Mikey picked up a stick to poke at the fire. “You weren’t being rude,but I—as one of your oldest friends—couldstillperceive that you weren’t having a good time.”
“What gave me away? Was it the sitting alone in the dark?”
He grinned. “It was, yeah. Then I remembered that time that you hid in the bathroom for an hour at Tanya’s New Year’s Eve party...”
“Her house had two bathrooms.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Next time we’ll do dinner. For real.”
“It’s okay. It’s probably good for me to get out, even if I’m not talking to anyone. And it was great to meet Janine—and to see you doing so well.”
“Janine’s the best.”
“I can tell.” Shiloh meant it. Janine seemed down-to-earth, laid-back. She laughed at Mikey’s constant jokes without laughingtoo much. And he seemed totally besotted with her.
Mikey looked at Shiloh out of the corner of his eye. He was smiling. “So... how are things with you and our friend Cary?”
“Uh...” Shiloh shrugged. “We’re fine? Why, what has Cary told you?”
“Cary hasn’t told me anything—he’s a gentleman. He won’t ever talk about you. But you’re no gentleman, Shiloh. Give me the goods.”
She shook her head. “There are no goods.”
Mikey tipped his head, squinting one eye. “Uhhh, maybe I’d believe that if I hadn’t seen you filming a romantic comedy at my own wedding reception. Like, seriously. It was my wedding, but you guys got voted Cutest Couple.”
Shiloh looked at the fire. She was embarrassed. It was probably rude to make a lovey-dovey scene at someone else’s wedding. “I don’t know what to tell you—nothing happened.”
Mikey made another face. “Nothingnothing?”
“Nothing-ish,” she said. “We just talked.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Okay, how about this...” She held out her arms. “We dug up ourpast and laid it all out on clean tarps, trying to figure out what sort of natural disaster had come through and destroyed everything.”
Mikey nodded. He looked disappointed. “Okay, that I believe. That sounds like you. Both of you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It meansyouoverthink things—and Cary holds a grudge.”
“I’m making it sound worse than it was,” Shiloh said, kicking at a rock next to the fire. “It was good, actually. To clear things up with him. It was the first real conversation we’ve had in years.”
Mikey shook his head, like that bothered him.
“What,” she demanded.
“I thought you guys finally got your act together that night. I was ready to take credit.”
“We kind ofdid,” she said. “I think Cary and I are just supposed to be friends.”
“Bull-shit,” Mikey said, stretching out the syllables.
“You don’t get to say that’s bullshit.”
“As the person who chaperoned you for five years, I absolutely do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
