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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

AMELIA

“ J o Evans, what is so interesting in that phone of yours?” Pam asks as we all settle onto the big living room sectional with margaritas and giant cake slices. An odd combination that is surprisingly amazing. “Do I need to make book club a phone free zone too?”

Jo shakes her head, setting her phone face down on the coffee table.

“Sorry, I was trying to get in touch with Hannah. She said she would text me when she was ready to call in, but I haven’t heard from her all day and she’s not responding.

It’s weird. She’s been off lately, and I guess I’m just a little worried about her. ”

“Have you talked to Hallie?” Pam asks, looking concerned.

Jo nods, taking a long sip of her drink.

“She’s worried too. We both have been since the summer.

” Jo sighs, shaking her head. “Something is going on with her, but she’s more of a closed book than either Hallie or I am.

She always has been. My instinct is to nag her until she tells me what the problem is so I can fix it, but… ” she trails off.

“That doesn’t work with Hannah,” I say quietly.

Jo turns to me. “It doesn’t. And it’s hard for me to understand because I tell everyone everything. Strangers know my entire life story just because they were stuck behind me in the check-out line at the grocery store.”

I laugh, putting a hand over Jo’s and squeezing. “I’m a pretty closed book too, so I get it. It’s probably hard to be on the other side.”

Jo flops back against the couch. “You have no idea.”

“Jo honey, don’t be worried. I have a feeling you’ll be hearing from Hannah very soon.

And Amelia, there’s a difference between being a closed book and giving yourself the time and space to chart your own path.

You’ll tell Gabe and your family when you’re ready.

Deciding what you want your own life to look like and making it happen is bold and brave. ”

I stare at Cece as her words turn over in my brain. “Shit, I think you really are magic.”

She just smiles at me and nods. “I know.”

“What are you keeping from your brother, anyway?” Pam asks.

“Aren’t we supposed to be talking about a book?” I ask.

Pam laughs. “Oh, honey, no. The group chat is for talking about the book as we read it. It’s more fun that way. This is for girl time and gossip. So, give me the gossip, Ames.”

I eat a bite of cake and think, what the hell .

Cece already knows and so does Jo, and every single day that I spend with Elliot, I care less and less about what Gabe does or doesn’t know.

Cece is right that I needed to find my own path.

Sitting here in this pretty living room with these women while snow falls softly outside, I think I’m closer than I’ve ever been in my life to doing exactly that.

“My brother doesn’t know I’m getting my PhD.”

Pam studies me. “What does he think you’re doing here?”

I shrug. “He thinks I’m the chief software engineer for a biotech company, which is what I was until I quit eight months ago.”

Pam smiles. “Well, every girl is entitled to some secrets. According to Elliot, you didn’t start your PhD until about six weeks ago. So, what else have you been up to since you quit your job?”

“I coded and developed a genealogy app that’s now the number one app in the Redwood Store and I—” I cut myself off before I accidentally tell everyone about the letters and our search to find Henry.

That’s Elliot’s story to tell. Well, Elliot’s and Cece’s.

I turn to her, and she’s looking at me with a knowing smile on her face, like she knows exactly what I just stopped myself from saying.

“Wait, shit.” Jo fumbles with her phone and unlocks it, swiping at the screen. “It’s Genesis, right? You made that?”

I nod. “Yep.”

“Fucking shit,” she breathes. “It’s everywhere.

Like, the only news I read is celebrity gossip and TV spoilers, and I’ve still read about it.

People are speculating over who the creator is.

They’re calling it…hang on.” She scrolls through her phone until she finds what she’s looking for.

“Here. A flawless blend of aesthetics and function. The new frontier of genealogy research. A cutting-edge market disrupter. There are so many more. Should I read them all?” she asks.

I laugh a little. “No need. I know what I did.” And I do. I mean, I haven’t been reading the articles, but nothing stays number one in the Redwood Store for that long without getting attention. And I feel a little glow of pride at what I managed to create.

Cece gives me a satisfied nod. “Own it, girl. You sure did the thing.”

Pam leans over and refills my almost empty margarita glass. “No doubt about that. So why haven’t you told your brother?”

I grab my margarita glass and take a big gulp. “It’s really stupid.”

Pam shakes her head. “I sure bet it isn’t.”

Setting the drink on the coffee table, I sink back into the couch.

“I was tired of being Gabe Sullivan’s sister in every room I walked into, having people assume I was only there because my brother is brilliant, wealthy, and powerful.

I love Gabe, but his instinct is always to help.

He is so damn helpful he can help you to death.

And I know it sounds bratty, but I didn’t want his help or his connections.

I wanted to do this on my own, mostly to prove to myself that I could. ”

Pam nods. “I don’t think that’s bratty. I think that’s a smart woman deciding what she wants her life to look like and going for it. What about the PhD?”

“What about it?”

She leans back in her chair and kicks her legs up on the coffee table.

“Well, it seems to me that someone who was able to develop the number one app in the Redwood Store wouldn’t need a PhD to teach her things.

You’re brilliant without it. Do you love it?

The program, I mean, because I know you love the app development. I can see it all over you.”

Even though Pam is saying the exact thing that should make my hackles rise like it always has, coming from her it doesn’t make me mad.

Instead, it makes me think. And like before, I find myself telling these women all my secrets.

“Honestly, I applied to the PhD program mostly because it’s something Gabe never did.

It was hard being in the same field as Gabe when he’s so accomplished, and it felt like everything I did, he had done before.

But not this. It seems ridiculous when I say it out loud now. ”

Pam studies me for a second and then smiles at me like she knows something I don’t. “It’s not ridiculous. That seems like as good a reason as any. And now you and my son get to have a secret, forbidden relationship and, well, I’ve read that book before and I liked it.”

“That’s what I said!” Jo exclaims, bumping shoulders with me. “Also, the professor/student thing. So fucking hot.”

“Jesus, Jo,” I mutter, feeling my cheeks heat.

“Oh, honey, we’re all family here,” Cece says. “My grandson is very, very good looking. And, I would imagine, very irresistible.”

Jo nods sagely. “It’s the hot nerd thing.”

“And also the tiny dog. And the plants. He’s quite the catch, my son,” Pam says, grinning broadly.

“For so, so many reasons,” I mumble, then slap a hand over my mouth as Pam and Jo burst out laughing.

I’m saved from my humiliation by the doorbell. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cece sit up straight in her chair, glancing around the room before getting up and walking to the door. The door is just out of eyeshot, but I hear it open and Cece say, “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Ten seconds later, Cece walks back in, followed by a woman with a long brown ponytail and very familiar green eyes, wearing leggings and a bright pink sweatshirt. “Look who’s here!” Cece announces.

“Oh, my god, Hannah!” Jo squeals, jumping up from her seat and throwing herself at the woman, who I assume is her older sister. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

She shrugs when Jo pulls back. “Needed to get away. I thought I would come surprise you.” She’s going for casual but doesn’t quite get there.

Instead, her tone borders on desperate, her eyes just a little too bright, her smile a little too forced.

From the looks of the other women in the room, they notice too.

“I hope that’s okay,” she says, a little nervously, curling the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her hands.

“Hannah, dear, if here is where you need to be, then we are thrilled to have you,” Cece says, studying her like she knows all her secrets. And let’s be honest. She probably does.

“Well, of course it’s okay,” Pam says, getting up and giving Hannah a hug. “Welcome to Boston, Hannah Evans. I’m so happy to meet you in person. I hope you can stay a while.” I think Pam might be magic too, because the second she says that, it’s like Hannah’s entire body relaxes.

“I’m not sure how long I’m staying. I didn’t make any real plans, except just to get here.” When Jo pulls her down on the couch, she sits, turning to me. “I’m so sorry I just barged in like this. I’m Hannah Evans.”

I smile at her. “You didn’t barge in on anything. It’s really nice to meet you. I’m Amelia Sullivan.”

Jo leans over Hannah to look at me, smirk on her face. “She’s dating Jordan’s younger brother, Elliot.”

Hannah smiles for the first time since she walked into the house. “Nice. Smoking hot nerd vibes on point.”

We all crack up, Pam pours more drinks, and for the rest of the evening, we drink margaritas, eat sugar, and talk about everything in the world except the book we all read.

It’s one of the best nights of my life.