Inés set down her iced tea and nodded at the waiter. “Prosecco, please. No, a spritz. What’s the one?”

“Aperol spritz,” Rachael said. “Wish I could.” She patted her stomach.

Alondra turned her attention to me and Elizabeth. “Ladies?”

I hesitated, and Elizabeth said, “I’m driving.” There was a bite in her tone, but Alondra just shrugged. I shook my head no.

She wrinkled her nose. “So are we stuck with the club? The acoustics were awful last year. Everything else was fine.”

“We can do better than fine.” I sounded like my old confident self, and Elizabeth smiled, relaxing a little. “You’re more familiar with the area than I am. What kind of options do we have?”

As the conversation started up again, I could absorb myself in the merits of one location over another, the idea of a themed event, even cracking a few jokes that made Elizabeth laugh. Now Alondra was the one watching, but I could see Rachael and Inés glancing at her after every suggestion.

The server came back with our meals, and as he worked his way around the table, Alondra leaned close to me, her gaze piercing. “So, new girl. Where you from?”

“Jersey.”

“Moved when?” Her question came right on the heels of my answer.

“A few weeks ago.”

“Profession?”

“My husband’s an engineer.”

“And you?”

“I’m not … I mean …” I trailed off, hoping she’d change the subject. There was a difference between talking about my past on purpose and being interrogated about it. And the rapid-fire question-and-answer session made my breath shallow and my pulse race.

Elizabeth said, “Kacy worked at a museum.” No, no, no, not my personal history. My nails bit into my palms. Better that this polished attorney think I was just some no-ambition tagalong to my husband.

Alondra didn’t take her eyes off me. “One I’ve heard of?”

She wasn’t going to stop, not until I answered. “The Martina V. Umana Museum of Modern Art.”

“I heard you stood up to Sandy.” Alondra’s expression hadn’t changed, she hadn’t moved at all, but I felt as though she’d leaned forward and was staring directly into my soul.

“What?” My cheeks grew hot at the sudden pivot, and I was conscious that the other three women were completely silent. “I guess, I mean … you heard about that?”

Her eyes crinkled in a smile that seemed to relax her entire body. “I hear about everything. Nicely done. Rahmia’s done more good in a few months than Sandy will in a lifetime.”

I might have asked what she meant, but she called out a question across the table, leaving me feeling as though the rapier that had pinned me to my chair had been withdrawn. I moved my salad around my plate until Alondra asked me a softball question about hors d’oeuvres and the conversation returned to the event.