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“Cute, right?” Sam took another sip of his drink and then turned to face Arden, leaning in closer. “But honestly, I have no idea who a lot of these people are. It’s a lot of my dad’s business associates.”

“What does he do?” Arden had been itching with curiosity since first seeing this house.

Sam hesitated a moment as he scanned the crowd. “Receipt-paper machines.” His eyes slid toward her. “Family manufacturing business that he inherited from his dad.”

Arden breathed a soft Oh of understanding. She guessed that was why Sam had seemed sort of insecure telling her about his job. Maybe he felt as though he hadn’t earned his position there, since it was his dad’s company. And he had mentioned that his brother was the CFO—was there tension there?

Arden opened her mouth, trying to decide which question to ask first, but Sam gently nudged her shoulder. “My siblings are over there. I’ll introduce you.”

The siblings were in a corner, shoulders grouped together against the crowd. Seeing them made a feeling twist deep in her belly. Jealousy, probably. As an only child, she couldn’t even imagine having a team of built-in friends to hang with through every social event of your life. There were—Arden counted quickly—six of them. Six?

“Sam!” A younger sister with highlighted hair and a sparkly diamond on her left hand threw her arms around Sam’s neck. The others greeted him with waves and shoulder pats.

“Is Phoebe really not here?” the sister asked. “Where is she?”

“Uh—” Sam chuckled. “Guys, this is my friend Arden.”

“Oh my gosh! You’re so pretty!” The sister threw her arms around Arden, too.

“Thanks?” Arden laughed.

Sam pointed out his siblings in turn. “My older brother, Ethan, and his wife, Lily.” Ethan and Lily waved. “My younger sibling, Alex, and their partner, Ronnie.”

Alex, with cropped hair, wearing a dark suit and glittery purple eye shadow, pointed to their chest and said, “They them.”

Arden nodded. “Nice to meet you.” Okay, so there weren’t six siblings. They were all here with their significant others.

“And this is my little sister, Kayla, and her boyfriend—sorry, fiancé—Ryan.”

“Wow, there are a lot of you” was all Arden could think to say. This made them all laugh.

“And Phoebe’s not even here!” Kayla said. “Where is she, Sam?”

Arden and Sam exchanged a look.

“I’m not at liberty to say.” Sam took a secretive sip of his cocktail.

“Anyway, Arden, where are you from?” Lily asked.

“Florida. Just visiting for the holidays.”

“Ooh, I bet it’s nice and warm there,” Kayla said.

“How did you two meet?” Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow at Sam.

Sam started to stammer an answer, but Arden cut him off: “We’re not at liberty to say.”

This made everyone laugh again. “I like you,” Ethan said.

Arden felt herself flush to the roots of her hair.

She hadn’t let herself wish for a brother or sister since she was about eight years old. The idea of being accepted into a sibling group like this—of maybe someday being part of it? Well. She was getting way ahead of herself. But she envied them all. She wondered if they knew how lucky they were.

She finished her drink as the siblings carried on a full, chaotic conversation. Sam did his best to keep Arden in the loop, though he couldn’t explain every inside reference that went by, at the speed the conversation was going. She appreciated the effort, anyway, because she was out of her comfort zone at a party where she knew only one person, and barely. As a teacher, she was not infrequently invited to her coworkers’ birthday parties and baby showers. At those parties, she always knew at least a half-dozen colleagues. Now, she was here only because Sam had taken pity on her.

Might as well enjoy myself, I guess.

She chose a cucumber-and-smoked-salmon appetizer, popped it in her mouth, and then snagged a glass of champagne from a passing server, handing him her empty Spin the Dreidel glass.