Jefferson leans closer to her. “Yes.Thatis a great costume.”
Harlow gives him a smile that seems borderline inappropriate for the family dinner table.
“I don’t remember you doing sexy costumes like that in high school or college,” Ginny comments.
“Nope. My dad wouldn’t have it. HehatesHalloween,” Harlow says.
Everyone nods as if this is common knowledge.
“Why’s that?” I have to ask.
“My dad’s the town cop. He hates most holidays because most of them involve liquor and people are off work and feeling festive, i.e., willing to do stupid things, but he always says when you add in costumes, people feel even more invincible, and it’s a nightmare.” She laughs. “But whenever he says that around my mom, she says something about one Halloween he really liked alot, and we have tobegthem not to continue in front of us.” She pauses. “Come to think of it, they seem to have a story like that for a lot of holidays. My mom has a special knack for handling my dad.”
Everyone laughs again, and Adrianne just nods and pats Mason’s arm.
“Idoremember you dressing up as a very creepy clown one year,” Ginny says to Harlow.
Jefferson shudders. “I remember that too.”
Harlow runs her hand up his arm. “Oh, do you? You remember my Halloween costumes?”
“I do. You now know that I noticed you a lot in high school.”
“Well, I wore that creepy clown costume foryou,” she says, with a sweet smile.
“Ihateclowns,” Jefferson tells her.
“I know. And you’d been a total ass to me and Graham the weekend before. I knew you were going to a party at the river and I intended to creep through the trees and freak you out.”
Jefferson frowns. “I remember the costume at school, but not at the party.”
She sighs. “I know. We fell asleep watching movies and never made it to the party.”
Graham, Ginny, and Margot laugh.
“Oh, God, I remember that!” Margot says. “My mom came in to wake us all up in the dark living room, and your costume freakedherout.”
They all laugh, and I find myself smiling with them.
“You’ve all known each other a long time,” I comment. “You know each other really well, don’t you?”
“Too well sometimes,” Harlow says. “We’re all like siblings.” She gives Jefferson another not-dinner-table-appropriate look. “Well, notallof us are like siblings.”
“It’s lovely,” Adrianne interjects, smiling at them all. “I’ve always loved your friend group.”
“Yeah, it’s how we do things here,” Ginny says, giving me a look. “Just look at them all. Jefferson and Harlow knew each other foryearsbefore getting together. Carver and Kaelyn have been together since they could walk. Graham and Margot were friends forever before it became something more. No insta-love or falling fast around here.”
Ah, yes, point made. She thinks I’m crazy to be insisting that what we shared in Denver actually meant something real.
“Well, that’s true for them, maybe, but not how we did it,” Mason says.
I look at him in surprise. “Oh?”
He gives his wife a rare smile. “Knew the moment I saw her that she was special and I had to have her.”
I glance at Ginny. She sighs heavily. But doesn’t argue.
The rest of the people at the table are smiling, and it seems this is a well-known story.
