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“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m tempted to drop them, but Ivy really wants me to keep them.”

“Ivy?” Elia had to work hard to remember exactly who they were talking about. She vaguely remembered the name, but the exact details weren’t coming forward in her brain.

“Ivy Villegas. I hired her at the end of the summer to be my second.” Abagail frowned at Elia. “Don’t you remember?”

“Right, now I do. You haven’t talked about her much.”

Abagail sighed. “Because I’ve had some regrets in that hire.”

“Oh really?” Elia was curious now. There were always certain regrets for Abagail, but she hadn’t heard too much about Ivy.

“I hired her on the cusp of a divorce. I didn’t know that, not that it would have necessarily affected my hiring of her, but I probably would have planned in more training time and transition time than I did. She’s had to go in and out of court so many times in the last few months. Apparently, the custody battle is getting nasty.” Abagail wrinkled her nose.

“That’s always so hard, especially on the kids.”

“And she’s got a slew of them. Three, I think.” Abagail frowned as if she was trying to remember exactly how many kids there were. “Yeah. Three. There’s also a whole nanny situation that’s driving me up a wall and I’m not even involved in it.”

“Oh.” Elia sipped her tea again. She had missed a lot it seemed. She really needed to not be so wrapped up in her own drama that she couldn’t also be there for her friend. Her only friend that she really had anymore. She couldn’t lose that relationship. “So Ivy wants to keep this new company?”

“It’s her friend’s company.” Abagail pursed her lips. “Normally I’m opposed to those kinds of business relationships, especially when it involves HR issues, but when I hired Ivy, they came with her, and Ivy agreed that she wouldn’t be the lead contact for them any longer.”

“So who is?” Elia asked, her brow furrowing.

“I am.” Abagail sighed heavily. “And let me tell you something, if I never hear the name Nathalie Coeur again, I’ll be one happy woman.”

“Is she your problem child?”

Abagail nodded. “And owner, who comes with its own complications.”

“Wonderful,” Elia muttered. The bell above the door to the coffee shop jingled as it opened.

“I have many regrets lately.” Abagail’s look faltered, and she didn’t lift her gaze up to meet Elia’s either.

Elia was just about to pry when out of the corner of her eye, she caught some movement as two women spun in a circle, trying to find a place to sit. A shiver ran down her spine. She knew one of those voices so well, and it’d been impossible to get it out of her head lately. So much for focusing on Abagail for a little bit, although she didn’t think that Abagail minded in this scenario.

“Kam’s here,” Elia murmured.

“Oh, is she?” Abagail’s eyes lit up, and she looked around the room. She found Kam and Greer immediately. A smile slid over her lips, and it scared Elia. Just what exactly was she thinking? “Maybe now’s the perfect time to talk to her.”

“Abagail!” Elia hissed as Abagail stood up. But she was too late. Abagail was already walking away from her with an extra sway to her hips that held so much sass.

Elia was ready to crawl in a hole and bury herself alive. This wasn’t what she was ready for. She hadn’t worked out what exactly she was going to say to Kamryn either. Abagail put her hands on the smalls of both Kamryn’s and Greer’s backs, ushering them toward the table that she and Elia were sharing, the one conveniently with two extra seats in this very busy coffee shop.

“Elia—Kam and Greer are going to join us.”

Thanks so much for asking.Elia tried not to let that thought show on her face, because she had no doubt that it was going to worry Kamryn even more than this situation already was. Elia shifted in her seat slightly but said nothing as Greer immediately sat down.

“We didn’t really get much time to talk the other day,” Greer said, grinning from ear to ear.

And Elia had thought that Kamryn was all sunshine. She was nothing compared to Greer. Abagail sat next to Greer in the seat she’d occupied before, which left the one right next to Elia for Kamryn.

Fucking perfect.

Elia couldn’t glare any harder at Abagail. But she also had to turn on her nice brain as she focused on Greer. Because Greer didn’t deserve the wrath that Elia wanted to unleash on her best friend. Kamryn sat stiffly next to Elia, saying nothing.

“We didn’t.” Elia finally broke the silence and focused on Greer. “How was the wedding? Kam and I haven’t had much of a chance to catch up since then.”