Page 97 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

“What?”

That couldn’t be right. We had to give a month’s notice, and we were already into June. We’d have to find another roommate.

She bit her bottom lip, giving me a hopeful smile.

Oh, no. Kade.

Why couldn’t she just go ahead and fall in love with Kade’s older brother Haden instead? He was the better pick. And the way Tamara and Haden seemed to avoid each other made me wonder if they were hiding a forbidden, secret attraction.

But Kade? She was moving home forhim?

I turned so she wouldn’t see my face, sat at the table and shoved a slice of pizza in my mouth to keep me quiet, to stuff my anger and disappointment down somewhere deep, stuck under gluten and cheese so it wouldn’t well up and ruin our friendship.

She crept into the room. “We’re going to give us a second chance.”

“Mmmph.” I had way too much pizza in my mouth, thankfully. I tried for a smile, but couldn’t quite get there.

Her going back to Kade felt like the end. The end of adventure. The end of Tamara’s dreams. The end of having my bestie at my side making me omelettes and chocolate cake. Maybe even the end of our friendship.

But most of all, the end of Tamara standing up for what she wanted in life.

I leaned back in my chair and tried not to cry.

“Char…”

“Nothing. It’s fine.” I shoved more pizza in my face. It was only lukewarm now, and a bit chewy. I hope that didn’t downgrade my good deed of sharing a slice with a stranger.

“Char…”

I stood and pulled back on my immaturity. I drew her into a hug and lied. “I’m happy for you.” I couldn’t look at her or she’d see how disappointed I was. “I’m sad, too, though. And I hope…I hope this time it works out, and that it’s everything…” Wait.

I gasped. Back when we’d been trying to prove that Estelle was a fraud, Tamara had made a wish for love! Estelle had said she wouldn’t grant those wishes for her and Josie, but the timeline tracked. Tamara had been happy and going out a lot more since that wish. Had Estelle snuck one by us?

I held Tamara in front of me, fearing that this second-chance business was Estelle’s doing and not reality.

“If I don’t try things with him again, then I’ll never know,” she said firmly, her speech obviously rehearsed. “We weren’t happy because we were young, and we didn’t know who we were. I know who I am now. I know I love the country and smalltown life.”

She didn’t mention love. Was that implied?

“You made a wish to Estelle.” I met her eyes.

“What? No.” Her cheeks flushed.

“When we first met her.”

“Oh.” Tamara waved the idea away. “She never granted that. She just read my mind.”

“Are you sure?”

Tamara’s eyes filled. “Can’t you be happy for me? I don’t have to live your life in order to be happy, you know.”

“I know.”

“And it’s not like you’re happy anyway! You finally found a nice guy who likes you back, and you’re acting as if he’s about to break up with you!”

“Because I made a wish that he’d love me. Like you did with Kade, only for me it was an accident! It was before I knew Estelle could meddle and change lives based on my stupid, immature, selfish whims! And now here I am with something that’s not even real. He only likes me because I wished for it. Not because of me and who I really am.”

Tamara’s anger slackened, and she pulled me into her arms. “Oh, hon.”

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