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“The coat had kittens.” Coop spotted several people wearing jackets exactly like Dotty’s. “I see at least thirty people wearing them.” It made no sense. It had to be stifling in that packed house.
“Fifty,” Simon added, frowning. “They’re outside on the back patio, too.”
“How are we going to figure out which coat is Dotty’s?” Vivi groaned. “My dot in the app only indicates the jacket is at this house, not exactly where.”
“We’re going to get close to every person wearing a coat as if we have seduction in mind.” Dotty shimmied her shoulders. “And then we’re going to slip our hands inside their jacket.” She extended her arms, as if frisking a suspect. “And grab onto what’s mine.”
“And get arrested for groping a stranger?” Coop shook his head.
But Dotty was already burrowing her way through the crowd, followed by Kelcie. They were two peas in a trouble-seeking pod.
“This is going to turn ugly real quick,” Simon said before diving into the crush. He wasn’t going to lose Dotty this time.
“Hey, the coats each have a different design on the back.” Vivi tugged on the back of Coop’s shirt. “Grandma Dotty’s has blue bunnies.”
“That’s good to know.” Coop turned to face her, inching aside to let Simon and Kelcie go past. “Can we talk later? About…us?”
She shrugged, a guarded expression on her face. “If we don’t get arrested, sure.”
Chapter Eleven
The press of bodies was like being on the subway after a packed house at Madison Square Garden.
And I used to like this kind of thing.
Violet used to like Chuck, too. Until she found out he was someone else. Now, she didn’t know how she felt about him. He’d kissed her while pretending to be someone—something—else entirely.
Violet recognized someone from Kelcie’s boot camp classes. She touched her arm, smiling. “Hey, what’s with all the coats.” She pointed to a woman wearing a big, white coat with a blue cat printed on the back.
The boot camp woman leaned closer, shouting in Vi’s ear, “Xuri’s doing a social media event.” She pointed toward a man standing on the stairwell filming with a big, professional-sized camera that made Violet cringe inside. And then she pointed in the opposite direction. “She’s giving out coats in the kitchen if there are any left. It’s too hot for me.”
Violet made her way to the kitchen, passing groups of people with drinks in their hands who were shouting conversations with each other.
“The sailing was perfect today!” a man said as she bumped his shoulder.
Sailboats only reminded Violet of being with Coop and talking about Shakespeare as sailboats dotted the ocean’s horizon.
A rail thin college-age girl wearing one of Xuri’s coats nearly collided with Violet as she went the other way.
Vi grabbed hold of her jacket as she squeezed by, only releasing it when she realized a puppy was painted on the back, not bunnies. “Sorry!” She ignored the girl’s dirty look and pressed on.
“The salmon at Fabrizi’s is to die for!” a woman in a crop top and skimpy skirt shouted to her cluster of people.
Violet wasn’t a huge fan of salmon. She had a sweet tooth. And since she was a homebody, having a handsome man deliver her frozen yogurt on a warm, moonlit night was about as close to perfect as things got.
Not that I’m going to forgive him…am I?
She didn’t know.
A shirtless, buff young man strutted out from a hallway into Vi’s path. He wore a big white jacket, but he’d flung the sides of the jacket behind him. In order to check the back, she paused to let him pass.
A blue bird.
“Rats.” Vi soldiered on.
“My Ferrari has never given me problems! I’d trade your Tesla in!”
She dodged the small group of men posturing about their fancy cars. All this shouting just to be heard. The jumble of music and noise rang in her ears until all she could distinguish was the beat of the bass and the drum.
