Mom stopped behind my chair, patting my head. “It’s all in good fun, sweetheart.” She leaned over to hug Sophia. “I didn’t hear you come in, Soph. Want some tea? I’m about to put on a pot.”
My mother and Sophia shared a love of tea, and more than once, I’d come home to find the two of them enjoying cups together at this very table. I liked the fact that my mother and my friends got along so well, but when they ganged up on me, it was less fun.
“I would love a cup, please.” Sophia offered my mom a sunny smile.
“Awesome. Once I get the kettle on, I’d love to hold the baby, if you didn’t mind.” Mom cooed down into Gus’s small face. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a little one in the house.”
“Any time you need a baby fix, just call me. I’ll give you my number,” Vivian declared. “Gus is an equal opportunity snuggler.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Mom headed to the stove. “Go on, now. Keep talking. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“We were just laughing at Harry,” Sophia answered. “You’re welcome to join in, if you like.”
“Harry, to answer your question, I’ll run this by legal for you, but I think you can mention first names—or maybe even just first initials, if her name is unusual and could be traced back to her. You can’t endorse the park by name or give the exact location, since we don’t do promotion in our columns, but you can talk about it in a vague sense.”
“Thanks.” I swung around to face Sophia. “Something just occurred to me. Did you take naked pictures of people at the park? Or did you just shoot nature there?”
Sophia blinked. “Of course, there were people in the pictures. They were promotional shots. But I promise, they were all very tasteful.”
I frowned. “Womenandmen?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Harry, both sexes, if you must know.”
“Soph, are your parents coming back to Florida for Thanksgiving?” My mother wasn’t exactly subtle about changing the subject.
“Actually, that was why I stopped over to talk to Harry.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Mom and Dad want to celebrate Thanksgiving in St. Augustine, so I’m going to drive up and meet them that day. I have to work on Black Friday, so I won’t stay late, but I won’t be able to make it to dinner here.” She glanced at my mother. “Thanks for the invitation, Mrs. D. I appreciate it.”
“So you won’t be here for Thanksgiving?” I was more disappointed than I’d expected.
“No, but I had an idea. Why don’t we have Friendsgiving at my house? You, me and Preston—maybe the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’ll make dinner.” Sophia was an excellent cook, which made her offer especially appealing. “I already mentioned it to Preston, and he’s down.”
“Ooooh, that sounds fun.” Vivian brushed cookie crumbs from her shirt. “If I promise to bring a dish and help out with the clean-up, could the three of us get in on that, too? My parents are still traveling the country in their RV, my sister’s got a new job in New Mexico, and Charlie’s grandfather is flying up to New York for the holiday. We thought about going, too, but I’m not ready to fly with the babycito, here. We’re going to have a lonely, quiet holiday.” She slid a sideways glance at her husband. “Assuming you’re okay with attending a Friendsgiving with these awesome people?”
Charlie laughed. “As if I could say no to that.”
“Of course, you can come. Iwantyou to come.” Sophia wriggled in her chair, giddy. “I can’t believe that I’m going to have the real live Vivian at my Friendsgiving.”
“Great. I make an amazing cranberry relish from scratch, and my pecan pie has won prizes. For real. Tell me if you need anything else.” Vivian pulled out her phone. “Give me your number, so we can make plans.”
“Sure.” Sophia slid her own phone across the table.
“So you, Harry, Preston . . . Charlie and me . . . that’s five of us. Anyone else invited?” Vivian tapped into her phone, flickering her attention up to Sophia.
“Um . . .” Sophia began, and I heard an unfamiliar uncertainty in her tone. “Maybe one more. But I’m not positive on that yet.”
“Who else is coming? Ormaybe coming?” I searched my mind to think of which of our casual friends might qualify for inclusion. Sophia’s apartment wasn’t big enough to host a huge gathering, so we usually stuck to intimate parties—meaning small groups.
Sophia swallowed and studiously avoided meeting my eyes. “Someone I met through work. He’s from California, and he just moved here, so he doesn’t know many people. I thought it might be cool to include him.”
“Sophia . . .” Vivian dragged out her name. “Is this male someone a person of interest in your love life? Are you maybe into him?” She sounded delighted, much to my annoyance.
If it were possible, Sophia seemed even more uncomfortable. “Well, he asked me out. On a date. Tomorrow night. And I said yes.”
“You did?” I blurted out, my surprise taking away any tactful filter I might’ve possessed. “Why?”
“Soph, I think that’s wonderful.” My mother returned to the table, setting down a mug of steaming tea in front of Sophia, glaring at me over the top of her head. “Tell us about him.”
“He’s from California,” she began, and I interrupted.
