Chapter 5 Things got a bit easier after our conversation on the deck. Enough so that I didn’t feel like I had to hide in the downtime anymore. A couple of evenings later, I wandered into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, with the intent to take it outside onto the deck with my e-reader and enjoy the sunset. But I did a double take at the group sitting around the table. We’d finished a little bit earlier than normal, so it was barely nine o’clock. They were all laughing and happy, and I couldn’t help a small smile as I crossed to the fridge. Lena caught sight of me just as I pulled open the fridge door, and she threw out a hand in my direction, wiggling her fingers and pitching her voice high. “Come play with us!” I snorted out a laugh and lost my grip on the door, so it swung shut