Page 2 of Sugar
And the house.
His willingness to leave his wife and only child on the streets was what’d earned the OGs that golf outing in his office. He’d wanted to press charges, but the only lawyer in the firm—or maybe the world—with a conscience talked him down. Not with anything especially noble. He simply pointed out that the case would go public and prospective buyers wouldn’t be keen on using a realtor who’d abandoned his family. NDAs were signed and assets had been split.
Dina and Wren hadn’t gotten everything—which was what I thought they deserved—but it was better than nothing.
After all those years of tight friendship, we knew each other better than we knew ourselves.
Wren met my eyes and held out her hand expectantly.
I gave her the fruit snack and tore some off for Greer before starting on the remainder.
And then I almost choked on it when Wren muttered, “We’re moving.”
Pain, panic, and doom settled deep in my heart, shaking it around until it felt like it would shatter. “What? Where? When?”
“Who and why, too.”
“I’m serious, Wrenley,” I said, pulling out her rarely used full name.
She tossed my own back at me. “So am I,Madeline.”
Greer didn’t move, even when the filling of her organic sprout and lawn clipping wrap began to spill out. That wasn’t actually what it was, but it was close enough.
My body was frozen, too, but my mind sure wasn’t. My thoughts raced at a million miles an hour, freaking out and planning how I was going to convince my parents that Wren needed to move in again.
Maybe I can convince them that it’s vital to my wellbeing. Dad’s a doctor, he’ll get it. I’ll even research some studies on the effects of heartbreak to overall health.
“How far?” Greer finally croaked out.
“Fifteen minutes. And that’s if there’s no traffic.”
Greer let out an annoyed grunt as she flicked a sprout across the table. “You witch. I thought you meant out of state.”
Relief filled me, and I thought I would melt to the floor. “And I thought she was gonna say England or something. But fifteen minutes? I mean, there’s always traffic, so it will definitely be longer, but whatever. That doesn’t matter. It’s nothing. I can even bike that, and you know I’m lazy.”
“Fifteen minutes isn’t right down the street,” Wren pointed out, tears filling her big brown eyes.
We joked that since we were destined to be friends, we fit together like puzzle pieces—which had been our Halloween costume a handful of years back because we had no shame in our friendship game.
Wren had fair skin and pale blonde hair, but her eyes were so dark that they were almost black. I had perma-tan skin and dark brown hair, but my eyes were bright, cornflower blue. Greer was in between with light brown hair and hazel eyes.
Greer was also a couple inches taller than my own five foot three—though I was holding out for one last growth spurt. It didn’t need to be much. Six inches or so would be fine. Unlike me, Wren was completely happy with her height of barely five-one. She hoped shewouldn’tgrow anymore.
She was also comfortable with her midsize curves, while I was still trying to figure out how to smoosh my boobs down so I could wear my favorite top. Greer’s thin frame had just enough height and curve to fit anything she wanted, though she stuck to regular tees and jeans.
They were effortlessly smart in their own ways. I had to study my butt off.
Wren was active and loved track. Greer preferred yoga. I could only run a mile if someone drove me three-quarters of the way.
Mom always said the only exercise I got was jumping to conclusions since I was prone to teenage dramatics. I also was, maybe, just slightly, a bit high maintenance. Greer stayed calm, cool, and collected because her type-A personality had allowed her to foresee possible problems and plan for them. And Wren was all sunshine, all the time.
Usually.
Her freaking out over moving such a short distance was unlike her. Totally like me, yeah, but not her.
I tried to talk her off the ledge. “You might not be down the street, but it’s also not far. We’ll still have movie night and sleepovers and all that. Literally nothing will change.”
“Everythingwill change.”
