“Oh yes. I love to cook. I make this chicken dish with asparagus that’s sautéed in wine. It’s served over wild rice. Abby loves it.” She looked pointedly at Holly, who had been unusually quiet. “Do you and Aaron cook? Or do you get a meal service or something?”

“I fancy myself as a bit of a gourmet cook, actually. Abby can vouch for that. She loved my cooking. Unfortunately, with my busy schedule, I don’t get to enjoy that all that much. Aaron dabbles in it, but we mostly eat out or have delivery. Except weekends. Then we do try to put a nice meal on the table.”

“Oh, yeah. Weekends are the best. I try to do breakfast in bed at least once.” She turned and winked at Abby. “And we like playing in the kitchen together too.”

“So, you…live together?” Holly asked. “I’m surprised, Abby. You were always so guarded about that.”

Nic shook her head. “Not officially, no. But I’ve got a really small place, so it’s nice to stay with Abby.”

“Well, I guess you are practically living with me, aren’t you? You’re there most nights.”

“It’s so nice that you have someone, honey, but I wish you’d told me about Nicole earlier. I would have been better prepared,” Sandra said.

“Well, after the…the last relationship I had, I wanted to be sure.” Abby looked quickly at Holly, then to her. “It’s been like a breath of fresh air so far.”

Nic barely resisted laughing at the twinkle in Abby’s eyes. They were rewarded with Holly pushing her plate away and standing.

“Thank you for breakfast, Sandra. I need to shower and get ready for the day. Aaron is taking me into town for shopping.” She motioned for Aaron to get up, which he obediently did. “We’ll grab lunch there, so don’t bother with it on our account.”

“Oh, wow,” Nic said. “We’re going shopping too. Maybe we’ll run into you.”

Holly’s smile was so obviously forced. “I doubt we’ll be patronizing the same shops, Nicole. But you two have fun.”

“Thanks. Y’all too.”

No one spoke a word as Aaron and Holly left the kitchen. Sandra busied herself with putting the casserole away, and Abby got up, piling plates together to take to the sink. It wasn’t until Aaron and Holly were well out of earshot that Abby laughed. A tiny, controlled laugh. Then Sandra joined in. Nic found herself smiling as Abby and her mother giggled like schoolchildren.

“I guess I should set the record straight,” Nic said. “I am over thirty. Birthday was in July. I simply wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.”

“Six months? That’s not fibbing too much. But she’s being so bitchy. What did I ever see in her?”

“I wondered the same thing,” Sandra chimed in.