“I think I see Griff.” She pointed.
Joining hands, we wove through the crowd toward the wall. Griff, Audrey, May, Kyle and Zach were clustered together, cocktails in hand.
“Hey!” Griff said, raising his hand for a high-five. “You made it. Kind of crazy here.”
“Isn’t it?”
“What are you drinking?” Griff asked my girl. “Alec makes his own tonic water and it is tasty. And he’s pouring a Vermont-made gin with honey as its base.”
Suddenly I could taste the bitter sweetness of gin and tonic on my tongue. But that didn’t mean I had to have one. “Maybe I’ll get just a tonic water and lime.” Close enough.
“I got it,” Sophie said, slipping away from us all and heading toward the bar before I could stop her.
Griff took a sip of his. “This place is going to do well.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Alec looks happy.” He jutted his chin toward the bar, where Zara’s dark-haired brother was working hard to serve drinks.
“I thought you and Zara’s brothers weren’t close,” I said.
Griff leaned in to speak privately. “He likes me more now that I’m not banging his sister.”
“Ah,” I said, while Zach blushed profusely beside us.
God, I loved these guys. It had taken me a long time to feel part of their circle, but I did now. I wasn’t just some guy they’d paid hourly wages to over the summer. Griff and his family were my friends, and I wasn’t ever giving them up. Sophie and I went to Thursday Dinner as religiously as we went to Community Dinner on Wednesdays. This summer, on my days off, I planned to help out Griff with the renovation of the little house he shared with Audrey.
By some miracle I’d populated my life with good people. So sign me up for a lifetime of helping them wherever I could.
“What are you dudes gossiping about?” Zara asked, appearing in front of us. “Were you discussing the ridiculous shape of this belly?” She put a hand on what was, indeed, an incredibly large baby bump. It wasn’t even a bump. It was a blimp.
“How long will it be?” I asked.
“Any minute now! I can only thank her for waiting until the opening. It’s been a crazy week.” She rubbed her giant belly.
“You did a lot of work on this place?” Griff asked.
“Yeah, I couldn’t stand to watch my big brother fuck everything up. He had no idea how to do a liquor inventory. He’s a rookie who thinks he knows what he’s doing. It’s the worst.”
“Hey—everybody’s a rookie sometimes,” Audrey insisted, appearing beside Griff. “I’m, like, a permanent rookie in life. I have empathy for poor Alec.”
“But see—you admit when you don’t know something,” Zara argued. “Nobody in my family is ever wrong.” She rolled her eyes.
Sophie returned a minute later with two glasses, handing me one. “What did you get?” I asked.
“Same as you!” She touched her glass to mine.
“You didn’t have to do that.” She could have a few drinks if she wanted to.
She stood on her toes and kissed me. “I know. But why not? Gin makes me sleepy.”
I kissed her again, putting my free hand to the silky fabric of her dress. How was this my life? I had everything I’d ever wanted right here.
“Break it up you two!” Zara complained. “I want to show you guys the patio, because it’s less loud and less crowded. Follow me.”
We all trailed after her, and it was totally worth it. The patio stretched the length of the rear of the mill, overlooking the Winooski River. There were strings of lights on the banister and candle sconces on the wall. It was a surprisingly warm April evening for Vermont, and the nighttime air promised that spring was really coming.
“Wow!” May said, and I could hear her because it was quieter out here. “Pretty.”
“What a spread!” Audrey crowed. “They could rent this space for private parties.”
“Like, weddings,” Griff’s cousin Kyle said. “Maybe if Griff ever gets around to proposing, you guys could have the reception here.”
Griff gave his cousin an evil glare. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
“What?” Kyle said. “Just a suggestion.”
“You can’t throw a man under the bus like that,” May argued. “These things happen on their own time.”
Kyle grinned. “Just hangin’ it out there. All men are a little squeamish at the mention of weddings. It’s a guy thing.”
“Nobody’s squeamish,” Griff argued. “Some people have to do some home renovation before they plan a wedding.”
“Is that so? I thought maybe you were chicken.”
Audrey rolled her eyes. “You’re an ass, Kyle.”
“I’m perceptive, that’s all.”
Sophie tugged my hand, and I followed her to the railing away from the group. “The moon is shining in the river,” she said. “Look.”
“Beautiful,” I said, finding the moon on the surface of the water. But the real beauty was her.