"He's a Spade man." This is said dryly. "Scratch that, he's a man, and they can all be hideous asses sometimes. But no, he's always been nice, so don't worry about that."

It makes her feel...weird sometimes that she can accept who Victor is. But then, that's sort of who she fell in love with, and it's not fair to ask him to change. And she supposes love means accepting things like that; if it really bothered her, she wouldn't love him. "Then I'm glad," she tells Sandy, "because you should take a chance with someone you like. Even if he's a royal pain in the ass." One of these days when the sky isn't falling, they're going to sit down and bitch about the difficulties of Spade men.

She just listens to the rest, and bites the inside of her lip before speaking.

"I can play poker," she finally says. "Papa and Aunt Maggie used to let me play with them. And I bet Tegan knows how, too. And Sophie. We can help you." Other than cheats and tricks - of which she knows a few, because her father was not the most scrupulous of men - poker was all about bluffing and the face. Zoe knows Sandy would never cheat; Zoe wouldn't, either. But they can help her build up a face.

She squeezes her friend lightly. "We can bring chocolate and make it a party, okay? And it'll be fine. You'll do well."