I bit down on the inside of my lip and fought to keep my dislike hidden. Thankfully, at that moment, Stone was back with another round, and I busied myself helping him distribute to the table while Magnolia prattled on.

“I convinced Rick to stop by,” she was saying. “He’s in such a hurry to get home after our dinner in Nashville.” Her tone made no secret of why he was in a hurry, and I inwardly rolled my eyes.

“Super-cute dress,” Olivia said.

It was cute, of course, because apparently trolls didn’t walk around in ugly burlap bags but rather thousand-dollar designer dresses. I recognized this one from my favorite high-end store in Nashville.

“Thanks, yours too,” Magnolia replied in such a fake voice it nauseated me. “Open it now,” she said to Maeve, who’d started to put the box in her purse, obviously with the intention of opening it later.

“Oh. Okay.” Maeve laughed, took another sip of her drink, then ripped the paper off and tossed it over her shoulder, making all of us laugh because that was the alcohol, not the usual Maeve. Even I could tell that.

Then I noticed the color of the box in front of her—Tiffany fricking blue. I glanced at Emerson in time to see a flash of WTF in her eyes before she flipped that into a smile like it was perfectly normal to give someone whose birthday girls’ night out you hadn’t even been invited to something from Tiffany and Company.

“Oooh,” Maeve said, and I caught a flash of confusion on her face as well, and then she buried it in a wide grin. She opened the box to find a chunky but simple silver bracelet. “Wow. Thank you.” Maeve took it out and had Anna fasten it around her wrist. “It’s beautiful, Magnolia.”

The others around the table said complimentary things as well. I sat there barely breathing, hoping Magnolia didn’t pull up a stool and join us.

“Enjoy your celebration. So sorry I can’t join you, but it looks like Rick is ready to go.” Magnolia leaned over and hugged Maeve from the side. “Celebrate for me too.”

And then she was gone and I let out my breath.

The table was subdued for a few seconds.

“She means well,” Olivia finally said.

“I know I’m just a visitor but she seemed like a head case,” Presley said perceptively.

Though I’d told her plenty about my childhood and this town and my status as an outsider, I’d never said anything about Magnolia specifically. Never wanted to waste the breath on her.

I pressed my lips together and waited to see how the others reacted. These were Magnolia’s friends, as far as I knew.

“Magnolia is difficult,” Emerson said quietly, matter-of-factly. “She knows how to cut someone to the bone with barely a blink of an eye.”