“Got you. Yeah. Well, we’ll check all the possibilities,” Willow said. But she was looking at Lily as if she saw through the lie. Or maybe Lily was imagining things because she was a little bit drunk and a little bit paranoid.
Lily said, “So, Maria. Is the honeymoon phase over yet?” mainly to change the subject.
Maria smiled slowly and said, “Not even slowin’ down. It’s. Just. Perfect. Oh, ladies, I highly recommend marryin’ your soulmate.”
“Not me, Drew said. “I intend to live long enough to be an old maid.”
“What about you, Willow?” Lily asked.
Willow smiled. “It’ll be hard, you know? My parents are kind of sickening over each other.”
“Mine, too,” Maria and Drew said as one, then laughed because they had.
“So how does anything ever live up to that?” Willow asked. “How’s a girl s’posed to settle for good enough when they’ve been raised up by Romeo and Juliet?”
“Scarlet and Rhett,” Maria added.
“Bella and Edward,” Drew said.
“Lily and Ethan,” Lily said dreamily, then widened her eyes and clapped a hand over her mouth as the others roared with laughter.
Maria turned the music back on, grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled her up to dance. “Don’t give up, you hear? You’re good for him.”
“Best thing ever happened to him,” Willow said.
“The big goof.” Drew giggled, then tugged on Willow’s hand and Will let herself be pulled. The four girls silly-danced and laughed, and talked, and took breaks for snacks and drink refills.
The clock read 8:45 a.m.
It was the wrong clock—her dad’s mini-grandfather clock, with its swinging pendulum, on the living room wall, not the digital one on Lily’s bedroom nightstand.
She seemed to be half on the sofa, half on the floor, and her mouth felt like the ring after a rodeo. Slowly, she sat up, her butt sliding the rest of the way to the floor as she did. The world tilted and she pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and moaned.
A soft whirring sound came from the kitchen and made her open her eyes, but only a little. Maria was splayed across the chair that matched the sofa, and Willow was sprawled in Dad’s recliner.
Where was Drew? Right, kitchen. Lily used the coffee table to push herself up onto her feet just as Drew came in, with a blonde ponytail bouncing high and a glass of something thick and red. She was clean, as if she’d been up and showered already. She was even dressed in regular clothes she must’ve brought along.
She took one look at Lily and her face turned into a blend of amusement and sympathy. She smiled, and her eyes were soft. “Here.”
“That better not have raw eggs,” Lily said.
“Fruits, veggies, a few herbs, tomato juice. Chase it with an electrolyte drink, it’ll fix you right up.”
She sipped it. Tasted like V8. Her stomach accepted it, and a second sip eased the queasiness.
“I don’t want to ruin your mornin’,” Drew said, “But last night you said you and Ethan were meetin’ a contractor at nine.”
“Oh shoot! It’s a quarter of!” Then she looked down at herself. “I need a shower. Can you text Ethan that I’m running late?” She looked at the clock again. “Tell him I’ll be there by 9:15.”
“Got it. Go shower. I’ll tuck a bottle of Gatorade into your purse.”
“I don’t have any Gator?—”
“I brought some. Go on, I’ll take care of all this,” she said with a look at the mess they’d made of the house.
“Just leave the cleanup,” Lily said. “And let the girls sleep as long as they want. Thanks, Drew.” Lily ran up the stairs, sipping the juice on the way, impressed right to her toes with the youngest Brand.
Ethan got a text from Drew just as he was unlocking the cantina to go inside.
