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a good friend and nothing closer.
    â€œOkay.” I turned to look at Justin. “I hope you’ll join us too.”
    â€œSure.” He caught my eyes with his. Oh, yeah. Having a drink or two with him, even with the others around, was bound to be fun.
    â€œI hope I’m also invited.” I pivoted toward the sound of the familiar voice to my right. Carolyn Innes, owner of the Buttons of Fortune shop and my closest new female friend in Destiny, stood there. I’d glimpsed her in the audience before when she’d said hi to Martha, then sat down with a few other shop owners, but I hadn’t seen her when my talk was over.
    â€œAbsolutely,” I said, without bothering to check with the others around us, who included the mayor and Stuart Chanick. “I hope at least some of you will join Pluckie and me on the outside patio.”
    Nearly everyone in this impromptu party agreed except for Frank. If he chose to go inside while this group remained with me, maybe that would be for the best.
    I saw Millie wheeling Martha toward the exit door and told them about the upcoming festivity. “I’d be glad to take you there, Martha,” Millie said. “But I won’t be able to stay.”
    I’d learned before that although Millie looked like a teenager, she was a little older—emphasis on a little. She was twenty, so she still was too young to frequent bars. Her pretty face was youthful, her dark brown hair was in a soft, straight style, and I could have hugged her for wearing a red Lucky Dog T-shirt here.
    â€œNo, thanks,” Martha said. “I’m a little tired and just want to go home.” She seemed in some ways the opposite of Millie, with silver hair and lines crinkling her aging face. But she’d been the first person I’d met in Destiny, and I remained impressed with her keep-on-going attitude despite her health issues. “I’ll take a rain check if you ever do it again after one of your talks, Rory.”
    â€œAbsolutely,” I said. I watched as Millie wheeled her out the door, then joined some of my fellow partiers as they, too, left the theater.
    Although the Clinking Glass was several blocks down Destiny Boulevard, nothing was terribly far away in this compact city’s downtown. The group seemed eager to get to our destination, so we quickly passed Millie and Martha. Luckily, we could see under the glow emanating from the modern streetlights designed to resemble lanterns from the Gold Rush Era so that most of us could avoid sidewalk cracks.
    As usual, those sidewalks were filled with tourists, but we still managed to reach the Clinking Glass fairly quickly. The tavern was crowded but most people congregated in the dark bar area inside. The outdoor patio was relatively empty and that’s where I headed with Pluckie. Everyone else joined us, even Frank. As I’d noticed when here before, the patio was a lot quieter than the rest of the place, too, which could encourage conversations.
    I chose a seat near the railing at the patio’s edge. The tables were small and round and made of wood. I imagined that Lou would be glad. It hadn’t escaped my notice that our public affairs director loved to knock on wood for any reason at all.
    He took a seat at a table next to mine. Stuart and Bevin joined him, and, somewhat to my surprise, so did Gemma.
    Not that I was lonesome. Justin, who’d joined Pluckie and me for the walk here, sat down at our table too. So did Carolyn.
    Detective Alice Numa had gone the other direction after we’d gotten the invitation to party from Mayor Bevin before leaving the Break-a-Leg Theater. I assumed that, since all in this group was now under control, she didn’t feel she needed to hang out with us. I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better, I supposed, but I hadn’t liked her attitude before when she’d been interrogating everyone. Remaining distant acquaintances, too, was fine with