The Salt Sisters gushed with joy at the story.
“And what about you?” Rose asked Shannon. “What’s happening with your love life?”
“She doesn’t have time for love,” Nora said. “She’s curing incurable diseases!”
Shannon blushed. Arietta assumed she would mention Cole and her recent breakup. But instead, giving a furtive glance at her mother, she said, “Something just happened with a guy. I’m confused about it, I guess.”
Hilary snapped her fingers. “Give us the story. Lay it out!”
“We thrive on this stuff,” Stella agreed.
Arietta burned with curiosity. She wished her daughter had felt comfortable enough to tell Arietta this story on her own.
“His name is Russell,” Shannon began. “He and I both went through breakups around the same time. Like, two months ago. Before that, we used to go on double dates all the time.”
“Scandalous!” Stella said. “Did you secretly pine for him?”
“No, nothing like that,” Shannon said, laughing. “But after we were both dumped, we started spending a lot of time together. I was afraid to catch feelings. But it happened almost immediately.”
“What’s the problem?” Hilary asked. “You’re both young. I assume he’s handsome and smart, another Yale student. Why not lean into this?”
“He is handsome and smart and everything,” Shannon whispered. “But it’s confusing. His ex-girlfriend wants him back, and I don’t know if I want to jump into another relationship right away.”
“Nobody’s forcing you to make it serious,” Nora said. “But what’s the harm in dating?”
Shannon was quiet, as though she hadn’t considered this before. “I’m really inexperienced,” she said. “I’ve only had oneboyfriend. I thought I was going to marry him, I guess. And he cheated on me.”
“Oh, but honey,” Arietta interjected. “You were with Cole for years and years. You’re not inexperienced when it comes to love.”
“Cole! That’s the name of this idiot who cheated on our girl,” Hilary said, scowling.
“He regrets it,” Nora affirmed. “No question about that.”
Shannon laughed. “You’re good at this,” she said. “Building people up.”
“That’s sort of our thing,” Hilary said.
“Sisterhood, with a dash of salt,” Stella said.
“Speaking of dating,” Hilary said, turning toward Arietta. “How’s it going with that handsome guy you came to the party with?”
“We heard you were dancing together all night!” Nora cried.
Arietta rolled her eyes. “I told you, he’s only a colleague!” But she knew, too, that since the night of the party, Jasper hadn’t been far from her mind. In a sense, she’d written the article for him, a kind of love letter that was meant to prove that her career wasn’t done yet. It was meant to prove to Jasper, too, that she was still the same. She was still as impressive as he’d always thought.
Just then, Arietta’s phone buzzed with a message from Jasper. Her face lit up.
“That’s him, isn’t it?” Shannon asked.
Arietta saw the four Salt Sisters and her daughter looking at her with expectant smiles.
“It’s only about the article,” she said. “It’s not romantic!”
When she considered Fred a few rooms away, her stomach sloshed with guilt. But a moment later, when Jasper called her about the article, she could do nothing but leap up and headinside to take it. She knew that the Salt Sisters and Shannon were gossiping about her. She’d do the same in their shoes.
“Hey!” she said. “Did you read it?”
“I devoured it,” Jasper said. “It’s about a hundred times better than anything I could have done.”