-OK. -Sigh-. I’ll close them. Doctor’s orders.
Winter giggles dryly, but Summer doesn’t. Her footsteps get closer, and when she nudges my foot with the toe of her sneaker, I look at her.
“Come on,” he says. I know what you need.
I nod my head and close my eyes.
-Yeah. A time machine.
-No. A brunch with alcohol.
“Summer, it’s Monday!” “Winter sounds alarmed and it makes me laugh.
-AND? You just finished a long shift, and I’m done with my clients for the day. Willa is bored and blowing up my phone about penis sizes. And Sloane looks half dead. Do we all have somewhere to be? Important things to do? Are you eager to get back to the city?
Winter purses her lips and shakes her head.
I point at her, already a little tipsy. Lack of sleep does that to a girl.
“Girl, same thing.” Let’s hide out in Chestnut Springs with a hot country boy and never come back to the city. The city sucks, and so does everyone who lives there.
A small smile appears on Winter’s impassive face, and she shrugs with her arms crossed.
“I guess I could toast that.”
-Of course! -Summer shouts-. I’ll call Wils and we’ll meet her at Le Pamplemousse.
“Here, have another one.” “Willa pushes a mimosa across the table toward me in the charming, sunlit Parisian-style cafe, diverting my attention from Rosewood Street, Chestnut Springs’ main drag.
-I have one. I tip him my glass of champagne.
He points to the opposite hand.
-Yes, but that hand is empty. And I’m not going to drink it. I’m pregnant. He rolls his eyes like I’m stupid and places the glass so it touches my fingertips.
“Why did you ask for it then?” “I can’t resist.” I curl my fingers around the stem of the glass and bring it closer.
Willa shrugs with a light laugh.
-I don’t know, I wanted to be part of the drunk brunch.
Winter raises an eyebrow at her side.
“You are literally here.” At a drunk brunch. What else do you need?
Willa looks longingly at my double-fisted mimosas.
-Drink. Obviously.
“How about some orange juice in a glass of champagne?” Summer offers sweetly.
Willa groans.
-That is offensive.
My eyes bounce between the three women and I realize that I already feel more human.
Smiling is not the herculean effort it once seemed.
Winter takes a drink.
This drink tastes fantastic. I should do it more often.
Willa’s elbow nudges him in the side.
“Fuck yes, you should.
Summer nods before timidly adding, “I like having you here, Winter.”
I raise my glass on the table.
“I’ll drink to that.” I could use some winter inspiration. I watched you set up Theo the other night, and I need to channel that with the men in my life.
He clinks his glass against mine, but tilts his head.
“I’m not sure I’m someone to aspire to in the men’s department.” I raise an eyebrow and look at the ring on her finger. She realizes and says: “Yes. That.
-When does it end? -Willa asks it so casually, as if ending a marriage were something easy. I don’t know all the dirty details of Winter’s marriage, but I know it’s very complicated. I also know that she and Summer have a fragile relationship and that spending time together like this is something new for them.
They all came out for me, but it’s clear that having Willa and I here gives a little extra filler between the sisters.
Winter takes another drink, emptying the glass.
“Who the fuck knows?” I think dragging him makes him hard or something.
Summer coughs like her mimosa went down the wrong tube. But Winter doesn’t seem to notice. The alcohol must already make her weak. She tilts her head in my direction.
“Sloane’s idea of hiding out in Chestnut Springs is sounding very, very attractive. Where do I sign up for this?
I push my leftover mimosa across the table and she takes it without saying a word.
The more I look at Winter, the more I think she might need the drinks more than I do.
I feel exhausted, but she seems deeply tired, as if my one sleepless night is her norm.
-Do you want to rent a house here? I ask him. I’m updating a few across the road from Summer’s gym.
That lights up Winter’s face.
-Yeah?
-Yeah. I can show you after this drunk brunch.
“Jasper’s houses, huh?” Summer asks curiously.
“Yes, why don’t you tell us more about that?” Willa urges.
I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and look down.
“Well, actually he owns the whole block.” I’ve been painting and…
Willa waves a hand.
-No no no. Tell us about Jasper.
-Yeah! Winter raises her glass. Tell us why you were lying on the ground for like an hour.
Summer reaches under the table and squeezes my knee, always so sweet.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
“Can you at least tell us if Jasper has a huge cock?” Willa leans over the table.
I nod.
Winter snorts.
Summer gasps.
-I knew it!
Summer scolds Willa with her gaze, opening her eyes to her best friend.
“Why don’t you start at the beginning, Sloane?
I lie back in the chair and stare at the three women sitting with me.
“Well, I would have to go back to the first time I saw him, when I was ten years old.
A gasp of air leaves everyone’s lungs. I raise my glass.
-Yeah. Cheers to that, right? An unrequited love for decades. Except I recently discovered it wasn’t so unrequited.
Willa raises her hand.
-Hence the thing about the runaway bride who sleeps with her friend, right?
My head tilts back and forth.
“I mean, yes. It’s a little more complicated than that.
-What is the problem? Willa looks confused.
“Yes, what did he do?” Bitterness bleeds in Winter’s voice.
-He hasn’t done anything. That’s the problem. He just froze. He had the perfect moment to tell me everything. And he just froze. It’s so broken. Locked up so damn tight. And I know the reasons. I don’t even blame him. I just… wanted to be enough for him to get through it.
He blinked rapidly, taking a huge gulp.