The ones I’m faintly feeling now, so I smile back.
Blake says something to him, and he turns, and they walk out. The door closes behind them, and the room is quieter than it was a second ago.
I drain my glass.
“You look like a woman who needs another drink,” Harper says, holding two wine glasses and a bottle tucked under her arm.
She's kicked off her heels, and her hair is up in a messy bun. This is Harper after an event. I like this version of her better.
“Your team did a great job tonight,” I say.
“My team is exhausted, and I owe them all bonuses.” She sets the glasses on the nearest high table and pours. The wine is red and full-bodied, and she pours generously. “Sit with me.”
We pull two chairs together near the window. Below us, a maintenance crew is doing something to the ice, and the Zamboni makes slow, methodical circles. It's calming to watch it work.
Harper tucks her feet under her and takes a long sip. “So. You and Logan Shaw.”
I take a drink of wine. “What about Logan Shaw and me?”
“You talked to him for forty minutes.”
I shrug once. “I was networking.”
“I run events for a living. I know the difference between networking and whatever that was. You two were at the bar in your own world. Liam set a napkin on fire doing a trick, and you didn't even look up.”
My eyes go wide. “He set a napkin on fire?”
“That's not the point.”
I've known Harper for about a year. Caldwell, Price & Associates hired her company to plan our annual gala, and wehit it off over the planning process, skipping the small talk and going straight to late-night wine and honesty. She introduced me to her girls, and she's the reason I have a circle in this city beyond my office.
She's also relentless when she wants information.
“We grew up together,” I finally say.
Harper's glass pauses halfway to her mouth. “You and Logan Shaw grew up together.”
“Yeah, in Long Island. Same neighborhood. His family lived on Maple. Mine was on Birch, three blocks south.”
“You're kidding.”
“There’s more. We started dating when I was sixteen. His family is a hockey family. His dad played college. His mom played field hockey. Both his brothers play. The whole Shaw universe revolves around the game.”
“Were you serious?” Harper asks.
I look at my wine. “I thought so. We were together for two years. I went to every game and watched him play. I thought that was going to be my life. Then he got drafted.” Alcohol is loosening my tongue.
I've never told anyone this. Not Clara, who is my closest friend at work.
I turn the glass in my hand. “His mother told me, in her own way, that I wasn't built for the life he was going to have. She said hockey families aren't easy, and it takes a certain kind of woman to handle it, and that basically she didn’t think I was that kind of woman.”
“God.”
“Then Logan left, and I went to college and then law school and then here.”
“That would make me bitter,” Harper says.
I shrug. “I healed a long time ago.”
