Page 61 of Last Night Was Fun

Again, so free with her emotions. Emmy tried to be as brave. She forced her voice to come out around the hard lump jamming her throat. “He’d probably be married to, like, a supermodel by now.”

Piper huffed another laugh. “Yeah, with, like, five kids and a mansion in Malibu. Tom and Gisele predivorce.”

“He’d have half his own baseball team.”

“Maybe a reality TV show.”

“A podcast, surely.”

“A spokesperson deal with Subway.”

“Two World Series rings and a Golden Glove.”

“A charity for abandoned turtles.”

“The cover ofMen’s Health.”

“A late-night appearance with one of the Jimmys.”

“An invitation to the Met Gala.”

“What? No, he was never fashionable enough for that.”

“I mean, if he’s married to Gisele and hawking sandwiches on TV, he’s probably got a whole team of stylists at his disposal.”

“True, but professionals can only take you so far, and Josh would never be avant-garde enough to wear something other than a classy tux.”

“Oh, he totally would. Don’t you remember that Halloween when he dressed up as David Bowie? Full Ziggy Stardust makeup?”

Piper narrowed her eyes in thought.

“You were probably too young,” Emmy said, recalling Josh had been in high school then, which would have put Piper in preschool still.

They both sighed, wrung out from imagining the life their brother would have had. The bittersweetness of it left Emmy feeling full and empty at the same time.

“Can I get some of that?” she asked, and pointed at the bottle of tequila.

“Help yourself.” Piper pointed to the cabinet nearest the sink in the kitchen. “Glasses are in there.”

With fresh drinks in hand, they ventured out onto the back patio. Privacy hedges shielded either side of the pool deck and small grassy yard and edged up to the sand. There, a pair of lounge chairs under a thatched umbrella with a table pointed out to sea. The scene was a Corona commercial come to life.

Piper sank into one of the cushy chairs under the patio’s pergola laced with more tropical flowers and vines, and Emmy peeled off her cover-up and slipped into the pool. The cool water swallowed her the same way she swallowed her icy drink: with a refreshing and necessary gulp. She swam the width of the pool and rested her arms atop the opposite wall. Her gaze hovered at sea level. The only thing between her and the curling waves was a short stretch of lawn and sand. She turned back around to face her sister.

“Piper, this is kind of absurdly amazing.”

Piper sighed and rested her chin on her hand. “It was supposed to be anyway.”

Emmy swam back to the other side of the pool. She climbed out and sat in the chair opposite her sister. Sunlight cut through the pergola, leaving them striped with dark and light bars. Birds chirped; waves crashed. Emmy felt the cares of normal life melting like the ice in her glass. “No, it is—and it will be. No matter what. Even if you have to get married in this backyard, it will be perfect.”

Piper sighed again like she didn’t believe her. She ran her fingertip painted the color of a ballet slipper around the rim of her glass. “I know I sound like a spoiled brat, but I had a vision. And this is not how it was supposed to be.”

Emmy sipped her drink. She’d found a fruity juice in the fridge to cut the tequila. The combination pinched her tongue with a delicious tartness. “Well, maybe we should forget about what wassupposed to beand enjoy what is. Sometimes it’s the unexpected changes that turn out for the best.”

Piper eyed her with an arched brow. “That’s a very un-Emmy thing to say. What’s gotten into you? Also, where is your date?”

A rosy glow warmed Emmy’s cheeks. She thought she might need to jump into the pool again. The truth was, what had gotten into her was a curious optimism over what was going to happen when Gabe showed up. Yes, of course she was still thrumming with nerves over the prospect, but something in the air, the water—maybe aided atinybit by the tequila—had her feeling a new kind of anxious. A not altogether unpleasant kind.

“He’ll be here tomorrow.”