A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)(61)

“Hi,” she said, not sure what was going on. All the women were holding grocery bags. Was this a shopping intervention?

“We heard,” Heidi said. “About what happened.”

“This is not the time to be delicate,” Charlie said. “We know Dante is a complete jackass and we’re sorry.” She held up a bottle of vodka in one hand and Baileys mint chocolate liqueur in the other. “We’re here to help.”

Evie stepped back, mostly because her porch was small and she couldn’t figure out how to tell them all to go away.

“I’m Pia,” a pretty brunette said. “We’ve met, but you probably don’t remember.”

“I brought my own blender,” Jo, from Jo’s Bar, told her, holding up a very professional-looking machine. “And ice. I didn’t know if you had an icemaker.”

“Oh, honey,” her mother said and pulled her close. “I’m so sorry about Dante.”

The women trooped into her living room which, fortunately, was clean. One of the triplets came out holding Alexander.

“I’m Dakota and he’s adorable.”

“Thanks. I just adopted him last Saturday.”

Dakota nodded. “Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll warn everyone.”

Still confused, Evie followed her into the living room.

“We have a new-to-the-family cat here, ladies,” Dakota said, patting Alexander. “Let’s try to keep it down.”

Evie still wasn’t sure what “it” was, although it obviously involved total strangers taking over her house. Jo had already set up her blender and was pouring generous amounts of liquor in with ice. Someone had set out martini glasses and little candy canes.

Charlie was putting out bowls of what looked like dip and guacamole. There were regular chips, tortilla chips, crackers and spreads, plates of cookies, brownies and the largest box of fudge she’d ever seen.

“I’m doing a nonalcoholic cranberry sparkler as soon as I get these peppermint martinis done,” Jo called. “For Annabelle and Nevada.”

“For me, too,” Heidi said. “I ate way too much last night and my tummy’s been unhappy all day.”

Evie met her sister-in-law’s gaze but didn’t say a word. Heidi’s problem had nothing to do with the volume of food she’d eaten and everything to do with being pregnant. But Evie was going to keep her secret.

Charlie walked up to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “Gideon came to me this morning,” she said. “I made a few calls and here we are. We would have come sooner, but you had your rehearsal and we didn’t want to get in the way.”

“I don’t understand,” Evie told her.

“It’s a Fool’s Gold thing. We come, we show support, we get drunk and eat crap. You cry.”

“In front of everyone?”

“Trust me, you’ll feel better.”

“Did you go through this?”

“No. I ran because I wasn’t brave enough to face my friends. But you’re tougher than me.”

“How can you say that?” Charlie was the most impressive person Evie knew.

Charlie stared at her. “Evie, look at yourself. You’ve been on your own since you were seventeen, with no support. You practically raised yourself and you turned out great. Two months into a new job, you get the whole Dance of the Winter King dumped on you and you manage to pull it all together. Who else could do that?”

It was a question she didn’t know how to answer. Honestly, she’d never thought of herself as special. In her mind, she’d actually screwed up a lot. She wasn’t talented enough to stay in Juilliard and she’d never been able to settle on a job she loved. Until now.

“I’m sorry about Dante,” Charlie told her. “For what it’s worth, I think he’s going to regret losing you for the rest of his life.”

“I really hope so.”

Charlie grinned. “That’s my girl.”

Evie was led into the living room and settled in the middle of the sofa. All the other women gathered around. Her mom sat next to her. Jo handed out the peppermint martinis, which turned out to be delicious and went down far too easily.

Evie sipped, aware that everyone was watching her.

“I’ll start,” a redhead said. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, Alexander draped over one thigh. “I’m Liz, by the way. Married to Ethan.” She pointed at the triplets. “He’s their brother.”

Nevada groaned. “I suppose that makes what he did our fault?”

Liz laughed. “Technically, it does.”

“We’re sorry,” Montana told her.

“I accept your apology.” Liz turned back to Evie. “Ethan and I had a past, which made things complicated.”

“And a kid,” Charlie said.

“Yes. A son that Ethan didn’t know about. When things got ugly, I didn’t know what to do. I was trapped here, alone. But everyone came through for me.”

“Me, too,” Heidi said. “When Rafe was being stupid, my friends had buttons printed up. Team Heidi and Team Rafe.” She smiled smugly. “There were a lot more Team Heidi buttons around town.”

Charlie shrugged. “I can’t bond. I ran.”