Dan had laughed. “No, don’t do that. I’ll show you.” Moving from his side of the booth, he’d slid into hers, so close she caught the faint whiffs of hair gel and soap. He patiently placed her fingers on the sticks and showed her how to move them. She didn’t quite master it that night, but eventually she’d gotten the hang of it. She’d shown Amelia at a young age. That way she wouldn’t find herself on a date one day, unable to use them.

The girls returned, giggling, cheeks flushed. The scent of floral hand soap swept through the booth. Amelia typed something on her phone while Lauren picked up her set of chopsticks. Swallowing down her last bite, Whitney reached into her purse and closed her fingers around Amelia’s gift. The night may not have gone exactly like Whitney had hoped, but she figured this gift would get things back on track. It had been months in the making and excitement pulsed through her, thinking about how Amelia was going to react.

“Oh, my God,” Amelia burst out, startling Whitney. Looking up from her phone, her eyes were bright, her mouth stretched into the largest smile Whitney had seen in a while. “Dad’s buying me a car!”

“What?” Whitney released the card and it fell back into her purse.

“Yeah. He said that once I pass my driving test, he’ll buy me a car.” She spoke so fast her words were all jumbled together. “And not even a used one, but a new one from a lot and everything.”

“How?” Whitney asked.

Amelia shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sure he can fill out the paperwork online or whatever.” She turned to her friend. “Can you believe it? A brand-new car!”

Whitney thought about the card in her purse. The envelope of money hidden in her underwear drawer. She’d been saving all the money from her side gigs for the past year, hoping to have enough to buy Amelia a car for her birthday. She’d saved several thousand dollars. Not enough for a new car, obviously. She’d written it all down in the card, which she clearly couldn’t give Amelia now.

Smiling, she worked hard to drum up a happy energy. Amelia was happy. Really happy. And she deserved to be. So, Whitney would be happy too.

“Well, I don’t have your gift tonight,” Whitney said. “I thought I’d take you on a little shopping spree this Saturday, maybe get mani-pedis.”

“Ooh, I can’t this Saturday. I have that away meet, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

“But maybe Sunday?”

“Sounds good.” Whitney shoved the card farther down into her purse, while the girls went back to talking to each other, as if they were the only ones in the booth.

As if Whitney wasn’t even there.

18