Business thinned out around five, when Starr’s shift ended. Cassandra and I worked to straighten up and restock. Daria’s arrival at my house popped into my head. “What made you send that woman to my house?” I asked.
“I hope it wasn’t a problem. For the record, I told her to look for the chimney and didn’t give her your address. I figured if she was one of your special customers, that would be enough. I take it she found you?”
“She did.”
“I don’t understand how all that stuff works, but it sure seems to.” Cassandra stopped to study me. “She tell you about her run of bad luck?”
“She did. Do you know her? Have you seen her around before?”
Cassandra tilted her face toward the ceiling. “Don’t think she’s from in town. Why?”
“She said something about living nearby.” I shrugged. “Who knows? We might gain a new customer.”
“Were you able to help her?”
“Sometimes bad luck has to run its course. I’m living proof of that.”
She laughed. “You’d better knock on wood before you jinx yourself.” She stopped straightening to face me. “What do you think about Chip’s bringing a girlfriend tonight?”
Chip was the last of Kyle’s friends who wasn’t in a committed relationship. “I think she’s a fill-in,” I replied. “He didn’t want to be left out of game night. Now that you and Lucas are dating, he probably figured he had to be part of a couple, too.”
Cassandra chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“Are we being catty?” I asked. “Who’s to say he isn’t interested in this new girl? Maybe they’ve been dating for a while.” I pointed to Cassandra. “Maybe she lives in Door County, and that’s why we don’t know anything about her.”
“Mrow.” Cassandra laughed. In response to the meow, Ash rose from her corner on the counter and arched her back in a stretch. “We’re just as bad as the old biddies in town, gossiping about friends this way.”
I picked Ash up and cuddled her. “I guess we’ll learn all we need to know tonight.”
Cassandra touched my arm. “For the record, I think Kyle’s being a dick. No one would blame you if you bailed on him.”
She’d never been overly fond of him, and of all my friends, she was the one person who hadn’t defended him when he’d been bewitched by another woman—something I’d thought I’d put behind me. Apparently, I wasn’t over that episode.
“I agree, and it doesn’t matter what other people think,” I said. “The closest we get to acting like a couple is sharing dinner once in a while.” I’d shared more with Cassandra than I had intended to tell anyone, and yet I needed an outlet for my irritation. “We can’t keep going like this.”
“I’m on your side. You know that, right? The fact I’m dating Lucas doesn’t change my friendship with you, unlike a certain other friend of yours...”
I laughed at the reference to my best friend Lisa, who had married Kyle’s best friend, dividing her loyalties. “Thank you.”
“It’s six o’clock,” Cassandra said. “Let’s get out of here. I’ll see you at Lisa’s in a bit.”
We closed the shop and headed home to pick up our men.
Kyle was waiting for me. He had our contributions to the party packed in a bag, ready to go. I fed Ash and within minutes, we started out. We didn’t speak along the footpaths, but when we arrived at Lisa and Dylan’s, Kyle tucked an arm around my waist—more for the sake of appearances, I was sure, judging by the way it barely touched me.
He abandoned me as soon as he spotted Dylan and Chip. They were discussing Hillendale fire station politics, where they both worked. Dylan handed Kyle a beer, and while Kyle pretended to listen, his stiff posture indicated he felt left out of the public servant club.
“You don’t have to babysit him,” Lisa whispered.
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“Those guys have been through it all together. If anyone knows how to make him feel better, it’s them.”
Lisa drew me into her kitchen, where she introduced me to Chip’s girlfriend. Toni had bushy brown hair, thick, dark eyebrows and her build was, well, thick—not that I was skinny.
I smiled at Toni. “Where did you meet Chip?”
She seemed nervous, and I immediately felt remorse for the way Cassandra and I had talked about her earlier. “On a dating site.” She glanced from me to Lisa. “He talks about you guys all the time. It must be nice to grow up with so many friends who know you so well.”
I wrapped an arm around Lisa’s waist. “I didn’t have any friends in school, and I didn’t grow up around here. I was lucky enough to bump into Lisa when I first came to town, and she took me under her wing.”
Lisa nudged me with her shoulder. “More like you took me under your wing.” She tilted her head toward me as she told Toni, “I didn’t have friends in school, either. Something Brynn and I had in common, but we both knew we were going to be best friends.”
“I think you’ll find Hillendale is a friendly place,” I said. “Are you from around here?”
“I grew up in Sister Bay.”
So I’d guessed right. Chip met her in Door County. “What’s it like living there year-round?”
“The winters can be rough, but it’s a beautiful place if you like the outdoors.” Toni went on to tell us about cherry picking season, and fish fries and quiet autumn nights when you could see the Northern Lights shimmering in the sky.
Lucas and Cassandra arrived and I rushed out to relieve Lucas of the food he was carrying. “She’s nice,” I whispered to Cassandra. Lucas joined the men, where the conversation had turned to the cottages Kyle and Chip were refurbishing.
We set the food on a table, and Lisa called for everyone to fill a plate. Once everyone had something to eat, we gathered in the living room to
