Page 100 of Claim to Fame

“I don’t know. Micah has some auditions he wants me to go on, but I’ve been thinking…” She glanced at her friends, at their open expressions and kind eyes. Together they’d braved the open cattle calls and taken countless dance classes, cheered each other on through callbacks that went nowhere and opening nights that felt like a triumph. “I loved so much of my time in Aster Bay. Not just because of Ethan—”

“And the multiple orgasms,” Jennifer offered. Liv’s eyes flared, her lips pursed in a look of censure. “What?”

“Yeah, not just because of the amazing sex, either,” Hannah said, a wistful melancholy creeping in. “The people were great, and there’s something kind of fantastic about waking up to a rooster instead of a car horn. And I really loved working with the kids at the high school. I felt like I was making theatreandmaking a difference, you know?”

“Are you thinking about teaching?” Liv asked.

“Maybe.” She shrugged, popping the strawberry into her mouth and chewing slowly to give herself time to think. “I’m not saying I’m going to give it all up and move to the suburbs and start teaching—”

“Are you sure? Because it sounds like that’s what you’re saying,” Jennifer said.

“And if you are, that would be fine,” Liv added. “We’d support you.”

“Obviously,” Jennifer added.

“I don’t even know how I would go about doing that, but I think maybe it’s time to consider all my options.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’d be an incredible teacher,” Liv said.

“But, to be fair, we think you’d be pretty kick ass at whatever you decide you want to do,” Jennifer said.

Hannah smiled, affection overwhelming her. “For now, I want to eat this entire plate of French toast and hear all about what you two have been up to.”

“Jennifer banged her yoga instructor,” Liv said with a grin over the top of her champagne flute.

“I did not!” Jennifer protested with a laugh. “We made out against the wall of mirrors once.”

“And?” Liv prompted.

“And there may have been some tongue action below the belt,” Jennifer hedged.

“Twice,” Liv said, flashing two fingers as Hannah.

“Are you going to see him again?” Hannah asked.

Jennifer shrugged. “He’s not really my type.”

“He asked her out for this Friday,” Liv said.

“To some kombucha bar opening.” Jennifer wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know if he gives good enough head to pretend I like kombucha.”

Hannah laughed, settling in as Jennifer told them all about her yoga instructor and the many ways he was not her type, except, of course, when they were hooking up. With each laugh shared, each moment of playful teasing, she felt more and more at home, sinking back into the life she’d left behind when her world had imploded. It should be easy to pick up where she left off, to fall back into the familiar routine.

But something was missing.

Or someone.

A painful pang tugged at her heart, and she flagged down the server to order another round of mimosas. She loved her friends and the diner and being a part of the theatre community, but it wasn’t enough anymore. Not now she was keenly aware of the things she’d left behind in Aster Bay.

∞∞∞

Ethan swung the sledgehammer harder this time, the thwack of it colliding with drywall echoing off the walls. He brushed the sweat out of his eyes with his forearm and lifted the heavy tool, rearing back and lodging it in the wall.

“Ethan?” Jamie’s voice rang out through the empty house upstairs.

“Down here,” Ethan grunted as he swung again.

A few moments later, Jamie descended the stairs into Ethan’s basement, ducking under the beam halfway down the stairwell. “What are you doing?”

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