Page 70 of Memories By the Shore
I blink a few times before rising to meet hers. “I’m glad. You’ll have fun.”
“I’m sure.” She blushes. Falling into step with me, we walk toward the booths.
“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” I ask, shoving my hands in my front pockets. “We have just about anything you could want here tonight.”
“Yeah, I’d love to try it all.” Her energy is lighter today.
“I was just about to check on the beer garden. Do you want to come?”
She smiles. “Yeah, but I don’t want to take you away from your mayor duties.”
“The Chamber pretty much runs this whole thing. I’m here to greet people, mingle, and then make a quick speech later.”
“Sounds like a pretty relaxed night for you,” she says. “Do you still have a booth here for your dad’s shop?”
I warm at her memory of it.
“We don’t. My dad stopped a few years after you left. He really didn’t need to do it anymore. Instead, he gave the employees the night off to enjoy the event with their families,” I tell her.
Avery’s lips twist and her eyes lower pensively. “Your dad was a good guy.”
I sigh. “He was.”
There’s a brief silence between us before we approach Easton’s booth.
“Arizona!” Bodhi yells, then grabs her by the waist and swings her around.
“A little overkill, don’t you think?” I quip. Hearing her laugh around my friends is surreal—like no time has passed.What a mind fuck this is.
“I hear Jasper won’t give you a divorce?” Bodhi blurts out, lacking the filter he should have been born with.
Avery straightens her dress when she’s set back on the grass. “He won’t.”
“We’ll talk to him,” Easton adds. “Nice seeing you again.”
She leans over the table and wraps one arm around him for a half hug. “Breakfast was so good. I had no idea you could cook like that.”
“I can’t take all the credit,” he plays. “We do have a phenomenal chef.”
A light wind wears through her hair, and the scent of her coconut shampoo hits my nostrils—what I would give to bury my face in it.
“I need to check on Lyle and Janet at the beer garden. Averyand I are going to head over there,” I say, resting a hand on her lower back out of habit, but then immediately jerk it away.
“Cool. See you in a bit,” Easton says, while Bodhi waves with a mouth full of a strawberry scone from Easton’s café.
Avery and I walk side by side through the grass. “Still drink old-fashioneds?”
“I do.” She bites her lips, dipping her head down bashfully. “I shouldn’t have been drinking them back then, you know?”
Rubbing my chin, I fondly remember the first time Avery had an old-fashioned. She didn’t drink wine coolers or fruity drinks with the other girls. She also refused to drink beer like the guys. “None of us should have, but we did.”
She laughs. It’s still the best sound, and the moment those sweet giggles hit the air, my brain is already figuring out how I could do it again.
“Mayor Collins,” Lyle greets me as Avery and I enter the small space sectioned off by artificial bushes.
“Lyle, you can call me Jasper,” I correct, shaking his hand.
“I know, I know. But we’re new here, and Janet and I want to make a good impression,” he politely explains.
