The Life You've Imagined Read Online Free PDF

the night, since he’s staying over.
    Nikki has me at arm’s length, cooing over my dress. I give her a little curtsy. Sarah and Kristi are right behind her, and Sarah grabs my hand, yanking me half off my feet to look at my ring.
    “Oooooh, it’s beautiful,” Sarah says, and they all stare at it for a good thirty seconds before letting go.
    Kristi hands me a glass of white wine. “No, thanks,” I tell her. I’ll just grab a Perrier.”
    “What?” She puts a hand to her chest, mock-scandalized. “At your own engagement party?”
    “Do you know how many carbs are in that? Forget it.”
    Nikki nudges me playfully. “Oh, come on, live a little. You look fantastic! And I know you’ll run it all off tomorrow.”
    I see Paul across the grass, slapping the back of a friend of his, having a big laugh. I wave to get his attention, but he’s not looking this way and doesn’t notice.
    “Well, all right.” I take a sip, and it slides down so cool that I take another.
    “So, tell us about how he proposed,” Sarah prompts, raising her eyebrows.
    By the time I finish the story about his proposal—in front of a whole restaurant on our one-year anniversary of dating, down on one knee and everything, the whole place cheered us and I cried like a little girl—the wineglass has emptied and been filled again and is half empty.
    I finally catch another glimpse of Paul. I abandon the girls, skip over the grass to him, ooh, gosh, these heels are tricky in the grass, and hang on his arm while he finishes talking about some new development his dad’s company is in charge of downtown. When he’s done, I tug his arm to get his attention and give him one helluva kiss. With tongue and everything.
    “Whoooa!” all the guys say, and there’s a whistle and something like a catcall.
    Damn right, whoa.
    Then I go off to find more wine, and when I find it, I also find Anna Geneva.
    She doesn’t see me, and she wouldn’t recognize me even if she did.
    “Anna!” I squeal.
    She turns to me and cocks her head, narrowing her eyes like she’s trying to focus. I’ve seen this look so many times.
    “It’s me, Amy Rickart!”
    For just a second her eyebrows shoot up, then she shakes her head slightly and smiles. “How nice to see you!” I’m so grateful that she hasn’t mentioned the obvious that I hug her hard, sloshing a little out of my drink. So I lick the rim.
    “I’m so glad Mr. Becker saw you in the store and invited you. I didn’t even know you were back!”
    “I didn’t move back or anything. I’m just here for a little visit.”
    Her eyes dart behind me. “Looking for Will?” I ask her, assuming she’s got to be seeking out her old boyfriend. After all, they’d been that high school couple who held hands constantly and sat in each other’s laps at lunchtime and basically made everyone else sick onto their greasy cafeteria pizza.
    “No, not really,” she says, turning her eyes back to me.
    “So, what do you do these days?” I ask, though everyone knows she’s a hotshot big-city lawyer, which we all think is great, considering her mom had to raise her by herself in that store. So she starts telling me all about it, only I don’t really follow her very well. Paul’s on the other side of the lawn and I keep trying to catch his eye.
    That’s when Nikki and Sarah and Kristi catch up to us and I take another gulp of my drink. A big one.
    “Anna Geneva! Oh, my God! I never thought I’d see you back here,” shouts Sarah.
    Anna smiles at her, but only with her lips.
    “She’s back for a vacation from her Chicago law firm,” I rush to say.
    “Hey, you know what I remember?” Kristi says. “I remember when the SAT scores came out and you, like, went around telling everybody.”
    “Yeah,” concurs Nikki. “And you had, like, this freaky high score.”
    I say, “It wasn’t exactly—”
    “I didn’t brag,” Anna says, the only changed expression on her face the cocking of one eyebrow, slightly. “It