Page 21 of Like It's 1999

She furrows her brow. “Movie quote?”

I nod. “St. Elmo’s Fire.”

“You and Alice and your movie quotes are worse than Will and his Shakespeare.”

Before I can ask what Alice has been up to lately, she sets her chin on her hand. “Anyhoo… one day I was over at Pam and Deb’s, and one of them said something about how when Will’s dad left, he and his brothers had to be the men of the house. Pam said that even though she’s better at fixing things, she figured out early on to ask Will to fix things just to make him feel better.

“So that’s what I do.” She massages her temple with a groan. “This fall, I let him try and fix the dishwasher, and we ended up having to do dishes by hand for weeks.”

“Did you even have a honeymoon period?”

“I don’t know. I mean, maybe we’re still in it and we’ll hit a wall at some point, but… actually being married does feel different. Like now we’re not facing each other”—she draws lines back and forth between us with both hands and then turns away so the lines are perpendicular to both of us—“instead we’re both facing forward and we’re heading off together, side by side.” She makes a face. “That’s weird, huh?”

“Yeah, but good weird.” She really is like the little sister I always wanted. Since my own family brings the typical WASP frostiness to the level of deep freeze, it’s nice to hear about a marriage that seems worth the effort.

We settle into gossip about Rhodes Wahler people, and she tells me more about their trip. Finally, I ask the question I’ve been dying to ask since she walked in the door. Even though I agreed with Alice in the morning-after haze, I’ve been thinking that maybe I could talk her into trying to have a… I don’t know. Notrelationship. That sounds too grown-up for the two of us. But something. I’ve never met a girl who’s so fun to be with in and out of bed. Maybe we could figure out a way to make it work. “So, how’s Alice? Do you need us to do anything for the party? It’s only a week away, right?”

Kate grabs my forearm. “Oh my gosh, you didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?”

Kate winces. “Her mom is sick. Really sick. Breast cancer. She flew down there right after the New Year—right after the wedding—and hasn’t come back. She even took a leave of absence from her job.” She shudders out a deep sigh. “Every time I talk to her, she sounds further away.”

I pat Kate’s hand. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. Breast cancer is much more treatable these days. My aunt had it, and she’s fine.”

“I hope so.” She pushes out her bottom lip. “It’s selfish, but I miss my best friend.”

I just nod, but I think,I miss her, too.

Only a month later, I get a call from Kate. She’s crying so hard I can barely understand what she’s saying.

“Hey, hey, slow down, Kate. What’s going on?”

She sucks in a deep breath. “Alice is getting married.”

“What?” Glad I’m already sitting down, I spin my office chair to face the windows in case someone walks by. “To who?”

“Her mom’s oncologist!”

It takes me a few moments to take this in. When I manage to form words, my tone is bitter. “I hope he at least cured her cancer.”

“Well, she’s still in treatment, but I guess it’s going well. He’s a family friend too. He’s Korean.” She sniffs. “My evil plan didn’t work.”

“Which evil plan was this?” Despite the haze clouding my brain, my mouth keeps up somehow.

“To fix up my two best friends.”

“Your two…?”

“You and Alice, dummy!”

“You mean that whole bridesman thing was a giant matchmaking attempt?”

“Kind of.”

“Huh. Wow.”

“I mean, you are my best guy friend, and I did want you up there with me. But I also hoped you and Alice would get together and we’d have double dates all the time and everything!”

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