“What?” I exclaimed. I knew Robin could be an impulse shopper . . . there wasn’t a sale she could resist. But debt of this magnitude? “Are you serious? Robin, that’s major. What credit card even has a limit that high?”

She groaned and dramatically flew back against the chair, face creased with worry. “I don’t know how my line of credit got extended so much. I think maybe it was part of a home equity line, but all I know is my interest rate is crazy high. Like twenty-one percent high.”

“Robin, you’ll never pay that off. What the hell were you thinking? And does Grant know?”

“No, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I can’t tell him. He’ll flip out. He works so hard and we’re barely scraping by. We live paycheck-to-paycheck because we’re still paying off his student loan debt and all the medical equipment costs. He’s a doctor and we’re broke! How did I get into this so deep? I need help, Lil.”

“No kidding. You’re spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars each month on . . . what? What shit are you buying anyway?”

“You know how I started selling stuff?”

Oh yes, I remembered those days quite well, especially since she’d always come begging me to purchase something, anything. The numerous online business ventures she’d tried on like swimsuits in a fitting room, none of which “fit.” Each one required upfront costs, and each one ended in a flop. From selling makeup to jewelry to leggings to essential oils to cleaning products to God knows what else, I’d lost track.

Rule number one in friendship: Don’t try to sell stuff to your friends. They’ll resent you for it later.

“Well, I was buying all these starter kits and then the product costs started adding up. Then I was selling that clothing line through Facebook parties, but that was almost a thousand dollars in start-up costs. Those online businesses cost money, but you’ve got to spend money to make money, you know?”

I shook my head, and her lips drooped in a disappointed frown. “Robin, you change jobs like you’re changing underwear. If you’re telling me you’ve spent forty-two grand on makeup and clothes, then there is something bigger that’s wrong here.” I tapped my temple. “Up here. You need help.”

“Oh come on. It’s not like it was just makeup and clothes, Lil. Some of it was toward vacations, new furniture, random stuff around the house.”

“So Grant probably has some idea of the debt if he knew you were buying furniture and making home improvements, right?”