“We should stop letting them spend time together,” Delphine said. “Before I’m next.”
“Oh, trust me, you’re on the list,” Lila said. “And from what we’ve seen, you should be worried.”
“Yeah, before we know it, you’ll be all sunshine and unicorns like the rest of us,” Gillian said.
Delphine shook her head, chuckling. “You guys are seriously delusional.”
“I’m still a little stunned by the whole thing,” I said. “But we have a date tomorrow night.”
“Okay, wait a minute,” Lila said. “Why didn’t you tell us this immediately?”
“I wanted to text you last night, but then I was afraid I might jinx it,” I said.
“It’s about time,” Alex said. “You two have been circling each other for a year now.”
“Yeah, but that’s just it,” I said. “What if it doesn’t work out, and then we have to see each other all the time at social functions?”
“But what if it does?” Gillian asked. “Work out.”
“I think there’s a song about that,” Lila said.
Leo, still in his dad’s arms, stirred and let out a wail.
“He’s hungry,” Gillian said, standing to take him from Alex. “I’ll go feed my little lion in the nursery.” She kissed the top of Leo’s head. “Don’t say anything interesting while I’m gone.”
“We’ll try to contain ourselves,” Delphine said.
Gillian disappeared down the hallway, and we all got up to help clear the table and start the dishes. We’d had so many of these dinners that we all knew the routine. Dishes, then dessert.
In the kitchen, we all worked together to put leftover food away, rinsed dishes to put in the dishwasher, and wiped countertops, chatting as we did so.
“Am I the only one who worries Hunter has a darkness to him,” Delphine said, snapping a plastic lid onto a container. “I’ve wondered if he’s depressed.”
No one said anything, but we all knew why she would worry about that, given her husband’s tragic death.
“He’s a really good person,” Vance said. “I’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the last year. He’s just not the life of the party, but that doesn’t mean he’s dark or depressed.”
Delphine shrugged. “I hope you’re right.”
“Me too,” I said.
We grabbed our wine glasses and went to hang out in the living room. Alex put on music and turned on the gas fireplace. Thankfully, the subject changed from my impending date to hearing about Lila’s new design client, and Alex’s work down at the soup kitchen. Delphine told us about a new artist she’d discovered. Vance opened another bottle of red. Someone mentioned Esme and Grady’s honeymoon and that we were all excited for them to return with tales of their adventures.
Gillian came back with Leo on her shoulder, awake and content now that he was fed.
“You okay, honey?” Alex asked his wife.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She took her phone out of her pocket. “But I saw something online just now. About Hunter’s ex-wife.” She handed me her phone.
It was a clip of a morning show appearance, one of the big ones. Dana King was on a couch, blonde hair coifed perfectly, wearing a simple black suit. Her music wasn’t my favorite, but she had a good fan base in the country music world. Not as big as Ivy. Dana’s venues were more country fairs rather than big stadiums.
The caption at the bottom of the screen said: Author ofSee You On The Other Sidespeaks out.
“She wrote a book,” I said to the rest of them. “A memoir.”
I propped up the phone on the coffee table so everyone could see. We gathered together on or near the couch to watch.
The host leaned forward with a concerned, inviting expression. “You write very candidly about your marriage to songwriter Hunter Sloan. About feeling shut out creatively. Can you talk about that?”
