“Who is it? Your grandma Shirley?” Marcella asks.
“No.”
Elizabeth’s phone starts ringing. She takes it out and looks at the screen.
“Is that Ryder?” Marcella asks, her voice bright with hope.
“No. Justin.”
Sudden excitement sparks in the brunette’s green eyes. “Oooh, oooh, does he want to hang out?”
“He wants to know where Vanessa is because she’s ignoring his calls.”
Marcella looks like she’s about to burst. “So he’s in town?”
Vanessa sighs, rolling her eyes. “I told him I was busy studying for the LSAT.”
“You don’t need to study to get into law school.”
“I do if I want to get into Stanford.”
“There are other law schools.”
“Shirley vetoed the East Coast, and Mom agreed.” Vanessa sneers.
“I’m surprised your dad didn’t override them,” Elizabeth says.
“Two to one. Besides, he doesn’t care. It isn’t his life.”
“You aren’t really serious about having a legal career, are you?” Marcella sounds dubious. “It just seems so…beneath you.”
Vanessa pins her with a cold glance. “Not everyone aspires to marry money, Marcella.”
The brunette turns red. She starts to open her mouth, but Elizabeth cuts her off. “So. Justin?”
“Tell him I’m at the library,” Vanessa mutters.
“Oh come on.” Irritation apparently forgotten, Marcella wraps her hands around Vanessa’s arm and starts swinging it side to side like a child. “Just an hour, please? You know it’s good to know men like Justin.”
“I thought you liked Ryder.”
“A girl’s gotta have a backup plan.”
Marcella doesn’t seem to notice, but Vanessa looks like she wants to bloody her lips.
“Come on,” Marcella whines. “Let’s go.”
No, don’t go. Stay.
Women always come and go in groups. If Marcella and Vanessa leave, so will Elizabeth.
“Not me,” Elizabeth says. “I’m getting another martini.” She signals me, then points at the empty glass.
Great. The more she drinks, the longer she stays.
“Come on, Elizabeth. Don’t you want to see Justin?”
Say no.