The speaker was a tall butch in a pink short-sleeved button-down with green flamingoes on it, cutoff jean shorts, and a green baseball cap worn jauntily to the side that said Vroom in gold embroidery.

After their greetings, Carys put a hand on Greta’s shoulder. “Rae, this is Greta. Greta, this is Rae. They’re our host for the evening.”

“Hey, thanks for inviting me,” Greta said.

Rae had a mischievous smile and twinkly blue eyes.

“My pleasure. So happy to share the bounty with a new arrival.”

“And what a bounty it is,” boomed the same voice that had yelled Incoming. “Hey, I’m Matthew. He/him.”

Matthew was large, tall and broad and fat, with beautiful gray eyes and hair the color of fire caught up in a high ponytail.

Greta introduced herself in kind, held out her hand and found it squeezed warmly.

“Carys, you scamp,” Matthew said. “What a hottie.”

“I agree,” Carys said, squeezing Greta’s shoulder.

Greta flushed, flattered and unsure what to say. She didn’t think of herself as hot. Some days, she liked how she looked just fine. She knew people responded to her big blue eyes and bone structure, and she enjoyed bleaching her hair to a striking platinum, but when she looked in the mirror, usually the first thing she saw was how uncertain her eyes looked and how stubborn the cut of her jaw was.

She ran a hand self-consciously through her hair and ducked her chin so Matthew wouldn’t see her blushing.

“You’re adorable,” Carys said, putting a hand on the back of her neck.

“Okay, okay, enough of this,” Helen said. “I’m going to the pool.”

The house was arranged in a semicircle around the patio and pool area, with a sliding glass door out of the kitchen on one side and the master bedroom on the other. There was a wooden deck around the house, with pockets of planting that shaded benches and a wrought-iron table and chairs. It stepped down to the cement and tile patio that stretched around a kidney-shaped pool.

One end of the pool was shaded by trees Greta didn’t recognize that dropped pods into the pool when the wind blew, and the other side was in full sun. Chaise longues and side tables were clustered around the pool and held three more people who stood to greet them.

Carys made introductions, for which Greta was grateful.

Tana was a middle school teacher with a huge grin who swore more than anyone Greta had ever heard. After greeting everyone, she and Veronica holed up on a chaise and began intently discussing a book they were both reading.