“A couple of hours? I choose to ignore the implication you aren’t still moving here. Try a five-minute walk. We’ll find you the perfect place near us. One of Adam’s buddies is a realtor, and I’m sure he can get you a great deal.”

She stripped off her socks, balled them, and tossed them at the trashcan. She missed.

“Or,” Jenn continued, “we have another friend whose roommate just got a job in Boston. She’s super sweet, and I think you two would really get along.”

“Another roommate? Besides you?”

“Her name is Lizzy. She’s a paralegal, and she lives just a few blocks north of our new place.”

Well, why not? Lizzy was probably nice. Why cancel her entire plan just because she wouldn’t be living with Jennifer?

“You’re still moving here, aren’t you?”

She grabbed the closet doorknob, heaved to her feet, and immediately collapsed onto her bed. Nice or not, Lizzy wasn’t Jenn. “I guess I just need a little time to figure out everything.”

“How much time? I want you here now. Yesterday. Hey, why don’t you visit for a weekend? We can look at apartments and see the sights. Then you make up your mind.”

She stared at the ceiling. “Maybe…”

“Look, Meadows, you’re coming to Manhattan if I have to drag your skinny, redheaded butt tied to the roof of my car.”

“Wow. That’s quite a visual.”

“You might be a foot taller than I am but don’t think I can’t do it. I’m a New Yorker now. I know people.”

Jenn attempted a New York gangster voice.

She laughed again and snorted. “I suck at accents.”

“I know.” Tessa couldn’t help but chuckle, her belly unclenching a smidge.

“How do you get from Green Ridge to New York anyway?” Jenn asked. “By train?”

She propped herself on one elbow and peeped through the window at the angled sliver of sky. “No idea. I’m not sure anyone from Green Ridge has ever been to New York.”

“Bus, train, or dirigible—I’ll find a way. Or there’s always the felony kidnapping route.” Jenn giggled.

“I’m confident you will.” She laughed, too, and let the sound fade into a silence that wasn’t quite easy but wasn’t strained either. A ball player in New York hit a home run, and the televised crowd cheered so loudly she could hear it all the way in Green Ridge.

“You can’t stay in Smallville forever,” Jenn finally said.

“I know. Bye, Jenn.” She tossed her phone onto the bed and wandered down to the kitchen. Who wanted to eat salad now? She should have gotten a dozen whoopie pies at the market.