The party startedon the second floor deck at a taproom on State Street. As far as June evenings went, it didn’t get much better than this and everyone knew it. The drinks were flowing and, at first glance, everyone seemed in good spirits.
“Okay,” Emme said, almost to herself. “Audrey was right about reserving the deck even if we’ll have to sell our eggs to pay for it. This is nice. This works.”
“You’repaying for this?”
She gave medo you know anything?eyes. “The bridesmaids throw the shower.”
“The whole night?” There was no way in hell I was letting that happen. I wasn’t letting any of it happen but first I had to figure out how to settle up here without leaving Emme’s side. I could probably fire off a message to Marcie. “You’re picking up the tab for thisandall the bar stops?”
She shook her head as she studied the crowd. “No, Jamie laid down the law with the groomsmen and told them they had to figure out the stops by themselves. She can be terrifying when she wants to. She could command an army.”
“I believe that.” I looked around for the happy couple but didn’t see them. “What do you want to drink? They have one of those weird fruity stouts you like.”
“I think I should start with something lighter than a stout,” she said. “It’s going to be a long night and I don’t want to start thecrying in the bathroomphase until later.”
Audrey spotted us then and made a beeline across the deck, a small notebook tucked under her arm and her phone clutched in her hand. She could also command an army.
“You remember the guy?” she asked Emme, ignoring me entirely. I didn’t mind. Sometimes it was nice to watch from the bench. “With the truck? The one who agreed to load up all of the gifts and drop them off at Grace’s house? He got called into work.”
“We have no guy? No truck?” Emme yelped.
“No guy.” Audrey shook her head, sending her white-blonde hair swishing over her shoulders.
Her dress was just like Em’s. The blue was a little darker, the skirt hit at her knees, but the same grandma-nightgown energy. Grace didnotstrike me as someone who’d choose a wedding with grandma-nightgown energy but what the fuck did I know?
“Can we schedule a car service and request a big family van? Would that work?” Emme asked.
“But then someone needs to go with the family van to Grace’s house and unload everything tonight. And then get a ride back here.” Audrey crossed her arms over her chest. “I could go but?—”
“You’ve doneeverythingfor this party,” Emme said. “You’re not cramming yourself into an Uber with a bunch of kitchen appliances and bath towels too.”
“What’s the problem?” I asked, glancing between them.
Emme pointed to the gifts piled on a picnic table. “We can’t leave the gifts here. We have to pack up everything and drive it to Grace’s house outside the city, but the person who had both the truck and the disinterest in drinking all night has to fight fires instead. Now we’re fighting over who gets the short end of the stick.”
“Does it have to be delivered tonight? Or would tomorrow work?” I asked. “I can make a call and arrange to haveeverything stored tonight and then delivered when they’re home tomorrow.”
“Really?” Audrey asked just as Emme said, “You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t want to watch you two stress over how to solve this and I’m sure as hell not letting either of you do it all by yourself.”
Audrey pressed her palms together and exchanged a glance with Emme that I couldn’t decipher. Something that had my wife smiling and shaking her head like she disagreed but not enough to put any weight into it.
“Please don’t call Jakobi,” Emme said. “Ines told me they were going on a midnight harbor cruise to see some special constellation and she was extremely excited.”
“Not Jakobi,” I said with a laugh. He’d skin me alive if I cut into his plans for the evening. “Marcie always has someone on hand to do odd jobs. It’s not a problem.”
“It would relieve a massive headache,” Audrey said. “And neither of us would have to miss the rest of the party.”
I pulled out my phone. “Consider it done.”
“Where the hell is Jamie?” Emme asked. “Of all people, she’s the one most likely to have a guy with a truck waiting around to help her out.”
“You also have a guy with quick access to a truck waiting around to help you out,” I murmured as I swiped through some messages on my phone. “Your husband.”
“Your—” Audrey’s mouth fell open as her eyes damn near popped out of her head. She brought her hands to her cheeks as she swung her gaze between us.“What?”
Emme closed her hands around Audrey’s wrists, saying, “Listen to me, sweet girl. I ambeggingyou to take that little morsel of information and tuck it away. This is Grace’s party and I’m not stealing any of her thunder simply because this bull in a china shop boy of mine can’t stay quiet.”
