I turned to see Andrew, the man I’d met in the park with Emma, walking into the apartment. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, and he had a smile on his face.

“Bev, this is the woman I was telling you about, the one who also takes the time to research dog parks before bringing her pup there.”

“Oh,” Beverly said, raising her eyebrows slightly, barely able to feign interest. “That’s how you met Emma, right?”

“Mm-hmm,” I said, suddenly aching for the glass of wine. I looked past them toward the kitchen.

Is this what people do when they meet for the first time?

Ask each other a shit-ton of questions?

“Hey, did you take Sammy out?” I heard Andrew ask his wife.

She frowned. “I got home from the office and came straight here. You were at a baseball game. You don’t think you could’ve done that?”

Andrew glanced over at me with a sheepish smile before turning his back in an attempt to shield me from their conversation. He lowered his voice even further, but I could still hear him. “I didn’t say you should’ve. I just asked if you did,” he said.

“Like those aren’t the same thing.”

“They aren’t,” he said through gritted teeth.

Emma returned with the wine, and I thanked her before taking a sip.

There was movement by the door, and I watched as a tall man walked in, followed by a petite woman with bright-pink hair. The woman flew through the door and wrapped her arms around Emma, giving her a long hug.

“I’ve been waiting for this all week!” the woman said.

Emma stepped back with a laugh. She turned to look at me. “Chris, this is my little sister, Meggie, the wonderful designer I’ve been telling you about. And this is her boyfriend, Patrick.”

The couple looked up at me, and I could see the recognition cross their faces at the same time. I flashed back to meeting them in Klein’s Boutique a few days ago, how they both had gone on and on about how selfish and cruel Emma was.

There was a long pause, and then Meggie stepped forward to shake my hand, her eyes narrow. “Nice to meet you,” she said abruptly.

Patrick nodded his head toward me but didn’t say anything else.

“You too,” I said, combing my mind for something else to say.

Joshua Burlap walked back into the room at that moment, and he smiled broadly when he saw Beverly standing there.

“My favorite lawyer,” he said. “Looking amazing as usual. Someone’s been hitting the gym.” He turned to Andrew and gave him a small smile and a shrug. “Sorry, man.”