Sully headed over to a high-top as Finn came over to me. “Go eat with the guys, I’ve got the bar until Daryl gets up here in a few,” he said.
“Thanks, man.”
I headed over to join the guys but pulled Drew back just before we reached the table. Placing my hand on his neck, I pulled his head toward mine. “All bullshit aside, glad you’re here.”
Drew put his hand on my shoulder as well. “No place I’d rather be.”
I slid onto a stool at the four-top and looked around. There were still some guys at the bar watching the game, though it looked like the good guys were going to lose this one. A few tables had begun to fill up for the night. There was a handful of people standing at the counter by the door, some purchasing cans to go. A low murmur filled the place, people kicking back and relaxing. I glanced at Sully, and he caught my eye with a grin.
“We did it,” I said.
Sully raised his glass up. “Fuck yeah we did.”
Max, Drew, and I raised ours to meet Sully’s. Clicking the glasses together, Max said, “Five years, guys. Nicely done.”
Drew took a swig and looked around. “Proud of you two. You’ve built something pretty amazing here.”
I nodded, sitting back and soaking it all in. “Yeah, we really have.” Looking back at the guys, I said, “Saturday night is going to be a hell of a celebration.”
Max grinned. “Hell yeah it is. I can’t wait to see what Margot thinks of the green witch.”
Drew chuckled. “I’ll drink to that.”
“She will have the wedding plans begun before the night is through,” Sully stated.
Shit. It would be a hell of a celebration. If Mom had anything to say about it.
“Don’t worry, man. I’m sure Sam will have Margot under control,” Max said, grinning. Yeah, my dad was an amazing man. But he loved my mother and wouldn’t dream of stepping in or giving her any suggestions. No, my mom and Steph would be running the show this weekend.
Sully laughed at my expression. Drew picked up his glass and held it out to me. “Good luck,” he said.
“Thanks,” I replied, tapping his glass with mine.
His eyes looked full of laughter as he took a sip. Setting his glass down, he raised an eyebrow at me and whispered, “You’re so going to need it.”
7
Family Introductions
Ivy
I walked into the local coffee shop, the Sanctuary, that was housed in a former church. Emma and Maggie were meeting here tonight for yoga and had invited me to join them. I met these girls only seven months ago, but we were already fast friends. Emma was a librarian at the Ryan Library, the public library only blocks from my bookstore. We worked on several projects together. Maggie was a seventh grade language arts teacher in town, and we collaborated on a few projects through her work with middle school kids. Maggie and Emma had been friends since childhood and were both crazy gorgeous. Emma was absolutely the girl next door, my height, with wavy dark brown hair. Maggie was taller, an extrovert to Emma’s quiet nature, with a riot of strawberry blonde hair, and she was rather pregnant, which made tonight’s invite a bit of a surprise to me. Lately, Maggie had become more and more of a homebody.
Typically, a yoga class at five thirty p.m. on a weeknight would be a no go for me, unless I got a sitter. And frankly, that was just too much work. However, today was the first day that Jake was picking up Addie from school. He’d messaged me this afternoon, asking if I’d mind if he kept her for dinner. Seems he was having dinner with Cole Sullivan and his parents. Addie knew them from time that we’d hung out with this crew over the summer. That being said, a night to myself? Absolutely unheard of. So I’d greedily accepted the yoga invite. Goddess knows I could use some time to re-center myself.
“Ivy, Ivy, over here.”
I looked across the room and saw Emma and Maggie toward the back of the room. Emma was engaged to Max Harp. Maggie had married Emma’s brother, Sully, this fall. Their baby was due in two months. I grinned. Maggie didn’t look that comfortable in her spot on the floor with the beach ball that had replaced her stomach.
“Thanks for saving me a spot,” I said as I rolled out my mat and kicked off my shoes. I dropped onto the floor by the girls and looked over to Maggie. Leaning over, I squeezed her knee. “Looking good, chickie.”
Maggie groaned and placed her hands on her beautiful belly. “Sure, sure. I feel like I might explode. We’re definitely out of room in here. I told Emma I’ll never get back off the floor, so you all are on duty. But my hips have been killing me lately, so I decided to come.”
I nodded, remembering what it felt like to be nearing the end of my pregnancy with Addie. “This is absolutely good for you. You’ll just have to modify some poses.”
Maggie nodded. “Yeah, I talked to Kristine when we arrived. She said she’d give me a heads-up on how to modify or any poses to skip.”
“When I was pregnant with Addie, yoga saved me. So did swimming, so you could try that too.”
