She gave him a coquettish little grin that made me think of Sophie—who, by the way, Merit still had not broken up with. I hounded him about it constantly, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Don’t forget, Christmas at our house!” Mom said. She had come alive since Dad came home. She was working part-time at Montoya & Sons, and it seemed like the perfect fit. And Dad’s business had come back 100 percent—with tons of credit to both Julie and Juniper Shores Socialite, who were instrumental in piecing his reputation back together.

“Forget Christmas,” Alice said. “How about don’t forget our wedding at your house?”

“The most important day ever of all time,” Elliott said with an enthusiasm that brought tears to my eyes.

Dad put his hands importantly to his chest and said, “My first time officiating a wedding. I’m basically a man of the cloth.”

Merit said, “Well, you did bring us all together.” Then he cleared his throat. “Um, guys. I have something to say. And it’s kind of a big secret, so you can’t tell anyone outside this room.”

I looked at him questioningly. Was this it? The big moment? Please, God, don’t let him tell them he has a fake brain tumor. I smiled and winked at him encouragingly.

Merit took a deep breath. “I’m Juniper Shores Socialite.”

“What?” I said. Then I realized this must be the big shocking lie before the real truth. Well played, Merit.

Grace dropped her fork. She put her hands out. “I’m sorry. I’m having so many feelings right now.”

Panic roiled in my stomach. If she was upset about this, how would the real announcement go?

“I don’t believe that!” Julie said. “You write bad stuff about yourself all the time!”

“You made all of our lives much harder than they had to be,” Alice said, scowling at him.

The supportive coming-out therapy friend on Team Merit, i.e., me, said, “He’s kidding.”

I looked at him, and he shook his head. “You’re not? I’m sorry, what?” I asked, anger rising in me. “You absolutely roasted all of us!”

“Did I?” Merit asked. “Or did I clear all your names? Did I put public interest on you so that everyone believed Bill was innocent and Alice wasn’t a murderer and Mom was more than just Dad’s ex, and Julie wasn’t an opportunistic tattletale?” He looked over and pointed at Ben and me. “These two would never be together.”

I locked eyes with him, and I knew, in the way a best friend does, what he wasn’t saying: And everyone would continue to believe that he was a player who couldn’t commit to one girl.

He made it impossible to be mad at him.