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“You think she’s studying her own reflection?” I whisper to Mira.
“Yes,” she whispers back.
Josie snaps her head up, so suddenly that everyone in the apartment flinches. Everyone except for Poe, who keeps eating the bread.
“You should order a wedding cake.Everywedding should have a cake.”
Shane gives an uneasy laugh before looking at Burke. “I think Burke can get his own cake.”
“And he’ll get a really splendid one. Three tier. Lots of those embellishments people like. But this one’s not for him,” Josie says, victory ringing in her voice. “It’s foryou.”
Shane’s laughter is more genuine as he gets to his feet. “Now, I know you’re messing with me. I’m never getting married.”
This earns another snort from Ruthie. “Of courseyou’re not.”
He turns in her direction, shooting her an annoyed glare. “You were married for four months, Ruthie. You’re not exactly the poster child for marriage.”
“Shane,” I say tightly, because I saw it—Ruthie looks pissed as hell now, but before she went into the red zone, there was real hurt in her eyes.
“Sorry,” he says, contrite, and I can see the day hanging on him. Maybe she does too, because she just shrugs and says, “It’s fine.”
The buzzer goes off again.
“That’ll be the turkey!” Mira says, and we both head over to answer it.
When I press the speaker button, Leonard says, “We’ve got something to stick into your oven,” and Mira rolls her eyes as she buzzes him in and then unlocks the door.
“You think there’s anything to it?” she asks me in a whisper.
I sneak a glance at Shane, who’s talking to Burke now. Delia seems to be offering encouragement to Deacon, probably because Shauna’s grandmother is about to show up. Ruthie is talking to Josie. Izzy is hanging on to every last word of the slime crafter.
I think about Josie, who’s right more often than she’s not, even if most of her “readings” are so vague it would be hard for her to be wrong.
I think about what I’d like to happen.
I would like Shane to find the kind of happiness and peace I have whenever I’m with Mira. Especially now that he’s unmoored—lost from the life he thought he was going to have.
“I’d like to think so,” I tell her. “I want him to have what we have. I think everyone should.”
She smiles at me, her eyes bright with it. “I agree.”
Then the door bursts open, and there’s again a flurry of activity and noise as Leonard enters with a stack of boxes, followed by Shauna and her grandmother and the teenage kid they’ve adopted as family. I feel my internal input meter turning a little more toward the right, but I’m also happy they’re here.
“So, the bad news is that the turkey burned,” Leonard says, “but the good news is that there’s a Chinese restaurant near our house, so what I’m saying is that we brought Chinese food.”
It takes half a second for him to notice Josie, then Shane. He whistles. “Something tells me some shit went down, brother. Want to give me the ten second rundown?” The others are coming toward us, closing in. I’m going to need a break later, but Mira already told me that I am going to be exiled out to the balcony whenever she notices I look queasy.
She squeezes my hand, probably because she knows it’s already a lot, and I say, “Shane quit his job, stole back some scotch he’d given to his boss, and apparently he’s getting married soon.”
“Well, shit,” Leonard says with a big grin. “That’s a lot to be thankful for. Let’s break open that Scotch and celebrate.”
They pile in, our friends converging on them. I hear Josie shouting out the offer to read someone else’s fortune, but I pull Mira back on impulse, guiding her out of the door before shutting it. Here, the sounds inside the apartment are a murmur.
Smiling, she says, “Are we making a break for it?” But I can see the slight worry under her smile.
I wrap my hands around her upper arms. “Maybe we should, but I just wanted a second alone with you. I’d prefer to tell you what I’m grateful for out here rather than in front of everyone else.”
“You’re about to tell me you’re grateful for Officer Dunkins and all the law and order he brings, aren’t you?” she says, and I’m grateful to see the worry on her face is easing.
