Page 36 of Backed By You
I gesture vaguely up the mountain. “Took a tumble off one of the hiking trails.”
She gapes. “Oh, no.”
I shake my head. “Yeah, it wasn’t fun. But we’re okay.”
“Good.” She nods as Frankie hobbles over to us.
When he spots Hulk, his whole body begins to wiggle in excitement at seeing his much bigger buddy. He heads in our direction. I’ve met Frankie a few times—once when Cassidy came to help Mrs. Montgomery clean the rental cabin after a large family left a huge mess, and recently when Butch was over helping Beau cut down a few trees a few weeks ago. Hulk and Frankie have become fast friends. I feel a bit guilty he can’t play with his short friend.
They’re hilarious to watch play together, given their size difference.
Frankie sniffs Hulk’s wrapped hind leg and whines softly before picking a spot on his blanket and having a seat. We sit in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the flames dance.
I lift my chin toward the music coming from the rental cabin. “Having a party?”
“Yeah. It’s just a little bachelorette get-together for Cassidy and me.” Maci yawns. “Nothing wild.”
“Moms’ night out.” I smile faintly, and Maci yawns a second time. “How come you’re not inside partying with the rest of them?”
She shrugs, then checks her phone before peering up at me. “Not a big partier,” she says. “Or drinker. I’m more of a babysitter for tonight. This is Cassidy’s first night out in almost two years.”
“Oh, boy.”
Maci laughs. “Exactly. But don’t let her fool you, she was crying for the first hour after we dropped the babies off with Duke’s mom.”
“How is Olivia doing?”
“She’s amazing,” Maci beams, swiping on her phone to show me a picture of her daughter and Cassidy and Butch’s son playing. “Julie is watching her and Gage for the night. It’s herfirst time with both babies at once. She went a bit…over the top with toy purchases for the house.”
I smile as she swipes through the dozens of pictures Julie sent of the babies surrounded by toys. My heart melts at how lucky they are to have such a wonderful, hands-on grandmother.
The sound of laughter gets louder, and the back door slides open again. A woman’s voice calls out, “Maci? Everything okay?”
“I’m over here,” she calls back with a wave of her hand.
“You started a fire without us?” Seconds later, Cassidy appears at the edge of the yard, slightly unsteady on her feet. She’s holding a wine glass that sloshes dangerously as she walks. Behind her, three other women follow, each carrying drinks.
“Callie!” Cassidy exclaims when she sees me. “I stopped by earlier. I wanted to invite you to join us.”
“Sorry about that,” I say, awkward at seeing her so intoxicated. We’ve only met a handful of times.
“Well, now we’re bringing the party to you,” she announces, throwing her arms wide and nearly spilling her glass. “Bonfire time!”
I glance at Hulk, who’s watching the newcomers with mild interest, his tail giving a single weak thump against his blanket. This definitely wasn’t what I had planned for our quiet evening in.
Not really having much choice, the group of women are already arranging themselves around the fire pit. A few fetch chairs from their cars while others grab dining chairs from the cabin.
One of the women, a stout blonde I’ve never met, looks around. “We need marshmallows. Do you have marshmallows, Callie?” she asks, adding as an afterthought, “I’m Alison, by the way. Cassidy’s maid of honor.” She gestures proudly to her sash.
Before I can answer, more women emerge from next door, carrying folding chairs and bottles of wine. “I found more chairs,” one of them announces triumphantly.
Maci catches my eye and mouths ‘sorry’ with an apologetic smile.
I take a deep breath and look down at Hulk, who seems surprisingly unbothered by all the commotion. His eyes meet mine, and I swear I can see a glint of amusement there, as if to say, “Well, this is different.”
As the women settle in, chattering excitedly about playingCards Against Humanityby the fire, I lean over to scratch behind Hulk’s ears. Maybe this isn’t what we planned, but sometimes life’s interruptions are exactly what we need.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Maci asks. “We’ve got everything except tequila—we’re running low.”
