The house party was more of a rave than a party. When Brandy and Joanna came by the site to invite Vivian, Natalie, and me, I thought it might be a gathering of a few people, some bites of food, and a variety of wine. Instead, I walked into a raging mass of bodies, loud music, kegs, and flailing limbs on a makeshift dance floor.
“You made it.” Brandy appeared at my side. “Come dance with me.”
“Let her breathe first, B.” Joanna took up my other side. “Grab a beer and we’ll introduce you around.”
I wondered again how old these women were. They acted as young as the Sweeney brothers, but the crinkle of skin around their eyes told me they were closer to my mid-forties.
People vied for their attention as they walked me to the keg. They did a masterful job of keeping everyone happy while continuing with the squeeze on me. It might have been a mistake coming here. Large gatherings weren’t my thing, and this was as crowded as the yard on a rainy day when all the blocks emptied out at once instead of in shifts.
Joanna handed me a beer and curled her hand around my elbow to lead me toward a more private corner. I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea either. Natalie said she’d try to make it so I wouldn’t be here alone, but she wasn’t much for crowds either.
“Hey, Falyn,” Molly called as she appeared through the crowd.
Relief rinsed through me when I saw her. It wasn’t that I knew her well, but I was out of my comfort zone here. Any familiar face would help.
“We were just taking some time to get to know her, Mol.” Brandy’s voice had a little edge.
Molly flicked her eyes between us before landing on mine in question. Well, that was sweet. She was looking out for me. “I’ll go find Tessa,” Molly said to me, blatantly ignoring Brandy’s warning. “See you later.”
“She’s going to flip when she finds out we invited Kathleen,” Joanna said to Brandy.
Even I started at that. Seemed a little callous. Picking sides after a breakup sucked, but it seemed like Tessa was the more entrenched with their group of friends than Kathleen had been.
“Are they really close?” I asked of Molly and Tessa.
“Wouldn’t say close. Vivian and Tessa are close because of their work, and Molly’s tight with Vivian.”
So they didn’t see it? Molly couldn’t be this attentive with everyone. Then again, maybe I was imagining things like I had with Molly and Vivian.
“Excuse us a sec,” Joanna said and dragged Brandy away.
I took a sip of beer and immediately looked for a place to spit it out. The food options looked as cheap as the beer. I could probably slip out and join the boys at the bar they said they were going to, but I needed to make an effort to get to know more people.
“Hi, Falyn,” Dwight greeted, coming to a stop before me. “Bit crowded in here, isn’t it?”
“Hey there. Didn’t know this was your scene.” My eyes slid over his party getup. His slim frame was sheathed in designer casual. I hadn’t put as much effort into my appearance, not having the clothing budget he clearly did. Maybe in a few months I might be able to afford a full off-work wardrobe, but for now, my one pair of khakis and two button-down shirts were how I rolled.
“J&B have a way of corralling all the single people in town.”
“This is every single person in town?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” He reached for a loaded cracker but his brain must have thought better, stopping his hand halfway. “Hey, did Molly tell you that next weekend is river guide training?”
My brow drew down. “No. Why would she?”
“When she trains the other river guides, she needs willing volunteers to fill the boat. Free rafting trips on the Roaring Fork all day. You up for it?” His brown eyes revealed his excitement.
“Sounds fun, but I’d have to hear from Molly first.”
“Hear what?” Molly appeared at that moment with Tessa by her side.
I nodded hello to both as Dwight said, “I was telling her about the training.”
“Oh, yeah, great. What do you say? I’m trying to get Tessa to go, too.” She looped an arm around Tessa’s shoulders.
“Sounds fun if Nat doesn’t have something going with work.” It also sounded a little dangerous, but I wasn’t about to wimp out without even trying it. Not when Dwight was jumping out of his pants to raft and Molly offered the trip as nonchalantly as she would a Sunday drive.
“Cool. Let me know.”
“Oh my God,” Tessa breathed, her eyes darting away from the front door.
“What?” Molly asked, following her line of sight. “Shit. What’s she doing here?”
I turned and saw a voluptuous brunette making her way through the crowd. By the angry look on Molly’s face, I’d guess this was the infamous Kathleen. She didn’t look as broken up as Tessa was, but then again she’d been the one to end things with a woman she never claimed to love.
“I need to talk to her.” Tessa jerked forward.
“Tess,” Dwight said as Molly grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving.
“No, I need to talk to her. She hasn’t returned my calls.”
Molly lurched with Tessa, but Dwight stopped her with a shake of his head. He took over the escorting duties, probably seeing the anger tightening Molly’s muscles. At least he was smart about it, leading Tessa to the balcony. If she was going to make a scene, better to do it outside alone.
“Those stupid bitches,” Molly growled, her eyes glaring at Joanna, who was walking toward us until she caught Molly’s look and pivoted to talk to someone else. “You got dropped into the middle of some drama.”
“Seems so.” I was used to it. She didn’t know drama until she watched a prison love triangle play out.
“J&B love doing crap like this.”
“Really?” Seemed like J&B were a hazardous combination of egotism and mischief making.
“They find it amusing.”
“They do something like this to you before?”
She scoffed, took a sip of her beer, made the same face I had and forced a swallow. “I’m a favorite victim of theirs.”
“Give me an example,” I pushed because she didn’t seem too upset about it.
An amused snort left her lips. “When Lena first moved to town, J&B told me she’d seen me at work and thought I was attractive. They gave me her number and said she was waiting for me to ask her out. When I called, not only was she not interested but she didn’t even know who I was.”
I whistled softly. “Tundra. Is that their deal?”
“I’ve known them for years and still don’t know the answer to that.” She leaned back against the wall next to me and picked an imaginary piece of lint from dark jeans that fit her well without being too tight. Her lightweight sweater clung to her just enough to show her fit frame. I’d always been the fittest one of my friends. That wouldn’t be holding true here. “Piece of advice?”
My eyes rolled over her, assessing. Did I want to hear this? “Sure.”
“They’re going to be all over you until you give in or push back. They get upset when you choose. Tourists can choose, but someone who lives here can have both or neither. Don’t show preference for one or the other.”
“Seriously?” Now that wasn’t a situation I ran into every day in prison.
“I’ve seen it a few times. It’s a big competition for them.”
“Yeah, that’s not weird.”
She smiled at my sarcastic comment. It transformed her face. Her resting expression looked hard, but her smile brightened her eyes, softened her mouth, and augmented her cheekbones. The tiny silver hoops in her earlobes glinted with the slight movement of her jaw, drawing more attention to her femininity. I wouldn’t go so far as to call her pretty, but she definitely had appeal. Far more so than Kathleen. Too bad Tessa was too wound up to see it yet.
“Did you learn the hard way?” I asked, now fascinated by the behavioral patterns of the local lesbian Lotharios.
“Not me. Thought about it, but it could make a small town even smaller, you know?” Her brown eyes conveyed sincerity. “Not trying to influence you one way or the other, especially if you’re not sticking around. Are you?”
“That’ll be up to Nat.”
“Thought she really wanted you here?” Her interest seemed genuine, which wasn’t something I was used to.
“She has to have the work. I’m not going to be dead weight on her crew.”
“You know her and Viv’s last project was for a reality television personality, right?”
“Some of the guys mentioned that.” And the crazy reality star they had to deal with. It sounded equal parts insane and exciting.
“Probably going to get a lot of referrals once those episodes air.”
I felt my eyebrows rise. “Hope so for Nat’s sake.”
“It will be nice having another outdoorsy type to hang with. Viv’s been a bit busy of late.”
I could bet she’d been busier and what she’d been busier doing. “Vivian seems great. Good for Natalie, too.”
“Natalie is wonderful to her. Sweet lady.”
“You should have seen her when she was a kid.”
“You go back that far?”
I realized that Natalie might not want her history known. She’d never told anyone else on our old crew about her parents kicking her out when she was barely sixteen. “I say kid, but she was a young woman. Kept her head down, did better work than anyone on the crew, and way too sweet for someone working construction. Way too sweet for someone working in a candy shop, really.”
Molly laughed three short bursts of sound that warmed the energy around us. “Anyway, hope you stick around.” She bumped my shoulder and headed toward the balcony.
I wanted to shake my head, seeing her situation for the train wreck I thought it might become. By the look of the conversation Tessa was having with Kathleen, it didn’t matter if Kathleen was done with her, Tessa wasn’t. Poor Molly was in for the uphill climb of her life if she kept pursuing this.
Lena walked down the auditorium’s center aisle toward us. “How’s it going?” She directed her question at me after watching Natalie do the same the night before.
“On track,” I replied, not sure how much Natalie wanted me to say. My old crew chiefs would bite my head off if I got specific on timelines or problems. They liked to use the chance to up their fee or extend the deadline. I hadn’t seen anything like that with Natalie, but then again, we’d only been working on her girlfriend’s house.
Cole, Natalie, and I were on our second night revamping the electrical setup in the high school auditorium. The rest of the crew was back at Vivian’s working to get the house dried-in. Given a choice, I’d much rather be here than hanging off a ladder affixing thousands of cedar shingles as siding.
“I brought dinner.” Lena set the bags on the stage.
“You didn’t have to do that again,” Natalie told her.
“Did Tamiko cook?” Cole shouted down from the rafters where he was hanging a spotlight. He’d asked the same thing last night when Lena walked in with pizza boxes.
Lena beamed, causing Cole to clamber down the steps faster than he’d moved all night. Having tasted her grandmother’s cooking on Sunday night, I knew this food would live up to his enthusiasm. “You’re saving my school budget for the next two years. It’s the least I can do.”
My brow rose involuntarily at the reminder that Natalie was donating the labor for this job. It didn’t matter that they were friends and Lena was the principal here. The money she could make from a government contract like this could help meet all her revenue goals for the quarter. Natalie explained that Lena was one of the people who encouraged the start of her company. That and Glory’s continued help with the financial side of her business was enough payment for her. Three weeks on the job and I was still amazed at the woman Natalie had become.