All She Ever Wanted by Barbara Freethy Read Free Book Online

have coffee with Laura. She had mixed feelings about renewing their friendship. Fortunately, she didn't have Cole to worry about. He'd taken off, muttering something about "getting to the bottom of this."
    "I'll have a nonfat, decaf latte," Laura ordered. "I'm on a diet again. Or should I say still?" she added with a little laugh.
    "I'll take a double espresso," Natalie said, stepping up to the counter. Caffeine was as much a part of her life as breathing, and far more important than food, which was probably why she didn't battle the bulge as often as Laura did.
    They sat down at a small table while they waited for their drinks.
    "I was thinking about you last night, Natalie," Laura began, her voice a bit wary. "The book brought everything back. It was as if the last ten years just vanished. And seeing you now, it feels like it was yesterday that we were ordering coffee at Pete's on the Boardwalk and talking about school and friends and guys that were driving us crazy. I feel like Madison and Emily are going to walk in any minute and join us." A shadow crossed her face. "But I know that can't happen. I shouldn't have even said it. I always did talk too much."
    "I know what you mean," Natalie replied, letting Laura off the hook. "It does feel the same. I don't know why it does. We're not nineteen anymore. And a lot has happened since then." Their friendship had not ended naturally. They hadn't just drifted apart as college friends do. Their relationship had been shattered by Emily's death, by their behavior that night at the party and by the guilt they each felt for letting Emily down. Madison had taken off before the funeral, sent to Europe by her parents, and Natalie had transferred within the week to a college in Los Angeles. It hadn't taken more than ten days to end what had once been intense and beautiful friendships, the best Natalie had ever had, and something she doubted she would ever share again.
    "Do you miss her?" Laura asked.
    Natalie looked into Laura's eyes and said with utter sincerity, "Every day. She was the best part of all of us."
    Laura nodded, blinking back a tear. "I always thought so, too. I've tried to tell people about Emily, but I can never find the right words to describe her. It's easy to say that she was beautiful and fun and full of life, but she was more than that. She was our spirit, our inspiration. She made us believe in ourselves." Laura shook her head. "But that's not even right, because it makes her sound like she wasn't real, like she couldn't get down and dirty, you know? Of course, you know ... I'm rambling, aren't I? I just can't believe we're sitting here together after ten years of silence between us." She took another breath, her brown eyes softening even more. "I missed you, too, Natalie. You and Madison. I missed us, the way we were together. Actually, I missed me, the fourth girl in the Fabulous Four. I don't think I've been fabulous in a while. And I don't think I realized that until last night when I started reading the book."
    "You weren't the fourth girl," Natalie said, trying to defuse the emotion in their conversation. She'd never been as comfortable with sharing personal thoughts and feelings as Laura had been. "It's not like we had numbers or anything."
    "Oh, please. I was definitely fourth. Emily was number one, because she was the ringleader. You were two, because you were her roommate. Madison was three, because there's no way she could ever come in behind me, so that makes me four. It's okay. I was happy just to be in the group."
    Laura slid her locket along her gold chain necklace, a nervous habit that reminded Natalie of other occasions when Laura had done exactly the same thing. With two older, beautiful, and accomplished sisters, a father who was a brilliant lawyer, and a mother who expected her daughter to be perfect, Laura had always been insecure. She'd worried endlessly about saying and doing the right thing, about people liking her, about fitting in. Her need