Nothing New for Sophie Drew: a heart-warming romantic comedy - Katey Lovell (best english novels for beginners .txt) 📗

She lowered her hand then jutted out her chin. “Never you mind. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

I knocked back what was left of my coffee. It was no longer scorching enough to make me feel like I was being burned alive from the inside. “Nothing bad though? You promise?”

“Of course it’s nothing bad! It’s a treat for my two best friends. You’ll love it.”

“Hmm.”

The glimmer of a smirk on Tawna’s face left me wondering, but as Eve stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy white towel, followed by a hazy mist of lemon-scented steam, I didn’t have the chance to dwell on it for long. I needed every ounce of energy I had to drag myself in the shower and sober up good and proper.

My earlier coffee sloshed in my stomach, my hands gripping the silver railing that lined the deck of the boat taking us to Liberty Island. The sensation wasn’t pleasant, but it could’ve been worse. A boy further along the deck was throwing up into a brown paper bag. At least my pancakes had the decency to stay down.

Lady Liberty stood tall and proud on her tiny island at the southern tip of Manhattan, and it struck me how surreal it was that the monument I’d seen so many times in films and on TV was right in front of me. Her turquoise frame looked smaller in reality than it did on screen, but no less impressive. As the sun reflected off her body, she glowed.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” Eve breathed. “Back when we were kids I used to dream about coming to New York but never imagined it would actually happen. Look at us now. Here we are.” She scooped our hands, Tawna’s with her right, mine with her left. “It’s incredible. And there’s no one I’d rather be here with than you two.”

A sigh of happiness escaped Tawna’s lips and as I caught Eve looking up at Liberty, her eyes full of awe, I had no regrets about this trip. Yes, it was an expensive holiday and using the money to pay off my debts would have been the more responsible thing to do, but I’d still transferred more than the minimum payment to the credit card company, even with the unexpected expense and giving Darius the money for Summer.

Being with my girls on a once-in-a-lifetime trip was worth it anyway. Who knew where we’d be in the future? Tawna and Johnny were already settled in their nest and it wouldn’t surprise me if they quickly took the next step and filled it with fledglings, and Eve had mentioned she was hoping for promotion at work. Her boss was nearing retirement and when the time came for looking for his replacement Eve would be there waiting to fill his empty lab coat. And I’d started making steps towards changing my own life for the better, even if I still had a way to go.

“Besides my family there’s no one who’s been in my life as long as you two,” I said, pensively. “Let’s cherish every minute of this holiday. Squeeze every bit of magic out of our time here.”

“Too right.” Eve nodded, and as the boat docked, the three of us linked arms, stepping onto Liberty Island as one.

I breathed in a lungful of Liberty Island air, still heavy with sunshine but free from the pollution of the city, as I gazed across the bay to the Financial District. Freedom Tower dominated the skyline, a giant splinter of glass piercing the island of Manhattan. The neighbouring skyscrapers were comparatively unimpressive – office blocks, apartments, meeting places – but they all served their own purpose and were all important in their own right.

“Let’s do this,” I said, leading our human chain in the direction of the ticket and security checkpoint, but not before buying three foam crowns so we really looked the part. Like typical tourists, but like typical tourists having the times of their lives.

I hugged Tawna and Eve close, drinking in the moment, because days like these didn’t come around very often, and when they did you had to savour them.

It had been a mad trip. After our jaunt to Liberty Island (where Eve threw up when we reached the plinth, her hangover combined with her longstanding phobia of heights winning out over her strong constitution), we’d treated ourselves to a hideously overpriced buggy ride around Central Park, where the horse had a severe bout of loud and pungent flatulence; followed by a guided bus tour around the key sightseeing spots, where Tawna insisted she spotted Julia Roberts walking down Fifth Avenue.

Tawna had made us get off the bus to stalk her but, four blocks later when we finally caught up with the red-headed woman, she looked nothing like the famous film star and Tawna’s feet were ripped to shreds from running in her heels.

Our third day in The Big Apple had begun with Tawna’s big secret – which hadn’t gone down well with Eve – a helicopter ride over Manhattan for the three of us. The back of my hand would probably be permanently scarred by the crescent-moon-shaped marks Eve’s nails had left as she clung on to me for dear life.

Thankfully the evening had been more enjoyable (and less painful), taking in a Broadway show. That was fabulous, actually, and we did get to have a group selfie with one of the actresses at the stage door. She wasn’t Julia Roberts’ level of famous, but she’d starred in a few well-known films.

There’d also been food and lots of it. We’d eaten our body weight in salted pretzels from food carts on the street and more pizza than necessary at John’s Pizzeria, as well as sampling the restaurant Tawna had been so keen to try out. She’d probably eaten more carbs in the time we’d been away than she had in the