“Yeah, remember when I got blamed for finding the Christmas presents after Mum found me sitting on the floor playing with my new baby doll? But it was this one,” Rachel says, pointing at Amanda who is already laughing and lifting her glass up to signify you’re welcome to Rachel. “I couldn’t have even reached the cupboard they were in, and I was only four years old. But of course, Mum didn’t even think to ask precious book-nerd Amanda because she would never do that.”

I laugh. “That’s how she got away with everything, had her nose stuck in a book and looked so innocent, but we both know better. If Mum only knew half the things she was reading, she would have locked her up in the attic to save her precious daughter from reading such dirty words. You have a little wild streak on the inside, don’t you?” I quiz her as I sip on my margarita, which I must say packs a punch, and it’s exactly what I need today.

“I call dibs on planning her hen’s party. I’m getting strippers, those dick straws, the whole works. Oh, and those dick candy necklaces too.” Rachel picks up her phone to make notes.

“No, you’re not. I’m just having a nice quiet dinner. What you just said is so not me.” Amanda looks horrified at what Rachel is planning.

“Whoa, how about we wait until she actually has that ring on her finger? And don’t worry, Rachel, we now know exactly what sort of bachelorette party you’ll want when your time comes,” I say, waiting for the reaction, and yep, here it comes.

“There is no way in hell I’m getting married before I’m forty at least, and to be honest, I’ll probably just live in sin and skip the paperwork and the crap that goes with it. The only piece of paper I’ll be signing will be a pre-nuptial agreement because no guy is getting his hands on what I’ve worked hard for or leave me with nothing like that douchebag father of ours did to Mum.” The disgust on her face at both the prospect of settling down and the memory of our father, I feel it to my core too, but I can’t press my opinions on her too. Sometimes I think she is the way she is because she has grown up watching and listening to my anti-man thoughts and she is following me without actually realizing it.

“You’re still so young, there is plenty of time to find a good man like Amanda has. They are out there, you just have to look for them,” I say, thinking of Forrest who has shown me every day that as much as I don’t want to, he is there for me to lean on and has given me a safe place.