Oliver's eyes widened in recognition for a second before he scowled and stepped forward until his legs almost touched the table between us. This was far too close for my liking.

"Lynn, what are you doing here?"

My former elation evaporated as a wave of desperation rolled over me and crushed me. The last thing I needed tonight was my ex making an ugly scene at my workplace. I suppressed a sigh, plastered a pleasant smile to my face and addressed the brunette woman holding Oliver's arm—in the hope her reaction would be more civilised than her boyfriend's. "Welcome and a very nice evening to you. May I offer you a glass of red or of white wine? Orange juice?"

"White wine would be nice, thank you." She bat her dark lashes in an almost flirty way and offered me a smile that seemed genuine enough. "I see you support the local biological winery."

"Yes, we try to use local and sustainable produce only." I filled a fresh glass and handed it to her with a genuine smile before I turned to Oliver. "Can I offer you one of the same, or is there anything else you would prefer?"

"A straight answer. What are you doing here?"

Politeness hadn't done the trick. I felt my cheeks burn but tried to swallow my anger and filled another glass, the tremor of my hand too strong to hide. "Please, Oliver, don't make this difficult. I'm working here."

"As a waitress?" Surprise replaced the scowl for a moment, but he still loomed over me, his arms crossed now.

What was the man's problem? He walked into my my safe spot and behaved as if I were in the wrong for being here. "Yes, tonight, I'm stepping in as a server, among other things. Not that this is your business. Do want a drink or not, then?" I held the filled glass out to him, an offer of peace.

Instead of taking it, he kept staring down at me. "Lynn, I told you the other day to keep out of my way. I don't know how you keep popping up in my path, but I also told you I'll call the police if you keep stalking me."

"Excuse me?" A grey-haired woman I remembered seeing in the knitting circle touched his arm. "Can you take your glass and let me have a word with the nice young lady here, please?" She disregarded Oliver's sour expression and turned to me. "Lynn, I just wanted to felicitate you on your speech. You did very well tonight, and these are so lovely pictures."

"Thank you, Miss Garner. It was my pleasure. So glad you could make it to the opening." I refilled her glass, and she patted my hand before she moved on.

Unfortunately, Oliver stood still there, ignoring the tug on his sleeve his girlfriend gave to make him move on. "Olly? Can we check out the lovely pictures the lady mentioned? That's why we came, after all."

He ignored her, his scowl deepening, and I steeled myself for the next confrontation, when Becca found her way through the crowd like a colourful whirlwind. In front of the refreshment table, she stopped, placed her hands on her hips, the worry line on her brow telling me she was in attack mode.

"Lynn, what's going on?" Her unwavering gaze was fixed on Oliver. "What is this guy doing here?"

"That's the same question I asked Lynn, but I never got a plausible answer." He threw back his shoulders and tapped a foot on the floorboards. The brunette let go of his arm and rolled her eyes. For a second, I wondered if she was getting as fed up with the man as I was.

Becca, who reached Oliver's chest at best—and only if measured with the hat atop her curls—wasn't impressed. "Listen, wise guy, I don't know what game you're playing at, but this is not the place to make a scene. So, I suggest you either behave or get out."

"And who are you to order me around?"

"She's a friend of the house." The familiar voice was deep and sent a wave of relief through my knotted neck muscles. Paco stepped up to Becca, Amber in tow, and Sim and Danny only steps behind. The cavalry had arrived. "Please leave our Lynn alone. We're all guests tonight in her house, and I would appreciate if you respected this."

Oliver's eyes narrowed as he glanced from Becca to me and then Paco. "And who are you?"

In this moment, Conny returned with a tray of food and placed it on the table beside me. "What's going on here?"

Paco gave her a warm smile. "Nothing, don't worry. I think this gentleman was just about to leave." He turned back, this time with a stern face, his lips pressed into a thin line before he addressed Oliver. "My name is Paco Martinez, and I don't want to deal with any kind of trouble at this event. I'll call the police if necessary."

Oliver opened his mouth, but his girlfriend was faster and reached out a hand. "Mister Martinez? I'm a huge admirer of your work. Would you mind giving me an interview for my column? I'm Nelly Novak."

Paco's eyes lit up as he shook her right. "The Nelly Novak? This will be a great pleasure, of course, Miss Novak."

"Nelly, please."

"Alright, Nelly. As much as I admire your art column, we'll have to settle this first. Can you guarantee your attendant won't harass my friends anymore?"

"Of course he won't. Right, Olly?" She bat her lashes and sent him a heart-melting glance, but the effect was not as expected.

"I think I overstayed my welcome here. Let's go, dear, there are better things to do."

He turned on a heel and walked towards the door, but Nelly didn't follow him. Instead, she shrugged, dug a notebook from her pocket and pointed at the sitting area with her pen. "Shall we sit down over there?"

Paco glanced at Oliver's broad back before he followed her to the sofa. At the door, my ex turned around. His expression was to die for. I suppressed a giggle. But Becca had never been one to keep back her thoughts.

"She ditched you, mate. Perhaps it's better if you find a restorative drink somewhere."

He had the decency to walk out without another word.

Sim, who had stood back with Danny, placed a hand on my arm. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, thank you. You all appeared before things got nasty."

"I always told you that one was a tosser." Becca wrapped me in a supportive hug. "Thank Amber—she warned us you were in trouble."

Conny and I turned to the girl, who blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's not my doing. When Luca saw him pestering you, he came searching for me."

So the ghost had stuck around and stepped in the only way he could. What a pleasant surprise. Conny frowned at her daughter's statement, though. "Who is Luca?"

Amber shrugged. "A young man I've seen around."

The deepening fold on her mother's face called for my intervention. "He's a regular at the library. I've seen him earlier—I think he picked up an invitation when he was here last week."

"Oh." The emotions flickering over Conny's face were hard to read. A mixture of relief and worry?

"No need to worry, Mum. He's cute, but too old for me." Amber seemed to make sense of her mother's expression and sent me a wink. "More Lynn's age, I guess."

"I'm glad to hear. Will you introduce me to cute-but-too-old next time you see him, Lynn?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sure he's still around." Alas, except for Danny, Amber and I, only a few people present tonight could see the ghost. Amber's mouth twitched, but she had enough control not to burst out laughing. An evasive glance at our buffet told me we were running out of bread again. "I think we should cater for our guests first, though."

I busied myself cutting up a new loaf while Conny opened more bottles and Amber handed out leaflets and business cards with the address of Paco's homepage and a QR code. Paco was still occupied with his interview while Becca and Sim wandered off with Danny to explore the library.

Later, the man of the evening even found the time to give our gang a private tour of his works. When the guests finally dwindled towards eight, my knees felt stiff from all the standing and my back hurt. Conny ran a hand over her eyes. "I'm exhausted. Let's just carry everything into the kitchen. We can do the cleaning up tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" It didn't feel right to let the dirty glasses and plates sit overnight.

"Friday mornings are usually quiet. It won't be much trouble."

Becca dropped by, took in the situation, and began stowing empty bottles in a crate. Conny shook her head. "You are a guest here. You don't have to do that."

My friend looked up with a broad grin. "It's not a problem. You two have been working all evening while we just wandered around and enjoyed ourselves."

Conny handed her another bottle. "Thanks a lot, but you did much more than wander. We owe you for stepping in earlier."

"To be honest, I'm glad Paco handled the situation. I fear I might have botched it. How that man treated Lynn still has my blood boiling."

Sim laughed and placed a few glasses onto a tray already loaded. "The poor guy doesn't know how lucky he was that there were too many witnesses. But he earned what he got. Where does this go?"

"To the kitchen corner in the office, please. Just place it by the sink." Following Conny's directions, Sim balanced her tray towards the office while Amber helped me remove the white paper we had used as a tablecloth. Danny offered to scrunch it and stowed it in the bin.

Minutes later, a few crumbs on the floor were the only reminder of the party. Conny fetched a floor brush and pushed them together into a little heap I could scoop up with the dustpan.

My colleague looked around, satisfied. "Thanks, everyone. Let's call it a day. Lynn and I will finish the rest tomorrow. We all haven't eaten yet, and it's already past eight."

Paco, who returned from shaking hands with the last leaving guests, overheard her. "Then I should invite you all to pizza. What do you think, Dan?"

The boy's eyes lit up. "Oh yes, please. Can we Mum?"

"I think we better head home. You have school tomorrow, young man."

Amber pulled a face. "Come on, Mum, just this once. We still can be home by Danny's bedtime, or a little later."

Conny checked her watch and looked from her daughter to her son before she turned to me. "What are your plans?"

I hesitated only a second. "Pizza sounds great. What about you two?"

Sim and Becca exchanged a smile, and the former shrugged. "It's a solid fact Becca cannot decline an offer of pizza. We're in."

Confronted with her children's puppy eyes, Conny caved in and Paco picked up his jacket. "Great, I know a place just around the corner. You're in for a treat."

He ushered us out the door, but when I glanced back, I was sure I could see Cat and Luca watching us from the sofa, satisfied smiles on their faces.