That part, Audrey could relate to, at least a little.Not that what Cash had put her through was anything like what Cassidy had gone through, but… she’d escaped the life that had been laid out for her.A life that had been slowly smothering her.
“I’m really glad you got away.”
“Me, too.Your brother saved me in more ways than one.”Cassidy shook her head in wonderment.“Not just him, either.My friends in D.C.gave me faith in people again.They supported me when I couldn’t do anything for them in return.Got me to safety up here.Then everyone here continued that.I really wasn’t looking for love, ever again, but your brother is the one who made me realize I could still have that part of my life, too.”
Audrey felt tears spring up in her eyes.
“That’s so beautiful.”
“Sometimes, it feels like I was headed toward a terrible fate, then the universe intervened and sent me to a different destiny.”Cassidy sighed.“Which sounds very dramatic, but that’s how it feels sometimes.”
“You went through something pretty dramatic, so that’s fair.”
“Dramaticandtraumatic,” Cassidy quipped, making them both giggle.“It’s kind of wild that I can laugh about it now, but… some days I can.And I feel like that’s healthy.”
“Definitely healthier than drowning in melancholy,” Audrey agreed.
“Yeah, I did plenty of that already.Okay, here we are.”She pulled to a halt, parking in front of a stone house that looked straight out of a fairy tale.Audrey blinked in surprise.It even had a little turret on the left side.
“That’s Claudia’s house?”Audrey pointed.Maybe Cassidy meant the next house over.
“Yup.Unexpected, huh?”
“Definitely.”Audrey got out of the car, looking at it.She would have expected Claudia’s somewhere more like David’s home, with clean modern lines and lots of dark colors.Not a Thomas Kinkade painting.Even without anything blooming in the flowerbeds or on the bushes, it was a picturesque little house.A romantic dwelling.She went to the back car door and opened it so she could pull out the tray of extra goodies she’d made for tonight—an assortment of cookies and cake pops.
She followed Cassidy up the path to the front door.Cassidy knocked, but didn’t bother waiting for someone to come to the door, just opened it and stepped back so Audrey could pass through in front of her.The inside of Claudia’s house matched the outside.It was soft.Cozy.Neither of which were words she would have ever used to describe Claudia, which made the dichotomy all the more fascinating.
“Hello, come on in,” Claudia said, even though they already were in.She was standing behind a large table where Ashley and Jennifer were seated.Both of them smiled and waved.“Naomi and Yasmine should be here soon.I think it’s just the seven of us tonight.Brenda’s not coming, right?”
“She sends her regrets,” Cassidy said, and shook her head as she closed the door behind her.“I’m not sure what she’s up to tonight.She told me it’s none of my business.Not in a mean way, but she didn’t want to tell me what her plans were.”
“We’ll probably find out eventually,” Ashley said cheerfully, hopping up from her seat at the table to come around and take the tray from Audrey.
“Oh, I’ve got it… Well, thank you.”Apparently, Ashley wasn’t taking no for an answer; she’d already taken the tray from Audrey before she could finish her sentence.Bemused, she looked at her suddenly empty hands.
“No, I’ve got it, boss,” Ashley said, winking at her as she turned and headed toward a smaller table that was adjacent to the kitchen and already piled with food.There were two coolers on the ground to the right of it.“You’re going to have to get used to being in charge and bossing me around.”
“I feel like I’m being the one bossed around,” Audrey muttered good naturedly, although she wasn’t entirely kidding.Ashley seemed to have decided that her job was to handle everything but the baking and the books this week, and she was constantly shooing Audrey away from everything else.
“Go A-Team!”Ashley cheered, using one hand to move aside a bowl of chips and salsa, squishing it in with the other platters, to make room for the baked goods.
“A-Team?”Jennifer asked, raising her eyebrows and leaning forward to rest her weight on the table.
“That’s what we’re calling ourselves,” Audrey explained.“My other new employee’s name is Alexis, so all of our names start with A.The A-Team.”
“Or Triple A, but I like A-Team better,” Ashley said, returning to the table and sliding back into her seat.
“I think Seven Wonders tonight,” Claudia said, looking over the boxes she’d pulled out.“Since there are seven of us.”
“Imagine my surprise,” Jennifer muttered and smirked when Claudia shot her a look.
“Have you played before?”Claudia asked, and it took Audrey a moment to realize the other woman was directing the question at her.
“Um, no.”
“That’s fine, it’s easy enough to learn; it’s the strategy that’s hard,” Claudia said, nodding her head and starting to pull the other boxes off the table.“Go ahead and grab something to drink—the blue cooler has non-alcoholic options, and the red cooler has the booze.”
With her soft opening tomorrow, Audrey opted for the blue cooler.She was just picking out a sparkling water when there was a knock on the door.Like Cassidy, there was no wait before opening, and Naomi and Yasmine came in.Both of them were smiling in anticipation of the evening, bright-eyed and happy to be there.
