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and went over to the bar to discuss her drink selection with Jimmy. She returned with a Bahama Mama and sipped it as she sat.
    “I thought you were living in LA,” I said numbly.
    My two best friends from high school were both in town celebrating … My homecoming? I hoped they didn’t think this would become permanent.
    “I’m on vacation. Mom’s been pressuring me to visit, so when she mentioned you were coming home, I figured I should make an appearance. Get the whole gang together, you know,” she remarked.
    She was a far cry from the shy girl in my memories.
    “Wow. It’s so great to catch up with the two of you. But I should tell you, I’m not here forever. My roommates are holding my bedroom in our apartment.” I didn’t want them to get too excited about my presence.
    “Well, yeah, we figured. But if you’re here for the summer, it’s good enough for me,” Gabby said.
    “No kidding. I’m only here for the weekend, but I am thinking about moving back to town on a more permanent basis,” Rainey whispered.
    Gabby perked up. “Ooh, gossip ! Why are you coming back?”
    “Oh, you know, tired of the city life. I need to get back to who I really am. Everyone in LA is so fake. It’s hard to take sometimes,” she admitted.
    I raised my glass again. “To Gabby’s divorce and Rainey’s move back home!”
    I clinked my glass against theirs and felt true happiness and friendship for the first time in years.
    My roommates in Boston were great. They were considerate and clean, but they weren’t my best friends. The truth was, I didn’t have a best friend anymore. There wasn’t anyone I could talk to about my father, about my past with Luke, about anything. As I sat there listening to Gabby and Rainey go on about their lives, I realized how much I missed the small-town life. I never thought I would, but the ache for being a part of this world again hounded me.
    I sipped my cocktail and stayed silent, happy not to draw attention to myself. Gabby and Rainey rambled on about what had been going on in town and who was dating whom for nearly an hour. I listened intently, certain the conversation would eventually turn back to me. Around ten, the conversation turned to our love lives.
    “So, Rainey, do you have a guy back in LA?” Gabby asked.
    “Uh, that’s a no. Aside from buff Hollywood movie stars, of whom I haven’t met a single one, by the way, men in LA are kind of … feminine. And I don’t just mean the gay ones. It’s weird,” Rainey replied.
    I laughed. “Guess you’ll be looking for the strong, silent type once you’re back for good.”
    Her shocked expression was priceless. “You think I’d rather have some small-town hick? No thanks. For the time being, I am perfectly happy being single,” she said. Her eyes met someone else’s across the bar and I turned around to see whom. She put a hand on my arm to stop me. “You don’t want to do that, Mal. It’s Luke.”
    I groaned.
    “I thought he was staying away from you?” Gabby asked.
    “It’s not like I posted a sign that I would be here. He probably just came to see the band,” I said, unconvinced.
    News traveled fast and Luke could have easily found out that the girls and I were at The Landing. I was already on my fifth drink and I was pretty sure I wasn’t even sitting on my stool straight. It was hard to tell.
    “Just ignore him. We’re having a good time and hopefully he’ll leave us alone,” I assured them.
    “Oh, shit!” Gabby exclaimed, her eyes glued to the place I figured Luke was standing somewhere behind me. “He’s got Carrie Williams with him.”
    “Who’s Carrie Williams?” I asked as I tried to push down the pang of jealousy that ripped through my chest.
    “His girlfriend,” Gabby informed me.
    Girlfriend? The guy who almost kissed me just that afternoon had a girlfriend? Oh, I couldn’t wait to rub it in his face. What a two-timing asshole. I knew exactly how to get under his skin, too.
    “Did I