Nell flipped her hair back, licked her shining lips. “Anyway…”
“I’m sorry,” I said, not that it helped.
She turned her splotchy red face my way, tears trailing down her cheeks. “Can’t you just accidentally get pregnant and make Vaughan stay in Coeur d’Alene? I want some family around.”
“Um, no. Sorry.”
She barked that signature laugh. “Fine. Ruin everything, Lydia. See if I care.”
“Gosh, Lydia,” chided Rosie with a smile. “She’s not asking for much.”
I laughed and drank more wine. Everything would make more sense inebriated. I just knew it. And boy, was it going straight to my head. I guess having eaten only a piece of pecan pie today wasn’t the best way to start a night of wine drinking.
“I’m not being funny.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m a selfish ho.”
“Yes. You are.” Nell blew her nose and refilled her glass, attempting to pull herself together under our watchful eyes. “You should just let me do what I want with your uterus.”
The woman was nuts. Children weren’t even on my radar yet. Let alone with Vaughan.
“Your brother and I are just friends, Nell,” I said.
Both women laughed so hard it was a wonder they didn’t fall off the couch. I stoically ignored them as best I could. Female friends, so overrated. Though also kind of wonderful in all the ways. Damn Coeur d’Alene for getting so great just as I was about to leave.
“A toast!” Rosie held her wine glass high. “To bullshit and broken hearts.”
“Ha. Nice one.” I grinned.
“Here, here,” said Nell, drinking deep.
“To bullshit and broken hearts,” I said. Then I drank too.
Hours later someone knocked on the door. Hours and hours and many bottles of wine and slices of pizza later. Nell slowly got to her feet and stumbled on over to answer it. I’ll admit, it kind of surprised me when the person didn’t just charge inside the same way everyone else did.
“Oh. It’s you.” Nell turned around and returned to the couch.
Behind her was Eric, his anger from last night missing. Well, mostly. His lips were pressed tight together, but his eyes were completely devoid of the fire and rage. “You’ve made your point.”
“Glad to hear it,” said Nell, picking up her wineglass.
“It was a shitty thing to do, leaving me to run the bar on my own,” he said. “But I get why you felt the need.”
Nell just watched him with eyes slightly glazed.
“We’re lucky we weren’t nearly as busy as last night. As it was, we had a few complaints about the slow service. More than one table left without tipping.”
“Hmm.”
Eric studied his shoes, and shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants. He looked like a schoolboy called to the principal’s office.
He really was a good-looking man, I thought, as I eyed his long dark hair and sculpted face. Some expensive underwear company could have put him on a billboard. He didn’t dress casual like the other guys. He wore a white button-down shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, and nice black trousers instead of jeans.
“Where’s Vaughan? I better talk to him,” he said. “Set things right.”
“He’s busy,” blurted out Rosie, sitting up straight, all of a sudden at full attention.
“We can tell him.” Again, Nell clambered to her feet, red-tinged eyes suddenly far more open. “But I appreciate you offering to smoke the peace pipe.”
“No, I’ve been thinking,” said Eric. “There’s something I want to say to him.”
“But—”
“Vaughan!” Eric craned his neck right and then left, checking out the hallway and the dining area. “Hey, Vaughan, you got a minute?”
“Eric, don’t.” She grabbed at his arm, yanking him toward the door. “Later. Talk to him later.”
“Relax, Nell. I’m not going to cause any trouble.”
The kitchen door flew open, banging against the wall so hard you could hear the glass shudder. Though it wasn’t Vaughan who stood there, fury etched into the skin of his face, above the mammoth beard.
“What are you doing here?” Pat growled, taking several large steps into the room.
Nell released Eric’s arm, taking a hasty step back. “Patrick…”
“It was a work thing,” said Eric, tone calm, placating, even. “I just stopped by to tell her something. I’ll leave now.”
“Shit,” Andre mumbled, looking far from happy. The other guys had come inside too, Vaughan hanging back by the dining table, confusion in his eyes.