Then there was Sam, the Olympic medalist snowboarder. The fiery redhead had been extremely competitive when Tessa had been a T.A. in Sam’s P.E. class. Tessa still remembered the teacher, Miss Langley, having to give her a pep talk whenever Sam hadn’t performed up to her self-imposed high standards. Tessa was sure it was that drive that had helped her achieve all the success she’d had.
Sue Ann had told her that Sam was now engaged to Luke Reynolds, who was also an Olympian. They had both bowed out of the competitive circuit and were running the ski program at Mountain Ridge. If it weren’t for the red hair, Tessa wasn’t sure she would have recognized Sam on the street. Her freckles had faded and her cuteness had transformed into stunning beauty.
Amanda didn’t look like she’d aged a day since the last time Tessa had seen her. Her blond hair and fresh face looked exactly how Tessa remembered her. Tessa had always thought that she resembled one of the porcelain dolls her grandma had collected, and that was still what Amanda reminded her of.
She saw a wedding picture hanging on the wall of Amanda and Justin. It made Tessa’s heart fill and ache at the same time. It was great to see that she had gotten her happily ever after, but at the same time it made Tessa wish that she had gotten hers as well.
“What’ll you have? White or red?” Lauren asked, holding up two bottles.
“Oh, none for me. I’m driving,” Tessa said.
“I can take you. I’m just having water,” Amy offered as she lifted her bottle in the air.
Amy looked different as well. Jake’s little sister had worn glasses and always had her hair pulled up in a ponytail with her nose in a book when Tessa had known her. Now her light brown hair flowed beautifully around her face. She no longer wore her wire-framed glasses, and Tessa noticed for the first time how large and blue her eyes were.
From what Sue Ann had told her, Amy had just recently started dating and now lived with Henry’s nephew, Matt, who, like Amy, was a teacher at the high school. Sue Ann had said—in a whispered voice—that Matt had lost his wife tragically years earlier and had moved to town to start over. From the glow Amy had, it looked like things were going well.
A glass of wine did sound like the best thing since the invention of Twinkies, but she had to decline. “No, it’s okay. I’ve got my car.”
“Oh, it’ll be fine in the parking lot.” Amanda assured her. “You can come pick it up tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” Tessa asked both Amanda and Amy.
Both girls nodded in unison.
Well, who was she to turn down a ride and a glass of wine? Especially after the day—no scratch that, years—she’d had. “Red.”
Lauren’s lips turned up into a small smile. “Girl after my own heart. All of these lightweights always go white.”
From the looks of the three empty bottles of Pinot Grigio on the table, Lauren was not kidding.
Tessa heard the front door opening behind her just as a girl who looked exactly like a young Sofia Vergara walked through the door. Her long dark hair hung loose, she didn’t have a stitch of makeup on, she wore black leggings and a loose sweatshirt, and somehow she managed to look more put together than Tessa did when she spent hours getting ready.
“Hey! Sorry I’m late. The senior ladies wanted me to show them how to give a lap dance after Burlesque class.”
Tessa almost spit out her wine. Luckily she only choked a little bit. It’s not that there was anything wrong with lap dances. It was just not something she usually heard in the same sentence as “senior ladies.”
“Please tell me Renata was not one of them,” Karina said flatly.
Tessa remembered Renata Blackstone as a stern disciplinarian. She was tall and thin and always wore her long hair pulled back tight and braided down her back. She was Karina’s grandmother, and she had raised her. Tessa didn’t know where Karina’s parents were, but she did remember going out to the reservation where Karina had lived, nestled in the hills beside Hope Falls, to do a photography project with her.
Somehow Tessa could not imagine the Renata that had given Tessa a stern talking to for wearing too much eyeliner, getting tips on lap dances.
The gorgeous dark-haired girl pursed her lips and her eyes widened before repeating verbatim with a flat tone, “Renata was not one of them.”
Karina moaned and shook her head. Tessa laughed. She’d only been around this new girl for a minute and she already liked her.
Nikki popped up from her seat. “Tessa, have you met Lily, Eric’s fiancée?”
Tessa smiled as she stood and held out her hand. “Oh, no, It’s nice to meet you.”