Author/Uploaded by Annie Cathryn
Contents Title Page Dedication Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 ...
Contents Title Page Dedication Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Acknowledgments Author Biography Copyright Guide Cover Title Page Dedication Chapter 1 Acknowledgments Copyright Pagebreaks of the print version Cover Page iii v 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 iv THE FRIENDSHIP BREAKUP A Novel ANNIE CATHRYN For Mom, I am because of you. For Dave and Skylar, My loves. My everything. All for one, and one for all. CHAPTER ONE Right between the milk and the eggs, I go into menopause. Shoving my head into the store’s cooler, I pretend to find the expiration date on the eggs as my own unfertilized eggs are expiring. Please pass quickly. Oh no. The water works are starting. Why am I crying? There is a feeling of loss, but of what? Loss of youth. Loss of my eggs. Loss of my best friend, Beatrice. Why is she ghosting me? Did I do something? I must have done something … Before rehashing it for the trillionth time, I swipe at my eyes and chide myself to get it together. You could be stuck in gridlock traffic with a full bladder. Pushing this nightmarish thought away, I silently give thanks that I live in the Midwest and not L.A. As I take my head out of the fridge, a busty blond twenty years younger than me bounces up in a miniskirt, tank top, and lavender Birkenstocks. She’s dressed the way I should be right now, with this sudden heat rush creeping up my neck. Then I remember it’s only fifty degrees outside. Typical April weather in this small, barely there town. Last week, it dumped four inches of snow on us, and I thought I woke up in Antarctica. I eye miniskirt girl again. Before Jessica Rabbit can ask me where the whipped cream is, I grab a carton of eggs, lower my head, and see my slippers. Ugh. How did I forget to change out of them? I guess I’ve been too preoccupied with the fact that my “bestie” isn’t acting like my friend anymore. Hurrying down the baking aisle, I park my cart in front of the decadent chocolate and on impulse pull out my phone once again to see if there are any updates from Beatrice. Scrolling through my texts, I stop on the last message I sent her weeks ago, asking how she was doing. She still hasn’t answered. Or called me back. I haven’t seen Beatrice at our daughters’ soccer games either, because I’ve been using that time to work on my chocolate business. And at school drop-off, it’s too rushed to say more than two words to anyone. Just this morning, I thought Beatrice saw me in the school parking lot, but when I waved, she turned and quickly got into her minivan. There’s a possibility she didn’t see me, I convince myself. “Excuse me,” someone says, startling me out of my delusion. I glance up to see a big, toothy grin with a sprig of greenery stuck in the middle. Cringing, I refrain from swiping a fingernail through my own teeth. How can I tell the woman about her leftover spinach? I don’t know her—or if she is saving it for later. “Do you know which chocolate is the best for fondue?” I’d rather tell her where the toothpicks are, but I swallow down my words and point to my favorite brand. “This works well for dipping,” I say with a forced smile. Then, because I would want someone to tell me I had a sprig in my teeth, I whisper, “You have a little