“New York, I go to NYU. But my home is just outside Chicago.” Matt looked down at the table. Was Naperville his home anymore? Was there anything left for him there? When he raised his eyes, Hank was studying him.

“So, you waitin’ on someone, friends?” she asked.

Matt shook his head. “I’m here on my own.”

She tilted her head to the side, gave him a curious look. But she didn’t ask.

“How about you? You’re here by yourself?” Matt asked, his eyes sliding back to the men at the bar who’d been bothering her.

She frowned. “I’m here for a bachelorette party.” Lowering her voice, she said, “I can’t stand the bride or her friends.”

“No?” It was a long way to come for someone she didn’t like.

“My brother’s fiancée,” she explained.

“Ah,” Matt said.

“The things we do for family, right?”

Matt took a swig of his beer, felt a sting in his chest.

“They’re all her friends and super drunk and annoying,” she continued, “so I hung back when they hopped to the next bar. But she makes my brother happy, so what can you do?”

“The elusive hunt for happiness,” Matt said. God knows Matt had been on that pursuit for some time. Even before, he wouldn’t say he’d been depressed or even sad. Despite the friction, he always knew his family loved him. He had close friends he cared about and who cared about him. He had, for all intents and purposes, a privileged life. But there was always this hollowed-out feeling in his chest he hadn’t been able to shake since Year Zero. “I took a class on happiness at school,” he said.

Hank stared at him, openmouthed. “Wait, you’re telling me that your college, which probably cost more than a house in Arkoma, has classes on happiness?” She said it like she was really dumbfounded.

Matt smiled, realizing how it must sound. “The class is called ‘The Science of Happiness.’ And it wasn’t so much about how to be happy, but about dealing with mental health wellness. But they did teach us an exercise that can make you happier.”

“Having rich parents,” Hank said, with a smile.

“No, it’s not money or status or even a fiancée that makes people happy.”

She leaned in, excited to learn the secret.

“It’s kindness,” Matt said. “Studies prove that doing five random acts of kindness a day leads to more happiness. But it has to be five, for some reason. I forget why.”

Hank narrowed her eyes. “So is that why you let me sit here, to meet your daily quota or something?” She smiled again.

The waitress came over with the water. Matt looked at Hank. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

“You know what, why not?” she said. “I’ll have a margarita.”

“Make that two,” Matt said.

CHAPTER 19