“Hamish likes everyone. That’s hardly an achievement.”
“Hamish doesn’t like me,” Lachlan says, dropping onto the armrest beside us. “He stole my wallet last week.”
“He does that to everyone,” I say. “It’s his way of showing affection.”
“By forcing me to cancel every single one of my credit cards?”
“That’s tough love.”
Maggie walks into the room wearing a lavender dress and the deeply satisfied smile she gets whenever her plans unfold exactly the way she intended.
“My darlings,” she announces, clapping her hands together. “Time to start the games!”
A collective groan rises from the men gathered near the window.
“Games?” Alistair repeats suspiciously.
“It’s a baby shower,” Keira says as if that explains everything. “There are always games.”
Despite Isobel’s and Maggie’s protests, we’d decided to include games anyway.
“I thought we were just here to eat appetizers and admire tiny baby clothes,” Nate mutters.
“Nate, my friend,” Keira replies, “you clearly know nothing about baby showers.”
Lily, Nate’s wife, smiles innocently.
“She’s right. The games are the best part.”
“I already regret this,” Nate grumbles.
The first game is relatively harmless: guessing the size of Jane’s belly using toilet paper. Lachlan dramatically overestimates and gets smacked by Emma. Cameron underestimates and earns a death glare from Jane. Connor refuses to participate on the grounds that it’s “social suicide.”
I win.
Finn looks at me with what seems to be equal parts admiration and horror.
“You actually calculated that?” he asks when I sit back down.
“Obviously,” I tease. “Basic geometry.”
“That’s terrifying.”
I shoot him a sideways look.
“It was mostly luck.”
He smiles at me, and suddenly the entire room feels brighter.
The second game is a quiz about traditional Scottish lullabies. Keira destroys everyone because she grew up hearing Grandma Maggie sing them. Alistair tries helping by humming wildly off-key, which sends the room into hysterics.
The third game is crueler. Maggie insisted on it, and worst of all, it has absolutely nothing to do with the baby shower.
“We’re about to test how well you know your partners,” Maggie announces with a smile that promises chaos.
My stomach tightens.
“Each couple will answer questions about the other person,” she continues, passing around little notebooks and pens. “You’ll write down your answers, then compare them. The couple with the most matching responses wins.”
