Matt: If we're talking about the same person, I've met her. I mean, maybe notmetbut I've seen her in the stairwell. Nick introducedme,too.
Andy: Oh, I like the idea of Nick-and-Erin fix-ups. That should be athing.
Shannon: She should come to the farmers' market this weekend. We'll have lunch and get to know eachother.
Patrick: Of course he wasn't hooking up withMagnolia.
Tom: Can Nick and Erin fix me up with someone? I'm not picky. Doesn't have to be adoctor.
Andy: I need more details than green eyes. Height, hair color, ethnic origins. More,please.
Matt: Short-ish,right?
Shannon: This is not about you, Thomas. Your time will come, my dear, but this isnotit.
Patrick: I mean, she's nice but…roofgardens.
Matt: If memory serves, she's taller than Erin but not much.Right?
Tom: When my time comes, can it come with Tom Hardy? Can someone pass that along to Nick and Erin, please? We'll be The Toms and it will beprecious.
Andy: We need more to work with than this. Where've you been? When are you seeing heragain?
Patrick: What would you even talkabout?Moss?
Shannon: Should I interpret this to mean you're not taking Magnolia to RISDWeekend?
Matt: She's a little thing but she's not much of asmiler,huh?
That did it. That was all it took for me to look up from my notebook and spear Matt with a sharp gaze. "Shut the fuck up when you talk about my girlfriend," Isnapped.
My reaction was over the top and irrational, and more ridiculously ironic than I cared to admit. But I wasn't open to commentary from Matt. He already hadeverything. He wasn't entitled to peck away at the little I could callmyown.
"Well then," Sammurmured.
He held up his hands in surrender. "No, no. I just meant that she seemed serious," he said. "I wasn't trying toimply—"
"Shut the fuck up," I said, each word broken off with more edge than the one before. It didn't matter to me whether this response was proportional or evenappropriate.
Matt folded his forearms over the closed lid of his laptop and fiddled with the wedding band on his ring finger. "You're not understanding me, Riley. I wasn't trying to saythatshe—"
"Stop talking, Matt," Shannon said. She gave him a quick head shake before glancing at me. "I can't wait to meet Alex. I know I'm going to love her even if we don't share a fondness foravocados."
"It's fine," Andy said, waving off Shannon's comment. "I love avocados enough for both of us, and if you like her, Riley, I know I'll likeher,too."
Patrick rubbed his palms together and bobbed his head. "Am I allowed to talk about business yet?" heasked.
"That depends," Shannon replied. "Am I allowed to eat thesetacosyet?"
* * *
Magnolia pacedthe length of the Marlborough Street brownstone's roof deck twice, alternating between tapping and clicking her pen as she walked. "You're not giving me much to work with," she said as she started a third turn. "With the budget you're offering, I could give them a potted Japanese maple. Maybe agnome."
"The roof garden was a last-minute add," I said, shrugging. "That, and several other last-minuteadds."
Half bath off the garage. Copper gutters. Extra master bedroom closet. And now, a roofgarden.
She shot me a pointed glance over her shoulder. "Get a handle on your client,"shesaid.
