Chapter 6: Ten Thousand on the Napkin

On Tuesday, Trenton asked me to dinner with his friends.

"They want to apologize in person," he said on the phone. "The guys who were on the call. They feel awful."

"Sure," I said. "Where?"

It was a steakhouse downtown with leather booths and a waiter in a long white apron.

Trenton waited for me by the host stand with his hand out.

"You came," he said, and sounded surprised.

"I said I would."

He kissed my cheek and led me to a round table at the back.

Eight people were sitting there.

I knew every one of them.

Four of the men had been at our engagement party.

Two were wives and one was a girlfriend, and the last was Krista, who stood up and waved with both hands.

Nobody quite met my eyes.

"Corrie," said the man next to Krista. "I'm the idiot who laughed on the call."

"Hi."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," I said, and sat down, and put my napkin in my lap.

The waiter poured water.

Trenton slid his arm along the back of my chair.

"So," Krista said, brightly. "Are we all still friends? Or are you going to throw a steak at somebody?"

Everybody laughed, a little too loudly.

I laughed too.

"Not tonight," I said. "I'm saving it for Saturday."

That got a bigger laugh.

A man across from me, who had been staring at the bread, looked up with relief.

"God, she's great," he said to Trenton. "She's so cool about it."

"I told you," Trenton said, and squeezed my shoulder.

I turned to the man across from me.

"I heard there was a bet."

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