The Break-Up Book Club

by Wendy Wax

  “I’m glad you shared your story with me.” I swipe at a stray tear.

  “Me, too.” His smile gets bigger. “But there is one more thing.”

  “Really? Because as much as it means to me that you’ve taken me into your confidence, I might need a small break before the next revelation.”

  “Oh, I think you’re going to want to hear this.”

  I study his face. Then I pull the box of Kleenex closer. Just in case.

  “It’s a good thing. I promise.”

  “Okay. But I’ll be the judge of that.” I take a deep breath. “Shoot.”

  “Larry came to me to talk about the new StarSports Academy and the tennis division.”

  My eyes narrow slightly.

  “I know, I know.” He raises both hands, palms out. “The three of us should have talked about it together.”

  “Damn straight.”

  “What can I say?” He shrugs apologetically. “Not everyone is as enlightened as I am.”

  “And?”

  “At first, he thought you and I should share both positions.”

  I brace yet again. Afraid that Rich somehow ended up as the head of both.

  “But I told him in no uncertain terms that given your background and knowledge of the sport, the tennis division should be all yours.” He hesitates. “But I’m hoping you might be open to building the academy together.” He’s watching my face carefully. A small, hopeful smile lights his eyes. “What do you think?”

  Relief rushes through me. I want to believe in this man and trust in that smile. “I think I might be able to live with that. But only after I give Larry grief for not discussing this with both of us.”

  We grin. Our eyes on each other.

  “I’m with you on that,” he says. “We need to make sure Larry understands that we’re a team and not to be played against each other.”

  “Agreed,” I say.

  “Told you it was good.” His eyes crinkle.

  “I kind of hate it when you’re right,” I reply. “Is there anything else I should know?”

  “Nothing that can’t wait,” he says softly. “Well, except for this.” He leans over the desk so that we’re eye to eye. We’re both smiling as our lips meet.

  Judith

  I’ve been so busy getting the house ready to go on the market that time has begun to fly by. The kids—yes, both of them!—will be in this weekend to go through their things and to celebrate the life we lived here. I know Nate will be with us in each memory and story that we tell. (Who knows, maybe Nate came to Ethan in a dream and helped convince him to come home and help me to move on.)

  Every once in a while, I imagine I see him just ahead in a hallway or out of the corner of my eye when I slide into bed. His presence is comforting. It’s almost as if I can feel him smiling.

  As I climb in the car to drive to our last book club meeting before the summer break, I feel a little like the religious renegade on that ship headed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony; I don’t know where I’d be right now if it weren’t for my book club and the friends who make it up. I wouldn’t even mind being banished to Rhode Island as long as they could come with me.

  When I arrive, the store is ablaze with light and filled with conversation and laughter. The gang is all here, and I hug my way back toward the refreshments, where Annell is preparing to light the candles and prosecco is being handed around.

  “Happy birthday!” I throw my arms around Jazmine, who is wearing a pink plastic birthday crown as if it were a diamond tiara. Her smile is quick and easy. Her hug is warm. I see something new, more open in her eyes. “Thirty-six seems to be agreeing with you so far,” I say.

  “I’m surprisingly good with it,” she says as Meena hands us glasses of prosecco. “It’s been quite the day.”

  “Do tell, girl,” Carlotta sashays forward in a chartreuse mesh handkerchief hem dress that does incredible things for her figure and her dark skin. “Something’s got her all lit up, and I don’t think it’s the candles.”

  “I’ll never tell,” Jazmine insists with a flash of white teeth. “All I’m going to say is sometimes people can surprise you in a good way.”

  Carlotta eyes Erin, who mimes a locking motion over her lips. “I like my job way too much to tell.”

  “Good thinking.” Jazmine grins and taps her forehead.

  “There’s a lot of good thinking going on here,” Chaz says. “Some of my coworkers like to tease me about being in a book club, but they don’t have any idea what they’re missing.” He raises his glass. “You all are the best. Thank you for letting me be a part of this group.”

  “Hear! Hear!” Wesley and Phoebe raise their glasses. “To the best book club ever. And to the birthday girl!”

  “Because she knows how to make thirty-six look good!” Nancy Flaherty adds with a toss of her head that sends her golf ball earrings swinging.

  Angela arrives and takes one look at Jazmine before breaking into a grin. “Good Lord,” she says, laughing. “I never thought I’d see that look on your face again.” She throws her arms around Jazmine. “But I am so happy to see it!”

  Sara and Dorothy raise their glasses, and we all gather around the cake, egging Annell on as she lights the candles. Then we’re singing “Happy Birthday” to Jazmine, belting out the words as loudly as we can without the slightest concern for pitch or key or anything else but letting her know how much we love her.

  We cheer when she blows out the candles. And then we are carrying heaping plates of birthday cake and sloshing glasses of prosecco into the carriage house, where we settle in for the discussion.

  We watch Jazmine tear off the wrapping of what turns out to be a first edition signed copy of Becoming. As she clutches it to her chest with joy, I feel the warmth of friendship and belonging envelop me.

  We discuss the book thoroughly. (I’m not going to go into detail here because I don’t want to spoil it for you.)

  I know I’m not the only one who is becoming more—more myself, more adventurous, more the person I’d like to be. We’ve all changed and grown and adapted.

  When the conversation dies out, Annell settles back in her chair. “So, I hope to see you all in the store over the next few months. There are copies of the books we’re reading over the summer at the front desk. Before we vote on a name for our group, I’d like to address the question about what the person whose suggestion is chosen wins. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and the lucky winner will get”—she points to Chaz, who does a mock drumroll on his thigh—“a free lifetime membership in our book club.”

  “But isn’t membership already free?” Erin asks.

  “True,” Annell replies. “Hmmm. I know, how about a twenty percent discount on all book club reads?”

  “We already get that, too,” Wesley points out.

  “True.” Annell smiles. “How about free food and drink at every meeting?”

  Jazmine laughs. “So, this is basically you reminding us what we already get by being a part of the Between the Covers book club?”

  “It is.” Annell’s smile widens. “Can anyone think of anything they want that’s not already included?”

  “I’m willing to settle for bragging rights when I win,” Sara says, aiming a glance at Dorothy.

  “Ha! You mean when I win,” Dorothy retorts.

  “Hey, you two aren’t the only ones competing, you know,” Chaz points out.

  “That’s right,” Angela adds.

  “Now, now, children,” I interject. “Why don’t we let Annell read the new entries and worry about prizes when and if we choose a name?”

  Everyone seems on board with this. No one disagrees.

  Annell pulls sheets of paper out of a file folder and passes them around. “These are the book club name suggestions we’ve already heard. These”—she holds a stack of more ragge
d sheets of paper—“are all the latest entries.”

  Annell lifts the first.

  As a group, we do a drumroll on the closest hard surface.

  “We have Better Than Therapy, which is, of course, true.”

  There is agreement and laughter.

  “Second, we have Nerd Herd.”

  “Hey,” Chaz quips. “Speak for yourself!”

  There are snorts of laughter. Meena rouses and offers an extra throaty “Hon, hon, hon.”

  “On a slightly more serious note, we have Cranial Crunch and Rabid Readers.” Annell pauses for a sip of prosecco. “We’ve also got the Bookies, Spine Crackers, and Better Read Than Dead.” Annell laughs. “Is it me or are these starting to feel a bit aggressive?”

  There’s chatter and more laughter as we contemplate one another. I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering who submitted what.

  “Okay, we have . . . Literal Hotties, the Witty Worms, the Eclectic Bookworms, Cover2Cover, La Literati, and Litwits.” Annell grins at the last. “It’s fun, but I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

  “La Literati has a cool secret-society vibe,” Wesley points out.

  “I still like Reading Between the Wines,” Meena says as she pours the last of the prosecco. “Because we do.”

  We read over the list of earlier entries. We ponder. We make jokes. We all have our favorites. But once again, there’s no clear winner.

  “Can’t we just call it Book Club and call it a day?” Chaz asks, looking for a compromise. “Or table it until fall?”

  “We could,” Erin says. “But I was just thinking how Jazmine brought me here when my wedding got called off. And my life was in the toilet. And how much it helped me.”

  “It is an incredibly welcoming place when your marriage ends,” Sara says quietly.

  “Or your world falls apart,” I add.

  “Damn straight,” Dorothy agrees.

  “What are you suggesting?” Annell asks.

  “Well, breaking up wouldn’t be a requirement or anything because I mean then who would want to join? But what if we called it the Break-Up Book Club? You know, as in it can help you survive almost anything?”

  At first, we assume she’s joking. There are snorts of laughter. And some of disbelief. We look at one another and then at Erin, who has this sweet, sincere, yet hopeful look on her face.

  For possibly the first time since the group was formed, we are in complete and total agreement.

  In unison, and with no—or at least not much—disrespect intended, we all yell, “Naaah!”

  Acknowledgments

  As always, a huge thank-you is due to longtime friends and critique partners Susan Crandall and Karen White. I can’t imagine being on this journey without you.

  To my editor, Kate Seaver, and the great team at Berkley/Penguin Random House.

  To my agent, Stephanie Rostan of Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency, for providing sage advice and for telling it like it is even when I’d rather not hear it. And for her wicked sense of humor.

  To Courtney Paganelli, associate agent at LGR Literary, for her insights into how a twentysomething female talks and thinks. Because my sons were no help at all with this . . .

  For sports detail, I relied on Kristi Dosh and Kevin Adler, whose passion for and encyclopedic knowledge of sports came in especially handy this time out.

  For legal, I turned to Max Ruthenberg-Marshall, founding attorney at Porchlight. Mike Madsen and Realtor Andi Stein fielded questions about mortgages and real estate.

  Thanks also go to:

  Nick Adams, EMS division chief at Cobb County Fire & Emergency Services, for answering all my questions and for not being shocked at the details that made me blush.

  Veronica Wilder, who inspired the character Jazmine Miller, who became so much more than I’d originally imagined.

  Angela and Perley McBride and family and Nancy Flaherty, who made generous donations to Curing Kids Cancer, which put their names in this novel. And to Bonnie Traiman, who lent her name in support of the St. Pete Beach Library.

  Close friends Dana Barrett and Annell Gerson, for allowing me to borrow their names and meld them into one fabulous character. And a great big shout-out to all the book clubs that shared their group names for this story.

  READERS GUIDE

  The

  Break-Up

  Book Club

  Wendy Wax

  Discussion Questions

  Have you ever been part of a book club? What is your favorite part of book club? (Did someone say wine? ☺) Have you read books you wouldn’t normally have tried if not for the group? What’s your favorite book you read with the book club? Do you tend to read more fiction or nonfiction?

  Jazmine, Erin, Sara, and Judith are very different and yet they become friends through book club. What do you think draws them together despite their varied ages and backgrounds? Have you made unexpected friends through your book club or at another time in your life?

  At the beginning of the book, Erin, Sara, and Judith all experience a major upheaval in their lives. What are the similarities and differences in how they all handle their altered circumstances? Did you identify with one woman more than the others? Which character, and why?

  Sara and her mother-in-law don’t get along at the beginning of the novel. What draws them together? How do both of their perspectives change throughout the book?

  Judith struggles to figure out what to do with her life. Has there been a time in your life when you were unsure of your next step? Were you scared, excited, or a combination of both? What helped you make a plan for your future?

  Jazmine’s sister wants her to get married, but Jazmine isn’t very interested in dating. She’s happy on her own. Do you think women still feel more societal pressure to get married than men?

  Erin views Jazmine as a professional mentor, a role Jazmine embraces. How does Jazmine help Erin? What lessons do you think Erin learns from Jazmine? Do you think it’s important for women to support one another personally and professionally? Is there a woman you admire, someone who has helped you navigate difficult times?

  Sara’s mother-in-law tries online dating. Jazmine starts dating at her sister’s encouragement. How are their attitudes toward dating different and similar? What factors contribute to these attitudes? How do you think dating differs in your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and sixties? What do you feel is the best way to date—online, setups from friends and family, or other possibilities? If you’re in a long-term relationship, how did you meet your partner?

  What’s your favorite book, and why? What was your favorite book club name mentioned in the book? Which character did you most identify with, and why?

  Photo by Beth Kelly

  Wendy Wax, a former broadcaster, is the author of sixteen novels and two novellas, including My Ex–Best Friend’s Wedding, Best Beach Ever, One Good Thing, Sunshine Beach, A Week at the Lake, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey, The House on Mermaid Point, Ocean Beach, and Ten Beach Road. The mother of two grown sons, she has left the suburbs of Atlanta for an in-town high-rise that is eerily similar to the fictional one she created in her 2013 release While We Were Watching Downton Abbey.

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