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agree. They’ll be wonderful together,” Helena added, ignoring Tate as he quietly choked on his drink.
    Molly kicked her under the table.
    “Ouch.” Helena gave her a look, and Molly stared her down, hoping Helena got the very real threat of bodily harm being sent telepathically.
    “Are you okay?” Ryan asked.
    “I’m fine. Just bit my tongue.” Then Helena smiled the fakest smile ever as she turned to Tate. “Can we expect exciting and fun new things from you two?”
    Molly wanted to kick her again, but her foot only found air where Helena’s legs used to be.
    “Probably not,” Tate said. “It’s a little late in the process to make too many changes. But speaking of funand exciting things, did I hear you say that you and Ryan had set a wedding date?”
    It was Helena’s turn to choke as Ryan quickly looked at his empty plate as if he’d never seen it before. Ms. Louise perked up at that question, saying, “How wonderful!” as a huge smile spread across her face. Had she been closer, Molly would have given Tate a high five for turning the tables like that. She loved Helena, but that was completely deserved.
    Instead, a glance at Helena’s face had her standing. “I’ll clear some of these plates away.” She wanted to get out of the line of fire—just in case.
    “I’ll help,” Tate added, jumping up and following her into the kitchen, leaving a hushed yet fervent conversation behind.
    While she understood Tate’s need to get out of there, she was a little worried about being alone with him in the kitchen. What if he wanted to talk about it now? She needed time to prepare herself, to figure out what the hell she was going to say before she had that conversation. She could only hope Tate would choose to pretend the whole thing had never even happened. That would be grand.
    “Helena will kill you for that,” she said, stacking dishes in the sink.
    “Probably. But she deserved it.” Tate leaned against the kitchen table and crossed his arms over his chest. “Look, Molly, about earlier—”
    Damn. She grabbed at the first available topic to sidetrack him. “I wanted to talk to you about Nigel.”
    Tate took the change in topic in stride. “Is he okay?”
    “Yeah, um . . .” Now she had to come up with a question. “I think he’s starting to get a little chubby.”
    “His weight was fine at his last visit, right? Did I tell you he was getting into the danger zone?”
    “No, but . . .”
    “Pet him and see if you can feel his ribs. If you can’t, he’s overweight, and you’ll need to put him on a diet. When’s he due to come in again?”
    “A couple of months.” Tate’s efficient answers suddenly had her wondering whether she’d felt Nigel’s ribs recently or not.
    “Unless you think he’s really packing on the pounds, it’s probably not worth a special trip to see me. If it’s just a little flab, cut back a little on the amount of food you’re giving him and try to get him some more exercise. If you’re worried, though, I’d be happy to check him out.”
    “I don’t think it’s that urgent.” But now she was a little worried.
    He nodded. “Good. So . . .”
    She was searching for another topic to keep him from going back to the one she wanted to avoid when she was saved by Helena, hands full of dishes, sliding the door between the kitchen and the dining room open with her elbow. Helena shot Tate a dirty look. “You’re dead meat,” she threatened, sliding her load onto the counter. “You did that on purpose.”
    “Yeah, I did,” he said, completely unrepentant. “It serves you right.”
    “What did I do?” Helena protested, all innocence.
    “Embarrassing me and Molly like that?”
    “Only three people at the table had any idea what I was teasing about, but now you’ve gotten Grannie’s hopes up about a wedding that’s not happening anytime soon. It crushed her when I told her you were just kidding. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
    “ Me?