Page 108 of Floodgates

“Turi was really stunning, and so are you, Tracy.”

“That’s nice of you to say.”

“I’m not trying to flatter you. It’s true. I wish my nose was that perfect and my eyelashes were that long, and I would need implants to have cheekbones as high as yours.”

“I actually met Lucien,” I said, ignoring her comments.

“And did he say you reminded him of Turi?”

“No.”

“That’s so weird, because like I said, the first thing I thought when I saw you was how funny that Breckin found a new guy who was the spitting image of Turi.”

“Do you have an old yearbook? I’d love to have a look.”

“We do,” she said slowly, and I could tell she was thinking at the same time. “I just have to figure out where they are.”

“Well, if you can.”

I hoped she could, because my mind was reeling, wondering if that was what it was, the reason that Breckin had been attracted to me in the first place—my resemblance to Turi Carrera.

“I’ll look tonight after everyone leaves.”

“Great.”

“So tell me, Tracy, what do you do?”

We had a nice talk. I told her all about bookkeeping, and she told me all about her party-planning business. Event coordinators worked for her, and she put on big extravagant parties for a thousand people down to lavish, intimate gatherings for ten. Her brother Brian had gone into the family business with his father, which was maple syrup.

“Really?”

She smiled and nodded. She walked me to the kitchen pantry and pulled a bottle of Alcott Farms maple syrup from a shelf and gave it to me. The glass bottle was heavy.

“It feels expensive.”

“Six bucks a pop,” she said, waggling her eyebrows at me.

“No shit.”

“We ship it all over the world.”

“Nice.”

“I’ll ship a case home for you,” she said cheerfully. “They make good gifts for people you gotta buy for but don’t really want to. Tie green and red ribbons on the top and stick them on people’s desks. They work great.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Text me your address.”

“I will.”

“Do it now.”

“Oh, okay.”

We were standing there, Bethany giving me her number, me texting, when Breckin reached us.

“We’re all going to an art exhibit in town,” he explained, putting his hand on the small of my back. “You guys come with us.”