“I don’t want to burden her with how much my life sucks right now. Our cousin in the permit office is running out of reasons to deny the permit. Our time is running out. I just feel like getting people here to care about what’s really happening is hard. I’m going to every council meeting. Plus, WIC and I keep missing each other, trying to connect. And nothing’s really official.” This was a small white lie. She knew how much the family liked him, but she had been sending some of his calls to voicemail recently. Every call was half flattery, half asking her to do something new. She didn’t like to feel used. But Bev had been terrible after Chicho married Colin, and the imaginary deep relationship with WIC was the only thing that kept Bev from flying off the handle with her. Family acceptance was a powerful drug.

“And you think talking to her about what’s really wrong is going to make her think you regret turning down Colin?”

“Yep.” Liza nodded.

“So you haven’t spoken to your best friend in four weeks? You got it all figured out, right, Liza?”

“No, I never said that I did. What about you? You got two offers in New York, and you still haven’t responded.”

“I know what you’re trying to do.”

“David is bound to come back to New York soon. You have your pick of jobs there. Talk to him instead of stalking his Instagram and looking around puzzled. You two are the worst.”

“Well, don’t you have all the answers for somebody else’s life?” Janae’s voice crackled over the phone. “Even if we hung out here, he’d have to go back to France for another four weeks, and he did this without even telling me. Nothing changes the fact that he up and left the country without so much as a text.”

“Isn’t that something you can talk to him about to his face in New York?”

“It’s not always that easy, Liza.”

“Janae, I’m not saying that it’s easy. I’m saying that at some point you have got to let yourself love again. You’ve got to let yourself open up. You can’t just let love pass through your fingertips. Do I like David? Meh. I think he has a weak chin and a goofy laugh. But I think he works for you, and he makes you happy. You should fight for what makes you happy, not run away from it.”