Page 30 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
“You got pregnant, so why are you complaining?” Josie drums her nails on the rim of the glass.
“Not from The Corkscrew.”
“I’m sure that move helped.” Josie lifts the drink and takes a sip.
She’s gonna be skunk drunk under the table before midnight.
“How to have sex anywhere.” Hannah air quotes a guide she once received. “Complete with step-by-step instructions for doing it in absurd places.”
“You’re welcome.” Josie pours another glass of birthday margarita. “You have kids, and I was helping you get laid in any situation where you might bump into Wyatt.”
“Shhh.” Hannah glares at her. “Nothing is going on between us, but if you keep bringing it up, the whole town will be gossiping about it.”
“I got a self-care voucher.” Natalie sets a wrapped present on the table. “Apparently, I’m so far gone from getting a guy that I need to perfect pleasuring myself.”
The whole table cracks at once.
“Didn’t think it was that funny,” Natalie mutters, but all in fun.
“I don’t want to open it,” I admit, tearing the edge.
“Don’t blame you.” Celi snaps a picture on her phone that I’m not ready for.
I expect something mildly embarrassing, and my sister doesn’t disappoint. I pull out two glossy tickets, bedazzled with glittery lettering that reads: After Dark: A Theatrical Cowboy Stripper Experience.”
I blink. “You did not.”
My sister grins like she just handed me front-row seats to heaven. “Oh, I did. Happy early birthday.”
“I’m not going to watch strippers.” I toss the tickets on the table like they might burn me.
“They’re cowboy strippers,” she adds.
“That doesn’t make it better. That might actually make it worse.”
“It’s classy,” she insists. “It’s in a theater.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh, well, inthatcase, absolutely not.”
“I wasn’t allowed to bring them to you, so I’m bringing you to them.”
“No.”
The rest of the group whoops and whistles, voices overlapping with demands for their own tickets. This engages a round of shots.
Afterward, Hope hands me a small bag. I unwrap a handmade pottery mug from her, a leather saddle-scented candle from Hannah, and a hat-shaping gift certificate from my cousins.
Natalie waits until last to hand me a brown gift bag. She never rushes in, always the one who waits, calm and steady.
I pull away the tissue paper and reveal the wrapped gift beneath. It’s a book. I love getting lost in a good book, but so does Natalie. However, our reading choices are very different. I enjoy nature books, and she enjoys fantasy.
But this book is different. I recognize the distinct weight and shape before I tear the paper across the front. The familiar book stares back at me. The cover is dried primrose; I Mod-Podged it in my teenage years.
Memories and feelings rush back to me. For a second, I forget my sisters are watching me.
I rip off the rest of the paper and run my fingers over the mini lock still concealing all my secrets.
But not just any secrets. It holds all my most intimate secrets throughout high school, mixed in with a list of my dreams. I’d long thought it was gone. I’d tossed it in the trash when I realized I could never finish the list inside—that I didn’t want to.
