"You're here!" Anastasia sang out when she opened the door. "I'm so excited to see my jacket!"

"Well, here it is," Clementine responded with a laugh as she handed over the bag.

Anastasia quickly lifted it out. "Ooh, it's gorgeous," she said, holding it against herself. "Look at the crocheted detailing on the collar, wow." She turned to Clementine. "I love it. Thanks so much, just let me go get my check book."

"No, really, I don't want you to pay," Clementine objected, feeling herself beginning to blush.

"Please!" Anastasia responded, turning and heading down the hall. "I insist. It's completely unique, and must've taken hours."

"But I made it with a jacket you gave me," Clementine protested weakly.

Next to her, Johnny was smiling, as was Hy.

"Come through to here, guys," Anastasia called. "We're all in the family room."

The threesome followed the sound of her voice to a big, sunken room with a lot of eclectic artwork on the walls and some very vibrant area rugs.

"I'm thinking 500?" Anastasia was saying as she clicked her pen. "Yeah?"

"500 what?" Clementine asked unthinkingly.

"Dollars. For the jacket," Anastasia responded. "Or should it be more? Maybe a little more—"

"Oh my god no!" Clementine couldn't keep her voice down. "Absolutely not."

"500 it is, then," Anastasia announced with a smile. She quickly filled out the check and tore it out, handing it to Clem with a flourish. "And a bargain for me it is, too."

Clementine could only shake her head, speechless. She tucked the check away in her purse, resisting the urge to look at it.

"You know what? I'm just going to wear it now," Anastasia announced, slipping her arms through the sleeves. "Look at that, it fits perfectly!" She turned to Clem with a pleased smile. "I love it, honestly."

"Wow, Ana, that's gorgeous," said a young woman who was sitting on the sofa. She had tons of curly blond hair and was wearing a dress with lots of complicated beadwork on it.

"Thanks, Bea, all the credit goes to Clementine, here, she's the designer." Anastasia gestured toward Clem where she stood next to John.

"Oh, here, let me introduce everyone," she continued. "Bea, Andrew and Jass, meet Clem, Hy and John, though I'm sure you know who John and Hy are already. Clementine is Hyacinth's twin sister."

"And I'm just a student, not a designer," Clementine added, waving to the three young people.

Bea was stunning, with her hair and smile. Andrew was a tall, friendly looking guy with deep dimples that popped when he smiled, and Jass, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, looked like an extra from a Hollywood western.

"Please, don't sell yourself short," Bea answered, gesturing toward Anastasia, who did really look amazing in the jacket. "Could you do something similar if I gave you a jacket?" She looked at Clementine inquiringly.

"Of course she could," Hy interjected. "She's always doing fun things to her clothes to make them different, she could easily whip up something for you."

Clem stared at her sister, speechless.

Hyacinth merely smiled smugly.

Next to her, Johnny, too, was smiling hugely at her. "Clem draws as well, she's incredibly creative and talented."

Clementine wanted to melt into the floor.

"We'll see her skills later, then," Anastasia replied with a smile, gesturing toward a huge whiteboard on lockable rolling wheels. "We'll be playing Pictionary."

Hyacinth clapped her hands. "Wonderful, I love Pictionary."

"A girl after my own heart," Jass answered with a grin. "You were right, Ana, this is going to be a fun evening."

"Let's first get everyone sorted out, drinks-wise," Anastasia said, gesturing toward the bar. "Help yourself, and ask if you don't see something."

John poured three glasses of wine and handed two to the O'Dell sisters.

Clementine was struck afresh by how handsome he was, how smooth. He leaned casually against the kitchen island, sipping his wine, laughing at something Jass had said. This made his dimple pop, and he threw his head back to really laugh, making his curls bounce.

Wow.

In spite of herself, Clementine smiled.

She glanced at her sister, and her smile faded. She recognized the look on Hy's face as one of pure adoration as she, too, stared at John. Hy's lips were slightly parted and she was smiling, much as Clem had been moments before, eyes soft and glowing.

Great.

Hy turned and looked at Clem, her smile growing.

You caught me looking, I guess.

I guess I did, Clem smiled back.

"So, let's get this games night going," Anastasia suggested, rubbing her hands together. "How about boys against girls? That's always fun."

"Sounds fine to me," Bea responded. "I love beating the pants off this one." She nudged Andrew, and Clementine realized that they must be a couple.

"Hey, you rarely beat the pants off me," Andrew responded, pretending to be offended. "In fact, I'd say the opposite is true."

"Ha!" Bea answered pertly, tossing her curls. "We'll play a couple games, and we'll see, I guess."

They settled on Trivial Pursuit for their first game, and Bea was right, the girls pretty much left the guys in the dust.

"This isn't really fair, if you think about it," Johnny complained at one point. "There are four of you, whilst there are only three of us, and this game is seriously skewed in favor of American culture, besides. I'm English, I don't know a lot of this stuff."

"Boo fucking hoo," Anastasia answered loftily. "That sounds like sour grapes to me. Now, please read us a question. Geography, if I'm not mistaken."

And the question was about Northern Ireland, which sort of negated Johnny's earlier complaint.

When Clementine heard the question, she looked at John and shook her head, smiling softly.

John smiled back at her sheepishly, taking a sip of his drink.

Bea saw them and said, "Hey, none of that, now, no romantic telepathic stuff allowed." She turned to Clementine. "You wouldn't be trying to torpedo your own team would you? Just because he's your dreamy significant other and all that?"

"No!" Hyacinth's voice cut through the general merriment. "John and Clemmy aren't a couple, I mean, that's all," she finished, a little embarrassed at how loud her voice had been. She took a swallow of her own drink to cover her embarrassment.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I thought, I really thought Ana said—" Bea broke off, embarrassed herself. "Ana, didn't you say—"

"I said no such thing," Anastasia interrupted smoothly, shaking her head and laughing. "You're always misunderstanding, Bea," she said fondly.

It wouldn't have worked if it had just hung there, but but Bea ran with it, nodding and laughing along. "So true, so true," she agreed. "I'm always getting the wrong end of the stick, as you Brits like to say. Sorry I misunderstood."

Clementine wanted to die. Their lie had just been underscored and shouted to the skies. It didn't help that Johnny, too, was laughing, saying, "It's perfectly okay, no harm done, eh, Clementine?"

And Clem had to shake her head and agree that no, no harm had been done.

"So," Jass said, smoothly getting things back on course, "I believe the girls get a wedge for that answer, and another turn, right?"

"Right," Anastasia agreed, nodding and picking up the die.

They missed the next question, which was about politics, and handed the die over to the boys.

Clem sat back, taking another sip of her drink, and caught Anastasia's eye.

Anastasia raised a questioning eyebrow at her while narrowing her eyes a little.

Clem looked back apologetically, shaking her head slightly. She looked over at Hyacinth, who was sitting next to Johnny and smiling prettily at him, leaning into him slightly. Clementine felt not the slightest twinge of jealousy, so sure was she of John's feelings for her; no, all she felt was guilt, guilt and pity for lovely Hyacinth, who had no idea the sky was falling, and wouldn't believe her sister was the cause of it if she did.

There was no way she could tell Hy tonight about her and Johnny, was there?

The girls handily beat the boys at Trivial Pursuit, so they got fresh drinks and moved on to Pictionary, using the huge whiteboard, which made things even more fun and exciting.

Funnily enough, even though both Anastasia and Clementine were artistically inclined and good at drawing, the boys more than held their own. They had a sort of mental simpatico that made up for the girls' superior drawing skills.

Again, Hy managed to be sitting next to Johnny, though Clementine could tell that he was getting a little uncomfortable with all the attention. She watched him cross and recross his long legs, and finally rise to go refill his drink. He'd switched to whiskey, she observed, and when he returned and sat down, he was a little bit farther away from her sister.

John was indeed feeling uncomfortable with all of the attention from Hyacinth. She smiled at him and swished her pretty hair, giving him a whiff of her perfume in the process. She, too, crossed her legs, showing off their spectacular tan.

How had he gotten himself in this mess?

He looked over at Clementine, who was still nursing her wine, sitting and smiling at something Andrew said. She was lovely, fresh as springtime, and he was overcome with a rush of desire for her. He wanted to walk over and simply pick her up and devour her.

Next to him, Hyacinth was saying something. "Don't you think so, John?"

"Sorry? Didn't catch that," he responded, tearing his eyes away from his beloved with difficulty.

"I said I think filming is going really well," Hy repeated patiently. She gave him a playful little shove, her hand lingering on his shoulder. "You're so distracted tonight."

"Sorry, just a little argument with—with my father," John lied. "But yes, I agree, I think the filming's going smashingly. Thank you for making it such a great first experience for me."

"My pleasure, truly," Hyacinth responded, smiling her world-famous smile. "I'm enjoying working with you so much, Johnny."

"Me too," he answered, smiling as he took another swallow of his drink. He reminded himself to slow down or he'd be drunk on top of everything else, and wouldn't that make for an interesting evening?

"Beach-combing," he shouted, looking at what Jass was drawing.

"Yes, finally!" Jass shouted, jumping up and down. He came over and high-fived John before handing Clementine the marker and taking his seat.

This gave John the perfect excuse to look at her as much as he wanted. She began drawing, and he admired her round bottom, shapely legs, and curvy bosom. As the girls guessed and got closer to the right answer, Clem began jumping up and down with excitement, making John smile. He could see her bit of a tummy, and never had a tummy seemed so dear to him.

John sighed.