“Whatever.” Even though we’ve been friends for ages, she still doesn’t love my dramatics. “All I’m saying is that I’m glad it’s over too. I was losing it. And apparently, I missed out on a hell of a lot with you. Daisy told me your dad showed his entire ass a while ago and now you’re not taking her calls.”

I fall back into my chair, regretting the moment I introduced Elsie and Daisy to each other.

“It’s not that I’m ignoring her as much as I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to say to her.” Which is also making me not take her calls, so I guess, technically, I am ignoring her. But whatever. “It’s not like I’m planning on never talking to her again. Things have been going really well between us and I’m afraid I’m going to screw it up by calling Dad a fucking asshole in front of her. I don’t want to fight with her about him.”

“You do realize that she thinks your dad is a jerk, too, right?” Elsie narrows her eyes on me like she does when she catches her kids sneaking fruit snacks from the pantry. “She grew up with him; maybe she was looking forward to having someone she can also confide in. I know you had different experiences, but from what I’ve heard, your dad being a dick isn’t an insular experience.”

Blah. Having smart friends sucks.

It’s really hard for me to keep my perspective when it comes to Andrew Young. Even though I’m glad we had a few mountains between us, part of me still wishes he had been around to go to my soccer games and school concerts. I wish I hadn’t had to come up with excuses about why I couldn’t go to the father-daughter dance or why he missed my graduations. I don’t like to think of myself as an envious person, but sometimes it pisses me off that Daisy got all of that. Even if it was from our jerk of a dad.

“I guess you might be right.” I grab another chip and chomp down on it with a little too much gusto. “I’ll call her tonight.”

“I have an even better idea.” Elsie looks beyond smug as she puts her margarita on a paper coaster and pulls out her phone. “Why put off for the future what we can accomplish today?”

“You better be fucking with me, Elsie Kamille Cooper.” My voice drops to a whisper so the nice couple across from us won’t have to hear my foul mouth over their lunch. “You’re a mom now, and I would hate to fight you in public.”

She finishes typing on her phone and looks me dead in the eye. “Try me, Drew. You know you could never take me.”