“It’ll be okay,” Riley assures me. “Something will work out. I’ve known you for a long time, which means I know that you’re a total badass, okay? You can handle anything.”
I swallow hard, trying to force the tears away. “Okay.”
Riley releases me, stepping back. I take a second to get control over my emotions. A few bites of the quickly-melting gelato don’t hurt, either.
“Do you want to talk about something else?” Riley asks. “Just to take your mind off things.”
Seriously—she’s the best. “God, yes. You’re a mind reader.”
“You gotta come up with something, then.” Riley scoops up the last bite of her gelato.
“Well, I think we should focus on the obvious distraction,” I say.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Your engagement party, of course.”
Riley smiles. The engagement party is mostly happening because Cole idly floated the idea one day, and I pounced on it. Of course, they need to have an engagement party. They need to have about a million parties.
“Have you had any ideas?” I ask. “Venue, menu, anything like that?”
“Well, we could just have it here,” Riley points out. “It’s a nice place, and I only want friends to be there, you know?”
“But there still has to be some decoration,” I insist. “Go on. Give me color palettes.”
“This is just the engagement party, not the wedding!”
“I’ll be damned if there aren’t balloons. And a cake.”
“Okay, fine,” Riley sighs. She stands, taking both of our cups over to the sink. As she rinses them out, she says, “Better keep it tasteful with the balloons, though. Silver, maybe. This isn’t Archie’s birthday party over again.”
I grin, relaxing a little now that we’ve fully moved to a new topic. I dig around in my purse for the ball of yarn and knitting needles that I carry around with me at all times. I’ve been working on a scarf, and I might as well use this time to keep it up. Keller never let me knit at work, so I’ve fallen behind on my goals.
“Have you thought about who you want to invite?” I ask, looping some lavender yarn over one of the needles.
Before Riley can answer, the doorbell chimes. I frown over at her, wondering if Cole and Archie are supposed to be back this early. She gives me a shrug and wanders into the foyer.
Then I hear her exclaim, “Oh, hi, Reed!”
“Hi, Riley. Is Cole around?”
That voice, as always, sends a spike of a different kind of panic through me. As Riley’s and Reed’s footsteps approach, I throw the bulk of the unfinished scarf over my budget scribbles.
Unfortunately, I acted a little too slowly, and Reed sees me cover up the scratch paper. He gives me a strange look, an arched brow; he knows I’m hiding something. But to my relief, he doesn’t ask.
I don’t want Reed to see that I’m struggling. I grew up around his money. Something about that experience makes me want to prove that I can take care of myself without it.
“Cole’s not here right now,” Riley tells him. “It’s field day at Archie’s pre-K, so he decided to go watch him.”
“Oh, yeah?” Reed grins his classic, lopsided grin. “What’s the little man doing at field day?”
“The twenty-five meter dash.”
“I didn’t know they came in distances that short.”
“They don’t,” Riley chuckles. “But when you’re six, they sure do.” She shakes her head fondly. “He was really excited this morning. Apparently they get to go to a high school field and run on a real track.”
“Oh, so he’s big time now,” Reed says. “Next time I see him, I’ll be sure to ask for his autograph.”
