“Oh ye of little faith,” Coraline tsked with a slow shake of her head. “There is no such thing as too much tacos.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Anne laughed.
They needed to make this girls’ night in a monthly deal. The hardest part of living in Korea had been being away from herfamily—especially from Tessa, Bethany, and Coraline. She loved that even after ten years apart, with the exception of odd visits here and there, they were as close as ever. Anne was so relieved that her decision to work in Korea hadn’t cost herallher important relationships.
“Do you have lime for the cerveza?” Bethany asked as she pulled out bottles of beer from the cardboard container.
“I might have a couple.” Anne rummaged around her refrigerator. “Let me slice them up.”
“You will do no such thing.” Bethany hip-bumped Anne out of the way and grabbed two limes from the fridge herself. “You’re not getting lime juice on that cut of yours.”
“It’s practically all healed,” Anne protested.
“Nevertheless.” Her cousin made such quick work of cutting the limes that Anne didn’t have time to continue objecting. “Why are you still standing here?”
Bethany led the way and sat next to Tessa at the rectangular dining table, and Anne took a seat next to Coraline on the other side. Once the lime slices were handed out and squeezed into the beer, the four women raised their bottles. “To girl power.”
“We’ve been saying that motto since we were little.” Bethany giggled. “Maybe we should change it.”
“To women powerdoesn’t have the same ring.” Coraline tore open the paper bag with the fresh tortilla chips and pushed it to the center of the table along with the guacamole. The rest of them began grabbing random take-out boxes and opening them to inspect their contents.
“How aboutto badass boss bitches?” Tessa smirked, then leaned away from the container in front of her, crinkling her nose. “Ew, these are salmon tacos.”
“What? They’re good.” Coraline snatched the box from Tessa and handed her another one. “Here are yourboringshrimp tacos.”
Bethany shook her head with a condescending moue. “It’s not a real fish taco unless it’s deep-fried.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Anne picked up her Baja fish taco and gazed lovingly at it. Frederick was the one who’d introduced her torealfish tacos. The last time she’d had them, she was still at UC San Diego… still dating Frederick. She pushed away the thought. She refused to get sad with delicious food in front of her. “Hello, gorgeous. Come to Mama.”
“I bet your fans don’t know how profoundly weird you are.” Tessa side-eyed her.
Anne shrugged and bit off half of her taco. She closed her eyes and moaned. “I made the right decision coming back to California.”
“And perfect timing, too.” Coraline sighed happily. “I’m so glad you can be in my wedding.”
“Me, too.” Anne pressed her shoulder against her cousin’s because both their hands were full.
“But I’m second chairing my first trial in three months. I have so much work to get done.” Coraline’s face fell, and she put her half-eaten salmon taco back in the container. “I feel like I’m dropping the ball on the wedding planning.”
“What’s Joe doing?” Tessa arched an eyebrow.
“More than his fair share,” Coraline said. “I can’t ask him to do more than he already is.”
“Don’t worry, Cora.” Bethany winked at her sister. “I got you.”
“You’re so busy with parent-teacher conferences coming up.” Coraline shook her head. “I feel terrible adding more on your plate.”
“I can help,” Anne offered. It made perfect sense for her to help. “I’m the only one in the wedding party without a job.”
“But I thought you were goingHollywood.” Bethany jazzed her hands. “Won’t you be busy with auditions?”
“Not for a while.” Her two-month reprieve had done Anne a world of good, and she was ready for a new challenge—not the kind where she saved her family from financial ruin but the kind where she pursued something that fulfilled her. With that said, she didn’t want to rush into the first role she could find. Not this time. “I want to wait for a role I fall in love with.”
“You should be choosy.” Tessa gave her a considering look. “You’ve had a successful, decade-long career. Act like a star, and they’ll treat you like a star.”
“Hear, hear,” Bethany cheered.
“I totally second all of that. And your help would mean the world to me,” Coraline said, biting her lip. “But only if you’resure.”
