Winner Takes All. Cheryl Harper
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would make it easier for me to give everything away. I could live in your guest-house, clean your pool and make cookies every day. Sounds like a plan to me.” Rebecca stretched her arms wide, her blond curls and blue eyes shining like that of the perfect animated princess. Stephanie was glad to know Rebecca had some of her own imperfections. They never would have been friends this long without them. “Imagine all the good millions could do.”
Jen shook her head. “Even playing make-believe you have to save the world. It must be genetic.” Stephanie’s stomach knotted at the threat of changing the topic to Rebecca’s brother, Daniel. She did not want to go there. She definitely would need more cookies if they did.
Rebecca held up a hand. “Well, how about this? I would buy myself a gourmet kitchen. Cooking on my mother’s old stove is nostalgic, but I wouldn’t mind six burners. Ooh, and a commercial refrigerator, one with the deep freezer drawer.” Stephanie and Jen exchanged a knowing look as Rebecca dreamed of appliances. “And granite countertops on a big island.” The hushed tone she used suggested it was a life goal, not simply a practical upgrade.
Stephanie tried to guess how many times they’d sat in the same places through the years and discussed all the important issues. Rebecca’s house had been their gathering spot as girls and nothing much had changed, even though her parents had retired and moved to a sunny beach and her brother was off saving the world one patient at a time. This place was home. It was easy to dream crazy dreams here.
Neither Jen nor Rebecca seemed to want to change that, even with the world of possibilities a lottery win could bring.
“You’d never leave this place,” Jen said. “Be honest.”
Stephanie stiffened but relaxed as she realized Jen was talking to Rebecca.
“No, but I would remodel it to within an inch of its life. Hire a handsome contractor, buy top-of-the-line everything and know I was the luckiest woman in the world. I love this place, but it could be upgraded.” Rebecca picked up a cookie and waved it. “We all know the food’s just as good now coming from my cramped out-of-date kitchen, but it sure would be fun to have expensive toys.”
“Okay, so I’m paying off bills and hiring staff. Bex is giving it all away, either in the form of checks or to-go plates from her fancy kitchen. What are you going to do, Steph?” Jen asked.
“I would...” Her voice trailed off. Jen and Rebecca knew her better than anyone. Why was she afraid to be honest with them? For some reason it was hard to confess she wanted something else, something different than what she had. “I would travel. Go to Paris. See the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and get out of Holly Heights for a while.”
Jen pursed her lips. “I could see that. Be back in time to hand out the syllabus on the first day, but rack up some travel miles before that. Maybe, after all the bills were paid, I’d get a passport and join you.”
Stephanie wasn’t so sure she’d report back to work the first day of school if she had any other way to pay the bills. Lately, it seemed as if every day was the same.
“Would you come back?” Rebecca asked, the look in her eyes serious as she studied Stephanie’s face. “To Holly Heights?”
“What? Of course she would. She practically runs the place, thanks to her forefathers and general popularity. How does she even have time to date, what with all the civic duty?” Jen propped her boots on the table. “Where else could you go to get the royal treatment?”
Nowhere. She couldn’t go anywhere else in the world and find people who remembered her winning the spelling bee in fourth grade or her mother’s prizewinning cherry pie or her grandfather’s years of service as the county judge or how helpful she was or sweet or funny or...boring. Jen was right. She was popular in Holly Heights, but sometimes she wanted to try meeting people without her history waving behind her.
Likable was fine, but maybe she could be interesting somewhere else.
“The town would fall apart if the last Yates moved away.” Jen sighed. “And so would we.”
“No need to worry. This is home.” And it was. Rebecca and Jen were family. The Yateses were big believers in family.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t see the world,” Rebecca said. “You know, with your imaginary lottery winnings. You’ve planned a thousand trips with your collection of travel guides and coffee table books. The money could mean you stop planning and start going.”
Sure. New, lucky, rich Stephanie could be adventurous. That would be interesting.
And if the freedom she’d been dreaming of didn’t make her happy, she’d have to assume there was something wrong with her, not her hometown.
She needed to dream bigger.
“You’re right. So, instead of taking a trip I’ve planned a million times, I’d put on a blindfold and throw a dart at the map. I’d aim for Paris, but how exciting would it be to pack a bag, get on a plane and go see someplace you’ve never thought of?” She leaned her head back and imagined herself deplaning from a private jet. Somehow she was dressed like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s because why not.
When she realized how quiet the other two had gotten, she opened her eyes to see them both watching her closely. “What?”
“You, go somewhere without careful planning, the required shots and an insurance policy against acts of God? That sounds wrong.” Jen stood up, topped off the wineglasses and added, “But I like it. Let’s do it.”
Annoyed all over again at how impossible it was to try something new without everyone reminding her that it was out of character, Stephanie said, “Do what? Just...win the lottery?”
“I’m pretty sure the darts are still in Daniel’s closet. We need a map.” Rebecca stood up, shook out the skirt of her sundress and disappeared down the hallway.
Jen walked into the kitchen and came back with a dish towel. “Not a real blindfold but it should work. No peeking.” She paused in front of Stephanie, grabbed her hand and started to pull her off the couch. “We’ll go ahead with the dart in case we win and you need to jump on a plane quickly. You like to be prepared.”
Giving in to Jen’s demands, Stephanie eased up off the couch and smoothed down her Holly Heights High School T-shirt over her hips. “You act like you don’t trust me.” She yanked on her ponytail to tighten it and then waved her hands. “Wait, you act like we’re actually going to win the lottery.” Either one was a crazy thought.
Rebecca trotted back into the living room with a giant map poster and a dart. “I’m not sure all these countries still exist, but Paris should be there.” She yanked open a closet door and taped up the poster. “Remember when we had a dartboard here? Daniel smoked us every time we played.”
Stephanie crossed her arms over her chest and said nothing. She didn’t have to. Jen and Rebecca both turned to stare at her.
“I got an email from him yesterday. Sounds like things are going well,” Rebecca said and studied her carefully. “And then there are his Facebook updates.” Rebecca raised her eyebrows and dared Stephanie to say she had no idea what she was talking about.
The thing about best friends is that they never forget your first love or first crush or whatever it was she’d had for Daniel Lincoln, her best friend’s older brother and the first male to shove her into the role of friend when she’d wanted more. Bravely asking him to dinner had been an un-Stephanie kind of thing to do. Doing it on his worst day ever was poor planning.
Nobody had forgotten it, actually. But that whole fiasco had happened a long time ago. Now he wasn’t even in Holly Heights, and her friends had already established she could never leave because the town would fold without her.
The risk she’d taken in telling him how she felt hadn’t paid off. His easy rejection had made it clear he’d never seen her as anything other than an adopted little sister.
That