Greek (Palm South University)

She chuckles and swats my hand down. “Look. Come home to Baltimore with me for Thanksgiving. They’re stubborn, but I know once my PopPop meets you, he’ll jump at the opportunity to hire you. He probably won’t wait for you to finish out your job as Field Executive,” she adds with a cringe. “But as long as you’re not opposed to leaving before Spring semester…”

“I’m not. I mean, that’s when Cassie is going, so… it’d be perfect.”

“Well, there you have it.”

My smile is so big it nearly breaks my face. “I don’t know what to say, Chandler.”

“Well, it’s not done yet. But you can start with a thank you.”

“Thank you,” I say hurriedly, but then my stomach sinks to my shoes. “Wait… fuck. Cassie is coming here for Thanksgiving.”

Chandler frowns. “Can she come out a different time?”

“It’s her last semester at PSU, and she’s in a sorority. You know how that goes.”

“I do.” Chandler’s mouth tugs to the side as she thinks. “I mean, I could try to talk my grandparents into coming out here to visit, but their schedule is so crazy… we’re lucky to pull them away even for a single day for things like Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

“Do you think they’d meet with me over the phone?”

“Possibly, but I’ll be honest… PopPop doesn’t sway lightly. I think charming him in person would be your best bet.”

I curse again.

“Look, I know it would suck to call off the trip for Cassie to come, but on the heels of that disappointment would come the best news ever — that you both get to be in the same city again. You could live together.” Chandler reaches over to squeeze my wrist. “A little sacrifice now could pay off in a big way later.”

I nod. “Or Cassie could castrate me and break up with me for good measure.”

“You really think she’d do that?”

I sigh. “No. But I don’t want to tell her about this, just in case it doesn’t happen. She’ll get her hopes up and then… if I don’t get the job…”

“You’ll get the job,” Chandler says quickly. “But whether you want to tell her about the meeting or not is up to you. For now, I’m going to tell my mom to have another setting at the table for dinner. And you need to figure out what to tell Cassie.”

I frown, nodding. Then, I turn to face her. “What’s in this for you?”

“Well, one, they’ll get off my back about the damn job,” she says. “Two, I’ll have a friend to hang out with over the holidays instead of my insufferable brothers. And three?” She shrugs. “I think we’ve got a pretty good track record of helping each other out. I don’t want to break it.”

I smile. “Friends, huh? I didn’t think I’d find one of those out here.”

“That makes two of us. Now,” she says, downing the last of her beer and holding the empty glass up to the bartender. “Let’s get another round and you start taking notes. I’m going to tell you every single way to woo my grandfather.”

I grin, chugging the last of mine to match her, and once we have new beers, we get to work.

The fire burning in my belly is unmatched, fueled by the thought that this might be it, this might be how I can do what I love but not be away from Cassie any longer.

No more long distance.

No more video chat dates or texts or calls.

Just me and her, in the same city, the same house, potentially.

My pulse races at the thought, at the surprised look on Cassie’s face should I be able to land the job. It’d be the best Christmas gift I could ever give her — the news that we’d both be in Baltimore come spring.

So, with that as my motivation, I took detailed notes, and by the time we asked for the check, we were booking me a flight to Baltimore.

“YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY RADIANT, Miss Daniels,” Riel says, tucking a beautiful fuchsia flower into the crown she’s been weaving into my hair. The electric blue water of St. John can be seen out of every window of Brandon’s yacht, and it reflects off Riel’s dark eyes as she puts the final touches on my updo.

She pulls back with a smile, clapping her hands together. “All done.”

With her hands on my arms, Riel gently turns me to look in the full-length mirror in my cabin.

And I gasp.

I did my own makeup, wanting to be sure I still looked like me for such a special day, but I chose not to look in the mirror after I slipped my dress on, nor did I sneak a glance as Riel did my hair.

And now here it is, all at once.

Me, in a delicate, flowy, A-line wedding dress — the straps delicate around my collarbone, waist cinched, elaborate beading covering the bust and a weightless, silky, long skirt with four deep slits all the way to my upper thigh. I know with just a little turn that those slits will allow the fabric to flow all around me in the Caribbean wind.