The women all looked to the screen and then back at him.
“What?” he said as their smiles became a little fixed.
“She’s, ah, looking a little… ragged,” Jessica B said apologetically.
Toby remembered Olive and Lily saying something similar at the Village Belle. He wouldn’t have put it that way, but last night Tabbyhadbeen thinner and paler than he’d ever seen her, and her nails, which had once been perfect colourful points, were bitten down to nothing. “Can I see the story?”
Victoria handed him the phone, and he watched a short video of Tabby, Sam, and Noah unboxing something in the studio. He felt a low punch in the gut, not just at the sight of Tabby, but his old friends. Considering he’d never gotten a tattoo at Silver Daughters, he had a lot of nostalgia for the place. Tabby wore a baggy grey hoodie, and her hair was pulled into a tight bun. To him, she looked lo-fi and sexy, like she’d just rolled out of bed. But he understood why the perfectly groomed women on the other side of the table were squirming. They wouldn’t be caught dead looking that way.
“What happened?” Suzannah, the former model, asked. “All her other photos are pure Bettie Page.”
Toby didn’t know who that was, but he could guess. Tabby’s style had always been a little shambolic but never sloppy. As far as he’d been able to tell, her makeup, hair, and nails were important to her.
“I think she’s, uh, hard up for money, maybe?” he said. “She was planning a festival last year, and it went south.”
He’d followed the Sparkling Whine thing online and thought about possibly going and accidentally-on-purpose running into her. When it went under, he’d wanted to call her and ask what happened but hadn’t been ready to cross that barrier. Now he was thinking about it: her glamour Instagram shots and TikTok videos disappeared after that. She’d become as reclusive as anyone with a public-facing account could be on social media.
“Maybe she’s having a hard time,” Toby said more to himself than anyone else. “She did seem pretty closed off last night, and I thought it was because of me, but?—”
“Don’t blame yourself, Toby.” Victoria, who was forty-nine and always a little more flirty than the others, batted her lashes at him. “Are yousurethis is the right girl for you?”
“Ahem,” Maisy said pointedly.
Victoria frowned, and Toby flashed a small smile at Maisy, who winked.
“If Tabitha is a little… strapped financially… maybe you could send her on a girl’s day out?” Mary-Lynn suggested. “A day spa, getting her hair done, that kind of thing?”
Toby hesitated. “You think she’d go for that?”
“Absolutely,” Jessica B said. “If my ex-husband had done that for me, I’d have absolutelysprayedfor him.”
Toby choked on his bloody Mary, which made everyone howl with laughter.
“So, what exactly did she say when she wanted you to sleep with her?” Victoria asked. “And make it juicier this time.”
Another round of drinks arrived, and with a fresh Bloody Mary in hand, Toby found he could tell the story again, adding a little more horny details, though not as many as were demanded.
When he was done, Jessica A pretended to fan herself. “That’s so sexy.”
“So sexy,” Mary-Lynn echoed. “And she likes you, honey. She wouldn’t have come to your house if she didn’t.”
“Maybe,” Toby said, fishing a pearl onion from his cocktail. “I know she’s attracted to me; I just don’t know why our wires keep getting crossed.”
“Daddy issues,” Jessica B said knowingly.
Toby shook his head. He’d never met Tabby’s dad, but by all accounts, he was the nicest, most invested father in the world.
“Mummy issues,” Maisy said suddenly. “That’s the one that always gets forgotten. What’s her mother like?”
“I’ve never met her. She left when Tabby was little, and I don’t think they’ve ever talked.”
“And there it is,” Maisy said quietly. “There’s nothing worse for a woman than a terrible mother.”
Everyone around the table nodded soberly. Toby thought of his mum, thin and grey-haired, sometimes going days without speaking to him. Funny how so few people had a good relationship with their parents, the people who were supposed to love them more than anyone. Although, it wasn’t funny at all.
“Putting aside the subject of mothers,” Maisy said, toying with her tennis bracelet. “What are you going to do now, dahling? Will you call the girl? She does have to finish your tattoo after all.”
“I want to see this tattoo,” Victoria said mischievously. “Shirt off, Toby.”
