Page 46 of Never Without You
Now I’m grinning like an idiot. “Thebest.”
They nod and head out of the bathroom asthree women head in. I put the note back in the envelope and put itin my clutch.
Now I have to explain this to Laura in a waythat she’ll be happy for me without asking three hundredquestions.
Before I hunt down my sister, I look to wherethe biggest crowd is gathered and see Andie and Lars standing withpeople and having their picture taken. The people say a few wordsto Andie and Lars, then move away, and another few people comeforward for a photo. I move as close as I can get to watch theshift of people then a photo repeat. And repeat. No way I’m goingto be able to say hello to Andie and congratulate her.
As I turn to walk away, Lars shouts out,“Ter.”
I see him waving me over, and I cut through afew people who look at me like,Why is she special?as Imake it to Lars and Andie and get giant hugs from each of them.
“An incredible accomplishment, Andie.Congrats.”
She beams. “It’s been a good show. Everythingsold earlier this week through private viewings. So now it’s allparty-party all night long. Where’s Laura and Baz?”
“Mingling. Drinking. Enjoying beingadults.”
“Excellent,” Lars says. “Get ’em to come tosay hey.”
“Will do.” I squeeze Andie’s hand. “So happyfor you.”
She smiles. “Me too.”
We do cheek pecks good-bye and I walk off andfind Laura and Baz where I imagined they would be, standing nearthe bar with little munchies on napkins. They’re talking to acouple I sort of recognize. Laura looks up, sees me, and hand flapsfor me to come over. Easier said than done. The area is thick withpeople.
Finally, I make it to them and Laura says,“You remember our friends Cecil and Mae.”
Right. Now I remember. Cecil is a professorat the same college as Baz, but Cecil’s a scientist. I don’tremember what kind. Mae’s an artist. Paintings. Huge abstracts.She’s friends with Andie. “Hi. It’s been a minute.”
“A couple of minutes. Two Christmases ago tobe exact,” Cecil says. “We were on sabbatical in South America. Iwas doing research.” That’s it. I remember now. His specialty isinfectious diseases. “How have you been?”
They were gone when the shooting occurred,and my guess, Baz and Laura didn’t share. “Well, thanks. Nothing asexciting as what you’ve been doing.” Before he launches into theiryear in the jungle, I say, “If you don’t mind, I need to stealLaura for a moment.”
“Sure, sure,” Cecil says.
I take Laura’s hand and pull her to a pocketof relative quiet against a wall. Right away she asks, “Why do youlook like you’re about to break into song?”
Can’t get anything by my sister.“Listen—”
“Oh boy. This is something big if you’restarting with listen.”
“Can I talk now?”
She rolls her eyes. “Go ahead.”
“Listen first and don’tinterrupt.”She glares. “I’ve been seeing someone.” Her eyes bug out and shegrabs my hand. “He’s been on a work assignment but managed to getaway and he’s just arrived in the city.” I’m winging it.
“The envelope.”
“Yeah.” More fabrication. “He wanted to makesure I got the message.”
“So it would seem.”
“I’m leaving to meet him, but I’ll call youin the morning with an update.”
“Holy shit. You’re into him, likebigtime.”
I smile. “Bigtime.”
