Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
Eva had seen many strange social events in the course of her career. Engagement parties where no one spoke to each other. Seating arrangement meetings that functioned like hostage negotiations. One rehearsal dinner that had ended in a screaming match over flower choices.
This particular scene—six women sitting around a low table while Hannah conducted what appeared to be a competitive quiz about the bride—was certainly approaching the upper end of the spectrum.
Eva watched quietly, hands folded around her tea.
Her instinct in unfamiliar situations was always the same: Observe first. Assess the structure of the room.
Determine the pressure points. It was a habit she had developed very young.
From years of walking into rooms where adults were unpredictable, from learning to read the weather of their moods before speaking.
Compared to that, the group dynamics here were not difficult to decipher.
Hannah ran the room. Loud, cheerful, relentless. She filled the silence before it could become awkward, a bossy social supervisor.
Kelly was her ideal audience. She laughed easily, nodded enthusiastically, and appeared utterly satisfied with Hannah’s management of the event.
Aria was a wildcard, but a benign one. Enthusiastic, eccentric, happily engaged in whatever spectacle was unfolding.
Mary…
Eva’s eyes flicked briefly toward her.
Mary had quietly acquired another glass of champagne and was now listening with eyes that were starting to cross. Eva thought something slightly unpredictable might eventually emerge there.
And then there was Maddy.
Every time Hannah asked a question, Maddy’s shoulders lifted slightly, as if she were bracing. It reminded Eva of someone stepping carefully across thin ice. Eva was beginning to suspect that it wasn’t weakness, that it was, in fact, carefulness.
Eva respected careful people. She understood them better than anyone might have realised.
Hannah was still looking at her cards. ‘Okay!’ she said. ‘Here’s a good one: what is something about Maddy that most people don’t know?’
Okay, the question did need to be asked now. Did this woman secretly hate Maddy?
‘Aria!’ Hannah said, pointing at her.
Aria adjusted her glasses. ‘Hmm,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘I suspect Maddy secretly reads extremely trashy romance novels.’
Maddy blinked.
‘Do you?’ Mary asked curiously.
‘No,’ Maddy said. It didn’t look like a lie.
‘You should,’ Aria said firmly. ‘They’re very educational. I learned this one sex position that’s been a godsend with my bad hip.’
Maddy blinked and forced a smile onto her face. ‘Oh?’
Hannah waved her card again. ‘Mary!’
Mary tilted her head slowly.
‘She’s very observant,’ she said quietly.
Maddy chuckled, surprised. ‘Yeah?’
‘No, you are. You noticed that thing with the archivist.’
Maddy sat a bit straighter. Eva also noticed Aria tense up.
Maddy placed a hand on Mary’s arm and gripped her slightly. ‘Yes, right.’ She turned to the room. ‘There’s a rule that you can’t flush the hand paper in the toilet, and I caught him doing it once. It was costing us loads in plumber visits. He’d missed the sign.’
Aria visibly relaxed. Mary looked confused but seemed to understand that she had been given the shut-the-fuck-up signal and did as she was told.
‘Maybe you need a coffee?’ Maddy suggested.
Mary nodded agreeably. ‘Maybe.’ She chugged her drink.
Eva was going to need the backstory on that one later.
Eva couldn’t tell if Hannah had picked up on the near gaffe, but she was ploughing on regardless. ‘Eva’s turn.’
‘She’s braver than she thinks she is,’ Eva said.
Maddy looked up sharply. ‘Brave?’
Eva nodded once.
‘Social situations clearly make her uncomfortable,’ she said calmly. ‘But she attends them anyway. That’s harder than it looks.’
It was a simple observation, but Eva could see the effect immediately. Maddy’s ears turned pink.
Kelly looked slightly confused.
Hannah looked at Maddy with new eyes. ‘Bride, is that true?’
Maddy shrugged. ‘I suppose so.’
‘I guess you win again, Eva!’ Hannah said, faking a chuckle. ‘Probably time to call it. Eva wins!’
‘What do I win?’ Eva asked.
Hannah frowned. ‘Nothing.’
‘Great,’ Eva smiled.
Hannah checked her watch. ‘We’re getting off schedule. Next, we need to…’
But Eva had stopped listening. Because Maddy had glanced sideways at her. ‘You’re exposing me.’
‘Sorry,’ Eva said. But she wasn’t.
‘No, it wasn’t a criticism. I just don’t understand…’
‘What?’
‘Why I like it,’ Maddy said, looking at Eva. The look lasted less than a second, but it carried something that unsettled Eva more than she cared to admit.
Mary set her empty glass down carefully. ‘That game,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘would be much more interesting if it involved a strip element.’
‘OK, I think we all need to get some food in us quickly,’ Hannah said. ‘Waiter!’