"There she is!"

Again it was Shelly with the sharpest eyes. She stretched her arm up high and straight as if reaching over a wall and waved, her eyes gazing at the far side of the beer garden; Hannah and Sacha noticed a flurry of activity in the shadows and looking, saw Rona standing up and waving in reply.

Hannah quickly scanned the familiar faces sitting with Rona: Miranda; Brent; Brent's girlfriend, whatever her name was. "Good old Rona," she smiled, "never hangs out with anyone different."

"Neither do you" Shelly pointed out, also smiling back at Hannah ingratiatingly as she marched across the beer garden towards Rona and the others. Because she wasn't looking where she was going she bumped someone's table, sending a few drops of beer splashing over the rims of a couple of glasses. Sacha readied herself to step in and defuse the disagreement that might arise with rational arguments and influential opinions about why nobody should be offended by such a little incident, but before she got the chance Shelly had the whole thing under control with a wave and a smile and a crease of her eyes to show her contrition, and everything was fine. They kept walking across the beer garden.

"I'm so glad you could make it!" Rona said, standing up to hug them all when they arrived, and Sacha wondered if it was a sly reference to how late they were. "We've all had a few drinks already so you'll have to catch up" Rona added.

"I'll go get a couple of jugs" Brent volunteered, standing up as well. "Hi, guys."

Catherine shot him a pleading, angry look, but if he noticed the movement of her head out of the corner of his eye he didn't acknowledge it. "I'll be back in a sec" he said, though, to the group in general but also, he hoped she'd notice, to Catherine specifically. And then, because he couldn't help himself, he added: "You all have a nice time catching up with each other", and he hoped it sounded sufficiently authoritarian even though he hated the thought of bossing anyone, least of all Catherine, around.

"Get me a glass of wine" Hannah said to him, having no such reservations of her own. "White, something not too dry. Thanks!"