“I know. Your family’s awesome. They were warm and welcoming at your dad’s wedding, even though I hadn’t seen most of them for years.” She flashed a smile I almost believed, but there was a slight wobble to it. “I’m still getting used to being back in town in general,” she said.

We had to walk by the windowed front of the cafe to get to the door, and the place was crawling with people. As I glanced inside, eager to see who besides my family was there, I felt Chloe tense at my side.

“I’m right here with you,” I said as we reached the door. I pulled it open and let her precede me in.

The diner was on the corner, and not only was the front side windowed but the righthand wall was too, and booths lined both of them, back-to-back, their upholstery bright aqua. In the open space were faux-wood tables of four. On the left side of the diner, a single apple-green upholstered bench ran the entire length, from the front window to the back of the place, with four-toppers spaced evenly along it and two chairs per table opposite the bench. Nearly all of the tables were occupied, as was the counter at the very back.

The Henry group took up three of those adjacent tables along the wall on the left, putting them pretty much right smack in the middle of everything. Chloe, I realized, wasn’t looking at them but rather was scoping out the place like some kind of fugitive who expected to be blindsided by the law. Her gaze lingered first on a table with Olivia, Anna, Maeve, and Emerson sitting around it, all focused on Olivia as she appeared to be telling a tale. Next, her gaze skipped over to the last table on the window side and paused there, where Magnolia and her fiancé were sitting across from each other.

With my hand at the small of Chloe’s back, I gently nudged her toward my family, leaning down and saying into her ear, “Smile, EVP.”

The nickname did its job, and by the time we reached the group, she appeared to have forgotten those she considered threats.

“There he is,” my dad said. He sat with his back to the wall, next to Faye, the woman he’d married last month, who was smiling warmly as she got to her feet.

“The other newlyweds,” Faye said as she held out her arms to Chloe for a hug. “It’s so good to see you again. Congratulations, Chloe.”

They hugged while my dad slid out to give me an overzealous but quiet back-slap man-hug.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Congrats, son,” he said, his eyes crinkling at the corners with his approval.