While I dressed, Harry programmed my phone. “I’m adding my number, Ty’s, and Drew’s. I think we should get Kate’s too. We want to have all of our bases covered.” He picked up his phone from the bed and tapped on the screen. “Okay, sent Ty a text so we can both have Kate’s number.” A second later his phone chimed. “That was fast. Must be he was already thinking about it.” Another chime sounded. “So, it looks like they are keeping Drew at the hospital tonight. When he’s coherent, they’ll try to talk him into checking himself into a rehab. After his inevitable refusal, because he somehow doesn’t see this as a problem, we’ll pick him up.”

I wandered over to him and turned around. “Can you zip me please?” Peeking over my shoulder, I watched for a reaction. I swear his hands shook slightly as he reached out to pull it up. “Thank you,” I murmured as he finished.

“I wonder if he’ll be out tomorrow.” Harry rubbed his face.

“My guess? They’ll want to keep him an extra twenty-four hours. We’ll see.” I shrugged as if it were no big deal, but everything was suddenly the biggest deal. “Now, I know this seems like a terrible time to even consider such a thing, but is there any chance I can interest you in food? I’m no less hungry.” I chuckled. “Okay, I was for a little bit.”

“Yeah, let’s get food and never mention it again.” He stood and wrapped me in his arms. “I’m so sorry about everything.”

“Again, don’t be. If you’re going to survive this, if we’re going to manage this, then we can’t blame ourselves for anything that isn’t truly our fault.” I frowned up at him. “Alcoholics and addicts are really good at the blame game. Oh, and they’ll blame everyone and everything but themselves.” I pressed my head against his chest and listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart, reveling in its soothing effect. I could’ve stayed like that for a long time, but we were interrupted by a knock on the door. I glanced up. “Did you order room service? Or is this about my dress?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I didn’t even get to call the desk yet. Ty interrupted.” He carefully released me. “Wait here.” Then he strode over to the door, peeked out the peephole, and sighed. “It’s Kate.” He opened the door and smiled. “Correction. It’s Kate and a tray.” He chuckled. “Let me help you with that.”

“Well, the hotel is in worse shape than I imagined if you have to start working double duty,” I teased as Harry set the food on the coffee table.

She laughed sadly, “You have no idea.” Then she glided over to remove the lids. “Ty told me you love a good ribeye Oscar,” Kate murmured to Harry. Then she took a deep breath and raised the other lid. “And I hope mac and cheese is still your go to comfort food. I had Chef give it an adult spin by adding lobster.” She shrugged and bit her lip while she awaited my reaction.

My shoulders drooped. “You remembered.” Apparently, that was all I needed to say.

Kate rushed over to me and wrapped her arms around me. At first, I didn’t want to reciprocate, and I certainly didn’t want to be reminded of my pathetic and disappointing past. I’d worked so hard to overcome it. Ah, but she murmured in my ear, low so Harry couldn’t possibly hear. “I’m sorry we lost touch. I was hurting and shut down. I didn’t have anything left for anyone else.” She took a step back but held my hands. Her sorrow was evident. “I came here, the one place where my parents didn’t want me to grow up. And I was an insta-adult, taking care of my father and helping out at the hotel. I threw myself into all of this so I didn’t have a second to think about everything I was missing out on. I let go of all of my friends from school, from my past because no one knew what to say and accepting pity wasn’t my style.”

Then I said something I never expected to say to her. “Kate, it’s okay. I get it.” I swallowed hard. “No one else could possibly understand what we were going through.”

“But you called and I never responded, never returned your call. Time just…got away from me. The funeral, moving home, and all the adjustments. After I settled in and felt ready to feel anything, I told myself it was too late to reach out.” Kate hiccupped as she tried to hold back a sob. “I should’ve been a better friend.”

I bit my lip. From the corner of my eye, I saw Harry lean against the wall, watching us quietly. For the first time, in a really long time, my life could be bigger than just me. I could stop punishing myself. Inhaling deeply, I realized I hadn’t overcome everything yet. “You know, we should let the past go. We could be friends now.” I blinked back the hot, salty tears prickling my eyes. “I don’t really have any, mostly because I’m really good at keeping people at bay.”

“Ah, we have that in common.” Kate nodded. “I’d like your friendship so much.” Then she reached out again with open arms and this time, I hugged her back. I needed it as much as she did. We stood there for several seconds, sniffling and clinging to each other. She pulled back first. “I’ll let you two eat. I just…I wanted to get all of that off my chest.” She raced toward the door, but I stopped her.

“Kate, there’s way too much food for two people. Won’t you join us? Mr. George is at the hospital anyway, right?” I shrugged.

Tilting her head, she considered my words. “Okay, I’ll stay. And you’ll start calling him Ty.” She grinned. “Or Tyler.”

“Ty will be fine.” Then I threw an arm around her and walked her to the couch before settling in on the floor.

She laughed, pushed the coffee table out more and sat with me. “I haven’t done this in far too long.” Then she pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and placed a call. “Yes, I’m going to need chocolate cake, cheesecake, and a bottle of Moscato sent to Mr. Harry Spencer’s room. Three glasses. Thank you.” She set the phone on the table.

I wasn’t really paying attention to my own actions as I began to nibble on the mac and cheese. A few minutes later, however, I realized both Harry and Kate were staring at me, smiling. “Oh, Lord. I was humming again, wasn’t I?”

“I love your voice. I can’t believe you’re an accountant,” Harry murmured.

“She used to star in every single musical the school performed,” Kate announced proudly.

I was completely taken aback. “How’d you know? We only roomed together for three weeks.”

“Yes, three weeks during senior year. We’d both been at the school long before that. I knew who you were.” Kate quickly turned to Harry. “You should hear her sing in the shower. She’s amazing.”

“Oh, I did. Yesterday. Show tunes and Disney movies.” He grinned. “I’ve been completely enthralled with her ever since.” Harry reached out and cupped my face.

“Then wait until you see her dance. I wish I had her balance, her poise…”

“It’s only on the dance floor,” I mumbled. “Nerves get in the way in real life.” My cheeks colored from embarrassment.

Kate tapped her teeth with a fork. “I noticed, but I wondered why that is. The stage never bothered you.”

“That’s because I wasn’t me. I completely threw myself into being someone else.” Suddenly, I pretended to be incredibly interested in the lobster mac and cheese. This conversation was completely unnerving.

“All I know was being her roommate was like living with a Broadway star.” She sighed happily then picked up a few pieces of the Cavatappi pasta on her fork.

I rolled my eyes. “Now, Harry, before you get the wrong idea. I was such a big star that no one besides Kate even spoke to me at school.”

“They didn’t know how.” She shook her head and laughed. “She was so focused, so serious, everyone felt out of their league. Look at her.” She gestured to encompass all of me, from head to toe. “So intimidating. So gorgeous.”

“I completely understand.” Harry grinned. “I was almost too shy to speak to her last night when we first met. She was dressed like a hooker, but then I found out she was an accountant. Neither role seems to suit her.” He studied me a moment. “You remind me of the old-time movie stars.”

“Right? I’ve always thought that. She has this quiet sophistication and understated glamour.” Kate nodded.

“Why did you quit? Why aren’t you some big Broadway star?” Harry waited patiently for a response.

I set my fork down. I’d never really talked to anyone about this. Sadly, given everything happening with Drew, this might be the perspective they needed. “My mother was an alcoholic.” I stared at my food while I tried to figure out how to share such personal history. “After my step-father passed and his kids contested the will, my mother fell into a drunken stupor for a really long time. I kinda hated her for it, for leaving me to handle everything, for adding more to my plate. She needed so much supervision. She nearly drowned once in the hot tub. If I hadn’t gone to the kitchen to get a snack after studying until almost two in the morning, she would’ve.” I rubbed my forehead and closed my eyes for a moment.

“Oh, Laney,” Harry murmured.

My lids flew open. I knew he was about to touch me and I didn’t want it. I didn’t deserve his comfort, not after what I did. “Don’t, please. Let me finish.” I turned to Kate.

She nodded. “Go on, Laney. We’ll listen.”

I licked my lips. “By the time she woke and sobered up the next day, I’d emptied the house of all alcohol. I’d spent hours searching the house for all the hidden bottles, cleaned out the liquor cabinet, found every secret stash.” I shook my head. “By the time I was done, pouring it all down the sink and recycling the glass, I’d filled an entire bin. I was sad and angry and so very tired.”

“You were barely eighteen,” Kate reminded me gently.

“Yes. And I should’ve been smarter, should’ve been kinder.” I shook my head. “She woke and went through every stage of grief in a matter of hours. Denial while she searched for anything I might have missed. Acceptance while she planned how to attain more. Bargaining while she tried to get me to buy some. You get the idea.”

Harry nodded. “Sounds familiar.”

“She kept telling me how much she needed it. According to her, alcohol made her funnier, more confident. She had to find a new husband. Our bank account was running on fumes. She needed money for plastic surgery.” I swallowed. “I told her she wouldn’t need so much surgery if she didn’t run her body into the ground, if she wasn’t putting it through such hard living from the drinking and smoking. I was completely brutal. I told her she was one face lift away from opaque skin. I told her I didn’t even recognize her anymore. I told her to stop relying on men for happiness and money, that she was a horrible role model.” There was no stopping the tears anymore. My face burned as they ran down my cheeks like some kind of acid shame. “In the end, it was my fault she killed herself.”

“I thought she didn’t commit suicide for years. You can’t blame yourself for her actions, any more than I can take responsibility for my father’s heart attack.” Kate shook her head sadly.

Harry had assessed the situation and run to grab me tissues from the other side of the room. He pulled a few from the box and began to pat my face. “Kate’s right. She was supposed to be the parent, not you.”

I grabbed a tissue and swiped at my nose. “One would think, right?” I shook my head. “She held on for a few more years. She was in and out of rehab. She pawned everything she could carry in order to have more surgery and fuel her addiction. By then, she needed pills to get up and pills to sleep. She drank cocktails in between. I’m rather shocked she didn’t have an accidental overdose.” I paused to blow my nose and toss the dirty tissue in the waste basket. “The night before I found her, we had one last fight. See, I finally brought a guy home from college, my first boyfriend. We hadn’t even slept together yet.” I rubbed my temples. My head was already throbbing. “I found my mother in bed with him. He was asleep, never knew she’d climbed in, but I overreacted. I dumped him. I called her pathetic. Then I ran off.”

My face felt like it was six shades of red, but I had to press on. I was nearly finished. “When I returned, he was gone and she was dead. Before she killed herself, she wrote me a really long venomous letter. She explained how her death was my fault, how I’d been so cruel about the plastic surgery, how I didn’t understand she was nothing without a man, and mostly how she didn’t want to embarrass me anymore.” I’d barely finished speaking when Harry asked the first question.

“How’d she die?” His brow furrowed.

“The coroner’s report showed she’d taken a handful of sleeping pills.” I frowned.

“With alcohol or something else?” He pressed me for answers.

“Water. All the alcohol in her system had been absorbed into her bloodstream. What does it matter? It’s my fault.” I choked back a sob. “I’ve had to live with that ever since.”

Harry shook his head. “I don’t think she meant to kill herself. I think she meant to make you feel badly to absolve her guilt. And in that she succeeded. You’ve been punishing yourself ever since.”

I froze. “What makes you think so?”

“A long letter? Water instead of alcohol? A handful and not a bottle of pills?” He frowned. “This has all the markings of a masterful manipulation gone horribly wrong. She expected you to find her in time to save her.”

I inhaled sharply. Harry was right. I’d let my mother ruin my life. When I was a child, I didn’t have a choice, but these adult years were mine to own. I didn’t know what to say or do.

Then there was a knock on the door. Kate hopped to her feet. “I’m guessing dessert. I’ll take care of it.”

Harry and I sat there staring at each other. “I’m glad you shared that with me, Laney. I want to understand you. I want to know everything.”

I chewed on my cheek. “And I want to share. I just never thought I’d start with my deepest, darkest secrets first.”

A moment later, he leaned over and I moved so our lips met. This time, there were no electric currents. Instead, I was flooded with warmth, like standing in front of a bonfire. I sat back on my heels and smiled at Harry when our moment was interrupted.

“Hi,” Ty murmured shyly.

“Hey, I thought you were at the hospital.” Harry frowned.

Ty nodded. “I was. Now I’m here. Drew is sleeping. We won’t know more until tomorrow. I am where I need to be.” He passed Harry two pastry boxes. “I believe there was an order for cheesecake and chocolate cake.” Ty grinned. “And wine.” He held up the bottle he’d had tucked under his arm.

Kate returned with four goblets. “Enough with the theatrics. Pour me a drink.” She laughed quietly.

He kissed her forehead, and murmured, “You got it, beautiful.”

Harry reached over and took my hand, then he brought it to his mouth and grazed my knuckles with his lips. Soon, we all held a glass of Moscato. As I prepared to take my first sip, Ty stopped us.

“So, I thought we should toast.” He blew out a breath.

“Oh?” Harry’s brows quirked.

Ty nodded. “Yes. We’re in this. The four of us.” He wrapped one arm around his wife while he held up his glass. “This is forever because true friendship, like true love, never ends.”

Our glasses clinked and Harry caught my eyes. “I’ll drink to that,” he murmured.

My cheeks were on fire and I realized that all hope had been rekindled.