Part 4 (1/2)

”Hey, shove over, will you?”

Ca.s.s nodded and slid deeper into the booth as Sarah waved her girlfriend Pam onto the padded bench then squeezed in next to her. Ca.s.s s.h.i.+fted over, careful not to jar Pam's arm where it rested in its sling. Across from them, Amy, Kim and Ellie crowded into the booth, leaving Jan to pull a chair up to the end of the table, waving over the waitress as she did so.

”Anyone mind if I order for us?”

A chorus of no's followed and Jan ordered drinks for everyone with an aplomb Ca.s.s envied. She glanced around the booth, a bit surprised to find herself crowded into a strange restaurant with newfound friends. When Amy had pulled her out of the gym, she had expected it would be just the two of them touring the city. To her surprise several of the women from the eight had joined them, and Ca.s.s found herself part of an excited, chattering group of women. s.h.i.+fting again to give more room to the others, she considered again how she fit with the group. She'd never been the one in the booth with a gang, she'd always either been the waitress or the person walking past the window. On the outside looking in. Being a part of the group inside was a new thing. A good thing.

”So,” said Jan after the waitress left them. ”What's next for us?”

”Amy's in charge.” Kim slid the bowl of fried noodles closer and began to munch.

”Me? Who made me the tour guide?”

”Oh, come on, Ames. You've been in charge of this little party since this morning. So,” she echoed Jan. ”What's next?”

”Don't know. Depends on what Jan's ordered us for food.”

”Oh, you wait and see.” Jan reached down the table and pulled the fried noodles back in front of her. She looked over toward Ca.s.s who'd said nothing yet and was simply watching. ”So, Ca.s.s, what's your story?”

”Story?”

Sarah leaned back in the booth, her arm around Pam as they nestled together. ”Ca.s.s's story is that she's brilliant and is saving our b.u.t.ts.”

”Amen,” echoed Pam with a rueful smile at her partner before turning to nudge Ca.s.s. ”Seriously, Ca.s.s. I'm glad you're here. If I can't row with Sarah, I'm glad it's you.”

Ca.s.s was saved from having to answer by the waitress's return, arms laden with steaming bowls of rice and plates of delicious, colorful foods. Amy and Kim began doling out portions as the others claimed various dishes, leaving Ca.s.s to ponder Pam's words. She'd been nervous about meeting Pam, since she was essentially taking the other woman's place on the team, but each time they'd had a chance to talk, Pam had been nothing but warm and welcoming to her.

As everyone settled down to her food, Ca.s.s took a moment to sort out her answer to Jan's original question. She knew it was bound to come up again.

What was her story, really? Boring, certainly.

With dinner came small cups of sweet-smelling liquid that burned on the first swallow but then became increasingly more appealing. Ca.s.s relaxed and laughed more as dinner continued, joining in the gentle ribbing of Amy and her appet.i.te as plates were pa.s.sed around a second time. It was hard for her to slip out of her usual role of observer and to just let herself relax and be a part of things. The drink, which Jan told them was rice wine, helped. Soon she found herself cracking up at another of Ellie's bad puns and joining in as the others egged Amy on in her quest to try the spiciest dish the restaurant had to offer.

As dinner wound down, the question, as Ca.s.s had known it would, came around again. Kim nudged Ca.s.s's newly refilled cup of rice wine toward her and said, ”Hey, wait, let's get back to the important stuff. Ca.s.s, I think it's your turn. You don't have anyone coming out here for you?”

Ca.s.s, quite comfortably numb by this point, just shrugged. ”Nope.”

”What's the deal with that?”

Shrugging, Ca.s.s worked to keep her voice level as she answered. ”No deal, just...no family, really.”

Amy, perhaps sensing Ca.s.s's discomfort, spoke up. ”It's not like Ca.s.s is the only one with n.o.body coming. It would have cost my brother a ton to get his ticket, and he would have had to leave his girl at home.”

”True,” said Ellie. ”My folks barely managed it.”

”Still,” Jan probed. ”Ca.s.s, n.o.body back home pining?”

Ca.s.s looked closely at Jan, wondering what was behind the question. She studied her, seeing nothing but curiosity in Jan's gaze. Glancing around the table, she could see the others waiting for her answer. Again, she could sense nothing but genuine friendly curiosity. ”Nope. I...well, I guess I've just never, you know. Been in love.”

”Who's talking about love?” Amy slammed her gla.s.s down on the table, slos.h.i.+ng the last of her drink in her enthusiasm. ”We're talkin' wild, hot, monkey-s.e.x.”

The women around the table erupted in laughter, taking the focus off Ca.s.s and she was grateful. Sarah began teasing Amy about her many purported conquests and Ellie and Kim joined in.

s.h.i.+fting uncomfortably, Ca.s.s wished there was a way she could slide out of the booth before they remembered that she hadn't answered. Unfortunately, she was tucked between Pam and the window. She sighed.

Pam nudged Ca.s.s's shoulder. ”Are we making you uncomfortable? We all sort of did this when we made the team, back in San Diego. I think Jan and Ellie...well, they're protective of Laura, and-”

”Laura?” Ca.s.s kept her voice as low as Pam's, glad the others' attention was elsewhere. ”I don't understand. Why would they-”

”Hey! After this let's go check out the Bird's Nest!” Amy pulled out her map and began muttering furiously over it, Ellie and Jan leaning in to help her.

Smiling, Pam leaned back into Sarah's arm and shrugged, answering Ca.s.s's question. ”I don't know. I just know that you're getting the third degree in a more, um, concentrated form than we all got a couple of months ago. Don't worry about it.”

Ca.s.s nodded and reached for the bottle of wine in the middle of the table. She never drank much, but tonight she felt the need.

Chapter Thirteen.

Ca.s.s pushed open the door to the common room a.s.signed to the U.S. team and grandly waved her teammates inside. Laura looked up from her book as the laughing women burst through the doors. Their breathless laughter was apparently contagious and a small half smile crept across Laura's features, and she raised an eyebrow as the team joined her.

Ca.s.s, Amy, Sarah and several others on the team had been sightseeing in the city all afternoon. The goal, according to Amy, had been to ”get as used to the pea-soup air as possible.” Laura had decided not to join them, telling Amy that she preferred to stay and watch some of the other squads practice their runs down the course. Amy had tried hard to persuade Laura to come and had been a bit miffed that she'd declined. Apparently over her anger, the tiny c.o.xswain bounced across the room and leaned over the arm of the chair in which Laura was curled.

”What'cha reading, Laura-dora?”

A second eyebrow joined the first and Laura leaned her head back to focus on Amy's too-close face. ”Laura-dora? What the heck is that?”

”It's your new mickmane, er, nickname.” The women with Amy snickered and settled themselves on the couches and chairs around the conversation pit.

”Ames? Have you been into the sake?”

”Nope.”

”No?”

”Nope-a-rooney.” More snickers followed as Amy slowly slid her small frame over the arm of the chair and into Laura's lap. Laura's eyebrows rose higher and she bit back a smile. Sober Amy was hard to resist, her infectious enthusiasm making her a fun companion. Inebriated Amy was hysterical.

”So...to what do I owe the pleasure of your...non-saked up company?”