Maggie rushed toward him, smiling. "Hi, Connor."
"Maggie, my bonny lass." Connor leaned over the table to give her a hug. "'Tis good to see you again."
Vanda crossed her arms. Connor never called her bonny.
"I'll need to check yer bag, Maggie," Connor said.
"You want to see my pictures?" Maggie opened her bag and removed a small stack of photos.
Connor examined Maggie's bag while she shuffled through the pictures.
"This one is Pierce with our daughter, Lucy." Maggie showed it to Connor. "And this is last Halloween when Lucy was a princess. I made the costume myself."
"She's a bonny wee lass." Connor handed her the evening bag. "Ye adopted her?"
"I did." Maggie rushed to explain. "Her biological mother was a voodoo priestess from New Orleans who slipped Pierce a love potion so she could seduce him. Then, after she got pregnant, she erased his memory and abandoned him. And that's when he got changed into a vampire. But he had amnesia and didn't remember who he was or that he'd fathered a baby. And then Corky Courrant found him and brought him to New York, and he became Don Orlando de Corazon, the famous soap opera star on As a Vampire Turns. That's when I met him, and then Ian helped me discover his true identity. It's all very simple, really."
Connor's eyes had glazed over halfway through Maggie's story. "I see."
"The old amnesia/secret baby story," Vanda said wryly. "Happens all the time."
Maggie gave her an annoyed look and stuffed the photos back into her evening bag. "It happened to me, and we couldn't be happier."
"Then I'm verra happy for you." Connor turned to Vanda. "I'll need to check yer bag, too."
"I thought you'd never ask." Vanda tossed her bag onto the table. She was ready for him this time.
He opened her silver evening bag. His eyes widened.
She was quite proud that she'd managed to squeeze a pair of handcuffs, a blindfold, her back massager, and a bottle of Viagra into such a tiny handbag. She smiled sweetly. "Something wrong, Connor?"
"I see ye came prepared." He gave her a wry look as he returned her bag. "Enjoy yer evening."
"I will." Vanda strode toward the banquet hall.
Maggie sidled up to her and whispered, "What's in your bag?"
Vanda handed it to her with a smile.
Maggie opened it and laughed. "Girl, I have missed you." She passed the bag back with a sly look. "You must be planning to have sex with someone. I wonder who that could possibly be?"
"It was a joke, Maggie. Don't read anything more into it." Vanda entered the banquet hall.
The High Voltage Vamps were on the dais, playing "That's Amore." Couples were on the dance floor, happily swaying to the music. Vanda groaned.
A line had formed to congratulate Jack and meet his fiancée Lara.
"Oh, she's pretty," Maggie observed. "And she looks so happy. Come on, let's get in line."
Vanda surveyed the room as they strolled to the end of the queue. No sign of Phil. She grabbed a flute off the tray of a passing waiter. It was filled with Bubbly Blood, a mixture of champagne and synthetic blood. She downed it in three gulps.
Maggie frowned at her. "Are you all right?"
"Sure." She exchanged her empty glass for a full one from another waiter. "I'm just hungry."
"I think you're nervous."
"Why does everyone want to psychoanalyze me?"
"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the seven lawsuits filed against you in the last year," Maggie muttered with a sarcastic tone. "That could be a sign that you don't handle relationships well."
"I would be fine if everyone would just leave me the hell alone."
Maggie sighed. "You have friends, Vanda. Whether you like it or not, there are people who care about you."
Vanda's eyes burned as tears threatened. "Don't be nice to me. I can't…handle it." She gulped down more Bubbly Blood.
Maggie watched her sadly. "Darlin', you can't suffer like this forever. You need help."
Vanda took a deep breath and blinked her tears away. "I'm fine." She was tough, dammit. She started to tighten the whip around her waist, then realized it wasn't there. "Damn, I feel like I'm wearing a nightgown."
"You look beautiful. That silver satin makes your skin look positively luminous, and your eyes are dazzling. Phil looks completely flummoxed."
"What?" Vanda glanced around quickly. "Where is he?"