Maggie looked around and went a little red. “Yeah, maybe it’s time for an update, but you know I’ve always enjoyed commitment.”

“I remember you always said so,” said Madeleine, raising her eyebrows at Asher, who was also a little pink. Maggie closed her eyes briefly and returned to her cooking, keeping her thoughts to herself.

“Laura!” It was Nick. “You’re drifting away.” He turned to the others. “She’s an adorable girl, but a space cadet, am I right?”

“Sorry.” Laura came back to the table and tried to gather what she’d missed. Unsurprisingly, Nick was leaning back in his chair, as congruous as a lizard on a hot wall. It wasn’t the situation, it was simply him. He was born comfortable, and Laura had found it enormously attractive at first. They’d been kids together, but as they both crested the hill of puberty, he’d taken off in fine style and she was grateful to be dragged along. Everyone stared at him and saw her out of the corner of their eye, which was about all the attention she’d been ready for.

Polly brought her up to speed, pointedly ignoring the soft exchange of news happening between Asher and Madeleine on the other side of the kitchen. She raised her voice slightly. “We covered a lot of ground while you were playing doorman.”

“Oh yeah?” said Laura, looking suspiciously at Nick.

Polly was clearly very amused. “Nick showed us photos of you guys at prom, and at high school graduation, and a very memorable shot of you dressed as a pirate.”

Laura narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “You had all of those on your phone?”

Nick nodded. “I came prepared.”

“Prepared to embarrass me?”

Polly interrupted. “They weren’t embarrassing, they were hilarious. We’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing with you.”

“I was laughing at you,” said Nick, “but that’s fair, because I was in all the pictures, too, and was therefore laughing at myself.”

“You weren’t in the pirate picture,” Polly pointed out.

“He didn’t even take that one,” said Laura, and Polly was surprised to hear an accusatory tone. “He wasn’t there.” She paused. “Did my mom give it to you?”

Nick held up his hands in mock defeat. “Guilty as charged, madam. It’s one of my favorites and she was nice enough to send it to me.” He grinned at Laura. “Don’t get mad, sweet cheeks, you look amazing in it.” He held up his glass for a refill.

“You’re a very tall pirate,” said Polly, nodding. “It’s pretty impressive.”

“She was the tallest girl in school,” said Nick, “from seventh grade onward.”