The dance line dissolved in giggles. Toni flung an arm aroundFiadh. Reeti hurried over to refill the kebab platter, throwing me a significant look as she passed.
I ignored her, focused on Sam. He’d been so sure that school was not for him.What changed your mind?I wanted to ask. But I didn’t want to go there. Not yet. Not so soon after our fight. “What’s your essay about?” I asked instead.
“They tell you at the interview.” He sipped his beer, watching me.
“I’d be happy to proofread it for you,” I blurted. “Not that you need... Well. But if you wanted...”
“That’d be grand,” he said, mercifully interrupting me. “Ta.”
I beamed. “I’m just so happy for you.” I hugged him again.
His arms went around me, pulling me into his hard, lean body. My nose mashed against his chest. I raised my head to breathe, and he kissed me. A long kiss, sweet and bitter and complex as the Guinness he’d been drinking. A kiss between equals. Not between friends. I pulled back, confused.
And saw Tim, standing in the corner watching us, his face impassive, his hand clenched hard on his glass.Crap.
Before I could think, before I could react, the dancers swarmed the table, raiding for drinks and food.
“So, what’s next for you, then?” one of the girls asked Toni. “Back to the cows, is it?”
Toni shook her head vigorously. “Nope,” she said through a mouthful of pakora.
“She’s going to New York,” Fiadh said.
I looked at Toni in shock.
“I’ve been in touch with some of my mom’s friends. Artists,” my sister said, avoiding my eyes. “They offered to work with me. Like an internship.”
A chill chased along my bones. This was the first I’d heard of it. “I thought you were going back to school.”
“Maybe. Eventually. Mom went to Bard, didn’t she? In New York. I want to be an artist. But I need to build a portfolio first. Explore different places, different styles.”
My mind whirled. “But where will you live?”
“With Aunt Leslie, to start. She has a great studio in Crown Heights.”
“Where?”
“Brooklyn. And her couch pulls out!”
I swallowed bile. “I remember. But, Toni—”
“And then,” she rushed on, “Jeff and Brad invited me to stay with them in Connecticut. They have a gallery. It’s not the city, but Uncle Jeff promised me the train is really convenient.” Her eyes met mine with a mixture of pleading and defiance. “I’ve thought it all through.”
Without once saying a word to me.
My stomach knotted. She didn’t know these people. Didn’t she understand how dangerous it was? How risky? This wasn’t like going away to college in our hometown or even running away to Ireland. I wouldn’t be there to move her in, to make her bed or buy her toiletries or protect her.
I bit back my words, mindful of our audience. I couldn’t argue with her now. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Across the room, Tim downed his whiskey in one swallow and set the glass carefully on a table.
“It won’t make any difference.” Toni raised her chin, holding my gaze. “This is my dream, Dodo.”
It was my worst nightmare. Sleeping on couches, no stability, no security. “Toni, you can’t possibly—”
“Your sister’s right,” Fiadh said, patting Toni’s arm. I turned to her in relief, grateful for an ally. “You can talk it out later.”
And she led my sister away.
