Still, this is the kind of thing they base reality TV shows on. In fact, if they haven’t already, I’d be surprised.

“I should call Robbie,” I tell Charlene.

She looks a hell of a lot shell-shocked. I can’t say she doesn’t have a right, considering she just found out she’s been carrying around illegal narcotics in the form of candies for over a decade. And that her mother is a manufacturer of weed edibles, and may very well be a dealer.

I call Alex to see if his dad is around. They’ve been visiting Chicago a lot lately with Sunny and Violet both being pregnant.

“Yeah, man, my dad’s here. What’s up? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, things are okay. I have some questions for him, though. Would it be okay if Charlene and I stopped by?” I check the time. It’s the middle of the afternoon.

“You’re with Charlene?”

“I am.”

“That’s good news. And yeah, of course you can come over—both of you, obviously. Miller and Sunny are here with Logan, and Skye and Sidney are supposed to be over soon for a barbeque. We’re all hanging out by the pool, so bring a suit.”

“Great. Thanks. We’ll be by in a bit.”

Charlene packs a beach bag with a bathing suit and changes into a lavender sundress, with my help, of course. She seems to be on autopilot, which isn’t all that surprising. We take my car to Alex’s place with the box of candies from The Ranch and a few of the ones her mom makes, for comparison’s sake.

Violet meets us at the front door. She looks from me to Charlene and cocks a brow. “Please tell me this means I don’t have to stop at Krispy Kreme tomorrow.”

“No more trips to Krispy Kreme,” Charlene replies with an embarrassed smile.

“I’m glad that’s over, because it was getting awkward. The same kid works every morning, and he was starting to remember my order.” She rubs her still mostly flat belly. “So does this mean you’re officially back together?”

Charlene looks up at me, so I put my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side. She feels good there, right, like she fits. “Even better. I dropped the L-bomb on her.”

Violet does some weird little dance and shakes her hands around in the air. It almost looks like a toddler who has to pee. “It’s about fucking time! We all knew you two loved each other. I’d say I don’t understand why it took so long to figure it out, but considering how screwed up you both are, I’m just glad you got there without turning into Bonnie and Clyde and going on a murder spree.”

“It could still happen,” I deadpan.

Violet points a finger in my face. “Don’t do that. Remember, I’m the one who knows how not-sinister you really are, so that face isn’t going to work on me. Also, I’m prone to nightmares at this stage in my pregnancy, and I would appreciate it if that didn’t include my best friend starring in them as some kind of female version of Dexter.”

“You’re the one who mentioned murder sprees.”

“Right. Okay. Topic officially dropped. Come on in. Alex and Miller are trying to teach Logan how to use a hockey stick. The poor kid has barely mastered walking.” She shakes her head and motions for us to follow her to the backyard.

Logan seems more interested in hitting Miller in the shins and smashing flowers than the red foam puck they keep pointing out, but he seems entertained, if nothing else.

Sunny’s reclined in a lounger with Daisy and Skye on either side of her. Their conversation comes to a halt when they notice us, and I realize Charlene probably hasn’t seen them since her birthday. I lean in and press my lips to her temple.

“Don’t worry, firefly, they love you exactly as much as they did before, if not more.”

She tips her chin up, eyes meeting mine. “How did you happen to me?”

“I believe your best friend hooked up with my best friend, which likely wouldn’t have happened had Alex not won a bet and room to himself.”

“I remember Violet telling me about that. What was the bet, anyway?”

“Who could come up with the longest word in an online game of Scrabble.”

“Seriously? I expected something so much more . . . interesting.”

“It was a long bus ride. We were bored. Alex got lightning. It was impressive.” I press a kiss to her perfect lips, promising myself we’re going to make out later. For hours. Like teenagers.

I step back as Skye and Daisy converge on Charlene. Sunny’s still working on sitting upright. She’s looking really pregnant these days.

“Darren!” Robbie motions me over to where he and Sidney are sitting in the shade, watching their sons be dads.

“They’re starting early, huh?” I nod to Alex and Miller.

“Pretty sure Miller thinks Logan’s going to be drafted by the time he’s in pre-school,” Sidney says with a smile.