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look, then shoved a thick manila envelope across the table.
    Bruce barely caught it before it hit the ground.
    “Hard copy and I e-mailed you the file.”
    He studied the three women. He’d bet money that’s why they were all three still here. They had helped her. Anger welled up inside him. He tamped it down. What did it matter to him if they wanted to help her? She’d just better start carrying her weight, and soon.
    He took the folder, glanced inside. It was thorough, to judge by the first few pages. “Just lock up when you’re done.” God, he sounded like a condescending jackass. “I mean . . .”
    “We know what you mean, and we’ll be sure to check everything before we leave.” Meri smiled at him. “Especially our naughty-and-nice list.” She was joking but she was letting him know he had stepped over the line. “Twice.”
    Brue nodded. He deserved that. He really needed to get a grip. Maybe he should make a doctor’s appointment.
    He didn’t need tranquilizers, he needed more time, more money . . . he needed to lighten up and give his business plan more time or go back to working in a firm and quit being an ass to his colleagues because he was screwing up.
    He hid a yawn behind his fist; his eyes were gritty from tile dust and lack of sleep.
    “Must have been some party.” Geordie smiled back at him, not friendly but a combination of sarcasm, anger, and challenge.
    He didn’t have the energy or the patience to play that game. “Good night.” He retreated into the hallway.
    “W HEW,” C ARLYN SAID. “That boy needs some smacking.” She grinned. “And I wouldn’t mind doing it, except he’s just too damn intense for me.”
    “And I’ve got a boyfriend,” Meri said. “Soon to be fiancé. Besides it doesn’t really work to get involved with your coworkers.”
    They both looked at Geordie.
    Geordie shook her head, “You don’t have to warn me. He’s good-looking, but I’m with Carlyn, way too uptight. Plus he doesn’t like me.”
    “Huh,” Carlyn said. “Maybe he just needs some love.”
    Meri pushed her chair back. “I don’t know about Bruce, but I know I do. Can you guys close up? I’ve got to go home and change so I can do-wah-diddy all night.”
    Carlyn sighed. “I guess I’ll go home and wash my hair.”
    Meri laughed. “Don’t let her fool you. She’s got a stable of . . .”
    “Don’t say it. Commitment-phobic hunks.”
    “I was just going to say hunks. But yeah, she really knows how to pick them.”
    Carlyn rolled her eyes and began cleaning up the pizza leftovers.
    Meri dumped their paper plates in a garbage bag. “So I’ll be busy tomorrow , but Sunday is supposed to be nice. Peter’s working on a brief, and I’m going out to see Gran. Might be our last beach day. Want to come?”
    “I’m in,” Carlyn said.
    “How about you, Geordie? If you’re free, you’re welcome to come. My grandmother lives across the bridge on a farm near Little Compton. It’s right on the ocean. Private beach. Good food. And she loves company.”
    It sounded great but were they just being polite? Should she stay home and work? Brood? Worry?
    “You can ride out with me,” Carlyn said. “You could get some great shots of the farm and the bay.”
    “Well . . . okay . . . thanks.”
    They carried the trash and recycling back to the kitchen. Meri left but Carlyn and Geordie doubled-checked windows and doors, and turned off all the lights before closing up the house for the weekend.
    “When things start moving we’ll be working all the time, even on Sundays whenever Doug’s wife will let him. Sometimes without him. But you won’t need to be on-site all the time. You’ll have time for your other work.”
    Alarmed, Geordie blurted. “I don’t have other work.”
    “I mean your other photos. You know they’re very good. They should be in a gallery. Meri thinks so, too, and she knows her stuff.”
    Geordie gave her a weak smile. That’s how this whole thing