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Celeste does anything to jeopardize Sterling’s happiness, Marcus will never forgive her. I don’t think Michael will either.”
    Reese grimaced. “Probably not.”
    “Well, for what it’s worth,” Taylor said sagely, “I don’t think anyone can come between Sterling and Asha. They’re obviously crazy about each other. Seeing them together always makes me smile.”
    “Me too,” the others warmly agreed.
    Taylor raised her glass. “To Sterling and Asha. To second chances, to finding love and romance again—”
    “To getting your back blown out, arthritis be damned,” Reese quipped.
    Everyone burst into laughter. Hysterical, snorting, shoulder-shaking laughter.
    It was a few minutes before anyone could speak again.
    “All right,” Lexi gasped, wiping fresh tears from her eyes. “Before we…head out…of here—” She paused to take a deep breath before trying again. “Before we leave for dinner, let’s all go around the circle and name one thing we’re grateful for.”
    Reese snickered. “Who’re you supposed to be? Oprah?”
    Lexi grinned. “Humor me, will you?”
    Taylor sighed, dabbing at her eyes. “I’m grateful for so many things. Why are we only allowed to name one?”
    “Any more than that and we’d be here all day. Keep it to one so we won’t be late for our dinner reservation. And you can’t name your husband because it’s a given how much we all love and appreciate our men. Same goes for our children.”
    “All right. I’ll go first.” Reese slid her hand below the opaque water and patted her not-so-flat stomach. “Now that I’ve had my second child, I’m grateful for the invention of Spanx.”
    The others laughed and bobbed their heads in vigorous agreement.
    “My turn.” Taylor grinned broadly. “I’m grateful for Mama Wolf’s pound cake and Asha’s morning sickness remedy.”
    “Amen,” the others enthusiastically concurred. “To both .”
    Lexi grinned teasingly. “Not to be a hardass, Taylor, but you were only supposed to name one thing, remember?”
    “I know,” Taylor said sheepishly, “but those two things helped get me through my pregnancies. I thought they both deserved recognition.”
    “Fair enough.” Lexi hitched her chin toward Samara. “Your turn.”
    Samara’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Mine is kind of petty…but here goes. I’m grateful for looking hella good the day I ran into the hussy who tried to seduce Marcus when we were dating.”
    “Oooh!” the others exclaimed. “That’s a good one!”
    Lexi leaned forward excitedly. “You’re talking about Angelique, right? The supermodel?”
    “Uh-huh. That’s the one.”
    “What happened?”
    Samara sighed. “It was back in September. I’d just had lunch with a client and was leaving the restaurant to wait outside for Marcus. He and the kids were picking me up because we were getting our family portrait taken. My hair and nails were done, and I was wearing that black-and-white dress from Mom’s fall collection—the one you guys love so much.”
    Three heads nodded vigorously. “That dress is fierce .”
    “It is.” Samara’s expression was triumphant. “Anyway, as I stepped out of the restaurant that afternoon, I ran into none other than Angelique Toussaint. She looked stunned when she realized who I was. She gave me the whole fake hug and kiss, said how nice it was to see me and bragged about coming to Atlanta on some important modeling assignment, even though Mom told me she was blackballed a long time ago. Anyway, she looked good, I’ll give her that. But so did I, and she clearly thought so too.
    “Then things got even more interesting when Marcus pulled up. He got out of the car to open my door for me like he always does, and he was looking so damn fine in his three-piece suit that Angelique nearly swallowed her tongue. She started batting her eyelashes, tossing her hair and talking in that annoying sex-kitten voice. But Marcus, God bless him, barely even remembered her