by Ivy Smoak
But as tempting as it was to just crack jokes all night for her…this Poppy thing was serious. I was just about to ask James if we could talk for a second, when Tanner slid into the empty stool beside me.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “What did I miss?” He somehow already had a beer in his hand.
Had he been here for a while? “I didn’t realize you were coming,” I said.
“Yeah, the gang invited me.”
The gang? I looked over at my friends. Honestly, a gang would be the least likely phrase I’d used to describe this bunch.
“Robert,” Tanner said and nodded to him.
Rob sat up a little straighter. “Tanner.”
I cleared my throat before they could start making jabs at each other. “We were just talking about the four of us in high school.”
“Ah,” Tanner said. “All the fighting?”
Bee laughed.
“No, we were actually talking about all the good times,” I said.
“Interesting.” Tanner took a sip of his beer. “From a slightly outside perspective, maybe it would be better if we did dive into all the fighting though, yes? In order to move on?”
“We have moved on,” Rob said. “Or else we wouldn’t all be sitting here right now hanging out.”
“Have you though?”
Rob stared at him. “Yes, I just said that.”
“But haaaaave you though?”
“We have,” James said. He looked over at me.
I pressed my lips together. I knew James wasn’t really a dick. Yes, he’d acted like one when we were teenagers. But he’d had my back ever since. It was fall though. And I was always more likely to snap on him in the fall. Because it reminded me so much of Brooklyn. So yes, we’d moved on as best I was able to. I couldn’t offer any more.
“Hmm.” Tanner put his glass down on the table. “If you were all really over it, why did Matt drug you during your bachelor party, James?”
Bee started laughing harder.
“You what?” Penny said.
“It’s not a big deal…” James started.
But Penny cut him off. “Yes it is a big deal. Why the hell would you do that, Matt?” She was using her authoritative mom voice that always made me feel in trouble but also slightly aroused.
I opened my mouth and closed it again. I wanted to say I didn’t know why. But I did. It was because James had been about to get married. And I was jealous. I felt like he’d robbed me of that with Brooklyn. Like he had the life I was supposed to have. And I had been drunk myself that night. And maybe a little high. And maybe a lot an idiot.
“Did he really?” Penny asked Daphne.
Daphne had been at the same resort as us during James’ bachelor party. It’s where she and Rob had officially met. So she’d unfortunately seen all the shenanigans first hand.
I winced when Daphne slowly nodded.
“Look, we all went a little overboard that weekend,” Mason said.
Bee tried to glare at him through her laughter. “What does that mean?” I couldn’t tell if she was actually upset or she was doing an overexaggerated glare because of her intoxication.
Mason laughed. “It was a bachelor party.”
She continued to stare at him. And even though it looked like she was seconds away from exploding with laughter again, the last thing I wanted was for Bee to be upset with Mason because he was trying to cover for me. The bachelor party had actually been very tame and very lame.
“I’m sorry, okay you guys?” I said.
Tanner clapped me on the back. “That’s a good start, Matt. But I have an idea. James, you should just get him back. It’s best to just get even. Who has some drugs?”
James shook his head. “I’m not going to drug Matt.”
“Leave it to me then,” Tanner said.
“I don’t want you to drug him either.”
“Noted. I’ll think of something better.” Tanner snapped his fingers. “Revenge is a dish best served hard, if you know what I mean.” He raised his glass.
I literally had no idea what he meant. Served hard?
Bee giggled.
“You mean cold?” Rob said.
Tanner looked confused.
“The phrase is revenge is a dish best served cold,” Rob said.
Tanner shook his head. “I don’t think that’s how it goes.”
“That’s definitely how it goes. Who serves a hard dish?”
“Dishes are made from glass. They’re all quite hard, Young Robert. Have you never been hit by one?” He started to wave down a waitress, as if he was going to order a plate to break over Rob’s head.
I grabbed Tanner’s hand to lower it. We didn’t need a waitress to bring over any plates for him to throw at Rob.
“I’m trying to help,” he whispered back.
“By offering to beat Rob with plates?”
“By fixing your friendships. And yes, possibly teaching Robert a lesson along the way.”
I looked over to see everyone staring at us. I cleared my throat and removed my hand from Tanner’s arm. This conversation was ridiculous. We were all fine. Tanner was pushing buttons unnecessarily. And I still needed to have that conversation with James before it got any later. “James, can I talk to you for a second?”
“Yeah, sure.” He went to stand up, but paused when his phone started ringing. “One second,” he said.
“Hi Ellen, is everything okay?”
There was silence as he listened to her.
“Pumpkin, did you steal Ellen’s phone again?”
Penny shook her head with a smile.
“Mommy and I are out right now. Be a good girl and let Ellen tell you a bedtime story.”
He listened to Scarlett intently.
“She does do the voices. I’ve heard her do them.”
He smiled at whatever her response was.
“Is everything okay?” Penny mouthed silently.
James nodded. “Okay, pumpkin. We’ll be home in a few minutes. Love you too.” He hung up. “She’s refusing to go to bed without us reading her bedtime story. And she’s keeping everyone else up too. I think Ellen might have a revolt on her hands.”
Rob laughed. “Sophie and Scarlett are going to be such a handful when they’re older.”
Rob was right about that. Scarlett was a little baller for refusing to go to bed without a proper bedtime story. And Sophie seemed like she enjoyed a good revolt too. It was possible she was the one leading the troops.
“We should probably go get Sophie and RJ too,” Daphne said. “It’s getting late.” She grabbed her coat off the back of her chair.
“Is it okay if we have that chat another time?” James asked.
No. Not really. But I just nodded. They were going home to Scarlett right now. Nothing bad could happen to her tonight.
Rob, Daphne, James, and Penny said their goodbyes.
“Have fun on your date tomorrow,” Penny whispered and gave me a quick hug. I watched her duck under James’ arm and giggle at something he whispered in her ear.
“You okay?” Tanner asked.
Now he was concerned about me? Moments after trying to get James to drug me?
Luckily I didn’t have to answer him, because Bee was laughing harder than ever, drawing everyone’s attention to her.
“So just me?” Bee said, but I could barely make out the words through her laughter.
I hadn’t caught the start of her conversation with Mason, but it looked like the two of them were having the time of their lives.
“Yeah, our mom definitely didn’t walk us to the bus stop in high school,” Mason said. “We usually rode with James. Or I drove myself.”
Bee finally stopped laughing long enough to breathe. “Not all of high school. Just until junior year when I finally snapped.”
Mason was staring at her with stars in his eyes. “Your mom is amazing.”
“More like mortifying,” Bee said and covered her face.
Mason lowered h
er hand and kissed her temple.
I turned away and took another sip of my scotch. Out of all my friends, Bee looked the most like Brooklyn. Sometimes it was hard to look at her for too long. I wondered if Mason saw it. But I didn’t think so. Unlike James, he hadn’t had a crush on Brooklyn. And I wasn’t even sure if James really had either. I was pretty sure he had only pretended to like her to mess with me. But I’d never know. Because I’d never bring her up.
I swirled the ice around in my glass. At least I wasn’t the third wheel tonight. Because Tanner was here too. I actually preferred hanging out with Bee and Mason the most because they didn’t have any kids. It was just adults talking. I loved my friends’ kids, but I didn’t need to talk about them nonstop like parents always seemed to.
“What was Mason like in high school?” Bee asked me.
I shrugged. “The same.”
Bee laughed. “I’m pretty sure I had an awkward stage between first and twelfth grade. Unlike you guys with your amazing Caldwell genes. I hope our kids get them.”
I was pretty sure my fingers tightened on my glass. Not you guys too. It was hard enough being the only single one. I didn’t want to be the only one without kids too.
Mason laughed. “You should see your face right now. I promise Bee’s not pregnant.”
I breathed a loud sigh of relief, which made Bee laugh harder.
She lifted up her glass. “I’ve had like three glasses of wine. Definitely not pregnant, Matt. But really, would it be so bad to be an uncle?”
“I am an uncle.”
“I mean like a real one. A blood one.”
It didn’t matter that I wasn’t a blood relation to James and Robs’ kids. I still loved those little brats. “Are you guys really thinking about it?”
“Maybe next year,” Bee said and looked over at Mason.
A few years ago he would have looked as shocked as me. Instead, he just shrugged.
I silently cursed. They were definitely about to pop out a dozen babies and leave me behind.
“To be young and in love again,” Tanner sighed.
He was still young. And had plenty of time to find love. He was being such a diva tonight.
“Ah, to being young and in love.” Bee lifted up her wine glass and a little sloshed out the side. She was so drunk. Adorably so. Which was my fault since I kept buying everyone more rounds.
“Matt.” She reached out and grabbed my hand. “What’s going on with you? You keep doing that thing with your face.” She pulled her lips into an exaggerated frown.
“I’m fine.” I patted her hand.
“Only people who aren’t fine say that they’re fine. You can tell us anything, you know.”
I glanced at Mason. I was pretty sure he’d been hoping I’d talk about Brooklyn for years. But I wasn’t going to start tonight. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“You’re a terrible liar. Tell me right now or you…you’ll have to pay for all the drinks.”
“All the drinks are already on my tab.”
“Oh, crap.” She stared at me. “I knew that. And I had three glasses to make up for Penny and Daphne not drinking. Because they were being lame with mom duties.”
“Because they’re breastfeeding, yeah.”
She waved her hand through the air. “That’s what I said. So you’ll have to pay for the drinks.”
I laughed. “I just told you. The drinks are all on my tab anyway.”
She nodded. “Right. So tell me the truth or I’ll…” she looked down at her glass of wine like she was about to say I’d have to pay for drinks again. But then her head snapped back up. “Or I’ll do something terrible to you in your sleep.”
“What the hell does that mean? When have you ever even been near me while I’m sleeping?”
She shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be scary to find out?”
Yeah, she was definitely drunk.
“If something is bothering you, we are here to listen,” Mason said.
I pressed my lips together. I actually did need some advice. I looked back at Bee. There was a 50-50 chance she wouldn’t remember any of this anyway. I cleared my throat. It would feel better to get this off my chest. “Poppy visited my office this week.”
Mason raised his eyebrow. “Poppy? As in…Isabella’s cousin?”
“Yup, that one.”
“Isabella has a cousin?” Bee said way too loudly. “Oh God, is she as awful as Isabella?”
I hadn’t thought so until this week. Now I was worried she was somehow worse.
“I didn’t even know that Richard Pruitt had a niece,” Tanner said. “Why didn’t I know that?”
“Because she wasn’t important. I hadn’t seen her in over a decade.”
“Wait.” Tanner slammed his hand down on the table. “Wasn’t important? That implies that she is now. Did you sleep with her?”
“Ew. No. She’s freaking devil spawn.”
“Phew. You had me worried there for a second. Remember, you have to introduce me to any lucky lady you’re planning to bed.”
“Why does Matt have to introduce you to women he’s…to bed with?” Bee asked.
“So I can…approve of them.”
Bee laughed. “You’re so funny, Tanner.”
That was one way to put it.
“Really everything you say is so so funny. And…” her voice trailed off. “God I have the perfect word, it’s on the tip of my tongue. Why can’t I think of it?”
Mason put his arm around Bee’s shoulders. “I think we should probably head out before Bee remembers that other word.”
“Hey.” She elbowed him in his side. “But yes. Take me home. I’m tired.”
He smiled down at her. “Your wish is my command.” He grabbed her coat and draped it over her shoulders. He was about to lead her out of the bar when he turned back to me. “Sorry, Matt. What was your story about Poppy? Why did she stop by?”
I didn’t know why I’d brought it up. I didn’t want to worry him. “No reason. It was really random.”
“Huh.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, have a good night, you two.”
Bee blew Tanner and me each a kiss.
I pretended to choke on it and she laughed.
“That went really well,” Tanner said.
I ran my fingers through my hair. “You tried to get James to drug me. And you fought with Rob again.”
“Robert argued with me. And James does owe you a drugged drink, if I do recall correctly. I thought everything went great. So tell me about Poppy. Is she hot?”
“No.”
“No she’s not hot? Or no you’re not going to tell me about her?”
“Both.”
“Hm. Sounds like something you need to talk about.”
I sighed. He knew me too well. “Mr. Pruitt sent her. Because I didn’t respond to his texts.”
“Well, he did say it was urgent this time. I have an idea. How about I come with you when you go see him. That way nothing bad can happen.”
“That would just ensure that bad things would happen to both of us.”
He shook his head. “Nonsense. He wouldn’t mess with me.”
“Mr. Pruitt messes with everyone.”
“But no one messes with me.”
I stared at him. He looked dead serious. Yes, Tanner had more money than anyone else I knew. Including the Pruitts. But I knew that money didn’t make him untouchable. And it certainly couldn’t protect him from Mr. Pruitt’s line of work.
“Just think about it,” Tanner said. “Like I told you before, it would probably be best just to get it over with. And this way you wouldn’t have to do it alone. You’d have me.”
“Yeah, maybe.” That was actually really nice of him to have my back. Even if I didn’t plan on taking him up on his offer. “Thanks, man.”
“That’s what best friends are for.”
I laughed. “You’re just trying to one up Rob?”
Tanner shrugged. “Well, I don’t see him offering to go vis
it your almost father-in-law with you. Classic best friend duty if you ask me.” He shook his head like he thought Rob was the most ridiculous person he’d ever met.
Which was funny. Because they were both ridiculous. It was probably why they didn’t get along.
I wanted to just drop the Mr. Pruitt thing. But it was still weighing on me. I needed to talk to James about Poppy’s threat. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk to Tanner about my plans. “I actually have a better idea than going to see him. I’ve been trying to dig up dirt on his business dealings. If I could just have some leverage…”
“Consider it done,” Tanner said. He slid off his stool and pulled on his coat. “All you had to do was ask.”
Wait, what?
“I’ll call you with the details.” He turned to walk away.
Where was he going? What details? “Tanner!” I called after him.
But he was already gone.
Chapter 15
Saturday
Those big blue eyes. I could drown in those eyes. But no matter what I did today, I couldn’t capture the color. The size, the shape, the love they held…everything else was right. But not the color. It wasn’t quite her. I was usually good at painting Brooklyn’s eyes. But it was like the memory of her was drifting away.
I swirled more green into the paint and tried again. No, that isn’t right either. I closed my eyes and tried to remember. I pictured her laughing, the cool autumn breeze blowing a strand of hair into her face. I reached out to brush it away and the back of my hand collided with wet paint.
My eyes flew open. Crap. I grabbed a paper towel off the roll and wiped off my hand as I stared at the smeared paint. It looked like some kind of abstract portrait of Brooklyn crying. My fingers paused on the paper towel. How many times had I made her cry versus smile? Was it weighted in the wrong direction? Because this picture looked more like her than my others now. Brooklyn crying. I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat.
I just wanted to go back and do everything differently. I wanted to meet her when I wasn’t a dumb kid. I wanted another chance. Just one more freaking chance.
My cell phone buzzed, pulling my attention away from the canvas. I grabbed my phone with my hand that wasn’t covered in paint. There was a text from Penny wishing me luck on my date.
