After Joey had spelled the Winns’ names for the emergency calligrapher and Grant had wandered off deep in conversation with his brother, Joey found herself alone in the sea of guests. In her periphery, she spied people who made her smile and others she’d never before seen, but she felt content on her own, in a column of quiet. She slipped off her flip-flops and stored them behind a hedge. Then she mushed her feet into the grass and sipped her champagne, until someone stole up to her side.

“Boo!” It was Siya—thank God.

“Ah!” They shared a squeeze. “Where’s Aadesh?” asked Joey, at the same time Siya said, “You look gorg, Jo, but what’s been happening since that crazy dinner? You’ve been avoiding my calls.”

“I know, I’m sorry. But really, where’s Aadesh? I haven’t seen him in forev—”

“Josephine Abrams.” Siya’s eyes narrowed. “Aadesh isn’t going to save you from me. Too bad for you that you can’t send me to voicemail. I want to know about the Leo situation.”

“There’s no more Leo situation.”

Siya’s eyebrow raised. “Look, I remember in college when you and Leo were over. After that summer, you changed. You said you were going to law school. I thought I heard wrong.”

“I got a one-seventy on the LSATs,” Joey said quietly, watching all the guests—her guests—talking and laughing. “How could I not go?”

“That’s when I knew it wasn’t just a funk. That wasn’t my Joey talking.”

“My dad was thrilled. The day I got into Columbia, he basically printed up my business cards.”

“Law wasn’t the only way you changed though. I predicted you’d play the field post-breakup and instead, nada. Remember?”

“Even my vagina remembers.” Joey stared out at the ocean so that eventually she didn’t see people—just a haze of blue. “Three years and I didn’t so much as kiss a guy. If he tried to hold my hand, I pulled back like he was some sexual deviant. God. It took me until law school to feel normal again.”

“I think it took you until Bali to feel normal again.”

“Maybe that’s true. I wasted a lot of time. But I’m finally really happy.” She was, wasn’t she? She was pursuing her passion at last. Living by the sea, with a man who loved her deeply, whom she loved in return.

“Are you?” asked Siya, her face in deep study. “Are you sure you are, Jo?”

“I’m sure.” Just as Siya was opening her mouth to respond, Joey let out a little gasp. “Oh, I can’t believe it. He actually came.”