“Are you kidding?” Lucy was dizzy, light-headed, giddy at this astonishing gift from the gods. “Do you know how guilty I still feel? If he sleeps with you … You’re my best friend. He’d be sleeping with my best friend! It’ll be like getting absolution from the pope!”

“You don’t have to sound so broken up about it,” Meg said dryly.

Lucy did a little hop skip over the shorts she’d abandoned on the floor.

And then in the background, she heard it. Ted’s voice, deep and steady. “Tell Lucy hello from me.”

“I’m not your messenger boy,” Meg snapped back.

Lucy swallowed hard. “Is he there right now?”

“That would be a yes,” Meg replied.

The old guilt washed over her. “Tell him hello from me then.” She sank back on the edge of the bed. “And that I’m sorry.”

Meg stopped talking directly into the phone, but Lucy had no trouble hearing her. “She said she’s having the time of her life, screwing every man she meets, and dumping you was the best move she ever made.”

Lucy jumped up. “I heard that. And he’ll know you’re lying. He knows things like that.”

Ted’s response to Meg’s fabrication was as clear as a bell. “Liar.”

“Go away,” Meg snarled at him. “You are totally creeping me out.”

Lucy clutched the phone. “Did you just tell Ted Beaudine that he was creeping you out?”

“I might have,” Meg said.

Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Lucy tried to pull herself together. “Wow … I sure didn’t see this coming.”

“See what coming?” Meg sounded annoyed. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Lucy gulped. “Love you. And enjoy!” She hung up, jumped up, pressed the phone to her chest. And danced around the room.

Meg and Ted. Meg and Ted. Meg and Ted.

Of course.

Of course, of course, of course! Ted wasn’t a player. He didn’t sleep with women he wasn’t seriously attracted to. And he was attracted to Meg, Lucy’s screwball, screw-up best friend, who wandered the world without a plan and cared nothing about earning anyone’s good opinion.

Meg Koranda and Mr. Perfect. Her rough edges and his smooth surfaces. Her impulsiveness and his forethought. Both of them blessed with brains, loyalty, and gigantic hearts. It was a crazy, unpredictable match made in heaven, although from the sound of their conversation, neither of them seemed to realize it. Or at least Meg didn’t. With Ted, it was hard to tell.