“Congratulations, you two,” Anna said with what appeared to be a genuine smile. “Exciting news! And Chloe, it’s really good to see you.”

  Holden and I said thank you at the same time, and then I added, once my brain caught up, “You too. It’s been a long time.”

  “Congrats, guys,” Maeve McGinnis said as she came up beside Anna. “Your engagement had everyone buzzing last week, and now this… Heads will be exploding, no doubt.” I couldn’t detect anything but friendliness in her words, even though I was searching for more.

  “They’ll get over it,” Holden said good-naturedly. “Thanks, Maeve. Hey, Emerson, Olivia.”

  “Hey, you two. Congratulations,” Emerson said.

  “Yes, congrats,” Olivia added. “And, Chloe, welcome back to town.” She moved down the table toward my parents, and I was more than a little stunned when Olivia bent down and hugged Shirley and then reached across my dad to grasp my mom’s forearm affectionately. “How are you ladies doing? Patty, are you coming to knitting group this week? I’m dying to see the sweater.”

  The other three girls kept talking to Holden and Hayden and probably me too, but my attention was stuck at the end of the table. Olivia London was friendly with my mom?

  It didn’t equate.

  I guess a lot really could happen in sixteen years. I never in a thousand years would’ve thought my mom would be on a first-name basis with one of the most popular girls in my graduating class. Olivia had just said more to my mother than she ever had to me. Of course, now that I thought about it, that was probably by my design, as I hadn’t left myself open to interactions back then.

  “Chloe, we do girls’ night on Saturdays,” Anna said, jolting my attention back to the conversation at my table. “We’d love to have you join us.”

  “Oh.” My brain froze momentarily as I shifted into fight-or-flight mode. Holden squeezed my thigh under the table, which jolted me out of it enough to realize the three had their eyes on me, waiting for a response. “I, um… This coming Saturday?”

  “Yep. It’s Maeve’s birthday so we’ll be celebrating,” Anna said.

  “The more the merrier,” Maeve added.

  “I haven’t thought—”

  “You should go,” Holden said, his hand still supportively on my leg. “I’ll be working as usual.”

  Right. Because he worked most Saturday nights. I knew this, but to be honest, whether Holden worked or not hadn’t even crossed my mind yet. I was too stuck on the girls’ night invitation itself, the mini panic it induced.

  With so many eyes on me—not just Anna’s, Maeve’s, Emerson’s and now Olivia’s but also Hayden’s and Zane’s and…

  I blew out a shaky breath and hoped no one could hear the shakes over the restaurant din. “Sure,” I finally said, hoping I hadn’t waited so long to respond that it was obvious I was terrified of a girls’ night invite. “I could do that.” I took a couple of seconds to swallow down some anxiety and then added, “Thank you,” and forced a smile back on my face.

  Anna took her phone out and asked for my number and said she’d text me the details toward the end of the week. That gave me a few days to block it out of my mind completely, I thought.

  As the four said their goodbyes to the table as a whole, re-congratulated Holden and me, and headed out, I coached myself to take in a deep, steadying breath. What kind of social moron was I?

  Most times, I wasn’t. I would never, ever be Ms. Social, but I could handle a few hours with four or five people who seemed to be kind and welcoming. I just needed to get out of my head, forget my history, and embrace that my world for the next twelve months was in Dragonfly Lake.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chloe

  Saturday night, I made it into the Barn Bar thanks to two things. One, Presley came into town to go with me. Two, we had a generous glass of wine at Holden’s—my—house, so I was feeling warm and buzzy.

  The Barn Bar was on the way out of town, past the schools and Tripz. The building was—shockingly—an old barn that’d been converted. I’d been by it a thousand times but never inside. The double doors were centered, as was the main bar when you walked in. The counter formed a central square, with three sides lined by stools, and the back was a tall wall where all the liquor was displayed. There were pool tables and dartboards and plenty of high-top tables, plus what looked like a dance floor to one side, and the decor was rustic and minimal.

  When Presley and I walked in, it felt like everyone in the place turned to check us out. I pretended not to notice, tried to steer my brain away from freaking out or feeling the attention in a bad way. Thanks to the wine, I mostly pulled it off.

  “Drink first?” Presley asked, well aware of my trepidation in general and a firm believer that a little alcohol could make most things smoother.

  I didn’t disagree and nodded, scanning the place for any of the girls we were meeting. It was a big room, and there were already a lot of people there, from twentysomethings to my age and older. I probably knew who a lot of these people were, but since I hadn’t seen them for a decade and a half, I didn’t readily recognize many.

  As soon as we had our drinks—wine for Presley and a hard seltzer for me, I heard someone calling my name from the front corner of the bar. When I turned, I saw Anna, Olivia, Emerson, and Maeve at a high-top table for six. There was a trio of guys gathered around the end where Maeve, the birthday girl, was. Olivia waved us over as she laughed at something someone said.

  “Hey,” Anna said as we approached. “So glad you made it, Chloe. Hi,” she said to Presley.

  I introduced Presley to the four women and stole glances at the guys, trying to figure out if they were people I should recognize.

  Anna saved me.

  “Presley, this is Max Dawson, Anton White, and Alex Costello. You guys remember Chloe Abrams? Or Henry… Are you changing your name, Chloe?”

  “I did.” Which seemed like a pain to do it just for a year, but I hoped it would work in my favor toward convincing Angelica. “It’s good to see you all.”

  I remembered the guys now, by name, anyway. They all had deep Dragonfly Lake roots and had grown up here, some older than us, some younger. They’d been athletes back in the day, popular guys who everyone knew, and they were still good-looking. Presley seemed to agree as she greeted each one individually and smiled at them all, which didn’t go unappreciated, judging by the smiles she got in return.

  She and I took the two empty chairs, with me next to Olivia and Presley on the end. I couldn’t help but notice that Alex drifted to stand close to her chair and helped her scoot it in.

  “Happy birthday, Maeve,” I said to the pretty brunette at the other end of the table.

  “Yes, happy birthday,” Presley repeated. “I want to buy you a drink. What would you like?”

  Maeve settled on a chocolate martini and looked like Presley wasn’t the first one to treat her for her big day. She was all grins and her eyes gleamed in a telling way.

  “So Holden Henry, huh?” Max said to me, still standing between Maeve and Olivia, and I wondered if I would ever not look for doubt and disbelief when it came to Holden being with me. “He’s a good guy.”

  Good enough to marry his friend, I thought, then shook it off, because I needed to just own that I’d married one of the best guys and he knew just about everyone in town.

  “I think so,” I said with a laugh that I willed to not sound nervous. I took a healthy swallow of my drink.

  “I hope he finds an investor for his brewery soon,” Anton said. “This town could use that kind of draw.”

  “We could use some good beer,” Max said with a laugh as he raised his bottle of mass-produced brew.

  “He’s determined,” I said vaguely, since we’d all agreed not to breathe a word to anyone but Holden’s brothers until the money was in place and all the paperwork finalized. That should happen within the next few days, and then I had a feeling it would take less than a half day for the entire town to hear the news. Maybe less than an hour.

  “I heard you’re heading up that hotel project south of town,” Emerson, sitting across from me, said. She was a dark-haired beauty, with flawless olive skin and green eyes.

  “Yeah, we want to hear about that,” Olivia said, leaning on the table beside me, totally at ease, totally the opposite of how I felt.

  The subject of my job helped though.

  I answered their questions, which ranged from what the hotel was like inside to what kind of job opportunities there were to when it would be open. It didn’t take long, and only half of my seltzer, for me to begin relaxing.

  The guys eventually left for the dartboards, and there was a continuous stream of people to and from our table to say hello to my table mates, who were obviously still as popular as they’d been in school. If I’d wanted to keep the evening low-profile, I’d agreed to do girls’ night with the wrong people.

  I was surprised to realize I knew almost everyone once I heard their name, and it struck me how many people I’d grown up with had stayed here in Dragonfly Lake—something I’d never considered for even half a heartbeat.

  Maybe it wasn’t such a bad place if you didn’t have my baggage.

  I really needed to figure out how to unload that baggage. I guess tonight was a step toward that, particularly if I ordered another drink, which I did when the server, an early-twenties shaggy-haired guy named Stone, came by.

  My optimism and determination took a hit when Magnolia James waltzed up to our table and presented Maeve with a small wrapped box. My body went tense and my smile slipped off my face. When Emerson seemed to notice, I forced a grin for her benefit, and I could swear there was a look of understanding in her eyes. Like maybe we shared an opinion of Magnolia.

  “I was hoping I’d run into you here, Maeve,” Magnolia said in a syrupy-sweet voice, and I watched the faces around the table, trying to discern whether people bought her bullshit or saw through her. “Happy birthday.”

  “Oh.” Maeve looked down at the present as if she couldn’t think of what to say, which was entirely possible considering the birthday cocktails she’d been served so far. “Thanks, Magnolia.”

  “Who are you here with?” Anna asked, and she seemed warm just like she always was to everyone.

  Magnolia looked around the table, smiling, her makeup and hair perfect as usual. She said Olivia’s name and Emerson’s in greeting, nodded at Presley. When her gaze got to me, she said, smile still on her face, “Weird night, huh?”

  “Happy night,” Olivia said cheerfully, emphatically, making me feel as if she was on my side in this unspoken years-long battle.

  I bit down on the inside of my lip and fought to keep my dislike hidden. Thankfully, at that moment, Stone was back with another round, and I busied myself helping him distribute to the table while Magnolia prattled on.

  “I convinced Rick to stop by,” she was saying. “He’s in such a hurry to get home after our dinner in Nashville.” Her tone made no secret of why he was in a hurry, and I inwardly rolled my eyes.

  “Super-cute dress,” Olivia said.

  It was cute, of course, because apparently trolls didn’t walk around in ugly burlap bags but rather thousand-dollar designer dresses. I recognized this one from my favorite high-end store in Nashville.

  “Thanks, yours too,” Magnolia replied in such a fake voice it nauseated me. “Open it now,” she said to Maeve, who’d started to put the box in her purse, obviously with the intention of opening it later.

  “Oh. Okay.” Maeve laughed, took another sip of her drink, then ripped the paper off and tossed it over her shoulder, making all of us laugh because that was the alcohol, not the usual Maeve. Even I could tell that.

  Then I noticed the color of the box in front of her—Tiffany fricking blue. I glanced at Emerson in time to see a flash of WTF in her eyes before she flipped that into a smile like it was perfectly normal to give someone whose birthday girls’ night out you hadn’t even been invited to something from Tiffany and Company.

  “Oooh,” Maeve said, and I caught a flash of confusion on her face as well, and then she buried it in a wide grin. She opened the box to find a chunky but simple silver bracelet. “Wow. Thank you.” Maeve took it out and had Anna fasten it around her wrist. “It’s beautiful, Magnolia.”

  The others around the table said complimentary things as well. I sat there barely breathing, hoping Magnolia didn’t pull up a stool and join us.

  “Enjoy your celebration. So sorry I can’t join you, but it looks like Rick is ready to go.” Magnolia leaned over and hugged Maeve from the side. “Celebrate for me too.”

  And then she was gone and I let out my breath.

  The table was subdued for a few seconds.

  “She means well,” Olivia finally said.

  “I know I’m just a visitor but she seemed like a head case,” Presley said perceptively.

  Though I’d told her plenty about my childhood and this town and my status as an outsider, I’d never said anything about Magnolia specifically. Never wanted to waste the breath on her.

  I pressed my lips together and waited to see how the others reacted. These were Magnolia’s friends, as far as I knew.

  “Magnolia is difficult,” Emerson said quietly, matter-of-factly. “She knows how to cut someone to the bone with barely a blink of an eye.”

  “I suspect,” Anna said, “it sucks to be Magnolia. It doesn’t excuse any of it, but I think she’s insecure and lonely. I’m not her BFF or anything, but I went to her big, pretty house plenty of times over the years growing up, and her parents…” She shook her head. “Not warm and loving, I don’t think.”

  “They give her money and material things instead of love,” Maeve said. “Which is sad but no excuse for being the way she is. Does she think she’s going to buy my friendship?” She held her wrist up and inspected the bracelet.

  “That’s always been her way,” Emerson said. “The birthday parties growing up? The high school parties when her parents were out of town?”

  None of which I’d been to, of course, but I didn’t say anything. It was embarrassing, even if Magnolia seemed to have bigger problems than I had.

  “She didn’t need to say what she said to you.” Olivia directed this to me.

  “That was mild,” I said with an uneasy attempt at a smile. “We have a history, I guess you could say.”

  Emerson tilted her head. “Did she bully you?”

  I suddenly felt hot, as if they’d cranked the heat by ten degrees. Did I want to answer honestly or blow off the question? I was trying to fit in for the first time in my life, and opening up about this past pain was so personal. I looked around the table and saw nothing but concern and support. If I wanted to get rid of the baggage, maybe I needed to air it out. “You know, I never thought of it as bullying, but I guess it was. I don’t know what I did to make her hate me, but it started in grade school.”

  “I don’t think you did anything,” Presley said. “I didn’t know you then, but what’s to hate about this girl?” She gestured to me and turned the question to the others with a broad grin. “Chloe isn’t mean.”

  “She’s not,” Emerson said. “I don’t know you well, but I’ve never known you to be mean.”

  “Thanks. I’ve never been very social,” I admitted.

  I’d been on the shy side as a kid, and then to have Magnolia embarrass me in front of my class more than once, it’d become easier to try to disappear, stay off her radar. She’d gotten in trouble enough times that she learned to taunt me in private. When Holden and his family had moved to Nashville in fourth grade, I’d basically lost my only friend. I’d seen him a few times between then and high school when he was back in town for the weekend or during the summer, but it wasn’t until he’d been sitting in my science class in ninth grade that we really reconnected and I got my friend back.

  “I’m sorry she’s treated you badly,” Anna said, her tone empathetic.

  “I personally am glad it’s you sitting with us tonight and not her,” Olivia said with a shrug to Anna, who I got the impression wasn’t mean to anyone ever.

  “Thanks,” I said again on an exhale, more than ready for a new subject.

  “Cheers to our new friends,” Maeve said, holding her glass up, looking flushed and just like a birthday girl should. “I’m happy you two joined my birthday night.”

  We all held up our drinks, stretched to clink them in the middle of the table, and drank to the toast, laughing and, I’d admit it, feeling really good. Not necessarily from the alcohol, although it provided an underlying warmth. Rather, the longer I sat here, the more I understood that these four who’d grown up in Dragonfly Lake, who I’d not trusted just because they’d grown up here, were caring, genuine women, in spite of their tolerance of Magnolia. And they seemed to accept me. Maybe it started because I’d married Holden, and they were all friends with him, but in spite of my ingrained insecurities, I didn’t feel any ill will from any of them. I’d grown up fearing Magnolia’s treatment of me, but now that we were adults, these four—and probably most others—didn’t seem to have it in them to be cruel or condescending or snobby because my family was so poor.

  “What are we toasting to?”

  At the sound of Holden’s voice behind me, my happy level climbed. When he wrapped his arms loosely around my neck from behind and leaned over and kissed me right under my ear, my blood went hot and an ache started between my legs. Just like that.

  I grabbed his arms with both my hands and held on to him, not ready for him to step away, as the whole table greeted him with obvious affection.

  “Kemp’s with me,” Holden said. “Lost him already.”

  “He’ll come say hi if he knows what’s good for him,” Olivia said teasingly.

  “Hey, happy birthday, Maeve.” Holden took his arms from around me and went to Maeve’s end of the table, and though I hated losing his touch, I didn’t let it show.

  I was still learning to balance so many things. I had to make sure Holden and I showed a newlywed level of affection in public, which was probably more than I’d be comfortable with in a normal situation—whatever a normal situation was. At the same time, I had to hold myself back on the inside and remind myself I wasn’t the love of his life and this was still a charade, even if we were compatible in bed. And trust me, we were compatible in bed.