“You made it.” He kissed her cheek and led her to their regular large booth in the corner, under the shuttered windows.
The pub buzzed with voices, white collar and blue collar mingling together. In the far-left corner, a singer tuned his guitar and tested his mike.
“Hello, everyone.” Daffy squeezed into the circular booth next to Ella. “Sorry I’m late. Lucy and I were packing wedding dresses.”
“Are you still going to Hadsby next week?” Thomas said.
“Friday actually.”
“What? No. Since when?”
“Since we realized how much we had to do. I’m sorry. I won’t be gone long. Promise. Two or three weeks.”
“We’ll keep him company.” Sitting on the other side of Ella with a tall glass of wine, Leslie Ann inserted herself into Daffy’s private conversation. No surprise. “Why don’t we all go up to Dalholm on the weekend? For some late winter skiing?”
Frank and Kayle, who sat on the other side of Leslie Ann, said they were game. So did Marlow, Tonya, and the three single lads at the end of the table. Albert, Rick, and Jones.
“Let me get up there and see how much work I have to do, please.” Daffy shot Leslie Ann a look.Stop controlling things.
In Florida, she and Leslie Ann hashed out their differences, but the sting of her betrayal hadn’t quite faded.
“Where’s Blinky?” Daffy smiled at the server who set a pint in front of her then eyed the already started plate of sausage rolls. “Tonya, can you dish me a few of those? I’m famished.”
“Blink is still working,” Thomas said, moving closer to Daffy, slipping his arm behind her on the back of the booth.
“Daff, you can’t still be mad at me?” Leslie Ann angled around Ella.
“Leslie Ann, just drop it.” Daffy bit into a sausage roll.
“I’m so jealous of your tan, Daffy.” Gracious Kayle steered the conversation to a lighter topic. “Frank, take me to Florida.” She nudged her husband of two years.
“Now see what you’ve done, Daff?”
“Not my fault you never take your wife on vacation.”
“Who can afford it?”
“Daffy.” Leslie Ann rapped her knuckles on the table. “You have to forgive me sometime.” She pleaded her case to the table. “I was just doing my job.”
“What you did was pretty rotten, Les.” Thomas came to Daffy’s defense. “You highjacked her social media account.”
Apparently at this table “drop it” meant talk about it.
“There’s laws against that, you know.” Tonya sounded every bit like a Port Fressa prosecutor.
“I’ve apologized.” Leslie Ann slumped against the back of the booth. “Whatever happened to forgiveness?”
“I’ve had enough. You two are ruiningmyfun.” Ella grabbed Leslie Ann’s hand, then Daffy’s. “Leslie Ann, do you promise to never involve Daffy in one of your stories again?”
“Especially anything related to the royal family.” Daffy pulled her hand free as she twisted toward her friend. “I work for them.”
“I promise.” Leslie Ann crossed her heart, sending a kiss toward heaven. “I will never involve you again.”
“Then I forgive you. Again. But don’t ever—”
Leslie Ann crossed her heart again. “Never, ever. Unless the story is—”
The entire table chorused, “Leslie Ann!”
