Page 111 of Goode Tidings

He scoffs. "Like finding my ex-wife wrapped in a bedsheet with my former stepbrother."

"Is that really what this is about?"

He opens his eyes. Turns his head slowly so he can stare at me. "Fuck you."

I see only one of us is controlling our tempers right now. I'm not the one with a child in surgery at the moment, so Justin gets a pass.

Eden walks in holding three paper cups of coffee at the same time the sliding doors open and a handful of people walk in. Eden's eyes widen with relief and gratitude, and beside me, Justin huffs an aggrieved sigh.

"What are you guys doing here?" Eden bypasses us. She's still holding the coffee.

One of the two men in the group asks, "How's Ollie?"

The blonde woman tucked into his side says, "We dropped everything and came."

"Literally," a raven-haired woman says in an accent. "I was making coffee, and Paisley called me and said you needed us."

"So here we are," a third woman says. "Your mom is on her way, too, but she was in Tucson."

While Eden tells them everything she knows about Oliver, I quietly ask Justin, "Who are these people?"

"Eden's entourage," he says sullenly.

I'll take that to mean they don't like him, and he deserves it and he knows it, but instead of facing their valid reasons he pretends like the problem is them and not him.

I get up and head over. At the very least, I can relieve Eden of the balancing act with the coffees.

"Hey," I say when I reach her. Five sets of curious eyes turn to me. "Let me take those for you." I'm already wrapping my hands around the warm cups.

"Thank you," she says. Worry creases the corners of her eyes.

One of the guys, the one who called Oliver Ollie, peers over at Justin and back to me. "Are you a friend of that asshat?"

"Klein," Eden says through clenched teeth.

I suppress my laughter. "Uh, no. I'm a friend of Eden's."

"This is Callum," Eden explains.

I duck my chin at the group in greeting.

There's a gasp from someone in the group. I'm not sure who. "How did I not recognize Naked Guy?" asks the woman with the accent.

The guy who called Justin an asshat, and the other man who hasn't spoken yet, slant a look at her.

"Don't ask." Eden waves a dismissive hand at both men. "I'm not interested in explaining."

Neither push her, which makes me think Eden's the unspoken boss of this group, or at least of them.

Eden points and says each person's name. "Klein is my brother. That's his wife Paisley, my cousin Dominic and his wife Cecily, and Paloma."

"Tragic, sad Paloma," the woman with the accent dramatically wails. "Always the fifth wheel. Or is it the seventh wheel now?" She eyes me and Eden.

"Seventh wheel isn't a thing," Cecily says.

"It is if I say so," Paloma says loftily.

I lift the coffee like a cheers. "It's nice to meet you all. I wish it were under different circumstances."