Page 15

***

A couple of glasses of wine later and Megan was pleasantly buzzed and relaxed.

As promised, the party was very low-key. Soft jazz provided the background music, catered food in trays were set up on the dining room table and the small group of guests were encouraged to just eat whenever and wherever they felt like it. Naturally, being that they were in Southern California, just about everyone decided to congregate outside in the backyard where some small candle-lit tables had been arranged and a few folding chairs occupied the small lawn. Masks were optional, their hosts insisted, and so no one wore theirs.

As Abby said, there were a couple of women Megan didn’t know but which Abby did. They had come as plus-ones of other friends, new girlfriends that Megan hadn’t gotten around to meeting yet because the truth was, she was a Hermit Dork who preferred quiet nights in. But the newcomers were friendly and easy to get to know.

And Angela and Desiree were completely adorable as the couple of honor. Keeping with the whole low-key vibe they wanted, they were both dressed smart-casual in denim shorts with sandals and matching peasant tops.

“Oh God,” Abby had faux-moaned when she first saw them. “Are you going to be all matchy-matchy from now on?”

Desiree, a statuesque African-American woman with a runner’s body, giggled. “Maybe.”

Angela, a freckled redhead, her arm around her fiancée’s waist, added, “Besides, it shows who belongs to who.”

About twenty minutes after Megan and Abby arrived, while Megan was finishing that second glass of wine, and telling herself it was the last one unless she planned on taking a Lyft home, the doorbell rang.

From her position in the kitchen, getting a bottle of cold water from the fridge, Megan heard Abby shout, “I’ll get it!” and then a moment later, “Hey girl!”

“Hey, Abs! How’s the mommy of my two favorite schnauzers?”

Megan smiled. That must be Chloë, the dog walker. She then heard Abby exclaim, “Vanessa! I didn’t know you were coming! Awesome! Bring it in!”

Megan’s eyebrows raised up. After taking a slug of water, she headed towards the front of the house to meet the new arrivals.

Wow, what a coincidence! Meeting two Vanessas in the space of twenty-four hours. Weird.

Chapter 7

Vanessa had barely finished giving Abby a hug hello when her eyes caught the movement of someone emerging from a room across the entry way. She couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her lips when she recognized Megan, and she couldn’t help a flutter of excitement in her chest when she noticed Megan’s mouth drop open in recognition and her eyes go wide with obvious delight.

She let her eyes rake over Megan, who looked too adorable and scrumptious in a floral print sundress and sandals.

In short order, the two women rendezvoused in the middle of the living room.

“Oh my god, it’s you!” Vanessa said with a laugh.

“Oh my god, it’s you!” Megan replied.

There was then this moment of uncertainty of what to do next. In pre-Covid times, Vanessa would have given Megan a friendly embrace and she could tell that Megan was thinking the same thing. Finally, Vanessa chuckled to break the ice and said, “Fuck it. Zombies, right?”

Megan’s smile grew wider.

“Zombies,” she confirmed and then simultaneously two women moved forward for a hug.

Vanessa’s eyes closed and she inhaled deeply as soon as she felt Megan’s body pressed against hers. The woman smelled of vanilla and cherry blossoms and coconut and all Vanessa wanted to do now was get Megan somewhere private so she could determine from where on her body each scent was coming from.

I swear I am going to make that happen soon.

“You two know each other?” Abby asked, interrupting the reunion.

Separating from Megan, Vanessa answered, “Yeah. Megan here is supposed to single-handedly keep my coffeeshop afloat one Ameri

cano at a time.”

“It’s true,” Megan said. “Gotta remortgage my house and everything. And we’re fellow zombies.”

Abby and Chloë shared a confused look between themselves and then Abby threw up her hands.