Page 17

Lizzie—

“Spa day!” Kate says with a ta-da motion of her hands, stopping in front of the doors of a business on Main.

“What?”

“I’m taking you out for a spa day.” She pulls the door open, holding it for me.

“I thought we were going to lunch,” I sputter, crossing my arms defensively.

“We’ll do that, too. After the spa.”

My eyes shift, and I shake my head. “Nuh uh. I’m not going in there.”

Kate’s smile dissolves. “Why not?”

“I’m not interested in that stuff anymore.”

“You always loved this stuff. Getting your nails done, facials, massages…”

“Maybe I used to, but Kate, that’s not who I am anymore. That girl is gone, and she’s not coming back.”

Kate releases the door, and it slowly closes with a whoosh. She looks lost for a moment. “Okay. Then we’ll go shopping. After all, it is Black Friday. You still do that, don’t you?”

I shrug, not particularly excited.

She hooks an arm through mine. “Come on. There’s this cute shop that just opened.”

We walk another block, and she pulls me inside some boutique called Shiloh. The place is a little boho with a bit of everything.

Kate immediately steers me toward a rack of sweet floral dresses. I admit they’re cute, and they’re exactly the kind of thing I used to wear. But now they don’t interest me.

She flips through the hangers, and I drift to a display against the wall containing heavy metal rock t-shirts, some adorned with skulls.

Kate appears over my shoulder. She glances at the display, then stares at me with a frown. “What are you doing?”

“Shopping.” I pull one out. “What do you think of this one?”

It’s got long sleeves with slashes held together with safety pins.

“Oh, babe,” she whispers, and I suddenly feel like I’ve let her down. She wants me in a happy little yellow dress. She wants her bff back.

“You hate it.” I shove it in the rack.

“I didn’t say that. It’s just… different. It’s the new you, and I guess I have to learn to like it, because I love you, Lizzie. Even if you dress in black and put a safety pin through your lip.”

My eyes sting. “Really?”

She hugs me in the middle of the store, and I lean into her shoulder.

“I’m losing my house, Kate.”

“For real?”

I nod against her shoulder. “What will I do?”

“How much do you owe? Maybe Utah and I can loan you some money.”

I shake my head. “Not this much. And I wouldn’t take it if you had it.”

“Then you’ll come live with me and Utah.” She rubs my shoulder.

“I can’t do that.” My body feels heavy, like I’m wearing a hundred-pound backpack.

She pulls away, clutching my shoulders and meeting my eyes. “Of course you can. Is that what the garage sale is all about next weekend?”

“Yes.”

“If you want to keep your furniture, I’m sure we can find a place to store it.”

“There might be a few pieces, but most of it just reminds me of a life I’ll never have. It depresses me to look at it.”

She pulls a tissue out of her purse. “We’ll figure it all out, I promise. Right now, we’re going to go get a margarita and some tacos, okay?”

I give her some semblance of a smile.

Two hours later, she drops me off at the side street that leads from Main toward the garage.

“I can take you the rest of the way,” she offers.

“I want to walk. Thanks.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.” I watch her drive away. When she’s out of sight, I double back and go to a hair salon.

A woman greets me at the counter. “Hi, did you have an appointment?”

“No, but I was wondering if you could squeeze me in.”