Sebastian grinned.
She whooped and danced in place while Hersh egged her on by clapping. “Where did you find this?” she asked.
“A website that brokers hard-to-find pieces of glassware. The Alana is a hot commodity. I set up an alert and asked to be notified whenever one became available. Even so, other buyers beat me to it the first five times.”
“You were at a disadvantage because you’re nowhere near your phone when you’re in surgery,” she said.
“Yeah,” Hersh murmured.
“This goblet became available at two a.m. a few weeks back, and it was immediately mine.”
“Immediatelymine, you mean.” She held it against her heart. “Thank you, sweetie.”
“Love you, man.” Hersh patted him on the shoulder.
“You do know that this goblet isn’t going to get you out of the post-party cleanup chores, right?” CeCe asked.
“Right.”
“Hersh and I are going to be dog tired after all this, so we’ll be putting our feet up. We had kids and grandkids so we wouldn’t have to handle cleanup.” She bobbed her head toward the far side of the deck. “Did you see Ben? He invited that blond teacher he likes.”
Within Sebastian, something fundamental went completely still.
“When she showed up a few minutes ago,” Hersh commented, “he about wet his pants.”
Sebastian steeled himself and looked. Leah was talking with Ben. She wore a green cardigan over a blue-and-white sundress, which had a wide skirt that ended at her knees. The sight impacted him like a defensive tackle. He couldn’t think of anything to say.
He wished he’d had some warning. Ben hadn’t told him he’d invited Leah.
“Go see if you can help him out with her,” CeCe suggested.
“Okay.”
“Well.” She made a shooing motion. “Go on, then.”
“Happy anniversary.”
“Sure. Now go on.”
He moved in Ben’s direction as CeCe turned toward the interior of the house. He heard her yell, “My holy grail!” to her sister.
Ben’s older brother stopped Sebastian with a question about health insurance deductibles.
An aunt asked him who he was dating these days.
Finally, he approached Ben and Leah. Ben was smiling like it was winter and Leah was sunshine.
She stopped speaking mid-sentence as he drew near. “Sebastian,” she said warmly.
“Hey.”
Ben hugged him.
“I’m glad you came tonight,” Sebastian said to Leah. “Ben’s parents are great.”
“Don’t let them catch you calling them my parents,” Ben said. “Mom will hit the roof since she wants you to view them as your parents, too.”
“I’m fresh out of parents,” Leah said. “Can they be my parents?”
