she lied. “I haven’t made up my mind.”
“Good. This is a very big decision. You mustn’t be hasty and do anything while I’m gone.” Annabelle reached over and squeezed her hand. “Don’t walk away because of David.”
Mia jerked back and blinked. “David? Why would you—He has nothing to do with this. I don’t understand why you’d bring him up.”
Contradicting Annabelle’s gentle smile, her eyes gleamed shrewdly. “Of course. Forgive a doddering old lady.”
“David’s my boss, nothing more.”
The woman nodded.
“The only reason you ever heard about him was because we worked a few cases together.” She paused, frustrated that she was feeling defensive. So, she talked about work sometimes. It was only natural that his name had come up. It wasn’t as if the man noticed her. She was just one among the many, a useful tool, a worker bee. He hadn’t even so much as shared a pizza with her when they’d been stuck late at the office. As if there could ever be something between her and David. The idea alone was laughable.
Annabelle lifted her face to the sun, her eyes closed, an annoying smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
1
MIA WAITED UNTIL the waiter had poured the champagne into her friends’ glasses before she raised her flute. “To us,” she said, grinning at Lindsey and Shelby. “We did it.”
“Yes, we did,” Lindsey agreed, her mouth twisting wryly and her expression not looking quite as enthusiastic as Mia’s or Shelby’s. “We now owe more money than any three twenty-eight-year-old women should owe in their lifetimes.”
Shelby laughed and downed her champagne.
“You’re such a pessimist.” Shaking her head, Mia elbowed her. “If we didn’t think we could make a go of this, none of us would’ve signed on the dotted line, much less have quit our jobs.”
“You did?” Lindsey’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You’ve turned in your resignation already?”
“It’s typed up and will be on my boss’s desk tomorrow morning.” Mia swallowed around the lump in her throat, the one that seemed to swell every time she thought about pulling out all of her savings and having no income until their new venture turned a profit. She glanced at Shelby. “What about you?”
“I was just waiting to sign the loan documents. I’ll turn in mine on Monday as soon as I get back to Houston.” Shelby snatched the pricey bottle of Cristal out of the ice bucket and refilled her glass. “We might as well enjoy this. After tonight, it’s gonna be the cheap stuff for us until we make some dough.”
Lindsey made a small whimpering sound, her blue eyes clouding. “Don’t remind me.”
Mia set down her flute, prepared to give the pep talk she’d been rehearsing for the past few weeks. Once she’d made up her mind that she wanted to leave her firm and take a chance on starting the new business, she’d leaned hard on Lindsey and Shelby, so to some degree she felt responsible for the other two taking the plunge with her. Plus she already lived in Manhattan. Her friends had to make the move, but they missed one another, and wanted to live in New York together.
“Oh, it won’t be that bad,” Shelby said, urging her to take another sip. “We’ll eat and drink well when we go out on dates.”
Mia cleared her throat. “About that…”
Both women looked expectantly at her.
“Unlike the glory days of college, Manhattan isn’t exactly teeming with eligible men.”
“Well, neither is Chicago.” Lindsey sighed. “I haven’t had a real date in seven months.” She lifted her brows accusingly at Shelby, who never seemed to lack company of the male persuasion. “Maybe we should’ve moved to Houston, Mia. If things got too bad, at least we could count on leftovers.”
Shelby waved dismissively. “Oh, sweetie, you’re delusional if you think I’ve had any better luck there.”
Lindsey snorted. “Right.”
Mia eyed her friend. “Really, Shelby?”
“Really,” she answered defensively, and then shrugged. “I can’t remember the last time I went out a second or third time with the same guy and those are the dates that count.” She sniffed. “And no, it’s not because I’m too picky.”
“You have every reason to be damn picky. We all do,” Mia said and meant it, even though she was in the middle of a particularly long dry spell. It was mainly her fault. All those ungodly hours spent in the office hadn’t helped. And if she were totally honest with herself, she’d spent too much time hoping David would finally man up, ask her out, share one lousy dinner with her. Despite what she’d told Annabelle, despite what she’d told herself, she’d honestly thought he’d been attracted to her, at least in the beginning. Sadly, she’d clearly been fooling herself. No use thinking about him now.
“Amen.” Lindsey downed a healthy sip. “Still would be nice to have an assortment to be picky over.” She narrowed her eyes at Mia. “What ever happened to that guy you worked with? David, right?”
Mia nearly choked on her champagne. “There was never anything there.”
“Yeah, I remember him,” Shelby chimed in. “When you first started with the firm you thought he was hot.”
“He is hot. Unfortunately, he’s taken.”
“Married?” Lindsey observed sympathetically.
“To the job. His father and uncle founded the firm, and the guy still puts in more hours than anyone else.” Mia shook her head. “Anyway, there’s a rule about fraternization. God knows David Pearson would rather be strung up by his thumbs than step one toe over the line.”
Lindsey giggled a bit, which told Mia the bubbly was getting to her friend, then grabbed the champagne and topped up everyone’s glasses. “This is what I don’t get…when we were in school there were all kinds of guys around. If we didn’t have a date, it was because we didn’t want to go out.”
“I know, right?” Shelby frowned thoughtfully. “Even when we went out in groups, guys always outnumbered us. So what the hell happened to them? They can’t all be married and living in the burbs.”
“You have a point.” Mia sipped slowly, worried that the alcohol was getting to her, too. Usually she wasn’t such a lightweight, but she hadn’t eaten anything all day. “Even during spring break, I swear, there were two guys to every girl.”
“I’m the accountant,” Lindsey said. “I’d say more like three to one.”
“Junior year. Fort Lauderdale.” Shelby slumped back in her chair, her expression one of total bliss. “Oh, my God.”
“Are you kidding?” Mia stared at her in disbelief. “Come on. Senior year, Waikiki Beach, hands down winner.”
Shelby’s sigh said it all.
Lindsey
