Page 79 of Tequila Tuesdays

“Nice and hike are two words that should never be in the same sentence,” I heard Ramone say from behind me.

I smirked. “Itwasnice.”

Olivia hummed a little beside me.

I turned to her. “What?”

“We ate freeze-dried pasta for dinner and instant coffee and rehydrated scrambled eggs for breakfast.”

“So? You hike long enough, and everything tastes good.”

Ramone held up his finger. “Maybe noteverything.”

“It’s sleeping on the hard ground that gets me,” Sheila said.

Grace shook her head. “I’d only walk that far if there were eighteen holes of golf involved.”

Olivia pointed at me. “Harley also didn’t tell me there were rattlesnakes or coyotes out there.”

Grace shrugged. “It was smart of Harley to omit that part.”

“I didn’t purposefullynottell her.” I threw up my hands. “It’s the desert. It’s their natural habitat.”

“And all that sand and dirt, with no running hot water or a bathroom? No, thank you.” Ramone shuddered.

I put my hands on my hips and turned to Olivia. “Did you likeanythingabout the camping trip?”

“The night sky was amazing. I’ve never seen that many stars before. And I liked learning how to pitch a tent. Okay, there were some good parts.”

I rolled my eyes. “Glad to hear you likedsomething.”

“My favorite part was hanging out with you and your friends.” She turned to Grace and Sheila. “You should’ve heard Zeke’s commentary about how versatile the word ‘shit’ is.”

Grace laughed. “That man has some interesting ideas.”

Ramone stood there in thought for a moment. “You know, he’s right. There’s bullshit, and a crock of shit—”

“Don’t start!” I protested. “You don’t want to go down that rabbit hole.”

Scott, Laurel’s neighbor, walked up. “Are you talking about how many meanings have been attached to a variation of the word, shit? It’s pretty interesting.”

“I can’t go through this conversation again without a drink first.” I left them and walked over to Laurel who was at the kitchen bar with the martini ingredients lined up in front of her. I remembered her various Halloween-themed martinis and wondered what she’d dreamed up for Christmas.

“What strange and amazing flavors did you decide on?”

She smiled happily. “I’m glad you asked. We’ve got peppermint martinis.” She pointed at the beautiful but empty martini glass rimmed with crushed candy cane.

“I’ve also got a sugar cookie-flavored martini with vanilla vodka and amaretto.” She pointed at the glass with red and green sprinkles around the rim.

“And a white Christmas martini with white chocolate liqueur, heavy cream, and vanilla vodka. It’s a pure white chocolate martini.”

I looked down at all the decadent, sugary ingredients. “Those sound delicious, but I’ll have to visit the dentist tomorrow.”

She grinned. “There’s also a traditional eggnog martini. And finally, we have a tart but slightly sweet cranberry orange gin martini with just a hint of cinnamon. That one’s Sebastian’s recipe; he made it for us at Thanksgiving.”

I nodded. “That last one sounds intriguing. I’ll try that.”

Damien and Sebastian walked over while we were talking.

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