Page 32 of In Every Chapter

We only let go once Juliet got twitchy.

“Time for The Princess Diaries and nail polish!” Stephanie announced. “Ladies, pick your weapons.”

“Julie Andrews is always the answer!” Liz sang with an exaggerated pirouette, before giving her best Sandra Oh impression: “‘The queen is coming.’”

Between snack breaks, the occasional song on the soundtrack that called for karaoke, and Liz reminding Juliet not to check her phone, the girls filled me in on their lives.

“You promised Myles you’d be present and not obsess over the game,” Liz demanded, snatching Juliet’s pink phone out of her hands and tucking it under her leg.

Juliet made a grab for it, but Liz squealed, “Remember the baby!”

“Which one?” Juliet froze and stared at Liz.

Liz stared right back, then cackled, her face lighting up. “Oh my gosh! We’re gonna be moms at the same time!”

While Liz was distracted, Juliet made another swipe for the phone, but Liz shoved her away. “You promised, Julie!”

“Don’t call me that.”

Liz ignored her grousing. “Myles said he’d call you before bed, woman, now focus. You’re not even the newlywed here.”

I found myself laughing at their banter. This was what I remembered. Us. “I’m glad some things haven’t changed,” I whispered so softly I wasn’t sure anyone heard me.

But Stephanie squeezed my hand sympathetically. “You still know us, Pais. We’ve grown. We’re more mature, but we’re not really different.”

I swallowed hard. She had no idea how much had changed. So I tried for levity. “After seeing that”—I motioned to Liz and Juliet—“I’m having a hard time seeing the maturity growth.”

Stephanie laughed. “Fair enough.”

“How long have you been engaged?” I asked, holding up her small hand to better admire her gorgeous engagement ring. It wasn’t huge or gaudy—despite the fact she was marrying a millionaire—but perfectly classy and elegant. Very Steph.

“Seven weeks.”

“And when’s the wedding?”

A dreamy radiance touched Stephanie’s face. “August 8th.” She paused. “We had plans for you and Jules to come up to Spokane for dress shopping in a few weeks. Are you still up for that?”

“Of course!” I chirped, plastering on a smile. Part of me was dying a slow death. I’d missed out on so many of my best friends’ milestones. I’d been there, but this forgetting . . . ? Ugh, just thinking about it had the waterworks getting primed and ready. No. I would not be the thundercloud to destroy their rainbows of happiness. I just needed a crash course on my previous life. “So how did you and Nash meet?”

“Oh, here we go,” Juliet moaned, but her lips quirked in amusement.

“He was my boss,” Stephanie said.

“Who she crushed on for two years!” Liz cut in.

You could always count on Liz for the juicy details. Somehow, she knew everything. Maybe it was the missionary-kid thing and being in the know of all the “unspoken prayer requests.” She was a terrible secret-surprise keeper, but you could trust her with your heart.

Stephanie’s vampiric skin crimsoned. “It was a mutual interest neither of us acted on because—hello, boss?—until I asked him to be my fake boyfriend to my family’s Christmas cabin nightmare.”

My jaw dropped. “You took him to meet Hiram and the Addams?” I shivered. “Girl, were you trying to run him off?”

Juliet scoffed. “That’s what we asked.”

“They’re not all bad. Just most of them.” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Besides, I’ve been doing better with letting people in.”

Liz hugged her, smooshing their faces together. “And we are so proud of you, girlie!”

“Nash Prescott is also Hiram’s biggest competitor in the marketing world,” Juliet added, cracking open a bottle of black nail polish.