Page 139 of No Such Thing as Serendipity

Katlynn smiled at Helena. “I’ve been encouraged to find my voice. I used to love to write until I enrolled in an MFA program. I quit after the instructor told me I had no talent.”

“That’s terrible,” Emma said.

“It was. But then again, I let him. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been writing about my experience.”

“It’s so good,” Helena said.

Katlynn blushed. “I have my reservations, but I’m considering what to do with it. Helena says I should publish it myself or at least start a blog. Once I leave here, I’m going to explore my options.”

We all clapped and offered encouragement.

“Thanks.” The glow in Katlynn’s cheeks made her look ten years younger. “Last but not least.” She gestured to Helena.

“This is easy,” Helena said. “I’ve learned to listen to and respect my body more. Instead of fighting against it and being angry, I’m listening to it. Funny, but now that I am, it’s cooperating with me. I’m not having near as many flare-ups.” Helena smiled at Katlynn. “It’s nice to have someone who will just sit with me when I’m in pain, not shame me into pushing through it or ignore it.”

Robyn put her hands against her chest. “Seeing your growth is why I do this.” Robyn glanced at her watch. “Unfortunately, we need to head back in fifteen minutes. Should we answer the last question?”

“Yes.” Emma rubbed her chin. “But can someone remind me what it is?”

“Share with the group something we don’t know about you. We can start,” Helena said, holding Katlynn’s hand up. “Do you want to tell them, or should I?”

Katlynn smiled. “Can I do the honors?”

“Absolutely.” Helena squeezed Katlynn’s hand.

“I’m moving to North Carolina to be with Helena.”

While I’d seen it coming, I was still thrilled.

“And thanks to Blake,miraculously, my financial adviser found a bookkeeping error, and all my funds are being returned to me.”

“You still need to report him,” I said.

“I already did.” Katlynn smiled at me. “Still, it’s nice not to have lost thirty percent of the value. You should become a financial adviser.”

“Uh, honey,” Helena said. “I think her career is more lucrative than helping people with their personal finances.”

“Uh, yeah, sorry,” Katlynn said.

The rest of the revelations were unremarkable since we’d all shared so much previously. That was until Robyn, who was the last up, spoke.

“There’s a piece of me I’ve never shared with any other group, but you’re different.” Robyn met my gaze. “The only person in Madison who knows my story is Vera, but I want to share it with you.”

My insides churned. By the way Robyn averted her gaze, I knew this wasn’t something she’d told me. I reminded myselfI couldn’t be offended since the purpose of this was to share something nobody else knew.

“Ten years ago, I came from San Francisco—Silicon Valley. I was a co-founder of an internet startup company. We were flying high, making money hand over fist.” Robyn looked down at the boat deck. “My partner was also my lover. I’d been with her for eight years. We were living the life of luxury, taking trips all over the globe. You could call us jetsetters.”

I stared at Robyn, trying to reconcile my notion of her with her description of her past. I couldn’t morph the calm girl next door into what she was describing.

“Somewhere along the line, the company became everything, so we started working harder. Fifteen-hour days weren’t uncommon. Our days of traveling the world were over as we expanded. No, that’s not right. We still traveled, but it was always chasing another customer.”

Robyn sighed. “I should have seen what it was doing to me, but I didn’t. I just pushed harder.” She smiled at Emma. “I needed an Emma in my life, and maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”

Emma gave her a sweet smile.

“Then our company attracted the attention of the big dogs. The vultures started circling, so we worked harder. I still can’t remember those three months of my life. I was living on Monster drinks and takeout. Sleeping at the office for days.”

Robyn met my gaze. The intense pain in her eyes made me want to rush to her. “I woke up in the hospital. The psych ward, to be more specific. I crashed. Hard.”