“I’m pretty sure I’m with them,” she said. “I’ll find my way.”

Sure enough, her friends lined both sides of a large table. Taryn and Larissa sat on either side of Lark. Felicia, Patience and Isabel had joined them, along with Bailey and Consuelo. The only empty chair was directly across from Lark.

Dellina glanced at Taryn, who smiled innocently while motioning to the seat.

“We saved this for you,” Taryn murmured.

“Gee, thanks.”

Lark smiled at her. “Dellina. It’s so nice to see you again. Reggie and I enjoyed our dinner so much. The food was delightful, as was the company.”

“Thanks for your help with everything,” she said, thinking that when Lark wasn’t being outrageous, she was really nice. “Are you ready for your signing tonight?”

“Yes. There will be a question and answer session first. I always adore those. With prepared remarks I never know if I’m engaging the audience. But when they ask me questions, I know they’re interested in the conversation. It’s much more fun for all of us.”

The server appeared with two large pitchers of margaritas. Before Dellina could say anything, the glass in front of her was full. Taryn smiled.

“You weren’t thinking of working this afternoon, were you?”

“I don’t have a choice.” Dellina eyed the massive drink. “I’m going to be very careful.”

When everyone had been served, Lark raised her glass. “To new friends and a life well lived.”

They touched glasses and drank. Dellina took a sip and felt it slide down all too easily. This could be dangerous, she thought.

Bailey was next to her. The other woman leaned over. “How’s the party? I’m hearing it’s going to be great.”

“Fingers crossed,” Dellina told her. “I’m in the panic stage. It all starts tomorrow. I hope I’m ready.” She smiled. “How are you doing? Has Mayor Marsha left on her vacation?”

“A couple of days ago. I’m nervous about keeping everything running smoothly, but the whole city government staff is helping out. I just want to get through these couple of weeks without a crisis.”

“I hear you.”

They touched glasses and sipped again. Dellina felt a little of her tension fade. Maybe one margarita wouldn’t be so bad, she thought. It could take the edge off.

The server came and they placed their orders.

Lark smiled at Taryn. “You’re doing so well. Happy and in love. It suits you. Any plans to get pregnant soon?”

Dellina had to give Taryn credit—she didn’t even blink at the personal question.

“Angel and I are still having that conversation.”

“While the need to procreate is biological,” Felicia offered, “it’s not universal. Generally people who don’t want children have found satisfaction with an intense career or are in the arts. Something about creating another way. There are also studies that indicate a traumatic childhood can lessen the desire to have children.” She paused and looked at Consuelo. “Did I say too much?”

Consuelo picked up her margarita. “No. You said exactly the right thing. People choose to have a family or not for different reasons.”

Felicia, very pregnant herself and drinking herbal tea, looked relieved. “Yes, that’s it. Gideon and I knew that we wanted a family. We were blessed with Carter from the start and now we have our daughter on the way.”

“Children are a blessing,” Lark said. “Reggie and I wanted at least two. Of course, having girls meant we had to make a run at a boy. Then we had Sam.”

Her smile turned wistful. “He was such a sweet little boy. How he adored his older sisters and he desperately wanted to be playing with them all the time. But he was sick so much.” She looked around the table. “Asthma. It was horrible. He would turn blue and we would race him to the hospital. A couple of times we thought we were going to lose him.”

Taryn reached for Lark’s hand and squeezed it. “You didn’t, though.”

“I know. He grew big and strong.” Lark’s mouth straightened. “And then he wanted to play football. I knew sports were in his blood. The whole family was athletic. But I couldn’t stand the thought of him risking himself like that. Kicking was a compromise and he turned out to be a star at it.”

Chips and salsa were delivered to the table, along with big bowls of guacamole. Taryn visibly flinched. “My downfall on the calorie front,” she murmured, pushing the guacamole away. “Some of my skirts are getting tight.”

“If you breathe correctly, you can increase your calorie burn during sex,” Lark told her, reaching for a chip. “I’ll show you later.”

“I look forward to it,” Taryn said.

Dellina shook her head. The truth was Reggie and Lark were loving parents who had a quirky way of looking at things. They weren’t bad, they were just...different.

* * *

AFTER LUNCH, DELLINA walked out with Patience.

“The T-shirts are in,” her friend told her. “I got a text during lunch.”

One of the thrills of small-town living, she thought. Her T-shirt order had been delivered to Patience’s store because the delivery guy was already going to Brew-haha, anyway, so why not?

She’d ordered shirts for Fayrene and Ryan, along with the babysitting staff. Each of the kids was getting a shirt, too. She also managed to arrange for a tiny shirt for Caramel, which was going to be wildly cute. But still, now she had another pickup.

“I think the box is going to be too big for me to carry,” she said. “I’ll be by later to pick it up.”

Patience touched her arm. “No way. I’m delivering it to you as soon as I get back to the store. Are you kidding? You have to be running in circles. The whole big party starts tomorrow night.”

“Thank you,” Dellina said. “I owe you, big-time.”

“Are you ready?”

“Nearly. I hope. I’m going to be stuffing goodie bags into the night. I’ve triple-checked everything, I have my lists.”

“You’ll do great,” her friend told her. “I love what you did last year with Charlie’s wedding. That was perfect.” Patience grinned. “Any hints as to what Taryn is planning?”

“She hasn’t said a word to me. Maybe they’re going to elope.”

“No way.” Patience laughed. “Taryn needs to wear a designer gown by some French person we’ve never heard of. She can’t do that if she elopes. She’ll probably talk to you soon.”

“After Sunday,” Dellina said. “I couldn’t handle it before then.”

“I want details.”

“I’m sure we all will.”

Patience walked with her along the street. “So how’s it working with the handsome football players? Sparkage?”

Despite the stress and her exhaustion, Dellina laughed. “Sparkage? Who says that? I’m only working with Sam, and while he’s a great guy, we have a professional relationship.”

Patience’s eyes brightened with amusement. “This would be the same Sam you slept with on Valentine’s Day night?”

“Yeah, that one.”

Patience raised her eyebrows. “I’m not buying the business-only thing, just so you know.”

Because she and Patience had known each other all their lives, there weren’t many secrets.

“We might have kissed, but it didn’t mean anything.” Dellina paused, then grinned. “Beyond the sparkage.”

“I knew it. I really love being right. How’s Fayrene doing? Is she still on that campaign to get Ryan to propose?”

“Yes, and it’s ridiculous. Ryan worships her. She needs to tell him she’s changed her mind.”

“I know, but sometimes it’s hard to say that kind of thing.” Patience shook her head. “Everyone else can see how he feels, but I keep thinking her insistence that the proposal comes from him isn’t about convention so much as fear.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe she’s scared he’s changed his mind. That he doesn’t want to marry her anymore. We all create elaborate stories when the truth is too painful.”

They stopped in front of Brew-haha. “This is me,” Patience said, giving her a quick hug. “Come on inside. We’ll load up the T-shirts and I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Thanks,” Dellina said as she followed her inside the store.

But her mind wasn’t on the party anymore, or even her sister. She kept thinking about what Patience had said about people making up stories when the truth was too painful to admit.

Did she have a story? She was so clear on not wanting to get married because she’d already raised her family. That was true—she wasn’t just saying it. Because if she was, then there was a greater truth. A more painful one. Like maybe she had already lost so much, she was terrified of losing again, and that was why she didn’t want to risk her heart.

* * *

“MOST YARDAGE PASSING,” Jack said, tossing the football to Kenny.

“Regular season or play-off game?” Kenny asked. He caught the ball and then tossed it across the table.

“Regular season,” Sam said as the ball spiraled toward him.

They were in the conference room with a football. When Taryn found out, she was going to hit the roof. Sam wondered why they took such delight in messing with her. She always got them back somehow and yet they couldn’t seem to help themselves. A couple of months ago, a wayward pass had shattered the built-in television. Taryn had replaced the regular milk by the coffee machine with soy milk for over a week. While any one of them could have gone to the store and bought a quart of regular milk, they hadn’t. Instead they’d swallowed the soy and promised to never toss the football indoors again.

“Against the 49ers,” Kenny said. “October 2011. It was raining. We won that game.”

“Because I kicked a field goal with five seconds on the clock,” Sam reminded them. “Three points, gentlemen. The difference between being a god and getting your ass handed to you.”

Their receptionist stuck her head in the room. “Kenny, there’s a young lady here to see you.”

Sam looked at Jack, who was already hooting and whistling.

“A young lady,” he said. “I hope she’s over eighteen.”

Sam chuckled. “Look at you, Kenny. Having them meet you at the office. Afraid to show them where you live?”

Kenny walked toward the door. “Sam, I was going to let you stay at my place while your folks are in town, but you can forget that.”

Sam nearly said that he was staying with Dellina, but kept his mouth shut. No one needed that information. His partners would make too big a deal of it.

They went with Kenny down the hallway to the foyer. At the entrance, the three of them stopped and stared at the two girls waiting there. Because they were girls. Maybe seven or eight years old. One was thin, with bright red hair and green eyes. She was with a blonde girl who wore glasses.

The redhead smiled shyly at Kenny.

“Chloe?” he said, walking toward her. “What are you doing here?”

“Allison and I need your help,” she said. “Allison is making her mom a jewelry box for her birthday. It’s her summer project for the FWM. Her dad was supposed to help her finish it, but he had to go out of town on business. Her mom’s birthday is Saturday. All it needs is painting and then varnish. Can you help us with that?”

She stared at Kenny as she spoke, her eyes wide, her expression hopeful. Jack chuckled.

“Someone’s got a crush,” he whispered. “That’s so cute.”

Which was code for later Jack would torment Kenny about the kid.

Kenny, all six feet four inches and well over two hundred pounds of him, shifted uneasily from foot to foot. “Ah, maybe one of your mom’s friends could do it. I’m not good at art projects.”

“It’s not an art project,” Allison said quickly. “The box is made. We just have to paint it. We have money for the paint and varnish. We’d ask Chloe’s mom, but she’s working. You know Chloe doesn’t have a dad, right?”

Sam winced. “She hits below the belt. He’s a goner.”

“Totally destroyed by two little girls,” Jack said admiringly. “You have to respect their tactics. Simple but effective.”

“They’ll be ruling the world in less than a decade.”

Kenny looked over his shoulder. “Could either of you two—”

Jack and Sam were already backing away.

“Sorry, bro,” Sam said. “I have my folks to deal with.”

“I’m busy,” Jack told him.

They rounded the corner, then turned and headed to the conference room.

“It’s nearly lunchtime,” Jack said. “Want to go to Jo’s Bar?”

Sam shook his head. “I’m not sure where my mom is. Let’s order in.”

“Good idea.”

* * *

BY NINE-THIRTY that night, all the kids’ bags were stuffed and standing neatly in boxes that lined the wall of Dellina’s living room. The T-shirts—a bright yellow that would be easy to spot if anyone wandered off—were rolled and wrapped in ribbon and resting on the very top of the bags. Big name tags hung from the handles. She’d spoken to Fayrene and confirmed the pickup time for the morning. She had rented a delivery van to get everything up to the hotel.

Now, as she worked on the gift bags for the adults, she went item by item, confirming that she wasn’t missing anything. With the women’s bags, she was going to nestle the Tiffany’s box on top. The pretty blue would be an eye-catcher. Dellina had to admit she’d been hoping the store would throw in a buy-ten-get-one-free bonus, but no such luck. There were three extra pairs of the watches, but she suspected Sam had ordered them specifically for him and his partners.

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