Prologue
Up-at-the-lake weather. The meaning was conveyed immediately. Usually used to describe a cool late summer or early fall day where a sweater might be needed, up-at-the-lake weather ushered in a period of melancholy that would persist until the first snowfall. It could also include a visit from disapproving parents one more time before classes started again, the dreaded reminder that the carefree days of the final summer after college graduation were about to end.
The end of summer also meant that unless something really fabulous had occurred, like the beginning of a relationship, the onset of winter meant months of dreary loneliness and barhopping weekends with equally miserable singles.
Samantha Karas’s friends had evolved beyond the one-night stand; the few who had persisted past age twenty-one were more discreet about it now. But when the loneliness became intolerable, the one-night stand could alleviate some of it for even the most die-hard celibate.
Sunday morning, a dull gray light struggled to get under the drapes hanging ineffectively over Samantha’s shared-bedroom windows. Lying on her back, the first moments of recollection passed over her face like a ghostly hand. Wake up.
“Oh, God, get lost,” she moaned, throwing her arm over her eyes.
“Me?”
She looked over and saw Tom Kolsky, study partner and friend, lying in her bed, naked. How in the heck did he end up there?
“No. But shut up. How fast can you get out of here?”
Pounding blood cruised through her head. Roommate Alison in the next bed snored, the vibrato hurting Samantha’s eardrums.
“I’m still drunk,” he moaned, rolling over.
The smell of alcohol coming from her pores gagged her, and it was enough to make her get out of bed, as awful as she felt, and get under the shower as fast as possible. As she passed a mirror on her way to the bathroom, one glimpse was all it took. It was time to get a life.
Shivering in the cold apartment, Samantha made her way out to the hallway as one of the roommates, Laura Long, headed to her early morning job.
“I’m going to kill Alison when I get home tonight,” she growled, making Samantha laugh, and then both women grabbed their heads.
“See you later,” Samantha said. “You can deal with her after the rest of us have our turn.”
They’d all blame Alison Saint for their hangovers; she’d insisted on doing tequila shots just when things were winding down. But Samantha didn’t really blame Alison. It wasn’t her fault the four housemates were so bored they bordered on becoming alcoholics. The disappointments of an unproductive summer after graduation had built up to the point of desperation. In a few short weeks, Samantha and Alison would be starting medical school, and what had been a lifelong goal of Samantha’s was now fraught with doubt and dread.
“I’m joining an online dating site,” Joan Greenway had announced determinedly, sitting at Pink Piggy’s the night before with the others. The familiar bar with its stale-beer stench, dark lighting, and vintage neon had been their personal hangout for the last four years. “I’ve done everything else—joined hiking and running clubs, a cooking class. I even take dance lessons. If I wanted to date men my grandfather’s age, it wouldn’t be a waste of time.”
“I like older men,” Laura had replied. “They’ve already made it. You don’t have to go on the corporate-ladder climb with them.”
“No, instead you have to deal with their prostate trouble,” Joan said. “Forget it. A doctor in residency, now that’s a catch. Plus they’ll make money someday. I don’t want to work until I die.”
“You’re crazy,” Alison sneered. “You might as well be single, dating someone who works the hours a resident works. Trust me. I’m going into medicine, and the last person I’ll date is another doc.”
“What about Eddie?” Samantha asked. “The last time I looked, Ed was in medicine.”
“What about him? Eddie’s a friend,” Alison replied unconvincingly.
“Nix the online site. I don’t want to date badly enough to have to wade through a bunch of strangers,” Laura said. The unspoken: Laura was known to go out with guys she didn’t know, one of the ways her rent got paid. “I’m going to keep asking people to introduce me to their exes. That way, I’ll have an idea what their shortcomings are before the date.”
Laughing, the four women shared the absolute worst relationships they’d ever had, and in the end, none of them were that horrible. Maybe they simply needed to lower their standards.
“Sam had Bentley and let him get away,” Joan said.
“She shoved Bentley