Although she'd invited Manny to join the small group for her sister's birthday, he'd had to work, and so Alex was hanging out with Eve, Eve's best friend and boss, Nate, and her Phoenix, who was far more strange than Alex had ever imagined. She'd wondered why Eve hadn't wanted a bigger thing, but she figured her sister had her reasons. Maybe she'd wanted to avoid certain people. Maybe she'd just wanted an excuse to invite Phoenix and knew a large group would be a deterrent. Or maybe the three of them just happened to be Eve's favorite people, and that was enough for her sister. Whatever the reason, she wasn't going to harass her about it.

She'd picked a small, beautiful cake from Sweet Nothings after her morning shift at the Leaky Cauldron, though they'd ordered dinner from one of the places Dagny had shared as a good taste of home. It was quite casual, all things considered. So casual, in fact, that she wasn't sure where Eve and Phoenix had got off to.

She sat cross-legged in the oversized chair on the deck, sipping a strawberry margarita that was charmed to keep from melting and spiked with the best tequila she'd ever tasted, courtesy of Phoenix. Nate lounged in another chair nearby, his long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles.

"So you're dating Beau, who is one of Bennie's co-stars on Grace. It's so weird how small the world is," she said with a soft laugh, shaking her head. "I've known Bennie forever. I'm so damn excited for her," she added with a contented sigh. "This just might be the best place in the whole world." She was so glad she'd finally taken Eve up on the offer to move here. It was definitely reaching the point where it felt like home, like she couldn't imagine going back to the states.