“When are we heading to the Irish place?” Sam asked with a way too cheerful smile.
The plan was for them to eat at the bar, but now he was desperate to talk them out of going into town. Like that would work. The mob was hungry for his public humiliation.
“Seven,” he told them.
He glanced over at the bridge, wondering what Natalie was up to tonight. If she saw him like this or heard about the snake, she’d likely fall over laughing. Well, he had to wear the stupid costume all weekend, so she’d see him like this soon enough. Suddenly, the prospect of wearing this Don Johnson throwback outfit in public wasn’t so bad.
Not when it was sure to make her laugh.
Chapter 14
Natalie found herself twiddling her thumbs at home on Saturday night. Her sisters were busy this weekend. Moira was at a wedding, and Caroline was hosting an art opening. While they weren’t back to being easy with each other yet, they’d checked in with her a couple of times during the week, which had made her feel better. Though it was awkward not to talk about the giant pink elephant of their argument, both of them had respected her privacy so far, and she appreciated that.
Matt and Jane were out of town at a poker tournament where, according to Matt’s ongoing text updates to the family, she was kicking butt. Her mom was having a girls’ night with her own friends, many of whom she’d reconnected with after moving back into the area. And Andy…well, they hadn’t spoken since their talk at Black Lake.
Around eight o’clock her phone buzzed. Seeing it was Andy, she had the horrible impulse to ignore his call. Which was exactly why she forced herself to answer it.
“Hey, Andy Cakes,” she said, hoping to keep it light.
“Hey. What are you doing right now?”
She glanced at the TV program she’d paused before answering. “Watching an old episode of Friends.”
“Oh brother. I’m saving you from Ross and Rachel drama. I decided to be spontaneous and see if the neighbor girl would come over and watch Danny. He’s asleep, so she was happy to agree to take my money to hang out at my place and watch cable. You and I are going out to play some pool or darts. Your choice.”
“Are you hoping I’ll be your wing woman tonight?” she asked, trying to feel out his intentions for this brother-sister outing.
“I said I would give it a try, and trying means getting out of the house on the weekends. Are you game?”
“Sure. Why not?” What else was she going to do? Keep listening for more hilarity from next door through the open windows? The screams she’d heard this afternoon had made her very curious.
“Meet me at Hairy’s,” he said. “We’ll see if you’ve lost your magic at the pool table.”
“You wish.” Few could beat her at her favorite game. “See you in twenty?”
That would give her time to put on something more suitable than her blue cotton jammies. If they were playing pool, she didn’t want to wear anything too dressy, maybe just jeans and a simple white T-shirt. She didn’t want to look like she was trying to pick anyone up.
“Perfect. Don’t be late. I hate drinking alone in a bar.”
Walking into a bar alone on a Saturday night could be awkward for anyone, even if you were meeting friends. How much worse would it be for a widower trying to return to the dating scene?
“I’ll swing by and pick you up.”
Was that a relieved sigh she heard? “Thanks, Nat.”
After changing her clothes and refreshing her makeup, she headed out. There was a new bumper sticker on the back of her car, courtesy of her brother, Matt.
Worms Make Me Horny.
Good Lord. Where did he find them? Probably the same place she did. On the Internet. She’d wondered if their ongoing bumper sticker war would continue with all this Blake drama. Apparently their teasing hadn’t changed, and she was glad. She’d have to retaliate tomorrow, and she had the perfect one in reserve: I Dig Poker Chicks. She knew Jane would love that one.
The warm glow of the town’s lights made her smile as she made her way down the foothills to the valley. It only took her five minutes to arrive at Andy’s house, which was one of the things she loved about small towns. Andy was already letting himself out of the house and jogging to her car. When he got in, he turned in his seat to face her.
“I’ll only ask this because…well, hell. Am I dressed okay?”
Ah, his vulnerability was touching. She patted his knee. “Jeans and a navy T-shirt look great on you.”
He eyed her. “Good thing I didn’t wear white. We’d be twins.”
She sped off. “Like we haven’t had people wonder about the whole twins thing before.”
“I thought about asking our cousins to come, but I knew Jill couldn’t since Mia has an ear infection. She and Brian showed up with her at the ER yesterday because she wouldn’t stop screaming.”
“Oh, no,” she said. “Poor baby.”