Page 54 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
“We’re not lightweights,” Nina agreed.
“Okay, so the moms are the lightweights,” Brody amended.
“We’ll show him,” Phoebe muttered. “I just met my deadline, and that was with very little sleep. I deserve shots.”
Phoebe was a writer, and Leah loved her books. So far, she hadn’t told her that, but maybe tonight was the night.
“So, Brody or Sawyer will call me if you need me, okay, Hudson?” Leah said, dropping down beside her nephew.
“Okay. See you tomorrow, Aunt Leah,” he said.
“They’ll call, and I’ll?—”
“He’s got the idea,” Nina said, hauling Leah to her feet with surprising strength for a small person. “Let’s go, Aunt Leah.”
She brushed a kiss on the top of Hudson’s head and let her friends drag her out of the house and back into the car, where she felt that little simmer of excitement grow. For a few hours, she would enjoy this time out with friends before she got back into real life.
Chapter 15
The Rollaway was transformed for Girls’ Night. Leah walked in through the doors and stopped. The place was almost unrecognizable from the one she’d spent hours dancing, flirting, and drinking in before leaving Lyntacky.
A disco ball hung above the dance floor between the strings of lights, and everywhere Leah looked, she saw pink. Bows, shirts, and balloons. The sock wall was still there and had pink ribbons tied around the toes of some of them.
Then there were the two men in the sea of women. One of them was Red, who was with his wife, Dee. The oddest couple she’d ever met, who were deeply in love. He wore a tight pink shirt, as did the tall thin man to his right behind the bar. On the front of their shirts were the words“Honorary Girl.”
“Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was playing loud enough from the speakers to make her wince. She saw Robyn Duke and Linda from the diner dancing with Nancy from the Circle Left boarding house, bar, and restaurant.
“Get to the bar, girl,” Nina said, nudging Leah in the spine.
“Leah, it’s sooooo good to see you!” Priscilla was already there, another old friend, and by the enthusiastic greeting, it wasclear she had been enjoying happy hour a lot. Married to Jed Knox, Cill was the masseuse at The Gnat.
“Right, line them up, Red,” Zoe said, slapping the bar.
“Hold your broomstick, Zoe,” Red said. “I’m just making Dr. Hannah’s peachy keen.”
“She’s still drinking those?” Leah whispered to Birdie.
“Always.”
“Broomstick? You feeling brave tonight, Red?” Nina asked.
He flashed her a smile and then saw Leah.
“No way. I wondered when you’d find your way back in here.” Red leaned over the bar, wrapped a beefy arm around her, and hugged. He smelled of beer and cinnamon, which was odd, but also nice.
“Sorry, I’m late. But I made it!”
The latest addition to the Duke family arrived at the bar. Libby Gulliver, the blonde, blue-eyed partner of Ryder Duke.
“Don’t tell me you created another chocolate flavor just to piss your daddy off?” Zoe asked.
“Something like that,” Libby said.
“Daddy?” Leah asked. She’d met Libby but not really talked to her.
“My daddy is Caldwell Candies,” Libby said to Leah. “But I’m better at making chocolate than any of his chocolatiers.”
“I love chocolate, and the stuff Ryder gave me that day was amazing,” Leah said, wondering what it would be like to have so much money, like Libby’s family, you didn’t have to think about it when you were in a store.
