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Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Abbi Waxman and her novels
  3. Berkley Titles by Abbi Waxman
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Summer
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. Fall
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. Readers Guide
  56. Questions for Discussion
  57. About the Author
  58. What’s next onyour reading list?

So she cried for a while until her bitterly disappointed inner child got it out of her system and then she gathered herself together and turned the truck around. If anything, driving back was worse. On the way she’d been propelled by hope, with the wings of optimism pushing from behind. This time she was scared, and panicked, and worried that not only had she not gotten to tell Bob how she felt, but she was going to crash his truck and die before she even reached home. Nina and Polly got back on the phone and coached her the whole way, distracting her not only with traffic updates but with a fully researched and highly informative lecture from Nina about the politics of freeway construction. Any other day it would have been fascinating, but Laura was still fighting her panic when she turned onto August Boulevard.

As she pulled up in front of the house, Polly, Nina, and Maggie were waiting for her on the sidewalk, and Laura felt her throat tighten up again. Not with sorrow this time, but with gratitude. She’d come to Los Angeles to start a new life, alone, and had found friends who would be part of it forever. They had changed her, but only by showing her sides of herself she hadn’t seen before. She wished she didn’t feel quite so sick; it was going to be hard to tell them how much she appreciated them while desperately needing to lie down.

She climbed out of the truck and waited politely until Nina completed her thought about the politics of freeway construction, and ended their call. Suddenly a green-and-white taxi pulled up with a screech. The door flew open and Bob was there, moving fast in her direction, saying, “Ladies,” to the others as he passed them. They froze on the sidewalk, and Polly reached for her phone, ever ready to capture a precious memory. Nina slapped her hand.

Bob started talking before he’d even reached Laura. Apparently Polly was rubbing off on him.

“Laura,” he said, which was an excellent start, “I’m not very good at talking, as you know, but I’ve been thinking this over for ages so I’m going to get it out and you don’t have to say anything back, or respond in any way.” He took a deep breath. “You know when you’re wandering around a new city and nothing looks familiar, and suddenly you turn a corner and know where you are?”

She nodded, her head swimming. The last few months had been filled with moments like that.