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S till smiling from her exchange with Paul, Endy set her water bottle on the counter and walked behind the pro shop desk. A star-shaped sticky note with Maria’s loopy handwriting in fuchsia glitter ink fluttered in a current of cold air wafting from the air-conditioning overhead.

ENDY’S FAVOR PAYMENT OPTIONS

a) dinner at Indian restaurant on Date Palm Dr

b) Thai foot massages on Sunday

c) all-inclusive women’s surf and yoga retreat in Morocco

Smiley faces and dotted illustrations of wiffle balls surrounded the message, reminding Endy of the favor Maria had done by covering for her at Picklers.

The funny thing about the list of options was that debt or no debt, Endy would happily do any or all of these activities with her oldest, like-a-sister, best friend.

They’d met in college one early December afternoon when a surprise snowstorm had blown in and the temperatures had dropped way below freezing.

Endy had just shut the front gate to her rental, a house in the university district that had been converted to a duplex.

She pointed her car’s key fob toward her ancient Subaru parked on the street just beyond the front lawn, expecting to hear the chirp of the alarm turning off.

Except it didn’t.

She aimed the fob at her car and pressed it over and over, finally throwing it down in frustration into the bare dirt where she’d previously planted petunias and marigolds during the warm months. “Dammit!” she huffed.

“Better pick those keys up before they get buried in snow,” came a voice behind her. “Or else you might not find them until spring thaw.”

Endy turned around and saw a curvy girl sitting on the stoop of the other half of the duplex. With no roof or overhang for protection from the elements, her arms were wrapped tightly around her voluptuous chest, and she shivered as the snowflakes settled on her mane of thick, curly black hair.

“Sometimes I really hate it here,” the girl continued. “And when I say ‘sometimes,’ I really mean all the time between November and April.” She pulled the sleeves of her lightweight sweater over her hands. “Ugh, it’s my own damn fault I’m here. I’m still kicking myself.”

Endy raised her eyebrows. “For …?”

“For applying to the wrong college,” the girl said with a sigh. She gave a feeble wave. “I’m Maria.”

“I’m Endy,” replied Endy, her head tilted. “Why do you say, ‘the wrong college’?”

“Well, I’m from a huge family in LA, and when I was applying to colleges, my cousin’s cousin said I should go to school in Florida since we have a lot of family there too.

I was so sure I would go to college there that I only applied to the one school, the University of Miami,” said Maria.

Her lips pursed and she blinked slowly. “U of M.”

“But this is U of M … the University of Montana,” said Endy. And then she burst out laughing. “Oh my god, did you accidentally apply to Montana instead of Miami?”

“And that is why I am still kicking myself.” Maria nodded, rolling her eyes. “At least this school gave me a lot of scholarships for my four years. They should have thrown in a down parka as well.”

Endy looked over at Maria, noticing that she wasn’t even wearing a coat. “So wait, why are you sitting out here on the steps in just a sweater? Are you waiting for someone?”

“No, soy estúpida. I’m stupid,” Maria sighed. “I locked myself out. My phone is inside, and my roommate doesn’t come back from class for forty-five minutes.”

“Whoa,” said Endy. “You can’t stay out here in the storm. Let’s go into my place since it looks like I’m not going anywhere with a dead key fob.”

“Thanks, that’s super nice of you,” replied Maria as she stood up and brushed the snow off her arms and hair. “Maybe the storm will get worse and classes will be canceled. We can stay on the couch and drink hot chocolate and tequila.”

“That does sound pretty good right now.” Endy chuckled and crossed her fingers.

Maria crossed her fingers too, then said, “Anything can happen …”

Endy nodded. “Anything can happen.”

The snowstorm did turn into a blizzard. Campus and most of the town shut down. Classes were canceled for the rest of the week, and Endy and Maria became best friends.

Two years later, just days after graduation, Maria had determined that they were going to leave the freezing cold state with “probably the worst Mexican food ever” and move to Mexico City. Maria had family that owned an Airbnb rental property there, and they needed someone to manage it.

Endy, who had never been out of the country before, was reluctant.

“What if I don’t like it?” she’d asked Maria as they cleaned their apartment, getting it ready for move out. White trash bags were piled next to the door and dust bunnies coated the floor.

“Oh, chica ,” Maria said as she reached out to hug Endy, her wet rubber gloves dripping down her wrists. “You won’t like Mexico City—you’ll love it. Everyone does.”

“I don’t know,” replied Endy, resting her head on Maria’s shoulder. “It just seems so unpredictable, so random. What if we …”

“Yeah? What if we what?”

“What if we had, like, a plan for the next couple of years? Then we’d know how long we’d be there and when we’d be back.”

Maria’s big eyes brightened. “Qué buena ! That’s good! My cousin would like to sell the property in a couple of years, so we could come back or do something else when he sells.”

Endy smiled. “Two years, in and out.”

“Two years, in and out.” Maria brushed her rubber-gloved hands together.

So, with a brand-new passport, a fairly new laptop computer, $950 in her checking account, and a roller bag, Endy headed to Mexico City with Maria to start their two-year adventure.

Those couple of years, when Endy and Maria lived in Mexico City, had been the perfect beginning of them being on their own.

Mexico City was wonderful, with an insane amount of really good, really affordable restaurants and all the art museums Endy could explore on her time off.

They’d both worked for Maria’s cousin and shared an apartment in the building at a fraction of what it would have normally cost.

Everything about Mexico City had enchanted Endy. The smells coming from the street vendor’s cooking, the constant chatter of a language she didn’t understand, the summer downpours that flooded the streets for an hour at a time.

So when Maria’s cousin sold the rental property and Endy and Maria were at the end of their two-year stay, they decided to go on another two-year adventure somewhere new.

They found their way to San Francisco, where Maria had a tia, an aunty, who had a mother-in-law’s apartment in the Mission District they could rent for a couple of years.

The apartment had access stairs leading to the roof, and when Maria realized that the door’s lock and emergency alarm weren’t functioning, she and Endy would often spend their evenings talking and stargazing, laying there on beanbag chairs they’d dragged up.

Endy got a job at the front desk at San Francisco Parks & Rec and took advantage of the free membership and classes for employees.

She took a class in a cardio dance-fitness program called BollyX, and a beginner knitting class where she made a charming potholder.

But her favorite class of all time was learning how to play pickleball.

Who could have known that Endy would have fallen so in love with pickleball?

But it was addictive, and Endy careened fully into it, playing as much as time allowed.

She would drive Maria crazy with the flat tok, tok, tok, tok sound the ball would make bouncing off her paddle as she walked from room to room in the apartment.

So when her supervisors at Parks & Rec realized how obsessed Endy was, they moved her off the front desk and into instructing pickleball.

Pickleball was not her only love. There was also Bennett.

A girl Endy taught in her pickleball class introduced them, and Endy had fallen hard and fast for Bennett.

He was more than ready to get into another serious relationship after his previous girlfriend had broken up with him a few months prior.

So, within a couple of weeks, Endy and Bennett had gone from dating to spending just about every day with each other.

And then it was only two more weeks until they got engaged.

Endy couldn’t believe her luck in meeting Bennett. He was good-looking, cultured, well educated, and came from a wealthy family in Seattle, so Endy did everything she could to be the type of woman he would want to spend his life with.

Endy slowly adopted Bennett’s mannerisms and chose to become quiet and respectful of his opinions.

She knew Maria didn’t approve of the changes to her personality, but Endy had had unsuccessful relationships before in her life, and she did everything she could to make sure this relationship was the one that would succeed.

But when Bennett’s ex-girlfriend arrived back in San Francisco after living in Barcelona for the past few years, she had run right back to him, begging his forgiveness and telling him how much she had missed him.

Immediately, it was glaringly clear how well suited they were for each other, much more so than Endy had ever been in Bennett’s world.

And within a month, Bennett left Endy to get back together with his ex, and Endy found herself heartbroken and un-engaged.

Maria and Endy sat on their apartment’s rooftop, eating ice cream out of the containers.

“I am so sorry about the bad news from my tia ,” said Maria, licking her spoon. “I can’t believe she’s raising the rent on our place.”

“It’s not your aunty’s fault,” replied Endy. “She gave us a pretty sweet deal these past couple of years. There’s no chance we can afford to stay any longer.”

Endy placed the container of ice cream next to her, then lay back. Darkness pressed heavy on the rooftop, and Endy felt Maria recline next to her.

“It’s time, anyway,” Endy said in a low voice. “Now that Bennett and I aren’t together, nothing is keeping me here. I think a change of scene is probably a good idea.”

“I hate that you had to go through that with Bennett,” said Maria, reaching out and wrapping her fingers in Endy’s. “But, amiga, he wasn’t the one. You deserve better.”

“Better?” argued Endy. “You know who was better? She was. Prettier, smarter, richer.”

“Shut your mouth!” replied Maria. “The next guy who falls in love with you is going to be the one.”

“Sure, until his beautiful ex-girlfriend comes back. Just like—” Endy said. “Ouch! Did you just pinch me?”

Maria sat up. “And I’ll do it again every time you say you’re not good enough for some guy. Plus, the probability of an ex coming back and stealing your boyfriend away from you again is, like, one in a million.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Endy sighed. “Maybe your aunt raising our rent is a sign. I need a change, which means you do too, bestie.”

“We go together,” Maria nodded. “But aren’t you worried about what we’re going to do next?”

“Kind of,” replied Endy. “But it’ll work—”

“Oh my god, did you see it? Another sign!” exclaimed Maria, as a streak of light crossed the night sky. “Make a wish!”

Already ahead of Maria, Endy squeezed her eyes closed and crossed her fingers. “Please come true,” she whispered, her wish on the shooting star serious and weighty in her heart. “Please.”

When she’d arrived home from work the next day, she’d barely stepped through the door when Maria came rushing toward her, breathless.

“Just what did you wish for when we saw the shooting star?”

“What did I wish for? Why?” asked Endy with a blank look.

“Because … pack your sunscreen,” Maria yelled, jumping up and down. “We’re going to sunny SoCal!”

“Wait, what?”

Maria grabbed Endy’s arms, a smile wide across her face. “We are moving to Palm Springs! My cousin got us jobs at a country club called Whisper Hills!”

Endy’s eyes widened and she enveloped Maria in a hug. “What just happened?”

“That wishing on a shooting star thing really worked, because they want us down there in two weeks.”

So with a brand-new tube of SPF 50-plus sunblock, a fairly new two-piece swimsuit, $700 in her checking account, and a roller bag, Endy headed to Palm Springs with her best friend, starting another two-year adventure.

Endy fished a black Sharpie from the messy desk drawer under the pro shop’s computer and wrote in between the lines and smiley faces.

ENDY’S FAVOR PAYMENT OPTIONS

a) dinner at Indian restaurant on Date Palm Dr

**my treat this Saturday. But you are NOT allowed to order spicy level 6 EVER AGAIN

b) Thai foot massages on Sunday

**yaasss, s/b every Sunday for our whole lives

c) all-inclusive women’s surf and yoga retreat in Morocco ** in 2 years???

She placed the sticky note on the frame of the computer screen and smoothed it with her thumb, smiling at her great fortune to have people like Paul Rothman and Maria Gutierrez in her life.