Page 80 of Something Borrowed

“Claire! Hello! Merry day after Christmas,” Vic chimed.

“It is merry,” Claire agreed, her silver bob swinging in agreement. “There’s something so nice about the day after Christmas. It still feels festive but no pressure, you know?”

“I totally know—and let me introduce you to my . . . friend Cal.”

Claire gave him a quick, saucy once-over. “Hello, Vic’s . . . friend, Cal.”

Cal laughed. “Hello, Claire. Nice to meet you. Are you the Claire who hired Vic to paint a friend’s cat?”

“Yes! That’s me. Exactly. And that’s why I’m so excited to see you, Vic. Lacey loved that ornery piece of perfection you created. You captured Rumple to a T. She couldn’t believe it. She cried, then I cried…” Claire shook her head, chuckling. “Anyway, it was marvelous. Marvelous. Thank you. I was wondering if you had a business card. We have other friends who would love to have little portraits done.”

Vic’s eyes widened, almost, it seemed, in alarm.

Madeline, nearby chatting with another guest, must’ve noticed because she sailed over. “She’s out of cards right now, but if you come by The Second Chance Shop after we reopen in the New Year, she’ll have more.”

“Perfect, perfect! Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do. Okay, I’ll see you then! Looking forward to it! And now I’m off to have some more of that delicious punch of yours, Madeline. It’s divine. Divine!”

Claire sailed away on her quest for the divine punch, her long, flowy pink cardigan billowing behind her.

“My cards that I’m out of? That I’ll have in the New Year?” Vic bulged her eyes in comic exaggeration at Madeline.

Madeline bulged her own eyes right back at Vic. “I know. What a newbie oversight on your behalf, right? Running out cards like that.”

Vic shook her head. “I guess I’ll make cards then.”

“Perfect! And now what do the two of you say to joining in a game of Pictionary? I know it’s old school, but we’ve got a good group ready.”

“Sounds great,” Cal said, but Vic said, “Ummm . . .”

“Pretty please?” asked Madeline.

“I think you’ll like it,” Cal said softly, but didn’t want to make her feel pressured.

“I’ve never really played before.” Spots of color burned on Vic’s cheekbones.

“All the more reason,” Madeline said.

“This game was made for you,” Cal encouraged.

The rules were simple, and Vic caught on immediately. Madeline and Grant, no doubt to encourage mingling with people you didn’t know well and possibly to fuel good-hearted rivalry, had put couples on opposite teams.

After Vic’s first turn as the drawer, it was clear Cal’s team was at a huge and hilarious disadvantage—something he’d known they’d be with Vic as the opposition.

Once everyone had had a few turns and was feeling more comfortable, gentle ribbing commenced.

“Vic, would you please tell your boyfriend how to draw a rabbit?”

Vic, who’d been embarrassed by people’s praise initially, and whom Cal suspected of starting to draw more slowly, trying not to rack up as many cards per turn, said, “Oh, come on, you guys, it’s not that bad.” Then she looked at Cal—then at his artwork again—and got the giggles.

“I’m sorry,” she wheezed. “I’m sorry.”

She held her hands up beside her head, then cracked up again.

“Ears,” she gasped. “Ears. It needed bunny ears.”

Everybody playing, including Cal, was laughing uproariously now in that you-had-to-be-there way.

Cal looked at his poor rabbit that should’ve been a no-brainer five-second guess, but instead had timed out, receiving everything from dog, cat, horse, and every other animal under the sun, to the most off-the-wall and hilarious guess of them all, wheelbarrow.