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Cole smiled down at him. “You can show up this evening for the festivities.”

Ernie waved at them as they left. “I’ll see you tonight! And then on the twenty-third and the twenty-fourth. I’m going to take a day in between to sleep. Why would anyone have a birthday, then a rehearsal dinner, then a wedding all in a row?”

Tara had the same question, but the answer was, Miriam Blum. A woman who loved glitter and sparkle but hadn’t been allowed to sparkle most of her life and was now running at fun full tilt.

She hung back behind Cole and glared at Sawyer. “If you harm a single hair on his head, I will string you up by your toenails over a vat of spitting acid. I am not exaggerating. You will not survive my wrath.”

Sawyer grinned. “It’s amazing how close that is to what Miriam told me. Although her threat involved glitter glue and Mod Podge. Believe me, all my intentions are to make that man the happiest he’s ever been.”

Tara narrowed her eyes. “Good. Then we have an understanding.”

Stepping out of the dark, narrow bar, Tara glanced down at her phone. There were several texts from Holly.

Holly: Hey, wondering when you’ll be back

Holly: Not that I miss you

Holly: I’m having a blast with Mrs. Matthews

Holly: But I don’t want to get her naked

Holly: Actually she’s kind of a MILF, I probably would, but she seems happily married

Holly: I do want to get you naked, though

Holly: You should come back so we can make that happen

Tara was in the middle of contemplating both Holly’s texting style and her naked body when Cole’s voice interrupted her.

“So?” he asked, his face tight. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him this anxious before. “Did you like him?”

She held his face in her hands.

“Wow, this is actually kind of weird,” he said. “I should stop touching people’s faces. Why didn’t you tell me?”

She nodded but didn’t let go. “He seems wonderful. I can’t wait to get to know him better.”

Cole sighed like a 1950s teenager who’d just seen the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. “Yeah. He’s the best.”

Chapter 12

Holly

When she’d envisioned this time at Carrigan’s, Holly had thought about the opportunity to hang out more with Miriam’s extended group of interesting loved ones, whom she’d seen featured on the Blum Again Vintage & Curios Instagram account. She’d envisioned spending a lot of time with Tara, naked or otherwise.

She hadn’t thought about how chaotic weddings were, or how quickly Tara would get sucked into a tight-knit group of friends she hadn’t seen for a long time. Partly this was because she was used to being on the periphery of things, and it didn’t bother her. She preferred observing, without expectations.

And partly it was because she primarily understood Tara’s relationship to the Carrigan’s crew through Tara’s own perspective, and now that she’d seen them interact, she had a strong suspicion that, much like with Cole, Tara’s version of their friendships didn’t match anyone else’s.

Holly was surprised when the Carrigan’s circle opened up and absorbed Tara as if she had been a missing piece of their puzzle, and even more surprised to find herself a little lonely at being left out. In the car, they’d been a team—together, meeting Barb, facing down Aunt Cricket, trying to get through the snow.

Ironically, now that they were actively pretending to be together, they felt less like a couple.

She was telling herself that this uncomfortable sense of being left outside the circle was why she’d sent Tara an absolutely mortifying series of texts. It had been like an out-of-body experience. Instead of the couple of flirty, suggestive messages she’d meant to send, when she didn’t hear back from Tara right away, she just… kept… texting.

It was the most embarrassing she’d been around a cute girl since she’d had a crush on Kelsie Kramer in the eighth grade. Although, come to think of it, she and Kelsie had ditched gym to make out, so maybe she hadn’t been that embarrassing. Unlike now.

She didn’t even have a crush on Tara. Sure, she liked Tara, and she wanted her, but in a friends-with-benefits way. Except they still hadn’t gotten to the benefits yet, unless you counted those toe-curling, reality-altering kisses. Holly did not count them as a benefit, because they had left her incredibly sexually frustrated.