On the Rocks

by Kandi Steiner

  I let out another long breath, eyeing Mikey before my gaze landed on Logan. “Will you help me make a plan?”

  Ruby Grace

  The weekend passed in a blur of chiffon and cake frosting.

  Mama packed every waking minute of my days with dress alterations, cake tasting, seating chart adjustments, wedding photography pose research, and more. By the time I made it to church Sunday morning, I was so thankful for an hour of sitting down with nothing to do but listen to the preacher, that I nearly started crying.

  When I saw Noah walk through the door, that urge to cry doubled.

  I’d been so busy over the weekend, I hadn’t had much time to think about anything other than whatever wedding task was at hand. Still, when my mind did wander, it frustratingly wandered to those cobalt blue eyes.

  Noah took his usual seat in the front row of the left pew section, alongside his mother and three brothers. I was still fixated on the back of his head when Anthony’s hand reached over, squeezing my knee over the turquoise fabric of my dress.

  “I’m so excited to spend the day with you,” he whispered, leaning in close.

  I frowned, turning toward him. “I’m volunteering at the nursing home today. Remember?”

  “Oh,” he said, confirming that he, in fact, did not remember. “Can’t you just cancel?”

  “Anthony, you know how important this is to me.”

  Disappointment sank into my every feature. I’d been telling Anthony all weekend that I had plans after church, just like I did every Sunday, and it was like he’d listened the way a child does to its mother.

  “I know, babe. I know,” he said quickly, squeezing where he held my knee. “I’m sorry. I just miss you. I’ve been here a week now and we’ve barely spent any time together.”

  My neck heated, because I was very aware of the fact I hadn’t seen him much. Anthony conveniently had something to do with the media crew anytime Mama came running at me with a wedding task. He hadn’t helped with a single thing since he’d been in town, and if anything, I felt more pressure with him here.

  Pressure to make the wedding perfect. Pressure to be available to him when he needed me.

  Pressure to be everywhere and everything to everyone.

  “Why don’t you help me register for our gifts on Thursday?” I asked. “We could spend the whole day together, pick out our future serving dishes and napkin holders.” I leaned into him on a nudge. “You know, super thrilling stuff.”

  Anthony smiled, running the back of his knuckles over my cheek. “You know I wish I could, but we’re going to shoot a little around the town short to air on our YouTube channel that day. I was actually hoping you’d be a part of it, if you have time?”

  I sighed, fighting off the sinking of my heart. This was Anthony’s life. This was how he’d always been, ever since I met him. He was dedicated to his dream, to his passion to hold office. It was something I loved about him, and I didn’t know why I was suddenly annoyed by it just because he couldn’t help with stupid wedding stuff.

  In four weeks, we’d be married, and none of this stuff would matter, anyway.

  “I understand. I have to get that registration done, but when it’s over, I’ll give you a call and see if I can come help out,” I offered.

  Anthony smiled wider, shaking his head before he leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead. “I’m such a lucky man.”

  We were quiet as the service got started, and I reveled in the peaceful bliss of not needing to answer to anyone or be anywhere. If anything, the service didn’t last long enough, and before I knew it, we were outside the church, Mama shaking hands and sending blessings with everyone as they left. Anthony joined in beside her and Dad, and I pulled up the end of the line, a numb smile on my face.

  I was so fixated on counting down the minutes until I’d be away from everyone and in my safe place that I almost didn’t notice when Noah Becker darted away from the receiving line, kissing his mother on the cheek before he climbed into his truck without so much of a look over his shoulder at me. Not that he owed me a look, or a handshake, or a Sunday greeting. But, we hadn’t spoken a single word to each other since the Soirée, and part of me wondered if he’d ever speak to me again.

  Part of me wondered why I cared if he did or not.

  His truck peeled out of the church parking lot as Anthony put his arm around me, pressing a kiss into my hair.

  “Are you sure I can’t convince you to ditch on the nursing home?” he asked.

  I tried my best to smile, turning in his arms to thread mine around his neck. “I’ll see you for supper.”

  “It’s my only free day,” he pointed out again.

  “I understand that. But I’m not free.”

  “But you could be.”

  My shoulders sagged. “Anthony…”

  “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said, kissing my forehead again before steering us toward Daddy’s truck. “I’ll find something to do, maybe go check out the casino with your dad or something. He’s been begging me to go.”

  I smiled as much as I could, aiming for lightness in my voice. “Well, that’s not at all surprising. Hope you’re ready to lose all of your Sunday in that dungeon of bells and flashing lights.”

  Anthony held the back door of Dad’s truck open for me, closing it gently once I was inside.

  In that moment of silence, I took my first real breath in days.

  I couldn’t wait to get home, get changed, and get away.

  “You look like hell,” Annie greeted, still somehow cheerful even with the insult flying from her lips.

  “Happy Sunday to you, too,” I replied on a chuckle. I flopped down into the chair next to her, sighing as the cushion gave into my weight in a familiar, soft whoosh. “Can I just… can I just nap right here?”

  Annie snickered. “Mama Barnett pushing you that hard, huh?”

  “You were there for the seating arrangement fiasco,” I reminded her, referring to our Friday morning spent with my mom. “Now, just imagine that same frenzy… All. Weekend. Long.”

  She cringed, sliding her coffee toward me. “Here. You need this more than I do.”

  I took the hot mug gratefully, tilting it toward her in thanks before taking a sip. I hummed as the mocha-flavored magic made its way into my stomach, reaching forward to flip through the events calendar for the day. I’d only been inside the building for five minutes and I already felt my muscles relaxing, the tension leaving that spot between my eyebrows, my breaths coming easier. These walls and the people who lived within them were comfortable to me, safe, familiar. It was the one steady thing in my currently chaotic life.

  “Everyone already at the pool?” I asked, noting that water aerobics had been added to the schedule for the day.

  “Mm-hmm,” Annie said, biting against a smile.

  “Betty having a good day?”

  “Oh, she’s having the best day,” Annie said, still with the weird smile.

  I cocked a brow.

  “She’s out there with our newest volunteer — hell, the entire nursing home is out there. No one has been able to teach water aerobics since the summer started, so it was a welcome surprise for us to have some help.”

  “I could have done water aerobics,” I offered.

  “You still can,” Annie said. “I’m sure the new guy would love the help. Those old ladies were practically ripping his swim trunks off when he made his way through the halls to the pool. I swear, in the five years I’ve worked here, I’ve never seen Mrs. Hollenbeck go swimming. Until today.”

  I frowned. “Interesting. We haven’t had any new volunteers in a while, either — aside from those completing community service. Who is this guy?”

  Annie’s grin widened. “Oh, you know him.”

  My best friend had that look in her eyes, the one she used to get when she was about to ask me for a huge favor or to go to a party I didn’t want to go to.

  “Annie…” I warned. “Who is it?”

  S
he just did a little shoulder dance, fishing one of the volunteer pool keys out of the desk and tossing it my way. “Why don’t you go find out?”

  I frowned deeper, clutching the key in hand as I stood. “You’re a brat.”

  “You love me, anyway.”

  “Debatable.”

  She was still chuckling as I made my way down the hall to the bathroom, changing into the swim suit I’d brought with me. For some reason, my stomach was fluttery as I changed, mind swirling with the possibilities of who it could be. I wondered if it was Tanner, the guy I’d dated sophomore year. Or maybe Annie was joking about the guy being hot. Maybe it was someone weird, like the scrawny, perverted kid who delivered newspapers and always liked to stare a little too long into the windows of whichever girl didn’t leave their curtains drawn enough.

  My heart thumped even harder when I realized Anthony had left to go to the casino with Dad before I left for the nursing home. Dad hadn’t even left yet, saying he had a few stops to make along the way and he’d meet him at the main bar.

  Maybe it’s him. Maybe he’s surprising me.

  I couldn’t fight back my smile at the thought. It was a classic Anthony move, to surprise me and make a show of himself in the process. He loved to be the center of attention, and I knew him volunteering at a nursing home on a Sunday would be candy for the film crew.

  With that thought in mind, I practically skipped to the pool, ditching my backpack at the front desk on my way out. Annie was still smiling like a loon, and I thought I finally understood why. She was in on the whole thing, the whole surprise.

  But when I scanned my key card at the pool gate and flung it open, I stopped dead in my tracks, the smile sliding off my face like a limp noodle off a wall.

  Noah Becker stood in the shallow end of the pool, leading a group of women and one brave man in a charade of water aerobics to an old 70’s disco song.

  His smile was blinding, hair wet and glistening in the sun as he pumped his arms and legs to the music. He shouted out instructions, laughing at all the women who were attempting to follow and giggling like a bunch of school girls in the process.

  Betty was front row.

  Noah threw his head back on one particularly loud laugh, elicited by something Betty had said that I couldn’t hear, and when he was facing her again, his eyes flicked up to me.

  Everything muted in that moment — the splash of the water, the bass of the music, the laughter of the women and the men lined up on the sides watching them. Noah watched me for what felt like an eternity — but was actually only a second — before he smiled.

  That smile turned my knees to putty.

  “Alright, take a break, ladies. Grab water, lather on some sunscreen, and meet me back here in fifteen.”

  Everyone let out various sounds of disappointment as Noah climbed out of the water, turning the music down on the pool stereo and swiping a towel off the back of one of the lounge chairs before he jogged over to me.

  It was like a stupid scene out of a Baywatch episode, the way his pecs bounced as he ran, the water dripping slowly down every lean, toned, tanned muscle of his body. He shook the water out of his short hair right before he reached me, and when he did, his grin doubled.

  “Hey there, Legs.”

  “Noah,” I seethed, crossing my arms and ignoring his attempt at an adorable nickname. “What are you doing here?”

  He just smiled wider, toweling his hair and a little of his abdomen before hanging the towel over his shoulders. He held it at each end, letting his arms hang in a way that accented his biceps.

  Asshole.

  “I volunteer here,” he offered innocently.

  I narrowed my eyes.

  At that, Noah barked out a laugh, the hands holding his towel lifting as he shrugged. “Look, I came here to call a truce.”

  “I didn’t realize we were at war.”

  “Oh, didn’t you?” he countered, one thick eyebrow climbing.

  I didn’t respond, just shifted weight onto my other hip, keeping my arms crossed as I waited for him to continue.

  “I know I crossed some lines, and I know I said some things that upset you.”

  “You already apologized for that.”

  “And clearly, all is forgiven,” he shot back, still eyeing me with a cocked brow. “Would you just let me talk, Miss Stubborn?”

  I pursed my lips. “I liked Legs better.”

  Noah chuckled, taking a step toward me, and the way his smile was shadowed with sincerity as he spoke his next words softened my heart. “I like having you as a friend, Ruby Grace.”

  I swallowed, eyes searching his as the sun above danced in the ocean blue waters of his pupils.

  “I have to admit, my life was pretty boring before you showed up. It was work and family dinner and cards with my brothers and some random girl in my bed Saturday night. Wash, rinse, repeat.”

  I tried not to be affected by the mention of a woman in his bed. I had no right to be, but it still made my neck hot at the thought. I wondered if he’d taken Daphne home after the Soirée, and as soon as I thought it, my chest tightened painfully.

  “I have fun with you,” he said on a shrug. “And I think you have fun with me, too. I know you’re not in town much longer, so what if we just… put all the bickering and bullshit behind us and be friends?”

  “Friends,” I deadpanned.

  The corner of Noah’s mouth lifted. “Yes. Friends. As in, let’s volunteer together, and maybe hang out when you’re free.” He shrugged. “I can help you with wedding shit, take some of the pressure off. I’ll even put up with your crazy mother and whatever task she needs handled.”

  A breath of a laugh escaped me at that, and I watched Noah carefully, looking for some sign of crossed fingers or a trick that I wasn’t seeing. “You’d do that?”

  “I’d do just about anything for you, it seems.”

  I smirked, chest fluttering at the mixture of excitement and warning blending in my gut. Part of me knew it was better to stay away from Noah Becker — especially with how much he’d been on my mind. I knew I had a crush on him, some sort of feelings that were beyond the friend zone he was proposing.

  But the bigger part of me? She didn’t care.

  The bigger part of me felt the same way Noah did. I had fun with him. I liked being around him.

  I missed him.

  So, against every nerve in my body that warned me not to, I sighed, extending one hand toward him.

  “Fine. Friends.”

  Noah glanced at my hand, a wicked smile on his face as he took it in his and gave it a firm, mock handshake with a serious business look on his face. “Friends.”

  “On one condition.”

  “And that is?”

  I cringed. “We can’t let my mom find out.”

  Noah full-on belly laughed at that. “What, Princess Barnett can’t be seen with a Becker ruffian?”

  “Not when the whole town has been whispering about us and it’s been making its way back to my dad… and therefore, my mom.”

  Noah nodded. “Fair enough. An on-the-low friendship, it is.”

  He was still staring at me like he’d won some sort of prize when I rolled my eyes and shoved him back toward the pool. “Stop looking at me all goofy and get back in that water before these women lose their damn minds.”

  Noah laughed, wrapping his hands around my wrists where I was pushing against his chest. “Fine. But you’re coming with me.”

  I blanched. “Noah… don’t you dare.”

  In the next second, I was tossed over his shoulder like a bag of sugar, and he ran, jumping into the deep end with a splash that earned us applause from the entire nursing home once we emerged.

  I swatted at him, splashing water in his face as he laughed at me catching my breath. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed. I laughed, too, tossing my head back and letting the sun warm my face.

  And for the first time all weekend, I was happy.

  No
ah

  I didn’t know if my plan was working, or if I was just setting myself up for a massive fail.

  Logan had high-fived me when all of my brothers and I got together to play cards at my place Sunday night. I told him how it went at the nursing home, how Ruby Grace had agreed to be friends, to let me help her with the wedding, and how we’d spent the entire afternoon together.

  I had to admit, at the time I high-fived my little brother and simultaneously got a glare from my older one, I was on a high. It’d been easier than I thought to get her to agree to still spend time with me — even with her fiancé in town — and I’d spent an entire afternoon with her. Even better, I’d spent an entire afternoon with her in her element. She thrived at that nursing home, and everyone there loved her. They could tell she was different. She cared. She gave a shit.

  I was convinced that people like her made up not even one percent of the entire population. She was just too good, too kind, too giving. It was like she’d strip herself bare if it meant she could shelter even one other person.

  So, yes, that first night had felt great.

  But now, five days later, I was beginning to wonder if I was the biggest idiot to ever exist.

  On Monday, I worked all day at the distillery and then met Ruby Grace for dinner. Her mother had tasked her with booking the rehearsal dinner venue, and Ruby Grace looked like she was about to have a complete meltdown trying to decide on a place that would fit and please everyone.

  Then, on Tuesday, I’d been half asleep on my couch after a long day at work when she called me and asked if she could come over. She showed up with chalkboard signs in hand and an apologetic shrug. We stayed up until almost one in the morning making welcome signs and seat yourself signs and cocktail hour this way signs and gifts here signs. Chalk dust clouded my living room by the end of the night, but hugging a sleepy Ruby Grace goodbye on my front porch made up for it.

  I’d thought I’d be relieved to hear I wouldn’t see her Wednesday, but instead, I was gutted when I saw her at the nicest restaurant in town on my walk home from the gym — seated next to Anthony in a cozy little booth, him feeding her a fork full of decadent dessert while she giggled and the cameras around them flashed.