Page 82 of The Naughty List Agreement

Cindy had a Guiness in front of her and was dressed in enough flannel to make even Nick jealous. She had two shirts on, one buttoned to the neck and then another draped over it. She had a row of earrings in both ears similar to Fliss, but Cindy’s were all leaves. Her hair was dark brown and she wore it pulled up into a ponytail, revealing her shaved head with tattoos of a thorny branch with small blossoms on it.

“Hi, I’m Cora. Nice to meet you,” she said as she took a seat on a stool next to Cindy.

“Hey. Thanks for letting me crash.”

“I’ll go help Hannah with the drinks and see where our nachos are. Want anything?” asked Fliss.

Cora hadn’t decided how long she was staying but she couldn’t drink on an empty stomach so asked for some chicken tenders. Cindy held her glass loosely in both hands and kept looking around the room. Tension seemed to vibrate around her. Cora took a deep breath and told herself to be a big girl and engage in small talk. “You and Fliss are cousins?”

“What? Oh, yeah. We both work for the family business,” Cindy said.

“Except Fliss works for me. Do you have two jobs too?”

Cindy shrugged. “I do some hours at the Y. Coaching the girls’ soccer league.”

“You both need to set some better boundaries,” Cora said.

“It’s family. You know how they can be.”

“Actually, I don’t. I’m not close with mine,” she said. Luckily Fliss and Hannah arrived with the drinks and a report that the food would be delivered soon.

“I wasn’t sure you’d make it tonight, Hannah,” Cora said while the cousins chatted. “Is Max feeling better?”

“A bit. My parents are taking him and Sophie to a screening of Elf downtown tonight. Mom insisted I needed a break and shoved me out the door. I’m not allowed to text her for updates until they’re out of the movie.”

“When is that?”

“A little over an hour left,” she said. “Goodness, when did I become this woman?”

“When you had kids. You love them and they give you so much. You told me yourself right over there,” Cora said, pointing to the table where she’d crashed Hannah’s date with Nick.

“Exactly. I think I’m losing myself, though. My mom hinted at that when she forced me out of the house. Told me I would still be a good mother if I took some time for myself. I think I needed to hear that.”

“I agree. So no talk about Max or Sophie tonight. Tell me about Hannah. Have you always been crafty?” she asked.

“Not really. I made quilts and clothes for my own dolls⁠—”

“I’m gonna stop you there. You’ve always been crafty.”

Hannah laughed at herself. “Yeah. I really like it. Basically, I’m an eighty-year-old in a thirty-year-old’s body. Always have been. Sam used to tease me about it.”

Cora put her hand over Hannah’s. Now that she’d had a chance to get to know her, she saw the other woman in a new light. They truly weren’t that different from each other.

Both wanted to be accepted for who they were. The difference was that Hannah had herself figured out way before Cora had. “I never met him. What was he like? If you want to talk about him. If not, that’s okay too.”

“I do. My friends are all careful to never mention him,” Hannah admitted. “I cry when I talk about him.”

“If I ever fell in love and lost that man, I’d cry too,” Cora said. Hell, she wasn’t even in love with Nick and she experienced separation anxiety when they weren’t together—which was a big red warning for her. She didn’t need people. Still, no matter how many times she repeated that to herself, it didn’t feel true anymore.

“How’s it going with Nick?”

“Good, I guess. I’ve never really had a proper relationship before—if that’s even what we have. I’m too … high maintenance would be a nice way to put it.”

“No!” Hannah said with fake horror.

She smiled at the joke. The grief she wore like an ill-fitting jacket seem to have loosened.

“I like you two together.”