I take the scarf out of Claire’s hands, ball it up, and stuff it back into my bag.
“So, a toast?” I propose, holding up my glass.
“Finally!” Jackie whines.
“To Claire on the new baby,” I say, and she smiles a big, bright smile.
“To Lara with the wedding and big move,” Robin says.
“To Emily’s crazy around-the-world adventure!” Jackie blurts.
“To Robin with, even though that was a while ago, finally putting to rest forever you-know-who with the awesome adoption,” Claire says.
“To Jackie for coordinating all this so fabulously,” Lara says, giving her BFF a side hug, “for rocking her own company with her signature style.”
“And to Sophie for finally hiring on that new girl at The Cup and the Cake!” Emily says, eyes wide. “Congrats on that! Super news.”
I tell the girls that I think I got lucky with the latest hire. I’d hired someone who’d responded to one of my many Help Wanted ads a few weeks ago, but when he showed up late to work on the first day, reeking of vodka, I found myself back at the starting line.
“I think Amy’s going to work out,” I say optimistically. “And if not, it doesn’t matter, because it’ll all work out in the end somehow, some way or other.”
“Cheers to that!” Claire says, raising high her glass of sparkling water.
We all clink glasses, and as I tilt my head back and pull on my bubbly, Claire grips my arm and whispers, “So, the scarf. Is that—”
“Yes,” I whisper back amidst the chatter of the girls.
“Why do you have it?”
“I thought of wearing it.” I look down at my heels. “It matches.”
“Yes, beautifully. But you’re acting weird about it.”
I laugh and tell her that I think she might be the one acting hokey here.
“I don’t know,” I say at last, right as Jackie crawls over me, her barely-legal miniskirt riding high. She asks the driver to hand over the iPod so she can search for some tunes that “aren’t sleepy elevator music. God!” She rolls her eyes at me, iPod in hand, and crawls back over to her seat.
“I thought about wearing it,” I say to Claire in a quiet voice. She nods her head briskly. “It is so pretty and matches so well.” More quick nodding. “But it got me to thinking.”
“Of Henri?”
“Yeah.”
Claire’s eyes grow wide as macarons and she gasps, “You’re not having feelings…thoughts—”
“Oh, god no.” I wince at the idea. “No, it just made me, naturally, think of Henri and that past and all that.”
“Right.” Her tone is eager.
A small smile tugs at my lips.
“What?” she presses with urgency.
“It made me think of all my past relationships, even my past with Chad.”
“And?”
“And…it feels good to be able to move on finally.”
She exhales in relief, momentarily dropping her head against the seatback. “Yes. Good!”
I’ve closed the chapter with Brandon. And while that relationship became extremely toxic, there was something to be learned from it. With Brandon, I learned how to forgive.
With Henri—I pull the scarf back out and finger the silky material—it was fun while it lasted, but it was only meant to be short term. With Henri, I learned how to let go and have fun…sometimes.
And with Chad. Well, as corny as it may sound, through our ups and downs, I learned how to love.
“I don’t think I need this anymore,” I say, gazing down at the scarf. “It’s lovely, but I don’t need it.”
I roll down a window a few inches and am about to send the scarf flying off into the dark Seattle night when Claire’s hand juts out in front of me, snatching the scarf in between her tense fingers.
“My goodness!” she breathes, temporarily capturing the attention of the rest of the girls. “That’s littering!” Claire, ever the eco-friendly recycle guru, gives me the evil eye.
“Sorry,” I say. “Wasn’t thinking.”
“I’ll say!” she gasps, clutching the scarf to her chest. “This is designer!” She then admires the scarf and looks at me, pleadingly.
“All right, all right,” I laugh. “You can have it.”
I bring my glass of champagne to my lips and watch as Claire fondles her new scarf. She’s tying it around her neck, admiring her reflection in the window. She looks positively blissful, and I can’t decide if it’s the effect of a quality French scarf or the baby glow. Perhaps a bit of both.
While I might not have the scarf or the baby glow, I feel like I’m radiant. Life is great. Though it’s not ideal or going as planned—Lara leaving town, the constant challenge of keeping employees at the café, my best friend clear across the state—it’s a great life, filled with surprises and adventure at every corner.
I mean, I’ve got love. Sophie Wharton, once single and afraid to give her heart away, is actually head over heels in love!
The more I think about it, the more I’m actually not so sure if love found me, or if I found love. In the end, I’m in love with Chad Harris, and he’s in love with me, so do the minor issues of how, when, where, and why really matter?
Each love story is unique, anyway. In fact, I don’t think it’s as clear as love finding someone, or someone finding love. I think it’s kind of like the interpretation of that tapestry back in Paris. Love, like art, even like a new recipe, is up to individual interpretation. Everyone’s got their own story. Call it fate, chance, or a whole mixture of things, however you slice it, love happened to Chad and me in its own way, in its own time.
As the limo comes to a stop right outside of Vogue, an “oldie but a goodie” hang out, I look around at my girlfriends, a goofy grin on my face. I know that, for the first time, I am able to give up control, that hunger for an answer, that need to plan and know what’s coming next. None of that matters, because I have Chad, my family, my café, and my girlfriends. And I have love, and that’s enough.
The End
Want more of these Seattle Girlfriends?
Read Book 1, Available at Amazon:
When Girlfriends Break Hearts
Follow Sophie Wharton as she learns what to do about matters of the heart when things don’t quite go according to plan.
A novel about the bonds of friendship, the power of forgiveness, and the lessons you learn when you let go.
Book 2:
When Girlfriends Step Up
Join mom-to-be Robin Sinclair as she embarks on a journey she never could have imagined.
A novel about love and support, and learning that with enduring friendships, no woman is ever alone.
Book 3:
When Girlfriends Make Choices
Follow Lara Kearns as she struggles with how far she’ll go for true love…however forbidden…
A novel about forbidden love, the choices you make, and discovering what’s important in life.
Get the First Three Books in One Boxed Set:
When Girlfriends Collection, Books 1-3
This digital boxed set includes the first three novels of the When Girlfriends collection at a discounted rate. Boxed Set Includes: When Girlfriends Break Hearts, When Girlfriends Step Up, and When Girlfriends Make Choices.
Book 4:
When Girlfriends Chase Dreams
Take a ride with Claire Linley as she plans the wedding of her dreams…with more bumps, surprises, and disasters along the way than she just might be able to handle!
A novel about chasing dreams, for better or worse, and living your love story.
Book 5:
When Girlfriends Take Chances
Trek with world-traveling Emily Saunders as she sets off on a new kind of adventure!
With a string of eligible bachelors lined up by her best friends, will Emily finally be able to find a true and lasting love?
Or will wanderlust call, yet again?
A novel about exploring lo
ve and life’s path, and taking chances along the way.
Book 6:
When Girlfriends Let Go
Join Jackie Kittredge as she battles a failing marriage and is forced to answer some of life’s most important—and difficult—questions.
A novel about love, self-discovery, and realizing sometimes you have to let go.
A Q&A with Author Savannah Page
Q: How did the idea for a seven-book collection about six best girlfriends come about?
A: In the plotting stages of my first novel (When Girlfriends Break Hearts) I got to thinking about my own group of girlfriends from college. We’re a rather eclectic group of women, and several years out of college we’ve found the physical distance to span thousands of miles. Nevertheless, we’re still wonderful friends, and when we get together, no matter how many years and miles have come between us, we can pick up where we left off back in college when we were all neighbors, roommates, classmates, and teammates. Themes of friendship and love are my favorite things to write about. Creating an eclectic group of girlfriends who find themselves out of college and having to face the real world, standing by each other as best of friends throughout their journeys, came about quite naturally.
Q: Was it always the plan to have a book for each girlfriend?
A: Absolutely! I knew that with working with six leading ladies I just had to give each her own story. (Jackie demanded her own story very early on. I knew straightaway, as soon as I started writing book one, what her story would be about, and she couldn’t tell it as a supporting character.) I also thought it’d be a fun way to write a series or collection, as opposed to the more “traditional” route of keeping to one character’s POV and story.
Playing with voice and technique, varying tenses, and using flashbacks in some of the novels was also a fun way to give each girl her unique story, while at the same time gave me a chance to flex those writing skills.
Q: Is this the end of the When Girlfriends collection?
A: I will definitely be returning to my favorite Seattle ladies in the future. But right now I’m working on some new projects that I am very excited to get to my readers! I hope they’ll enjoy what I’m cooking up.
Q: So tell me, which girlfriend is your favorite?
A: Of course they all hold a special place in my heart, and by writing such a unique group of friends I think there’s someone every reader can relate to or really like or imagine as their own BFF. Sophie’s one of my favorites because she’s the first girl I got to know, and because of that I understand her really well. Plus, we’ve got quite a bit in common.
But I have to admit that as much as I like well-organized Sophie, zany and dramatic Jackie is the most fun and unpredictable to write. Sometimes an off-the-wall character can drive a writer mad (sometimes you just want the character to stick to the story you’ve plotted!), but it’s a character’s unpredictability that can actually make the story even better than planned.
Q: There are a handful of leading and supporting male characters in the collection. Do you have a favorite? A secret crush?
A: In the real world I’m a happily married woman. In the world of my fiction I can have a crush or two, can’t I? Everyone needs their real-life and their fictional Mr. Darcy. Claire’s husband Conner is a compilation of some real male friends of mine so I’ve got a soft spot for him as a real down-to-earth, good, guy friend. Sophie’s brother Jack and co-worker Oliver are so sweet and were a serendipitous creation. Chad and Gatsby, though different in so many ways, tend to make me blush. I just love those two distinct characters so much. Oh, and then handsome Bobby and his golden heart and charm… Oh, it’s too difficult! Like the girlfriends, I’m fond of them all.
Q: Why a second novel for Sophie? Don’t the other girlfriends think it’s a bit unfair?
A: Haha. Jackie probably does! Sophie started the collection, and having her close it seemed appropriate. Especially since her slow-burn romance demanded one more novel. I’m fond of the concept of a lengthy full-circle with the theme of love—broken hearts…mending hearts. And with self-publishing I get to have that freedom of making a six-girlfriend-seven-book collection!
Q: Speaking of self-publishing, it sounds like you’re happy with your choice to go this route?
A: I love it! I get to write what (and when) I want, publish at my own speed, and choose my cover art, prices, and marketing plan, and the indie author community is a fabulous, helpful, and inspiring one to be a part of. I’m easily able to interact with readers and hear what they have to say about my work, and I love the ability to offer them sales or giveaways whenever, or have them join in a book blog tour. The stage is open and wide when it comes to self-publishing, and I’m so grateful to the publishing platforms and my readers for making what I do possible and so fulfilling and fun!
Q: You mentioned interacting with readers. How can readers keep up with you and your books?
A: Easy-peasy! You can visit my Website and Blog at: www.savannahpage.com and email me at [email protected] I read all emails and Blog comments, so please get in touch!
If you’re a Facebook-er, you can “Like” my page at: www.facebook.com/savannahpageauthor
If you’re a Tweeter, I’m at: www.twitter.com/savannah_page
Q: Can I say that I am such a fan of the When Girlfriends collection? I can’t get enough and I tell all my friends about it!
A: How flattering. Thank you! Word-of-mouth is one of the best ways for authors to gain new readers. Writing reviews is also a fantastic way to show your favorite authors some love and to help readers like you find books they’ll enjoy. Reviews significantly help promote authors’ books. If you have a minute or two and don’t mind leaving reviews for books you enjoyed, I and my fellow authors would greatly appreciate it. Writing is a hobby, authoring a career, and feedback from happy readers the cherry on that cupcake!
Q: Quick question, Did you interview yourself?
A: Yup!
Q: One more question, Did Hugh Howey, author of the hit book Wool, give you this idea?
A: He most certainly did! (PS: Read Wool. It’s pretty grand.)
About the Author
Savannah Page is the author of the seven-novel When Girlfriends collection, heartfelt women’s fiction that celebrates friendship, love, and life sprinkled with drama and humor. Savannah is a native Southern Californian living the life of an expat in Berlin where she resides with her husband and collection of books. She enjoys jazz, fresh flowers, and, like Sophie, the magic of Paris.
Savannah loves hearing from readers, so please feel free to drop her a line!
And if you enjoyed this novel, please consider leaving a review on your favorite e-book or reading site. Thank you kindly!
Amazon ~ Goodreads
You can visit her Website & Blog at: www.savannahpage.com
Find her on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/savannahpageauthor
Follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/savannah_page
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