Page 145 of Happily Never After

To Do:

- Contact manager at drive in

- Shop for a new desk

“Here, look at these.”Nicole dragged her tablet out and foisted it at Claire. “Previews from Brad’s proposal.”

They had met up for dinner at the park where Claire had tackled someone she thought might be the Widowmaker the year before. She had been wrong, but at least the park still had tacos. Gnats bobbed irritatingly overhead. Children passed a soccer ball back and forth on a green patch of grass. A spicy aroma wafted over from the taco truck in the parking lot. The weathered boards of the picnic table creaked beneath her as Claire shifted.

She wiped the taco grease off her hand with a napkin, then gasped when she focused on the photo. It was perfect. Joy sparkled in Karen’s eyes. The Hollywood sign glowed behind her. Peonies wound through the altar behind her.

“Coli, they’re perfect. You’re a prodigy. How do you do it?”

Nicole smiled. “I’m not. It’s just light, aperture, shutter speed. It’s practically science.”

“Shut your beautiful mouth, you magnificent humble genius.” She flicked through a couple more pictures. The sunset ones were striking. Even the drone pictures of the couple huddled together in a Ferris wheel car were flawless.

Claire pulled Nicole into a hug. “I love them. Thank you so much for flying all the way out there. Especially while feeling like a hot bag of garbage.”

“It’s starting to get better,” Nicole said, shrugging. “I ate a whole roll the other day without vomiting.”

“Small miracles,” Claire said with a smile.

Nicole sipped from her water bottle. “Mindy says the proposal’s already starting to blow up.”

Claire nodded and sipped from her to-go margarita. “Yeah. Who knew a plug onGood Morning Americawould be all it took to crash our website and fill our inbox? I would say it was nice of Brad to do that, but honestly it was the least he could have done after everything he put us through.”

“Amen,” Nicole said. She dipped a tortilla chip into a plastic container of queso. “How do you feel now that it’s over?”

Claire’s gaze swept across the park out of habit. Sure, she had traveled a few thousand miles away from the West Coast. But ESA always seemed to know where she was.

She mentally cataloged all the men within eyesight, just in case. Handlebar mustache dripping taco juice on a baby’s head. Two elderly men playing chess. Guy in a suit jacket shouting to someone on the phone about the market price of lobster. No one seemed to be paying them much attention, but that didn’t mean anything.

A chilly wind whipped across the parking lot, and she shivered. “Good, I think. It’s definitely going to be an adjustmenthaving Heather in LA. It’s just been Mindy and me for so long. But I think it’s meant to be. She was such a huge help the day of Brad’s proposal. I can’t believe Wendy almost snatched her out from under us.”

“I was impressed with her too.” Nicole crunched into another chip. “She just handled the whole traffic situation like it was nothing. We’d probably still be sitting on the Pacific Coast Highway if it wasn’t for her.”

Claire nodded. “She earned that sign-on bonus. And I used most of the tip Brad gave me to pay a couple extra months of the loan.”

“Look at you, Miss Responsible,” Nicole said, nudging her.

The shadows were growing long around them. “Not that responsible. I did save some for a new pair of shoes.”

“I wouldn’t even know who you were anymore if you hadn’t.”

Claire smiled. “Are you guys free next Saturday? I want to throw Luke a premiere party. I can’t believe he’s finally done with the doc. I imagine we’ll just play the first episode, but of course that’ll be up to him. So long as it’s not my episode.” Her smile turned to a grimace.

“Of course we’ll be there. Have you started planning?”

She shot Nicole some side eye. “Obviously. I just want it to be really special for him. We had such a rough time in California. I let work take over every aspect of my life, and it almost destroyed us. I wasn’t there for him in the ways that he needed me to be. I’m committed to doing better. Starting with throwing him a hopefully awesome—but also reverent—party.”

“Tell me everything.” Nicole crumpled up their trash and threw it in a nearby bin.

Claire launched into all the details she had considered for Luke’s premiere. If all went as planned, the event would take place at the drive-in movie theater next to her favorite state park. In her youth, money had been tight after Jack left. Onspecial occasions, she and Alice would hike up the overlook at the park and watch the drive-in movies with binoculars from across the highway.

“And I want a fleet of food trucks so that everyone can get whatever they want. It has to be tastefully done, though, because of course we’re inviting the families of the victims. Sometimes I forget that we’re celebrating the completion of a project that showcases their…you know.”

“Murdered spouses and children?” Nicole grimaced. “Everything you’re planning sounds really beautiful. Luke will love it. And you’ll find a way to honor the victims and their families. Will you speak?” Nicole raised her eyebrows and sipped a thermos of ginger tea. Perhaps the queso hadn’t sat right with the baby after all.

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