“Need tacos! Was promised tacos!” a voice, comically weak, called from the floor at Mary’s feet, hidden from view behind the register. It was Via, Fin’s best friend and one of Mary’s favorite people on earth. Mary had invited Fin and Via over to her apartment for a girls’ night complete with at-home pedicures, the aforementioned tacos and—the silver bullet—the promise that she’d let them help set up her new dating profile on an app mostly featuring older men.

They’d both sprung at the chance like hyenas on a limping gazelle. As a member of the chronically single club, Mary had learned that if there was one thing that happily coupled people could never resist, it was playing on the dating apps of their single friends.

“Just let yourselves in upstairs, order some tacos, make some margaritas in my new blender, and I’ll be up in a couple hours when I close up the shop.”

“Yeah, right,” Fin scoffed, resting half of her beautiful face on her closed fist and making her cheek stretch. “No woman left behind. We’ll hang here until closing time.”

“Here, here,” Via called from the ground. “But my feet have swollen from a week of hell at work, and I can’t get my heels back on. So, I’m just going to participate from down here.”

The bell on the door rang and Mary looked up. But it was just a late-night shopper in a long silk scarf, who seemed to be browsing, though Mary would bet a hundred bucks that the woman had already picked out whatever she was there to buy on the website.

Right on the woman’s heels, though, happened to be Estrella. Her face brightened when she saw Mary. “Mary! I didn’t expect to see you here on a Friday night. I thought for sure it would be Sandra.”

“She didn’t show up for her shift,” Mary said gloomily. “What can I do you for, Estrella?”

“Fin, my love,” Estrella greeted her before she turned back to Mary. “I’m just here to drop off those picture frames I told you about.” Estrella held out a tote bag to Mary and grinned over the counter at Via. “I didn’t realize you had a stowaway back there.”

“Hi, Estrella,” Via said with a big grin on her face. “We’re supposed to be having a girls’ night where I’d ideally be draped across Mary’s couch, but I’m settling for the floor until Sandra gets here.”

“I’m sorry your girls’ night is ruined.”

“Oh, it’ll still be fun. Let’s order the tacos now and eat them behind the register while we hide from customers,” Fin said with a little grin on her face.

The one customer in the shop sniffed and didn’t smile from where she stood comparing the embroidery on two separate pillows.