She shot me a knowing side-eye. “That’s what you think. Be careful out there, Ade.”
I accepted the old-fashioned from Charlie made just the way I liked it, and took a big gulp, enjoying the burn and my pregnancy-free life. “Mm-hmm.”
Case and Joey walked through the doors next. Case whistled at the shiny new digs but kept his arm firmly around his girlfriend. “Do we get to pick where we want to work?” he asked.
“You do,” Will told him. “But ladies first and Joey already called dibs.”
Case glared at her, offended. “You what”
She put her hand to her heart. “What? You don’t want me to have the best?”
Caught between his relationship rock and a hard place, he narrowed his eyes. “I want you to be comfortable, baby. Change can be stressful. Also, this clientele is going to be a bitch. I can already tell.” He made a show of looking out through the giant glass garage doors that led to iced-over patios that would one day look out on a lake, green space, and walking trails. “This whole side of town smells gluten free and oat milk-y.”
Joey laughed. “You might be right about that.”
Miles and Ally walked in next. Then a few of our other servers, along with friends from all the different couples. Soon, the place buzzed with friendly chatter. We’d catered our favorite barbecue restaurant and a whole variety of cheesecakes, and there were plenty of drink stations around the space.
Charlie and I had spent the day setting up, and I could see on his face how proud he was to have pulled it off. He leaned across the bar and smiled at me.
“They seem happy,” he said.
“Yeah, free food and booze tend to do that.”
“Good point.” He reached for my hand. “It looks nice, though, Ade. We did a good thing.”
“We did a great thing,” I assured him.
“I like working with you,” he added.
“Yeah, I like working with you too.”
“I like sleeping with you too.”
I felt myself get warm all over. “There are perks to sharing a bed.”
“Maybe we should—”
Before he finished his sentence, Steve walked in with his wife, Martha. We waved at them while they worked their way toward us. We’d gotten close as couples over the last several months. They were often our double date partners, and they’d even convinced us to start playing pickleball with them on Saturday mornings.
Martha was as lovely as Steve. And I loved spending time with them. Charlie couldn’t have picked better friends.
We said our hellos, and Charlie made them drinks. They marveled at the similarities between the two bars. Charlie and I had enjoyed nearly free rein on the design choices, and we’d gone with dark woods and golden sconces that complemented the crystal chandeliers. The walls were covered in very cool wallpaper—all dark navy blues with insect patterns, such as beetles, honeybees, and dragonflies—in muted pinks, purples, reds and greens. The chairs and barstools were covered in matching velvet tones and the bar itself was detailed with inlaid crystals and gold fixtures.
There were obvious differences between the two bars, but the dark wood and old-school ambiance tied them together. They were clearly siblings but not identical twins.
Like the Englishes themselves.
Eventually, we sent Steve and Martha off to explore the bar. And once they were gone, Charlie took my hand again and pulled my attention back to him.
“Like I was saying—”
My sister walked in with Shane at her side. Her face lit up the moment she saw me, and she started hustling over to us.
“Oh, she has news,” I told Charlie.
She threw her arms around me the second she got close enough. Shane and Charlie greeted each other with a fist bump, but Adleigh kept my attention held hostage.
“Briggs just texted,” she said in a rush.
