They smiled at each other.

“Deal,” Unity said.

They linked arms and walked into the kitchen. After taking a seat at the table, Ellen poured them each a glass of wine. Unity sat across from her, her expression sad.

“I really am sorry.”

“Me, too. I’m okay if you’re okay.”

Unity hesitated, then nodded.

“You sure?” Ellen asked.

“Yes. I’m fine, or I will be.” She bit her bottom lip. “I was thinking about what you said about Coop and how you’re worried about him. Plus what you said about me.”

Ellen winced. “Do we have to talk about that?”

“I’m not complaining. I have an idea.” Unity pulled a pad of paper out of her large handbag and slid it across to the table.

Ellen glanced down. “The Friendship List?” She looked at her friend. “What is that?”

“So you need to convince Coop that you’re totally fine on your own and I maybe need to get out of my rut.”

Ellen wanted to tease that maybe wasn’t the right word, but knew it was too soon. “Okay. And?”

“And we do it together. We make a pact to challenge each other to use the summer to make some changes. Cooper won’t apply to colleges until the fall, so there’s time for you to show him you have a life. Let’s take advantage of that. We would each have a list of things to do and whoever does the most wins.”

“Like a game show?”

“Kind of. The winner treats the loser to a weekend at the Salish Lodge.”

That caught Ellen’s attention. She and Unity had been talking about a girlfriends’ weekend at the Lodge forever. The Salish Lodge was an upscale resort on the Seattle side of the mountains. There was a spa, a couple of great restaurants and amazing views of Snoqualmie Falls. But the glorious accommodations came with a price tag her schoolteacher’s salary couldn’t afford very easily.

“I could really get into a spa weekend,” she said slowly.

“Me, too. And regardless of who wins, going away will help convince Cooper that you’re really okay without him.”

It was an interesting idea. Ellen knew Unity wasn’t the only one in a rut. As she’d been unable to come up with a single idea to fix things with Coop, she was willing to give this a try.

“What about you?” Ellen asked. “Do you want to change? I’m not trying to start anything, but you haven’t even hinted that you’re looking for more than you have.”

“I know, but what I’m doing isn’t working.” She reached for her wine. “I got thrown out of the pickleball league.”

“What? How could that happen? You’re a star player.”

Unity’s mouth twisted. “That was part of the problem. I was told that I’m too young and fit and that I should go find a league with people my own age.”

“I hadn’t thought about it that way, but they’re right.”

“According to Phyllis, I’m a big, strapping girl.”