Maybe adults weren’t supposed to love getting presents, but Anja did—at least when they came from people who knew her well and had put some thought into what to get her. And her friends clearly had. She slid her hands over a year’s worth of refills for her traveler’s notebook from Nobby. Her neighbors surprised her with a vegetarian cookbook, and Miri had gotten her a box of hard-to-find ink bottles. Finally, she unrolled a sheet of ivory paper and found a gift certificate for a beginner’s ropes course from Franzi.

She looked at each of her friends in turn. “Thank you, guys.”

“There’s one more,” Susanne said quietly. “This one’s from me.” She put a small, rectangular package in front of Anja.

The laughter and chatter at the table stopped. Everyone else seemed to hold their breath along with Anja. Why was her heart pounding all of a sudden? She knew it wasn’t a piece of jewelry or something like that. It took some effort to steady her hands as she carefully peeled away the tape.

Susanne had used too much of it, as if she’d wanted to make extra sure the gift wrap would stay put. Had she been nervous too?

Finally, the paper fell away, revealing a slender, black box with a familiar white logo. Anja gasped. “You didn’t get me a Montblanc, did you? Susanne…”

Susanne smiled. “Open it.”

With trembling fingers, Anja opened the lid.

On a bed of white satin lay a silver-and-dark-blue fountain pen with tiny, engraved letters gracing the barrel.

Anja forgot how to form words. Her mouth moved, but her vocal cords didn’t produce sound. “You…you didn’t,” she finally got out.

“Looks like I did.”

“That’s…that’s crazy.” Anja still stared back and forth between the gleaming pen and Susanne’s face.

The waiter chose that moment to start serving the food, and they quickly cleared the table of presents to make room for the deliciously smelling dishes. Anja kept hold of the box with the pen.

“Is it okay?” Susanne whispered. “You said you would buy it in a heartbeat if you could, and I wanted you to have something special for your birthday. But if you don’t feel comfortable accepting it…”

“It’s a lot of money. I won’t be able to give you a gift like this.” Would they even last until Susanne’s birthday, which, according to Nobby, was in November?

“I don’t want money to ever matter between us.” Susanne’s gaze was fierce. “Even a gift with a smaller price tag can be special if it’s picked with l—” She bit her lip. “Um, with care.”