“No, I figure he does. I was wondering ifZoe does.”
* * *
THE only thingZoe knew at that moment was that this was one of the biggest days of her life. She clutched the keys, her keys, in her fist. They were brand spanking new, to go with the brand spanking new lock sets shed bought to replace the old ones.
She was going to put the lock on the main door herself—she knew how—first thing. A kind of rite, she decided. A kind of claiming.
She parked, ran through the rain to the front porch, then waited as her friends pulled in behind. Malory had the original keys. Besides, it was right that the three of them went in together.
And wasnt it right, somehow symbolic, that Malory had the original key? That she and Dana would wait while Malory unlocked the door. The first door.
Malory had completed her part of the quest, and had held her key. Now it was Danas turn. Then, God willing, it would be hers.
“Rains going to strip a lot of the leaves off the trees,” Malory commented as she rushed under the overhang. “There wont be much color left after this.”
“It was nice while it lasted.”
“Yes, it was.” Malory started to unlock the door, then stopped. “It just hit me. Its ours now. Really ours. Maybe we should say something profound, do something symbolic.”
“Im not carrying either of you across the threshold.” Dana scooped back her damp hair.
“Booty shake,”Zoe decided and made Dana laugh. “Booty shake,” she agreed. “On three.”
The few people driving by might have been slightly surprised to see three women standing on a pretty blue porch wiggling their butts in front of a closed door.
Giggling, Malory turned the key. “That felt right. And here we go.” She opened the door with what she considered a very nice flourish, then her mouth dropped open.
“Oh, my God, look!”
“What?” Instinctively,Zoe grabbed her arm to yank her back. “Is it Kane?”
“No, no! Look. Oh, this is so sweet! Look what they did.” She rushed inside and all but buried her face in the roses set on the card table. “Flowers. Our first flowers. Flynns going to get such a big reward for this.”
“It was really thoughtful of him.”Zoe sniffed at the flowers, then opened the bakery box. “Cookies. The fancy kind. What a sweetheart youve got, Malory.”
“He didnt do it alone.” Dana pulled the champagne out of the bucket, arched her eyebrows at the label. “This has Brads fingerprints all over it. Not just champagne but stupendous champagne.”
Zoefrowned over the label. “Thats expensive, isnt it?”
“Not only, but very classy. Only time I ever had it was when Brad gave me a bottle for my twenty-first birthday. He always had style.”
“The three of them did this together, for us.” With a long sigh, Malory danced her fingers over petals. “Id say all three of them have style.”
“Lets not disappoint them.” Dana popped the cork, poured champagne into the three flutes set on the table.
“We need to have a toast.”Zoe picked up the flutes, passed them out.
“Lets not do one that makes us cry.” Malory took a steadying breath. “The flowers have me half started already.”
“Ive got it.” Dana raised her glass. “To Indulgence.”
They clinked glasses, sipped. And cried a little anyway.
“Ive got something I want to show you.” Malory set down her glass, picked up her briefcase. “Just something I was playing with. I dont want you to feel obligated. You wont hurt my feelings if you dont like the concept. Its just… just an idea.”
“Stop killing us with suspense.” Dana picked up a cookie. “Give.”
“Okay. I was thinking about a logo, you know something that incorporates all three businesses. Of course, we might all want separate ones anyway, but we could use one logo for letterhead, business cards, the Web page.”