Chapter 4

CARRIE

“The orange juice is in. The Champagne is mixed. Now, all I need is the gossip, and we have the makings of an excellent day.” Amy plonks herself down in the chair opposite mine as she takes her first sip of our home-made mimosas. “Not bad. Could do with some more Champagne. But then again, can’t everything?”

Amy is my best friend and has been for the better part of five years. She’s a hairdresser, and that’s how I met her. I went in for a simple haircut and was talked into totally reinventing myself. Since then, I haven’t looked back.

“I invited you over here for some life advice. Not gossip.” I chuckle as I sample our beverage for myself.

It’s only just past noon on a Monday, but as Amy has the day off, she convinced me, very easily, the time was perfect for drinks.

“Gossip? Life advice? Please tell me how the two are different, and I’ll quit drinking today.”

“Fine,” I relent. “I guess you want to hear about Blake?”

“Even his name is sexy,” Amy teases as she leans forward, giving me her utmost attention.

“And so is he. Believe me. Really everything about him was. The way he dressed, the way he spoke. And his eyes, I could have stared at them all night.”

“Then, why didn’t you?” She asks, flashing me a wicked smile.

“Because I’m not that kind of a girl. I told him he needs to take me on a real date. He can afford it. And when he does, well, ask me the next day how my self-control is.”

“I haven’t seen this specimen yet, but the picture I have in my mind is telling. Do you think he’ll call?”

“I think so,” I say with more confidence than I feel.

I am pretty sure that he is going to call, at least I assume that he will, based off the night. But with a guy like that, I can only assume. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a whole host of women chasing him.

“Excellent. That’s all I need to hear.” She takes a mighty sip of her mimosa, nearly finishing it before I have had so much as a mouthful of my own. “Oh, I forgot to ask you. How was the reunion? Was everything okay?”

She grimaces as she asks the question, and I know why.

“Yeah, it was fine,” I admit. “They showed her face on the screen at one point, but I just looked away.”

“You poor thing. How are you holding up? It’s been, what? Three months now?”

“Four as of last Thursday,” I quietly correct her, looking down at my drink as I do. I don’t like to talk about it at the best of times, even with Amy.

The reason for Amy’s reserve is because of my sister, who passed away four months previously. It was a car crash. A drunken driver plowed into the side of her car. And as bad as that was, I was reminded of it at the reunion. They flashed her picture on the big screen at one point, in honor of her passing. It felt like a knife driving through my belly.

“It was hard seeing it. But maybe it’s for the best? Closure for me, you know?”

“Yeah, closure.” Amy reaches forward and rubs the back of my hand. “Trust me. You know Lyndsey, and you know she wouldn’t have wanted you wasting your time mourning over her. She would have wanted you to move on, finish your book and maybe start a family.”

“Yeah, okay,” I scoff. “Let’s take bets on which one comes first. None of them have good odds.”

I’m really not that interest in having a family, and it has a lot to do with my upbringing. I’m an orphan. My mother died when I was very young and my father died when I was eight. For me, there’s really no coming back from that. Lyndsey is my adopted sister, and although she and my adoptive parents did all they could to make me feel like part of the family, I never really felt like I belonged. Not in the truest sense anyway.

Those feelings still haunt me to this day and are a large reason why having a family was very low on my list of things to do.

“Whatever,” Amy says with derision as she waves me down. “You’re gorgeous, and you know it. All you need is a man. Once you have one you like, and trust me on this, he won’t be able to put you down. Who knows, maybe this Blake will be the one. Wedding bells anyone?”

“Stop!” I exclaim, trying not to laugh at my ridiculous friend. “He hasn’t even called me back. If he does. And if I like him. And if he likes me. I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself.”

“Okay, but you heard it here first,” Amy finishes with a knowing smile, as if she can see something I can’t.

I glare at my best friend as I finish my drink. The moment my glass is empty, I hold it out for her to refill, which she does willingly. The day is young, the drinks are flowing, and I know that the two of us still have a long day of gossiping to get through. I am, truth be told, rather looking forward to it.