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Gray: Sorry. Had to go. Don’t want your neighbors talking.

Me: I’m sure it was too late for that.

Gray: I needed to get an early start.

Me: I’ll bring the Jag over at lunch.

Gray: See you then.

Our text exchange didn’t go very far to ease my anxiety. I’d hoped for a little something more, even just a Drew-baby. He’s so hard to read now. When I got to work this morning, Dotty wanted to talk about how Dag and Gray hung out at the Red Cat. I didn’t have time to gossip with Hunter coming, but I made a mental note to catch up with her later.

“After being a senator for three years then serving as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower, he still felt like a Washington outsider. Only, in his eyes, that was a bad thing. He wanted to be in the group.” Hunter blinks at the ceiling a moment then turns to look at me.

It all clicks into place.

Nodding slowly, I give him a kind smile. “Is that how you feel? Like an outsider?”

He turns his head, facing the ceiling again. It’s several seconds before he answers me. “I did what you asked me to do.”

“You talked to Mrs. Green?”

He nods, again waiting several seconds before continuing. “She’s got a little business. She calls it Extreme Gnome Makeovers.” He looks down at his hands. “It’s really a clever name for a business. It made me laugh.”

I make a note on my legal pad. Wants to be an insider.

“I wonder if you and Mrs. Green might be friends.”

His brow furrows, and he sits all the way up. “She’s eighty seven… but I guess she’s my neighbor. Jesus said to love your neighbor.”

“Okay, new assignment.” He nods slowly. “See if you can find one thing you have in common with Mrs. Green.”

“One thing…” He looks around the room as if the answer might be here.

“It can be more than one thing, but I’m only asking for one.”

Slowly he stands, his face contorted as if I’ve given him a massive challenge. “Thank you, Miss Harris.”

“See you next week.”

He’s gone, and I lean back in my chair, thinking. What would it take for an outsider to finally feel welcome in the group? Who would he need to let him in? Who holds the key?

“I have six new possible matches on Bumble!” Ruby bounces into my office waving her phone at me. “One is even Korean!”

“You’re kidding.” I toss my pen on the legal pad and go around to look.

On the screen is a slim guy with short hair and a thoughtful smile. “Wow. He looks like that guy from the movies!”

“He just might be my insanely rich Asian husband!”

“It’s crazy rich.”

“Shh!” She puts a finger on my lips. “We don’t say that word here.”

Shaking my head, I scoop up my keys. “I’ve got to run the Jag over to have the tires replaced. Keep an eye on things, will ya?”

“How’d it go with my favorite boy?”

Pausing at the door, I put my hand on my hip, still puzzling over last night. “It started out great, but somewhere in the night it got sort of strange… Only I’m not sure if I was fully awake or dreaming.”