Chapter 6

" I ndy!" Sophie and Willa's voices erupted the moment the apartment door opened.

I grinned. Inside, my sister's friends stumbled over each other in a race to hug me first. After an hour-long shower and a three-hour nap, I felt much more prepared to socialize and celebrate my arrival in Paris.

Willa reached me first, the shorter girl's wild curls sticking to my lip gloss as she practically tossed herself into my arms. I laughed, returning her hug. When she pulled back, her smile illuminated her bright blue eyes.

Sophie swooped in the moment Willa released me. Sophie was taller than me, so I stood on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around her shoulders. Her blonde hair was in a high ponytail and she wore slightly smudged pink lipstick.

"Addie told us everything," Willa said while I hugged Sophie. "How are you holding up?"

I stiffened and swallowed. Sophie let me go, her brown eyes softening. "I've been better," I said. "But, hey, what better place to mend a broken soul than Paris?"

Sophie and Willa exchanged looks and shrugged. "That's basically how every one of us ended up here," Sophie said. "You'll fit in great. Oh! You've met Wren, of course." She motioned across the room to where Willa's red-haired boyfriend sat on the couch with a cup of tea. He waved in greeting. Sophie pointed to the woman, a pretty brunette with shoulder-length hair and eyes the color of the ocean. "That's Eliza, my girlfriend. Eliza, this is Addie's baby sister, Indy."

"Hi, nice to meet you," I called with a wave. "And I'm not a baby, I'm twenty-three."

"Pleasure," Eliza responded.

"Baby," Sophie teased, sticking out her tongue. I rolled my eyes.

"We brought wine!" Addie announced behind me. She'd slipped into the kitchen and placed the brown bag Holland carried on the counter. "And whiskey for Eliza."

"You're an angel, Adalyn," Eliza said.

Addie stuck her tongue out, teasing. She pulled the bottle of whiskey out first, setting it on the counter. Sophie skipped across the room, counting heads before reaching into a cabinet to pull out stemless wine glasses.

Addie named off the different wines as she set them on the counter. "Sweet riesling. Something pink. Something white with a lot of alcohol. One that might as well be juice." She smiled at me. "Hope you don't like red. None of us do."

I shook my head. "I like the juice."

"Let's hear it for the juice!" Willa chirped, fist pumping the air.

"Okay," Addie said, not at all phased by her friend's over-the-top behavior. "Juice for the gals and something white for Holland and Wren."

"Thank you, Addie," Wren called from the couch.

"Get your ass up and come get your wine," Willa scolded him with a laugh. He rolled his eyes but stood to listen to her anyway.

I was surprised at how natural it felt to be here again. They'd welcomed me into their family without any painful small talk or pitiful looks, like I'd been here all along and wasn't the outcast in this group. Strangely, a little envy seeped into me at the realization that they'd all found their families and their place in the world while I remained broken and searching.

Back home, I had my parents. I hung out with them at least once or twice a week—when I wasn't living with them, that was. Brunch on Sundays and trashy reality TV with my mom from time to time. I had Cassandra at work, and we'd spent many nights spilling the darkest secrets of our lives to each other, but we were both usually too busy to hang out otherwise. And there was Jackson… who I didn't have anymore.

I felt more alone than ever.

I shook off my thoughts and followed the girls into the kitchen. Addie poured everyone a glass of wine, handing them out while we laughed about one thing or another. I noticed Addie poured Eliza her glass of whiskey but made no move to hand it to her, despite their earlier joking. Sophie picked it up off the counter and walked it across the room to her girlfriend.

Sophie opened the double doors to her balcony. I took a seat outside between Addie and Willa. The guys stayed inside, gathered on the couch. Sophie sat on the edge and kicked her feet up on the balcony railing. A breeze rippled through the air, a welcome interruption from the unexpected summer heat.

"So, what's for dinner?" I asked, lounging back in my chair.

"Holland's making steaks. Something about reverse searing and a fancy butter and a balsamic reduction," Addie said. "You hungry?"

"Starving," I admitted. "But if no one else is hungry, I'll wait."

"No worries," Sophie interrupted. "Holland, make us food!" She gave me a pointed look. "We only keep him around for his cooking abilities; might as well put him to work."

"Not true," Addie said. "I keep him around for the sex."

Holland appeared at the balcony entrance. "Reporting for duty," he said, winking at Addie.

"Disgusting!" Sophie threw her pillow at Holland, who caught it easily and tossed it back. The rest of us laughed.

Before Holland left, he leaned down and murmured in Addie's ear—something too low for the rest of us to hear. Addie nodded and waved him off, but swallowed nervously. Holland's eyes lingered on Addie for a moment longer before he set his jaw and left.

"So, how are Mom and Dad?" Addie asked me when Holland walked inside.

"Great, other than the fact that their twenty-three-year-old daughter is camped out in their living room and eating all their food," I responded. "I'm sure they're overjoyed to have me out of the house for a week. I've never seen Dad whip out his credit card faster than when I asked to come see you."

"That's not true," Addie sighed. "Are you moving back in with them?"

I shrugged. "I haven't thought about it. I don't know how long it will take for me to get a new job, or if I can even get one in Arizona. And the lease on my apartment is up in a couple of months, so I have to decide soon—which leads me back to not knowing what to do about a job."

"All I'm saying is moving to Paris solved all problems," Willa piped up.

"It did not!" Addie teased her.

"Your family lives in Texas, right?" I asked Willa.

She stiffened slightly, but nodded. "Yeah, my family owns a cattle ranch. We're not on speaking terms."

I shrunk into my chair. "I'm sorry."

Willa waved her hand. "It's in the past. I have my girls, my guy, and my horse."

"Oh!" I sat up. That was new since the last time I'd seen her. "You got a horse?"

"I did! Her name's Dahlia. Wanna see?"

The rest of the evening continued with casual conversation and excellent food. It seemed like my wine glass was constantly full, and I didn't complain. I was here to have fun and take a break.

After a while, I announced I needed another glass of wine and stood from my lounge chair. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge in search of an open bottle, if there were any left. I found a bottle of red on the back shelf, but there weren't any more in sight. I shrugged. This was my fifth, or maybe sixth, glass; I could choke down some red wine at this point.

I popped the cork and poured myself a glass, only to realize the wine was way too thick and way too dark. When I swirled it around in the glass, it left a red residue in its wake. I grimaced and sniffed the bottle. It smelled awful, sour and metallic.

"Hey, Soph," I called. "I think this red wine you have went bad."

"We don't have red wine," Sophie responded, turning in her chair. Her eyes found the bottle I held when I lifted it and I swore they almost popped out of her head. "Oh, that!" She squeaked, standing and darting into the kitchen. Everyone watched her jerky movements. "I tried to make wine. It didn't go well. Just waiting for trash day to throw it out."

She plucked the bottle and the glass from my hand, shoving the bottle in the back of the fridge and running the glass under water in the sink.

"You need a new hobby," I said, despite the unease in my gut at everyone watching her dump the wine down the sink.

Sophie hummed. "Don't I know it? I needed something low commitment, since I spend all my time at the barn. This didn't make the cut, obviously."

"Is there any more wine?" I asked, moving back toward the fridge.

"It's in the door!" Addie yelled from the balcony.

I called out a thank you and poured myself another heaping glass.