She lifts her chin, like she’s trying so damn hard to stay strong. “Since one of the first 10Ks that you did was for this charity, I thought you could maybe say a few words at the start. Perhaps talk about your friendship. What Tripp meant to you. How things might have been different if awareness started earlier.”
Hello, sledgehammer. Welcome to the glass case where the guilt statuette is stored inside me.
“Just to encourage the participants about what they’re running for. Most have been touched by addiction in one way or another.”
And the hammer comes down, smashing the glass into a thousand jagged shards.
I try to form words, but my tongue is made of cotton. I sneak a glance at Lulu, like maybe she can translate for me. But what can she say? Tripp’s mom isn’t making the request of her. She can’t ask Lulu because Lulu’s bond with her son broke before he died.
But mine?
The bonds between friends don’t die when a person does. They last. Hell, I had dinner with him a few nights before he fell off the wagon again. He’d seemed so different that night at The Red Door.
My mouth is sawdust. “I’d be honored to.”
“Thank you. It means a lot to me. It would have meant a lot to him.”
She turns to Lulu, squeezing her arm. “I walked past your chocolate shop the other day, and I picked up a gift box for a friend. It made me so proud of you. I always wanted to see you become all you could be.”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
Vivian steps back, sighing softly. “It’s good to see the two of you again. It brings back memories. There were good ones, right? They weren’t all bad?”
And now the sledgehammer goes for broke, smashing the shards to smithereens.
“Of course not. Most were good,” I say.
“One of my favorites is when Tripp opened his restaurant and a few nights later, he invited all of us to celebrate. I wish I had a photo of that night. It had seemed then like all his dreams were coming true.”
“Many did. You have to remember that,” Lulu says, comforting her once again.
She stops when voices intensify, and suddenly the sound of people running grows louder. Laughter rains over Strawberry Fields. It’s RaeLynn’s team, and she rushes past then stops in her tracks.
RaeLynn stares at Vivian, studying her, then her icicle eyes sparkle like she’s hit the jackpot. “Hi. Excuse me, but you look so familiar.”
“I’m Vivian Lafferty.”
“Are you . . . wait . . . you’re Lulu’s mother-in-law?” She gasps lightly. “Sorry, I meant former mother-in-law.”
“Yes, that’s me. But we still get along fine.”
RaeLynn’s smile expands. “I knew you looked familiar. This must be my lucky day. Lulu, I was friend-requesting you on Facebook last night and saw your wedding photo, and that’s how I recognized your mother-in-law. Former.”
Lulu’s brow pinches. “Wedding photos from eight years ago?”
RaeLynn laughs. “Facebook is so glitchy. They were the first ones to show up. Crazy, right?”
“That’s not how Facebook works,” I interject, but I have a sinking feeling it doesn’t matter how the social network works. I have a feeling, too, that RaeLynn’s bygones over the lost business pitch aren’t gone at all.
Lulu jumps on the coming grenade. “Vivian, did you know that Bloomingdale’s is having a sale? I’ve been dying to get my hands on some new Prada stuff. Want to cut out of here?”
Lulu doesn’t wear Prada. Lulu doesn’t shop at department stores.
“That sounds lovely.”
But the look in RaeLynn’s eyes tells me Lulu and I aren’t winning. RaeLynn tees up her TNT. “You two should totally catch up, Lulu. I bet you have so much to talk about now that you’re with Leo, the best man at your wedding.”
There goes the dynamite.
Vivian’s eyes flood with confusion. RaeLynn’s truth bomb doesn’t make sense. She turns to me for the truth. “You’re together?”
“Yes.”
Lying is pointless. She was bound to find out. Besides, Lulu and I are a good thing.
But as soon as that thought strikes me, another one does too. If I’m trying to convince myself that being with Lulu is okay—is it okay?
Vivian offers a conciliatory smile. “I’m happy for you.”
But RaeLynn’s not done. Her next words are a powder keg, and if I could give her Pretzelology on a platter right now, I would. “It’s great when true love wins out after so many years, isn’t it?” RaeLynn says with a happy sigh.
Lulu snaps her gaze to her. “What do you mean?”
“You guys are finally together. After all these years. Like it was meant to be from the start. I mean, did you ever really study those wedding photos closely?”
“Why?”
