Lori straightened up, attempting dignity. "I'm not hiding. I'm just... not making myself obvious."
"Honey, you're the opposite of obvious right now," Jen said. "You're acting like a teenager."
"I'm aware." She risked another look toward the bar. John was laughing at something the woman had said, his whole face animated. "She's probably his girlfriend. Or his wife. Someone like him doesn't stay single."
"You don't know that," Carrie said.
"I don't know anything. That's the problem."
Inside, the band started their second set, the music drifting out through the open doors. Lori was still watching John, trying to look like she wasn't watching John, when he glanced up and caught her eye.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then he smiled—a real smile, warm and surprised—and raised his glass in her direction before turning back to his companion.
Lori whipped around to face the group, her cheeks flushed. "Did that just happen?"
"That happened," Olivia confirmed.
"What do I do?"
"Wave back? Go say hi? Act like a normal human being?" Olivia suggested.
"I can't go over there. She's right there." Lori pressed her hands to her face. "I need a minute. I'm going to the bathroom."
She was gone before anyone could respond, weaving through the crowd toward the back of the bar.
Jen watched her go. "Should someone...?"
"Give her a minute," Meredith said. "She'll be fine."
But after a few minutes, Jen went anyway. Meredith and Olivia and Carrie stood in the warm night air, the bass from inside thrumming through the sand beneath their feet.
"She really likes him," Carrie said.
Meredith nodded. "I know."
Carrie shook her head. "I haven't seen her like this since... I don't even know. Before Kevin, maybe. Before everything went sideways."
"She's scared," Meredith said. "You can't blame her."
"I don't blame her," Carrie said. "I just hope she doesn't talk herself out of it before she even gives it a chance."
Jen came back with Lori a few minutes later. Lori had splashed water on her face and fixed her hair, and she seemed calmer, more like herself.
"I'm fine," she said before anyone could ask. "I was being ridiculous. He's allowed to have drinks with whoever he wants. I barely know him."
"You could go say hello," Carrie offered.
"I could. But I'm not going to walk up to a man I find attractive and make small talk while his date watches. I have some pride left."
"We don't know she's his date," Meredith said.
"We don't know she's not."
The band finished their song, and the lead singer announced a fifteen-minute break. The music cut out, and suddenly they could hear themselves think again. Lori glanced toward where John had been standing.
He was walking toward them.
Lori saw it the same moment everyone else did. She went still.
