“I do.” She looks over at me and her eyes are shining. Not with tears, but with something akin to sheer joy. “I love him, Sadie. I think I’ve loved him for a really long time.”

I reach over and grab her hand. “I think you have too. And I’m so, so happy for you. And for him. Probably more for him, since he’s really scoring big-time here.”

She rolls her eyes but pairs it with a smile. When her fingers grasp mine so tightly it starts to hurt, I realize there’s more to it.

“I don’t know what I would do if anything ever happened to our group. You and Gemma are my sisters and I’m terrified this is going to screw it up.” Harley rushes out the words in one single breath.

Tugging on our joined hands, I pull her closer to me. “Hey. None of that. Nothing is going to screw it up, okay? Even if things ended badly with the two of you—which they won’t, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve already envisioned your wedding day—nothing is going to split the four of us up.” I knock my shoulder into hers. “You guys are basically the only family I have at this point—I’m not going to let anything happen to us.”

She gives me a tiny smile. “Promise?”

“Promise. Is that the only thing holding you back? Wondering what might happen to the group in a worst-case scenario?” I take a sip of my water, giving her time to fill the silence if she wants to. Because I can tell she wants to.

We sit for another quiet minute.

Finally, she draws in a deep breath. “I need you to listen for a minute and not say anything. Okay?”

I mime zipping my lips shut and throwing away the key.

She takes in a long breath and lets it out slowly. “I’m worried about how Nick’s parents are going to react to him dating a Black woman.”

I tighten my grip on her hand but keep my promise to just listen.

“I know his parents are liberal and donated to Obama, and on paper, they do and say all the right things. But there’s a big difference between being woke on paper and accepting your son is dating a Black woman. And I’m scared, Sade. Because I don’t know how I’ll handle it if they react badly. And I don’t know how Nick will handle it either. And so in this big happy shiny relationship moment, I don’t really know how to feel, you know?” Her voice cracks at the end, and I know she’s holding back tears.