Clara chuckled. “You seem happy.”
She pulled back. “Because it’ssogood to see you.”
“You too. Helen, this is my cousin Indie.”
Helen released Clara’s shoulders and wrapped Indie in the next hug. “Hey, Cousin Indie!”
Indie’s brows shot up. “Um, hi.”
“Are you here with anyone?” Clara asked.
“Only atonof people from work. Deb. Malcolm. Briar. Come join us!”
Clara started shaking her head. “Oh, I don’t—”
“Iinsist.” Helen yanked her hand, and Clara almost stumbled as she was dragged through the crowd. She glanced behind her to see Indie following, their drinks in her hands.
Helen stopped at the pool table, where half a dozen people stood, some with pool sticks, others with drinks. All people sherecognized from the running club. “Look who I found. Clara and Cousin Indie.”
A few people said hi. Most of them seemed sober.
When Helen grabbed Indie’s arm and went around to introduce her to everyone, Malcolm came to stand beside Clara. “Hey. I have a feeling it wasn’t your choice to come over here?”
“No. But I don’t mind. How much has she had to drink?”
“Too much.”
Clara chuckled. “Have you been here long?”
“About an hour. You?”
“Maybe ten minutes.” She scanned the group of people. “You run with your colleaguesandyou drink with them? You must really like each other.”
He grinned. “Either that or no one else likes how much we talk medical speak, so we only have each other.”
Clara laughed. “Hey, I’m here.”
“You are. You must enjoy being bored to death with talk of sepsis and catheters.”
Briar joined them. “Hi. Karen, was it?”
The smile slipped from Clara’s face. “Clara.”
The other woman just nodded, no apology. “Did you hear? I hired Holden to do my kitchen.”
Her heart gave a little jerk, but she was careful to keep any emotion off her face. “That’s great. He does amazing work.”
“I know he does. It’s why I hired him.”
Was it? Or was it because Holden was cute and funny and kind and a million other things?
Helen suddenly stepped between Briar and Malcolm and threw her arms over their shoulders. “Why does this little subgroup seem so docile?”
“Helen, how much have you had to drink?” Briar asked, annoyance in her voice.
Helen held up two fingers, showing the smallest gap. “A teeny, tiny bit.”
Briar rolled her eyes while Malcolm chuckled.
