She padded into the kitchen, still toweling her hair, and pulled open the first junk drawer. Expired coupons. A dried-out felt tip. Unidentified plastic gizmos she really needed to throw away. AAs, Cs, and one random D battery, but not a single nine-volt.
She slid the drawer shut, opened the second one, because of course she had two, and froze. Rachel’s napkin invitation sat right on top. The date jumped out at her. The party was tonight.
Her hand hovered then dropped away. She closed the drawer with a soft thud and braced herself against the counter, arms folded tight. Standing still was dangerous. It left too much room for the thoughts she’d been outrunning for weeks.
“Bad idea, Dykstra,” she whispered. “You can’t keep walking into strange places with people you don’t know because you’re lonely.”
But for nearly three years, her social circle had been at Devil’s Pointe. Not only on club nights but for special events.Cari and Dev always had something planned. When that ended, she didn’t know what to do with herself. The last several weeks, she’d even cut herself out of the catering.
Her friends had tried to bring her back into the fold. Cari had invited her to a “small dinner party.” When Julia asked, “Will everyone be there?” Cari had known exactly who she meant.
“Leland is in our friend group too, so, yes, he’ll be there. But so will others. Emily and Gaby, and about a dozen more.”
Julia had declined.
Emily had tried too—more casual, as if it wasn’t a setup.
“Come to a cookout. You love the lake and haven’t been over in forever.”
“Is Leland invited?
That brief hesitation had been enough.
“He hasn’t accepted,” she said. “So, maybe he won’t come.”
She couldn’t risk it. Leland, even in moderation, would only stir up still-raw feelings. She’d stepped away from all of it on purpose. But by doing so, had lost so much more.
The smoke alarm chirped again. She stared at the drawer.
“Dammit.”
This time, when she pulled it open, she didn’t have to dig for what she wanted. She grabbed the crinkled napkin off the top and headed for her bedroom to change.
***
She’d been to play parties before, but it had been several years. This one wasn’t what she expected. Not obviously unsafe, just unstructured.
A handful of rooms opened off a central living space. Equipment was set up wherever it fit.
She arrived an hour after it started, and people had already paired off. Julia lingered near the front hall, watching, as she had done so often lately.
A clipboard made its way around—names, roles, preferences. She hesitated when it reached her.
The woman next to her, who’d walked in behind her, asked, not unkindly, “If you’re unsure, why did you come?”
Julia glanced up. Good question.
“You go ahead. I’m in no hurry.”
The woman gave a small nod, filled in her information, and left Julia with the clipboard before moving off toward a group gathered near the French doors that opened onto a lanai.
Julia glanced at the front door. She could still leave. Very few people had noticed her. No one here knew her. No one would care.
She’d taken a step that way when a male voice came from behind her.
“Thinking about making a run for it?”
Julia turned. Mid-thirties, maybe. Well dressed. Dark hair. Attractive in a polished sort of way. The kind of man who probably knew it.
