“I do.” I sipped from my cup, though the drink had gone cold, to hide my smile.

“So,” Atlas said. “How is everyone?” Then he laughed, sounding strained.

“We were just catching up,” Ari said. “On the latest gossip. Girl stuff.”

Atlas looked at me. “Daisy, discussing girl stuff?”

I shrugged. “I am a girl, Atlas.”

“Like he needs the reminder,” Ari said. “What are you doing here, babe? Besides being a coffee lackey.”

I studied Atlas, the way he ran his fingertips over his temple, considering, always considering. If only I could know what he was thinking now. “I was,” he said, “just—I mean—” He started patting the pockets of his jeans as though looking for his wallet or keys.

“Jesus!” exclaimed Ari. “It’s not an algebra problem.”

I hated to see him unsettled. “He’s making perfect sense to me,” I said. He, grateful, was finally able to meet my eyes. And for a moment, it was just Atlas and me in the room, our history between us, a rope pulled taut.

There was a brief knock on the door, and Wallis shot in like a comet, arms outstretched, going on about how happy she had been to hear from Sara that Atlas was here, how much she’d missed him. Atlas stood, and when they hugged, she kicked up both her feet from the floor.

“This,” I said, as they finished greeting each other, “is quite the party at eight in the morning. What are you doing here, Wallis?” And what were the chances of her leaving without a formal introduction to Ari? Next to impossible? No. Intertwined with impossible.

“I’m meeting with a deputy LA down the hall later,” Wallis said, attention still on Atlas, who was back in his chair, crossing and recrossing his legs restlessly, “and thought I’d pop in to say hello.”

“How was Charleston?” he asked her. “I haven’t seen you in what, over a month?”

“Awful,” Wallis said, coming to sit on the edge of my desk. “Both the trip and the fact that it’s been that long since we’ve hung out. I mean, Charleston is a gorgeous city, but it ended up being a disaster. Daisy can fill you in. At least Daisy came back looking positively sun-kissed.”

Three sets of eyes focused on me, and I resisted the urge to squirm in my chair. “It’s faded by now,” I said.

“We’re working on Daisy’s ability to take a compliment,” Wallis said, turning back to Atlas. “Aren’t we?”

“We are.” On Atlas’s face was a measure of amusement and something else I couldn’t place.

“It’s likely our poor Daisy doesn’t like being the center of attention,” Ari said, and Wallis’s head swiveled toward her. “I wonder if we should just let her be. Look how she’s blushing! I don’t think that is the sun.”