And Gabe?
She drank some of her tea and listened to the bees in the mint. Gabe could do his Gabe thing. She didn’t need to be a part of his evening plans.
Her phone vibrated on the table with a text message. She glanced at the screen: How’d it go today?
Nadia.
Felicity groaned and didn’t touch her phone. She had no intention of responding. She didn’t want to encourage further contact, but she didn’t want to deal with Nadia right now, either, regardless of her intentions. Nadia was a professional with at least some experience with event planning. She wouldn’t expect an instant response.
But another text came in: Why don’t we share a bottle of wine to celebrate?
Not at the airport or boarding a flight to California, apparently.
Felicity snatched up her phone, but it had been a busy day, and she didn’t trust herself not to start typing a tart response. She put the phone back on the table and picked up her tea glass with both hands, hoping that would help her not to tell Nadia to leave her the hell alone.
If not for her iced tea and moment to relax, Felicity doubted she’d have noticed the texts immediately, anyway. She refused to let them ruin her quiet few minutes before she finished up for the day. She only had a few loose ends to tie up.
She popped a stuffed mushroom into her mouth from her small plate of leftover goodies. Having a caterer of Maggie’s caliber in town had made everything so much easier today, but she was clearly stretched thin with her husband out of town, two small boys, the inn, the goat’s milk products and her complicated family. Maggie thrived on having a lot of irons in the fire, but everyone had limits.
As if Felicity’s thoughts had conjured them, Maggie’s two young sons scrambled over the stone wall, bypassing the gap, and ran up a mulched path through the garden, apparently in the middle of a game that involved a chase. From what Felicity could hear, it involved running from a pretend monster.
Then Nadia Ainsworth leaped over the stone wall, laughing as she chased them up the path. “You can run but you can’t hide!”
The boys squealed in delight, Nadia, obviously, the monster after them.
At that moment, Russ Colton materialized seemingly out of nowhere and eased between Nadia and the two boys. “Can I help you?” he asked her.
“Oh, sorry.” She clutched her chest, breathing hard. “My name’s Nadia Ainsworth. I ran into Tyler and Aidan in the field, and we got a game going. They told me they’re meeting their mom here. Maggie. The caterer for today’s entrepreneurial boot camp. I have two brothers myself. It’s okay. Really. Gabe Flanagan and I are friends.” She pointed toward the terrace. “Felicity knows me.”
“Let’s go have a seat,” Russ said.
“And you are—”
“Russ Colton.”
“Oh, right. You’re married to Morwenna Mills. I saw a bit about her at the local library. She has a new book coming out.” Nadia spoke cheerfully, getting her breathing under control. “I’d love to sit down for a minute. I’m not used to this humidity. I’m dripping.”
Russ had her go ahead of him, and they joined Felicity at the table. The boys had run inside in search of goodies. Nadia plopped onto a chair and wiped her brow with the back of her wrist. She smiled at Felicity. “I thought you might have your feet up. Good day?”
Felicity nodded. “Everything went well, thanks.”
“I decided to hike up Carriage Hill. It’s on state land. I got maybe a third of the way to the top before the heat and humidity turned me back. I’m not used to New England summers anymore. Gabe said we could easily be in sweaters tomorrow. I guess I’m a real Californian nowadays despite my Massachusetts roots.” She screwed up her face, eyeing Russ. “Gosh, you look so serious. I hope I didn’t cause any problems.”
“Maggie had her eye on the boys,” he said. “They play in the field on a regular basis. She saw you—”
“Oh, no. I frightened her. She doesn’t know me, and here I was chasing her sons. No wonder you beelined for me.” She didn’t sound that chagrined or apologetic about her behavior. “The boys needed a monster for their game. I obliged. I should have asked Maggie’s permission first. Yikes. I can see how that must have looked from afar. Sorry. As you can see, I’m harmless.”
“We understood you were flying to California today.”
“Mmm. Los Angeles. That was the plan, but I changed my mind.” Nadia shifted to Felicity. “Did you get my texts?”
“Just now,” Felicity said.
“Great. I wasn’t sure if they went through. The cell coverage out here is spotty at best. It looks as if most of the people at the boot camp have gone home, or wherever. Good time to catch your breath. I’m sure you made the day easy for everyone involved. That’s the role of a good event manager, isn’t it?” She didn’t wait for an answer and glanced around the garden, in its full mid-summer glory. “What a perfect setting for a party. I got a decent look at the McCaffreys’ barn, too. Amazing. What a great setup.”
Felicity didn’t detect an undercurrent of hostility in Nadia’s tone or demeanor, but Russ remained quiet and watchful. There was no question he didn’t like her sudden appearance, particularly with two young boys who didn’t know her. A lecture about strangers was no doubt in their immediate future.
“Could I talk you into something to drink?” Nadia asked. “I’m afraid I wasn’t prepared for the conditions and let myself get dehydrated.”
“Iced tea okay?” Felicity asked, rising. “I’ll get it.”
“Oh, no, you don’t need to go to the trouble. I’ll get it—”
“It’s no trouble,” Russ said. “Relax, Nadia. Catch your breath.”
“Okay, no problem. Unsweetened tea would be great, thanks.”
She stayed put while Felicity went inside. Maggie arrived through the front door and was setting up the boys at the table with drinks. “Is that
