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“Your Honor, this feigned innocence is wearing thin. Mega Eats believes in the power of true love, and now they think it’s fraud if two businesswomen outsmart them? Would Mr. Mulroney like me to hold his hand too?”

Mulroney’s face reddened. His associates leaned back as though waiting for an explosion. It didn’t come. Sullivan thought she saw the judge and Mulroney exchange a look, a look that was more frightening than an outburst. They knew something. She caught Nina’s eye.

“I know,” Nina whispered.

The pit in Sullivan’s stomach morphed into a canyon-sized hole. Judge Harper seemed to turn on Nina.

Mulroney said, “Your Honor, it is imperative that this case be heard on its merits.”

The judge stood.

“Your Honor, I haven’t finished,” Nina said.

“You can finish at the trial. I find in Mega Eats’ favor. I can’t dismiss this out of hand. We will proceed to trial to see if Ms. Hashim’s musing on love and business hold water.” He hit the striking block with his gavel. “Next.”

This was what shock felt like. Kia felt like she was watching herself, Nina, and Sullivan from above.

There they were standing on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse.

It was a dream. It wasn’t happening. Nina would explain that Kia had misunderstood the judge’s decision. They were fine. Nina had been right.

“What the fuck was that unfounded bullshit?” Nina said, pulling out her phone and typing furiously. “I’m texting my associates, and my driver is on his way. We’re going to the Makers Bar.”

A few minutes later, they were ensconced in a circular booth. A waiter in black jeans and a black button-down glided over to their table.

“Champagne or martinis?” he asked Nina.

“Martinis.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Hashim.”

“One of those days,” Nina said. Behind her breezy tone, Kia heard something ominous.

“Are we fucked?” Sullivan asked.

“Well.”

No one wanted to hear well in response to are we fucked .

Over drinks and a charcuterie board no one ate, Nina talked, and Sullivan asked questions. Nina was going to ask for a new judge. There was no way the judge should have let the case go to trial.

“Totally sus!” Nina commented. “That’s a legal term.

One other thing,” Nina said as she closed the vintage cigar box that held the bill and pushed it to the edge of the table.

“I’m sorry about this, Sullivan. You two should get on Kia’s social media.

Be cute.” Nina rolled her eyes like she couldn’t imagine what that might look like.

“I am so sorry this didn’t go our way, and I’m going to prove that this should never have gone to trial.

The case Mulroney cited is so distinguishable.

But in the meantime, just in case, let’s get you all over the internet serving serious love vibes. ”

Poor Sullivan. She hated social media enough that Opal, her jolly rugby coach friend, was ready to throw down over it.

“It’s off-brand,” Kia blurted. “I mean Sullivan is. We are. I can’t cook tursnicken with Chef Mirepoix.”

Sullivan looked like a soufflé that had deflated down to its base ingredients: an omelet. A sad omelet.

“It’s not that you wouldn’t look great on Kia Gourmazing,” Kia added quickly. “You were the hottest woman in our class.”

“I was the only other woman in our class.” Sullivan’s sigh carried every word in the sentence.

Kia couldn’t let Sullivan think she didn’t want her on Kia Gourmazing because she wasn’t good enough, cool enough, hot enough.

“I still had a massive crush on you when we were in school.” Kia let out a manic laugh. “I mean, not for real, but I could have. Look at you. Who wouldn’t?”

Nina looked back and forth between them, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t care if marrying Sullivan is off-brand,” she said. “Put some glitter on her and make it work.”

Kia held it together until the second call and fourth text to Lillian.

Now she sat cross-legged on her bed—Sullivan’s guest bed—her phone clutched in her hands.

It was late afternoon in Oregon, which meant the middle of the night in Paris, so it wasn’t fair to expect Lillian to answer, but before Izzy, Lillian would have.

Before Izzy, Lillian had had a sixth sense for when Kia needed her.

Before Izzy, Lillian just danced and talked on the phone with her best friend/cousin wherever Kia was and however mismatched their time zones. Kia tried one more time.

Kia: You awake?

Nothing. Kia counted to twenty, then fifty.

It was too much. She was supposed to be filming a promo for August Harvest granola, spontaneously working in the phrase crunches like summer .

Gretchen would have her ass if she was late.

She had to call Gretchen and tell her what had happened.

Gretchen would show her love by immediately outlining a damage-control publicity plan, with a dose of cautionary tales about clients who ruined their brands and went broke.

And Me’Shell was getting to Portland tomorrow, ready to help Kia plan Taste the Love Land, and there was no love and no land, and Sullivan wanted her out of the house, and now she couldn’t leave because it’d look like they weren’t in love, and she had been secretly crushing on Sullivan since she was twenty, and Sullivan had every reason to exactly hate her.

Kia was about to lose everything. No woman would ever love her.

She’d die alone and she wouldn’t even have her father’s good sense to buy a dozen spaniels.

She rounded herself into a ball, her phone clutched in her lap, her arms wrapped around her knees, and burst into tears.

She didn’t hear the door open. She only realized Sullivan was there when Sullivan put her arms around her.

“It sucks,” Sullivan said, rocking her gently. “All of this.”

Her words and her embrace made Kia cry harder.

“This is all my fault.” Kia tried to catch her breath.

“Technically yes,” Sullivan said without any anger in her voice. “But also no.”

Kia could feel Sullivan shake her head.

“You were trying to start a business. I own a business. I can’t come at you like you were trying to burn down my house.”

“You don’t have to be nice to me.” Her whole body shuddered with the effort to suck back her tears.

“Is it more than the lawsuit? Is there something else?” Sullivan asked, still holding Kia.

“Isn’t that enough?”

“It’s absolutely enough. It’s too much.” Sullivan released Kia but kept one arm around her shoulder. “But is there anything else?”

“My cousin used to be my best friend, and she still is, but she’s in a relationship, and I feel like she doesn’t have time for me, which is selfish.

And my dad’s out of cell range. And Gretchen’s a great businessperson, but she never loved me when we were dating.

” A litany of woes poured out of Kia. “And that’s the only relationship I’ve had.

And I shouldn’t be upset. People love me, and not everyone has that, but I’m always traveling.

I used to think it was an adventure, but I started to think of Taste the Love as a home base.

I’d travel but I’d have a home here. But it’s just a business.

You can buy a business. You can’t buy home.

And now I’ve ruined your home too. And you have to live with me, and you hate it.

And you have to be on social media, and you hate it.

Oh god, and now I’ve laid all this on you and got snot on your shirt. ”

Please, let her not actually have snotted on Sullivan.

Kia scooted to the end of the bed and stood up. She took a deep breath. Oddly, she felt a little better. She walked over to the mirror and assessed how much concealer she’d need to do a live stream. More than LYS Beauty made last year.

“Fuck me,” she said to her reflection. “I didn’t accidentally tell you you were the hottest woman in our class, did I?”

She heard Sullivan chuckle behind her. “And that you had a massive crush on me. I was very flattered.”

Thank god; the way Sullivan said it told Kia she hadn’t taken Kia seriously.

“I just didn’t want you to think I said you were off-brand because you weren’t…”

“Massively hot?”

“Right. That. And Opal said you hated social media.”

“So you were going to fight Nina on the social media bit?”

“Yeah.”

A pause.

“Thanks.”

“We could plan a whole bunch of social media things and do them all in one day. Then you wouldn’t have to think about it,” Kia offered. “I could make a list, and you could see what you hated least.”

“And you could bring some stuff in from your RV. Make this place yours. Hang up some of your sexy flower art.”

“You’ve got life-sized nudes!”

“Then it’ll all match,” Sullivan said. “Hell, you’ve already shook up everything. Get us a rescue dog. Isn’t that what queer women do?”

“I don’t think I should get us a rescue dog.” Kia laughed. It felt like sunshine after a storm.

Sullivan was smiling.

“Not even if it has emotional issues? I was hoping for something that would eat the sofa.” Sullivan shook her head, but her smile widened, revealing a cute dimple that hadn’t made an appearance when they were in school, perhaps because Sullivan’s smile had always been a little guarded.

Kia hadn’t noticed that until she saw this unguarded smile.

As though she’d felt Kia’s admiring gaze, Sullivan touched her index finger to her lips for a second.

“But, seriously, Kia, I don’t hate living with you.

Make this feel like your home. You don’t have to live here like a ghost.”