“What do you—”
“Nope.” Grace held up a hand, cutting the woman off. “Meg agreed on your behalf. No questions.”
“Oh, damn. She did, didn’t she?” Lynn leaned over and jokingly tagged Meg. “You’re demoted from group spokesperson.”
Meg rubbed her shoulder. “I resign, you brute.”
Gretchen stood. “Let’s get out of here. We can talk on the way to Grace’s mom’s.”
Grace opened her mouth to protest, as it was, technically, out of the way for Gretchen to drop her off first, but the other woman gave a minute shake of her head. She was giving Grace an emotional pardon. Once she was out of the car, the other two couldn’t needle her, albeit good-naturedly, about her evening with Justin.
Nodding, she rewrapped the jacket around her shoulders. “Thanks, Gretch.”
“No problem,” she answered in a low voice. They headed to the take-out parking slot for the restaurant and Gretchen beeped the little coupe open before flipping the seat forward. “Rocky, you and your punching bag in the back. Grace in front since she’s first out. Not to worry, though. There are still blows to be had. You two can spend the trip to her place fighting over who gets shotgun next.”
Gretchen kept the dialogue moving all the way to Grace’s place, regaling her with tales of other dancers from the night before. Meg blushingly owned up to buying a lap dance from Nick. Lynn started to razz her pretty hard until Meg retorted she’d only been brave enough to pay for the lap dance after watching Lynn on stage with a dancer named Derek. It went on that way between the three of them, the radio thumping out Top 40 tunes, until Grace found herself in the tiny driveway beside her house.
She crawled out of the low-slung coupe and helped Meg unfold from the backseat. “You guys try not to kill each other in Gretchen’s car,” she said in mock chastisement. “Blood’s a bitch to get out of those pale interiors.”
Meg laughed and waved her off before shutting the door and rolling the window down. “You coming with us later to wander the shopping district?”
“I wish I could, but I really have to get ready for this practicum. You guys have fun.” She leaned into the window and looked at Lynn. “When do you leave for Boston?”
Her friend made a sour face. “Tomorrow.”
“If I don’t see you, call me and let me know when you’re settled. We’ll catch up then.”
“I promise.”
“And then you’re leaving for San Francisco Tuesday, Gretchen?” A small part of Grace’s heart broke at the nodded affirmation.
“And I’m off to Baltimore Thursday,” Meg added, closing out the departure schedule for the week. “You’re still following me out in a couple of weeks, right?”
“Yeah. In the meantime, I’m being abandoned.” Though she managed a light and teasing tone, Grace had to admit she really did seem that these women, women who understood her better than anyone else, were leaving her. It wasn’t rational and she accepted it was part of life, but they’d been her surrogate family for over six years. They’d been her support system. They’d encouraged her when she’d needed it and kicked her ass when she’d needed that more. Without them, she wouldn’t have graduated, let alone magna cum laude.
Emotion clogged her throat and she waved them off when they all began to talk at once. “If you don’t quit, I’m going to start singing ‘The Circle of Life’ in my worst Elton John impersonation. We all accepted this would be one of many sucky factors in growing up.” She swallowed hard. “It doesn’t mean we’ll grow apart, though. Now go. The song...it’s coming on.”