Even Vicki and Rob had shared private moments. Vicki had never been drawn to Rob like the others—he was always borrowingmoney from Rich and the band, and his secret, late-night relation-ship with Hannah had forced Vicki to keep secrets from Bee—but still they maintained a quiet friendship. During their sophomore year, they would take off together at least once a month to procure alcohol for much of their underage dorm. They’d make CD mixes for the drive to Canada, where they were of age, and do impressions of Rob’s band leader, Jared Novak, in the car. They’d come up with lists of fake business names for Vicki’s dream company, the design firm she hoped to open after graduating.

“On the Inside,” Rob had said to her during one of their Saturday-afternoon trips over the border.

“I don’t get it,” Vicki said.

“It’s like when people say someone’s pretty on the inside. That’s what you’ll do. Make a building pretty on the inside. Your design company should be called On the Inside.”

“On…the…Inside,” Vicki said slowly, considering each word as they pulled out their passports in preparation for the checkpoint. “That could work.”

“How about just…Vicki Clifford Interiors?” she offered.

“Nope. Boring. You’ll get more business if it’s a pun or something,” Rob said. “It’s like my haircutting place back at home. I go there because it’s called From Hair to Eternity. I love that shit.”

Vicki remembered that it was Joe in front of her and shot him a sad smile. It was the first time during the night that she wished Rob had come to the wedding. Of course, Joe had turned out to be a suitable replacement. He was just like the friends she’d been missing for so long—funny and intuitive.

The people at Vicki’s company in Rochester weren’t like this. There was no banter, no pause-free conversation. Yet here she’d formed a connection with Joe in a matter of minutes. Maybe it was because he was related to Bee. Or maybe it was because Vicki could be her real self around her college friends.

“I should visit you out there in Vegas,” Vicki said suddenly, meaning every word. She imagined herself in Nevada with Hannah, Bee, and Joe, hiking over hills in the desert heat, backpacks on and water bottles in tow. She hadn’t traveled for fun in years.

Vicki was startled by a cigarette-soaked grunt from across the table. It was Jimmy Fee. She’d been trying to avoid direct eye contact with the best man since she sat down at the table, mainly because she thought she might laugh if she did. He was a caricature of the hot guy at the wedding, smoldering with a five o’clock shadow. She felt safer with him in her peripheral vision.

Jimmy Fee had been high-fiving relatives and talking about college football ever since he’d returned to the table after making his best man’s speech. Now he was focused on Vicki and Joe, his eyebrows raised.

“You live in Las Vegas?” Jimmy Fee asked Joe longingly.