Sophie reached behind her into the backseat and dumped a sweater in her lap. Harper held it up and laughed. Garrison Christmas 1987. It had misshapen reindeer flying over lumpy, snow covered hills.
“These are from Mom’s knitting phase. We still do shirts every year, but now we order them online.”
“I’m feeling Christmas-y already. So how cold is the water?”
Sophie grinned. “Well, it’s not December, but it sure as hell isn’t warm! They don’t call the lake Arctic Hell for nothing. People don’t willingly get in the water until August. I brought a bunch of old towels, though and they hand out shots afterwords and have a bonfire. It’s pretty fun.”
When they pulled into the parking lot, Harper goggled at the number of cars already there. “It looks like the whole town is here.”
Sophie nodded, “More or less. James and Ty should be here already. Ty is on duty as a cop slash lifeguard. James will do the plunge with us.”
“What about Luke?”
Sophie shook her head. “He’s never done it. Even in high school. That boy was born an adult. I don’t know if he’s ever had a day of frivolous fun in his whole life.”
Harper yelped as a face plastered up against her window. “And then there’s my idiot brother James here who’s the opposite,” Sophie said, pointing at her window.
James yanked Harper’s door open. “Let’s go, ladies! The lake waits for no one.” He was wearing swim trunks and a Garrison Christmas 1993 t-shirt with a mooning Santa on it. Obviously he was much smaller in 1993 because it was more of a belly shirt now. He had plastic light-up reindeer antlers perched on his head.
“You look kind of adorable, James,” Harper teased, getting out of the car.
James lowered his sunglasses and winked. “Damn straight.” He plopped a Santa hat on her head and tossed one to Sophie. “Suit up, sis.”
Harper and Sophie peeled off their shorts and t-shirts and tossed them into the backseat before pulling on their sweaters.
Harper ignored James’ low whistle when he caught a glimpse of her white bikini. But Sophie cuffed him in the back of the head. “No poaching. I don’t want to watch Luke pound you into the ground.”
“Luke’s not here to do any pounding,” James grinned.
Harper took in the tailgating madness. It really did look like the whole town of Benevolence had turned out for the event. There were fat Santas and pointy-eared elves mingling with people dressed as stockings and Christmas trees. There was even a group of middle-aged men in red and green Speedos. She also caught a glimpse of Georgia Rae in an “I’m Mrs. Claus” sweatshirt.
James led the way through the crowd towards the lake.
“Excuse me, ladies. You look like you need mouth-to-mouth,” Ty, in a lifeguard tank top, red shorts, and yellow sunscreen painted nose, stepped up to plant a steamy kiss on Sophie.
“Ma’am, you’re looking like you could use some oxygen. Can I be of assistance?” A blond, muscle-bound guy, dressed like Ty and carrying a rescue buoy, sauntered up to Harper.
Ty stopped kissing Sophie long enough to punch him in the arm. “Nice try, Linc. This is Harper, Luke’s girlfriend. Harper, this is Lincoln Reed. He’s fire chief and Luke’s high school nemesis.”
“Girlfriend, huh? Nice to meet you, Harper.” Linc extended his large hand and Harper took it. He pulled her in a step closer. “Luke or no Luke, you let me know if you need assistance.”
Harper pulled her hand back and laughed. “Nice to meet you, too, Linc. But I’m breathing just fine. You guys look pretty impressive,” she said gesturing at their costumes.
“We take this event very seriously, which is why I’m going to have to insist that you do a shot before getting in the water,” Linc said, adopting a serious face.
“It’s purely a precautionary measure,” Ty agreed solemnly.
“We’d better do what the lifeguards say.” Sophie winked at Harper. “Lead the way, boys.”
Ty picked Sophie up and tossed her over his shoulder and started weaving his way through the crowd towards a makeshift plywood bar with a Remo’s banner hanging above it. “We need shots, stat, bartender!” Ty said, dropping Sophie on her feet in front of the bar.
Linc offered Harper his arm. “Better catch up, sunshine.”
Harper rolled her eyes and took his arm. “Lead the way.”
The bartender was Sheila from Remo’s. “Welcome to Remo’s Lakeside, ladies.” She plopped a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of tequila on the bar top. “What’ll it be?”
“Oh, tequila, my nasty friend,” Sophie sighed.
