Chapter 17
If there was one thing Willow hated more than tech glitches, it was parties.
She’d been sitting in her car with the engine off for the past five minutes, hands clenched around the steering wheel.
The street was lined with cars, so she’d had to park half a block away from Barb’s house. At least that meant her colleagues wouldn’t see her sitting in the dark, trying to talk herself into going in.
She wished she could have stayed home and curled up with a book and a mug of hot chocolate. But not showing up hadn’t been an option.
While there would be an official, company-organized farewell party at work on her actual last day, Barb had also wanted a more personal, relaxed celebration, so she had invited over the colleagues she was friendly with.
After everything Barb had done for her, teaching her all the tricks, processes, and office politics at Kudos, attending her retirement party was the least Willow could do.
Sighing, Willow grabbed her gift—a scratch-off world map for Barb’s cruise, shoved the door open, got out, and locked her car.
Every house on the block seemed dark except for Barb’s. Knowing Barb, she had invited all her neighbors to the party too—which meant more strangers Willow would be forced to interact with.
Willow ducked her head and tugged up the collar of her coat against the drizzle as she hurried toward Barb’s craftsman-style home.
The driveway was crowded with cars. A warm glow spilled from the house onto the wide front porch, and a string of fairy lights curled around the railing.
Silhouettes moved past the curtained windows, and a burst of laughter drifted through the front door as Willow climbed the steps.
The party already seemed to be in full swing. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be the last one to arrive, drawing attention to herself.
Willow paused in front of the door to brace herself.
Before she could bring herself to knock, the door swung open, and Barb stood there, beaming. “Willow! I’m so glad you could make it! Come on in.”
Willow let herself be ushered inside, shrugged out of her wet coat, and took off her shoes, adding them to the footwear already lining the hallway. “Uh, here. I brought you something.” She held out the gift-wrapped cardboard tube that held the scratch-off map.
Barb’s smile grew even wider. “Ooh! That’s so thoughtful of you!”
“It’s just something small,” Willow said. “For your travels once you retire.”
“Thank you. I’ll open it once everyone is here.” Barb gave her a warm, one-armed hug, making Willow stiffen as she braced for a jolt of electricity.
Thankfully, there wasn’t one. Maybe the damp air outside was working in her favor, or it was the fact that Barb’s house had hardwood floors instead of carpet. At least she wouldn’t be zapping half of the guests.
Barb released her, lightly gripped her elbow, and led her farther inside. “Come meet my husband and our brood.”
The hum of conversation, the clinking of glasses, and the scent of freshly baked rolls drifted over as they entered the living room. A big banner reading Happy retirement stretched above the couch. Clusters of helium-filled balloons in gold and silver floated against the ceiling.
A tall man with steel-gray hair and brows like furry caterpillars set aside his glass and came over.
Barb slipped her arm through his and leaned in to him with a fond smile. “This is my husband, George.” She gestured to a woman who looked like a younger version of her. “And this is our youngest, Erin. She and her brother don’t live at home anymore, but they flew in just for the party.”
“What can I say?” Erin chuckled. “I could never resist free food.”
Willow shook their hands, relieved when she didn’t zap them either.
“I heard a lot about you from Barb,” George said. “Don’t worry—all good things. You made it much easier on Barb to retire, knowing Kudos will be in good hands.”
Aww, had Barb really said that? She flicked her gaze at Barb, who smiled and nodded.
“I know you’ll keep the Operations crew in line and keep the office from descending into chaos,” Barb said.
Before Willow could think of how to respond, a man in his mid-thirties walked up to them, a laptop tucked under one arm. “Can anyone help me with the HDMI connection? I can’t get Mom’s slideshow to play on the TV.”
“Here comes my other offspring, Daniel,” Barb said.
“Hi.” He switched the laptop to the other arm to shake Willow’s hand. “You must be the miracle-working Willow. You wouldn’t happen to know how to set this up by any chance?”
Barb’s eyes widened. “No! Not Willow. Ask someone else. Anyone else.”
A flush heated Willow’s chilled cheeks.
Daniel gave his mother a puzzled look.
“I’ve never met anyone who has such bad luck with tech,” Barb explained.
“But that might be a blessing in disguise. Unlucky with gadgets, lucky in love.” She winked at Willow and pressed a glass of champagne into her hand.
“Here. You go mingle. I’ll help my son with the slideshow before he throws the laptop out the window. ”
Willow gripped the stem of her glass. Unlucky with gadgets, lucky in love?
Yeah, right. She didn’t believe it for a second but forced a small smile.
At least Barb had given her an excuse to walk away instead of leaving her behind to make awkward small talk with her husband and daughter.
She gave them a friendly nod and stepped past them farther into the living room.
Clusters of her co-workers gathered everywhere, most of them near the buffet, sampling the appetizers. She only recognized about half of them. Either Barb had also invited a few people from other departments, or some of them were her friends or neighbors.
Celeste stood by the window, talking to their supply chain analyst and the logistics coordinator. In a tailored blazer and sleek slacks, she stood out from the rest of the guests, who had clearly dressed for comfort. She radiated the same commanding presence as she did at work.
When Celeste looked up from her conversation, Willow quickly turned away so she wouldn’t be expected to join them. She had no idea what to say to her boss outside of the office.
Willow took a sip of champagne and scanned the room in search of a quiet corner.
Her gaze froze on someone across the room. Scottie. Her pulse gave a jolt, and she nearly choked on her champagne. She hadn’t known Barb had invited her.
Clearly, Scottie didn’t share Willow’s hatred of parties. In dark-blue jeans and an emerald-green sweater that set off her blonde hair, she looked relaxed and comfortable. She was gesturing animatedly while chatting with two Kudos employees whose names Willow had forgotten.
Their laughter drifted over.
Then Scottie looked up and seemed to catch sight of her. She stopped mid-sentence, and a welcoming smile curved up her lips. “Hey,” she mouthed across the room.
Willow hesitated. Should she go over and say hi? It would be better than making small talk with strangers, right?
Before she could decide, Scottie excused herself and crossed the room toward her.
“Hi,” Willow said. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” Ugh. Not exactly a great conversation starter.
“Barb insisted. You know how she is—saying no was not an option.” Scottie tilted her head. A line formed between her eyebrows as she studied Willow. “You don’t exactly look thrilled to see me.”
“Oh, no, no, it’s not you.”
Willow’s answer made both of them wince. Why did she keep saying that to Scottie?
“It’s…this,” she quickly added and gestured at the room full of people. “Parties aren’t my strong suit. I’m more of a hiding-in-the-corner person.”
The line on Scottie’s forehead smoothed out as she grinned. “Ah. Let me know if you want me to run interference.”
Willow didn’t like being a damsel in distress who had to be rescued. Her weird effect on tech put her in that position at work too often already.
But Scottie didn’t look at her with pity. Her tone had been completely neutral, as if Willow’s dislike for parties was as normal as her own enjoyment of them. She’d merely put the offer out there, without any pressure.
“Maybe you could hang around for a few minutes,” Willow heard herself say. What the hell…? She stared at the glass of champagne in her hand. Was it already affecting her after barely two sips? “I mean, just so people don’t see me standing here by myself and come over to rescue me.”
“Right.” Scottie’s smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. “Just pretend to hang on my every word so people don’t pull you into endless small talk.”
Willow nodded. “Good plan. I’m not a great actress, but I’ll do my best to make it believable.”
~ ~ ~
It didn’t take long for Willow to realize she didn’t have to do any acting. Her laughter and the easy flow of their conversation wasn’t a performance at all. That didn’t really surprise her, but she hadn’t thought Scottie would be able to make her feel this at ease in a room full of strangers.
Scottie effortlessly entertained her with a story about an employee from the marketing department who’d submitted a ticket regarding a frozen laptop.
“I told him to try to reboot it, but he said that wouldn’t help. Turns out the laptop was literally frozen—like encased in a thin sheet of ice from condensation.”
Willow laughed. “What?”
“Yep. He had left it in his car all weekend, thinking, ‘This is Portland; it won’t get that cold.’ But that weekend, a rare cold snap hit us—and voilà, frozen laptop.”
“Oh my God.” Even Willow had never managed something like that. “Did the laptop survive?”
“By some miracle, it did,” Scottie replied. “But I had to thaw it out before I could work on fixing it.”
Two of their colleagues wandered over, drawn in by Scottie’s dramatic gestures and their laughter.