Wendy had brought an entire double batch of homemade pumpkin apple cider mini donuts made by the Enjoy! magazine staff in the Enjoy! test kitchen. The donuts were caked in powdered sugar and individually wrapped in clear cellophane bags with football helmets printed on them. There were fifty bags. Well, forty-seven now. She and Gabby and Manfred had each eaten one on the taxi ride to Brooklyn. She’d also brought twenty “game-night mini dinners” from Full Plate. They’d been sent to the Enjoy! office to be reviewed. She thought it might be amusing to leave them out on the bar tables and eavesdrop as people ate and discussed them.

“Shy was so excited to babysit your son,” Wendy told Stuart after she’d introduced herself. She never would have recognized him herself, but Shy had texted her that she was babysitting for Stuart Little from the Blind Mice, with a link to his picture and bio.

“Shy wears Gucci sneakers,” Mandy said. It was the first thing she’d noticed when Shy came to babysit.

“I stole them from work,” Wendy whispered mischievously. “They’re not too pretentious, I hope.”

“I didn’t even notice them,” Stuart said honestly.

“Is that food?” Mandy pointed at the Macy’s bag.

Wendy pulled one of the Full Plate boxes out of the bag. “We should try these right now. They’re ‘game-night mini-dinners,’ whatever that means.”

“Oh! I saw them on the website. They’re not supposed to be available ’til Super Bowl weekend. I can’t believe you got them.” Mandy clapped her hands together. “I love Full Plate.”

Stuart spotted Nurse Peaches and the author, Roy Clarke, winding their way through the crowd. They seemed very comfortable together, which bothered Stuart for no good reason. What did Nurse Peaches have to do with Roy Clarke?

Roy was so glad Wendy had come. The move and her big job at Fleurt had nearly swallowed her up.

“I didn’t bring any forks,” Wendy was saying to the pretty, plump wife of the famous musician fellow. “But ‘game night’ implies finger food, doesn’t it?”

“Darling, this is Peaches Park, the elementary school nurse and reader extraordinaire I was telling you about… or perhaps meant to tell you about at some point and then forgot?” Roy realized as he was speaking that he had never so much as mentioned his interactions with Peaches to Wendy or anyone else. He blushed and then covered it up by handing Wendy an overly full glass of wine.

Wendy was a little surprised by and a little jealous of how many people Roy already seemed to know. “What an unusual name.” She shook Peaches’ hand. “I like your dimples. Have you met the gorgeous Mandy Marzulli?”

Mandy giggled despite herself. Wendy Clarke was funny. Or maybe she was still a little high.

“Yes, we met earlier. Your wine, madame,” Peaches offered Mandy the full glass with a dramatic flourish.