“Hi! Good to see you! Thank you for coming!” she said to the people they passed, but always turning her attention back to Erin and their fake industry, staying in motion until they reached the top of the terrace steps. “This all looks great. We can talk about the rest tomorrow. Thanks, Erin.”

Erin closed her portfolio and went down to the bottom of the steps. Holly gave Erin the cue to kill the music, and Erin pushed a button on her phone, cutting off Diana Ross midnote.

Holly looked out at her guests, who stopped their chatter when the music died and they noticed her on the steps. A ripple of attention moved through the crowd. She’d seen it happen lots of times—before Ted spoke at a cast party, or whenever a new limo pulled up at the Oscars—and now it was happening for her. She saw Kathy Jahan and her husband, his plum tie obviously picked to match his wife’s dress, and there was Zanne moving through the crowd toward Erin. But Holly was searching for only one person, there, in the pink gown, who turned around now and stared back.

Now she could begin.

Holly cleared her throat. “Hello, everybody! Thank you for coming! Are you all having a good time?”

Some in the crowd woo-hooed, others clapped approvingly, and off to the right came an ear-splitting whistle. A man hanging off the pump car yelled, “Believe it!” and everyone laughed. Holly laughed, too.

“Awesome! On behalf of everyone at Bump to Pump, I want to welcome you all to my home. And I want to thank you. Bump to Pump is an organization that is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been working with them for—what is it now, Kathy? Ten years?”

“Twelve!” Kathy shouted back.

“Twelve! My goodness. Twelve years of watching this incredible group of people serve and support low-income mothers. I want to thank all of you for helping us raise money tonight to advance that work. We literally could not do it without you. Every dollar you give tonight will go toward a woman in need, and we all know that when you lift up women, you lift up their families and communities, too. So, dig deep, people. Don’t be stingy! Help those babies!”

“Believe it!” the man in the back hollered again.

“Now, where is that husband of mine? Ted, honey?”