felt like a life jacket when Ella was sputtering water. How could she not grab it?

“I said, let’s do this!” she yelled into the phone to the sound of Rachel laughing and whooping.

With a slow breath, Ella pulled herself out of the deep end and focused on the horizon.

Life was what one made of it, right? Maybe this was just the opportunity she needed to turn the page and level the hell up and whatever other idioms she could come up with.

“Tell the great state of Virginia that I’m on my way. ”