Mrs. Buzzard was gone by this point, though not without having left me with very detailed instructions on the exact replacement pans she expected me to buy for her. All-Clad stainless steel. She was taking advantage of the situation, but I’d deal with that later.

Instead, I smiled brightly at Ayisha when I entered.

“Hey,” I said.

She nodded at me then looked away at the coffee pot because watching the flow of brown water was more interesting.

I tried again. “I saw you at the parade last night.”

“Yeah. I saw you, too. With Brody.” She smirked.

I bit my tongue and deposited the dishes in the sink.

“Did he invite you to his party?” she asked.

I glanced over my shoulder at her. “Party?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow at his house. Christmas Eve Eve.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, God. That has to be Mia’s doing. Christmas Eve Eve is something she always likes to say every year, like it’s clever.”

“Makes sense. Brody’s never had a party with a theme before. Just beer.”

I started filling the right side of the double sink with hot, soapy water for the dishes to soak. “No, he didn’t invite me.”

Not in the park, and not later in the flurry of texts he sent telling me he thought it was shitty for me to bring a guy home to meet my family and that I’d hurt Mia and him. Oh, and dont tell mia im txting u.

I hadn’t responded. What was the point?

Now I looked at Ayisha.

“Are you going?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe. Not a lot else going on.”

She reached into the cupboard and got out two of the Hoyden Inn deep-red stoneware coffee mugs Grandma Jo had had specially made for the inn.

I was trying to think of a way to broach the subject of Barrington and my various emotions around it when she added, “Arthur mentioned he wanted to go to a party while he was here. And not the kind your grandmother hosts.”

I stiffened and felt a shot of adrenaline akin to panic go through me. “When did you talk to Arthur about that?” With effort, I managed to keep my voice steady.

“The other day, when I brought him the tea. I didn’t know about Brody’s then.”

“Oh.” Well, at least that was before he and I started spending so much time together. I knew I should go back into the dining area to see if any guests needed anything else, but I needed some answers first. “So . . . are you two going together? You and Arthur?”

“I hadn’t thought about it.”

I dried my hands. Folded the dish towel and set it aside. Neatly. And tried not to let my raging anxiety bleed across my expression. “If he wants to go and you want to go then you should both go.”