Laughing loudly in my nervousness, I said, “Uh, no, silly. But you can grab one of those cheese balls you’ve been eyeing since the caterers arrived.” Luckily, the promise of cheesy goodness was all it took to send the little imp away.
“Vicky, everything is beautiful, like I was saying,” I replied, avoiding Vicky’s amber eyes. “Thank you for all this. I’m sure it’s going to be a great night.”
“I’m so glad you like it. I wanted your guests to feel comfortable. Anna said she emailed her regrets but asked me to apologize again. She had a prior commitment, and Elena is still in Los Angeles,” she said as I mindlessly picked things up only to put them back down. I noticed my mother’s amused expression as I turned to her and held back my grumble.
“Oh, wait. I have something for you and MJ. A small housewarming gift,” she said, holding up a gift bag I hadn’t even noticed.
“I said no gifts, but this was so thoughtful of you to do. Thank you.” She clasped her hands behind her back as she watched me peel away the tissue paper and lift out the most beautiful piece of art I’d ever seen.
When I looked at her, she said, “It’s from a local artisan. She creates her pieces from olive wood and resin. But this one, she used a Japanese method called kintsugi.”
“Oh, like the bowl Aria has,” Sofia said excitedly. “It’s used to put broken things back together.”
My finger followed the sparkling gold vein running through the piece. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a deeper meaning behind her gift.
“It’s so unique. Thank you again. I’ll be sure to show it to MJ later.”
“She may add kintsugi to her long list of new interests,” Vicky said with a warm smile.
I loved that she always found a way to include my daughter.
“I should, ah, go check out everything inside. Make yourself at home. I want you to feel comfortable, too,” I said, making the mistake of looking at her, the memory of my blunder the week before making us both blush. I was pretty sure Mom snickered, but I didn’t stick around, hightailing it inside.
Almost two hours later, the house was filled with people from the office, as well as Luke, Sofia, and Dad. Trendy music mixed with oldies played in the background, and a few people were dancing in the living room, making us all laugh. They truly were a great group of people, and I was lucky to have them.
Susan and her husband were playing a game of oversized outdoor Jenga in the corner of the yard, surprising us all. She was quite competitive. Luke said he’d given up trying to make her smile when he’d sneak up on her while she was pulling out pieces.
“What a great party. Looks like everyone’s having a good time,” Dad said, sipping on his drink. We had all hoped this would be the year he finally retired for good.
I looked around, already a bit tired from my host duties since I wasn’t much for parties. MJ and I had led such a quiet life together all these years, and I knew I’d have to get used to this from time to time.
“Yes, that’s as much to Vicky’s credit as anyone else's. She had a vision for bringing people together. The icebreaker games were a brilliant idea,” Mom said. “MJ dominated at trivia." We all chuckled at that, not one bit surprised.
“Yeah, I think your office nerds were even impressed,” Luke said before wolfing down some kind of pastry.
“Pfft, at least my office nerds aren’t as boring as your…”
“Boys, please behave yourselves.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we said simultaneously. When she wasn’t looking, I knocked the rest of his pastry out of his hand, making Sofia laugh as he glared at me.
“Speaking of Vicky, where is she?” Dad asked, looking around. “I’ve hardly had any time to talk with her tonight.
I saw the gleam in Sofia’s eye immediately as she used her glass to point to a spot at the far end of the yard.
“Thereshe is. She’s talking to one of your guys, Miles. Can’t remember his name, but he’s really handsome.”
“Hey,” Luke muttered, his eyebrows lowering and lips tightening.
She yanked him to her for a kiss that was gratefully PG. He sighed as he rubbed her growing belly.
Glad to look away from all that PDA, my eyes automatically went to where Sofia had pointed.
When my eyes landed on her location, my stomach clenched in knots. Vicky was standing under the lights, their glow reflected in her eyes as she gazed up at Nathan, one of my new coders. My hands were fortunately empty as they clenched into fists without my consent. If I hadsuperhero powers, flames would be shooting from my eyes, carving a scorched trail between us.
“Should we go break that up? I mean, Enzo wanted us to look after her. Keep her focused on her work,” Luke said, aiming his remark at me. I wasn’t sure from his tone whether he was sincere or mocking my pain.
“Vicky and I are just friends.” I had no idea why I’d said that, as it didn’t make much sense in the context of this conversation. I was pretty sure I was talking to myself, trying to convince myself not to fire Nathan on the spot.
