“You’re Congressman Maxwell,” Easton said in awe.

“That I am,” he said, sticking his hand out.

“Honor to meet you, sir.”

Liz laughed and shook her head a little. “Easton, this is my boyfriend, Brady.”

Easton shook Brady’s hand and then dropped it as if he couldn’t figure out exactly what Liz was saying. “I knew you were dating someone, but . . .”

“Yeah, you’re not too observant,” she said with a giggle.

“So that makes you . . .” He pointed at Savannah.

“His little sister,” Savannah offered.

“I’m in the presence of political royalty.”

Savannah just laughed. “I guess so.”

“Well, it’s really nice to meet you,” he told Brady, “and put all the pieces together.”

Victoria came up and nudged Liz along. “Show’s over, folks. We’ll see you after graduation!”

Brady gave Liz a kiss on the cheek before Victoria dragged her out on the football field. They found seats next to each other and started flipping through their commencement booklets. Soon the entire stadium was full of graduates and their friends and families.

The chancellor stood up and gave an introductory speech, and then it was an endless bout of speeches ending with the keynote speaker, a certain basketball player who had played at UNC during college and gone on to play professionally for the Chicago Bulls. Then students stood, diplomas were issued, tassels moved from one side to the other, a congratulatory response followed, and then they were free. Hats flew in the air all around Liz. She laughed and hugged Victoria, tears streaming down her friend’s beautiful face.

“I thought you weren’t nostalgic,” Liz cried.

“We hadn’t graduated then,” Victoria told her. “I’m going to miss everything so much.”

“Me too.”

They hugged again. Four years together had officially come to a close and now they had to venture out into the real world. It was daunting, terrifying, and exhilarating all at the same time. Liz smiled at Victoria and threw her own hat up into the air.

The group from graduation arrived at Bin 54 to celebrate later that evening. Victoria’s parents had left that night to get back to New Jersey, so she and Daniel had even joined them. The restaurant was a madhouse because of graduation. Luckily Brady’s parents had reserved the cellar room well in advance, and there was enough room for everyone.

Savannah was walking up the stairs toward the bathroom when their group arrived. She grabbed Liz by the arm and whispered, “Do you have a minute?”

“I’m here with my parents. I have to make introductions and such,” Liz offered apologetically.

“Everything okay?” Brady asked, looking between the girls.

“Fine,” Savannah said immediately. “Just wanted to talk to Liz. Can you do introductions?”

“Sure, Savi. You sure you’re okay?”

“I said I was.” She straightened taller and gave her best impression of the Maxwell confidence.

Brady nodded. “All right. I’ll see y’all in a minute.”

Liz followed Savannah up the last few stairs and then stood at the top curiously. “What’s this all about?”

“I invited Easton.”

While that was surprising, since Savannah and Easton had only met this week, it wasn’t completely unheard-of for Savannah. She had invited Liz in a similar fashion to one of these events last year. “So?”

“Lucas is here,” she whispered, glancing over Liz’s shoulder.

“Oh.” Well, that made more sense. Savannah and Lucas had had an off-again, off-again relationship as far as Liz could tell. Savannah was head over heels for him, but he showed interest only when it was convenient for him.

“What should I do?”

“What do you mean, what should you do? You invited Easton, who is a great guy, to dinner with your parents after knowing him a week. You can’t exactly kick him out now.”

“I know,” Savannah said, swatting her hand. “But what do I do about Lucas?”

“Do you still like him?”

The answer was written all over her face. “I mean . . . I guess.” She shrugged.

“Right. Well, do you like Easton?”

“I just met him . . .” Savannah glanced away. “But yeah, I do. He’s not like other guys at school.”

“Then I think the best thing to do is to probably concentrate on Easton. If it doesn’t work out then you’ve done nothing but make Lucas insanely jealous,” Liz offered. She wasn’t sure she was the best person to ask advice about what to do when you liked two guys. Her answer had always been Brady . . . even when it shouldn’t have been.

Savannah laughed in an uninhibited manner, which really worked for her. So often she was reserved because of her upbringing. In moments like these, she was stunning.

“Okay. Thanks,” Savannah said. She looked down and then back up at Liz. “You know how I once told you that I would never like my brother’s girlfriends after Erin tried to act like my sister?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I guess I lied. You’re one of my best friends, and I really wouldn’t mind you as a sister,” Savannah admitted.

Liz placed her hand on her heart and then hugged Savannah. “Thanks. Maybe a bit ahead of yourself, but thanks.”

“Sorry to keep you from introducing your parents. God, I’m a wreck.”

“You’re fine. Don’t worry about it. You probably saved me.”

“Brady is great at introductions anyway.” Savannah shrugged.

“True, but you can never be too sure,” Liz said.

“All right. See you in a minute. I’ll space out our entrances so it doesn’t look like we were conspiring.”

“Were we conspiring?”

“Just get down there,” Savannah said, gently pushing Liz toward the stairs. Liz laughed and then jogged back down to the dining room.

She really was unprepared for the number of people who were in attendance for this dinner. It was more like a graduation party. At the head of the table sat Brady’s parents. Her parents were seated across from them and then Daniel and Victoria, a blank seat for her, and then Brady. On the other side of the table sat Lucas’s parents, whom she had met at this restaurant last year, their youngest daughter, Alice, then Savannah’s open seat was wedged between Lucas and Easton. Surprisingly enough, seated next to Easton was Clay’s girlfriend, Andrea, which could only mean one thing . . .