With a wink at Harley, “Hope you’re getting your ducks in a row?”

Harley blushed prettily and nodded. Even I could see that Philip and Daisy were very fond of her.

When I glanced at Annie, I felt a disquieting sense that Harley’s friend’s attitude had changed slightly, and her eyes had narrowed into pinpricks as she looked alternately at her mom and dad and then at Harley. It was just a moment, but it had revealed much, and she’d covered it up quickly. She smiled at Thad, who had reached over to her, past my shoulders, to rub her shoulders affectionately.

As they turned to leave, Philip suddenly turned to look my way, and asked solicitously, “By the way, are you with Thacker Sampson?” Thacker Sampson had been the law firm that my parents had retained for personal matters. It was a white-shoe law firm that had been used by many of their friends also.

I shook my head. “After all of the estate stuff had been settled, I haven’t really used them for anything.”

“So who are you with now?” he asked.

I bit my lip and scrunched my eyebrows. I realized that I hadn’t really thought about that.

“Not with anyone in particular right now,” I answered.

He smiled broadly, and leaned his head Harley’s way, “Well, you couldn’t do better than this crackerjack lawyer over here. She can argue with the sun to give up its rays, I think.”

Harley had opened her mouth to protest but he interrupted her, “Just speaking the truth, Ms. Barton-Ash.”

“He is, dear,” Daisy added, smiling at Harley. After a last squeeze of Annie’s shoulder, and a look at Harley and then at me, she hustled Philip away from the table towards their friends who were patiently waiting by the door.

Soon after, people around the table began to resume various conversations, and the sound level around us began to rise again. Thad had signaled for the check from the maître d’, but, as they talked loudly next to me, it sounded like Philip had taken care of the table’s bill also.

“What’s the damage Thad?” Michael asked.

“Philip took care of it,” Thad answered with a shrug.

“Wha-a-a-t?” almost everyone around the table exclaimed, and looked at Annie. But she wasn’t really paying attention, as she continued to look Harley’s way, who had transferred to another part of the table to sit next to a group of friends there who hadn’t seemed to have been part of the general flow of conversation around the table.