Hope had set her up at a corner table in the back. No one was paying attention to her. She wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about that. Regardless, it was nice to see the fruits of their work over the last day.
“Wow, your old boyfriend there, proposing to that teenager. Kind of gross if you ask me.”
Goldie laughed. Drake was too old for River Ann, but she was hardly a teen.
“She’s not a teenager, but she is half his age, but only a third of his age if you go by how old he says he is.”
“What kind of math is that now?”
“Hollywood male math, trust me, it’s indecipherable.”
“I’d say you did well here, Miss Hayes.”
“Thank you.”
Hope came to their table with a bottle of wine.
“Cherry Creek’s best.” Hope poured them both a glass.
“Cherry Creek?”
“Yep, we have several wineries in the area, a regular Napa Valley in Lenawee County.”
“There’s a lot more here to love than I realized,” Goldie said as she took a sip of the wine. It was better than she’d expected. Over her wine glass she caught a glance between Hope and Joe. Oh, oops. She was in “like,” maybe in “lust,” but not in love with Joe Cassidy. She didn’t mean to imply that! Plus, she had a life to get back to in L.A. after the nonsense with Victor fanboys died down.
For tonight, she’d enjoy success with her friends. Libby’s work for Irish Hills was nothing short of a miracle. Hope would already be a sensation if this place was in L.A. But now that it was getting some love from the country music crowd, hopefully the locals would also discover it.
The idea of leaving her old friends, not to mention the pure joy that was being in J.J.’s orbit, formed a dark cloud in Goldie’s mind. Still, her life was there, not here.
But for now, she’d laugh with her friends, flirt with Joe, and enjoy wine from Michigan, of all places!
Her phone, however, had other plans. It started vibrating. Over and over and over again.
She was about to pull it out of her purse to see why.
At that moment, J.J. appeared with a look of concern.
“Hey, Sister, there’s a group there, waiting for a table. They do not look like the country music crowd.” J.J. had blocked their view but now slowly slid to the side for Goldie to get a better look. “They’re wearing superhero t-shirts.”
“Shoot, I’m probably in the background of some of these shots getting posted. I really did let my guard down.”
“Hope says you can sneak out that way through the kitchen.”
“Come on, I’ll get you out of here,” Joe said.
So much for eating a meal in public. The fanboys were relentless. Joe stood first. He was twice her size. He easily blocked the view for any gawking diners as they slid behind the bar and back to Hope’s bustling kitchen.
“This way,” Hope said. And she opened a screen door at the back of the kitchen and held it open for them. Joe went out first and looked left and right like they were in a spy movie.
“Thanks, Hope.”
“Yep, I’ll try to slow them up, get ‘em seated, and serve ‘em slow.”
Joe reached his hand out and led Goldie as they walked around the restaurant to the sidewalk. Goldie liked holding hands with Joe. Even though she did not like the fact that they had to flee the restaurant.
The truck was in sight when another group of fans jumped between them and her escape.
“Found her!”
