“Wine night is becoming our little tradition. If anyone is imposing, it’s me. I’m just happy you young girls let this old bird join in.”
“Where have you been?” Lolly asks when she and Aster meet us at the door of Citrine Brews.
“Busy,” I lie.
“So busy you can’t respond to any of our texts?” Lolly asks.
“For real. I was starting to think we had upset you or something,” Aster says. “We’ve missed you.”
Blush crawls up my neck. “Yeah, sorry. Stella’s been extra aboutme and Everett getting special treatment ahead of the Extravaganza. Didn’t want her thinking you three are influencing the outcome.”
“What Stella doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Cami says, winking.
“I can’t believe you and Everett agreed to judge this year’s competition. It sounds miserable,” Aster says.
“It’s not like they had a choice,” Cami says, unlocking the door of the shop and gesturing for us to follow her inside. “You know Stella. Once she gets an idea, the whole town has to go along with it.”
“God, I know,” Lolly says, as she, Aster, and I make our way over to one of the couches. “I still can’t believe she made Chip and me the co-chairs of the decoration committee and then somehow convinced him to let me use his freezer to make my peppermint bark today.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“Did you remember a bottle opener?” Cami asks, walking behind the counter.
“I did,” Aster replies, pulling it from her bag and opening the bottle.
“The freezer went out, and you guys know how long it takes to get parts for that kind of thing delivered here, so I have no way to set the peppermint bark. Stella’s grand idea was for me to use Chip’s freezer, and for some reason I will never understand, he agreed.”
“Are you worried he’s going to sabotage it?”
“No,” Lolly says, rolling her eyes. “He’s harmless. Infuriating, but harmless. I don’t know what Stella is thinking.”
“I do,” Cami says, approaching us with four wine glasses in her hands. “She’s trying to push you two together because she thinks you’d make a cute couple.”
Aster collects the glasses one by one, filling each with a heavy pour of red wine.
“You know how she works,” Cami continues, and Aster hands me the first glass. I take a sip. A mix of oak and spices run over my tongue and warm my body, putting me at ease. “I mean, she did the same thing to Everett and Claire.”
I choke on my sip, coughing and sputtering.
“You good?” Lolly asks.
“Yeah, fine,” I say, clearing my throat. “What do you mean she did the same thing to Everett and me?”
All three burst out laughing. “Please, Claire, you may beobsessed with the man now, but you hated him when he first moved here,” Lolly says. “Don’t act like you don’t remember.”
“Well, she hated him until she slept with him,” Aster teases.
“Maybe that’s what you need to do,” Cami adds, looking in Lolly’s direction.
“I’m not sleeping with Chip,” she deadpans. “He wears grandpa sweaters and reads the newspaper like he’s a ninety-year-old man. I doubt sex with him would be anything other than mediocre.”
“It’s always the quiet ones that surprise you.” Cami shrugs. “Take Joe for example. Just last night?—”
“Stop,” Lolly and Aster yell.
“Please don’t ruin Joe for us,” Lolly says. “He’s like the town dad.”
“Cami’s right about the quiet ones, though,” Aster agrees. “I remember Claire thinking the same thing about Everett, and look at them now. Heard you two took quite the dip in the hot tub yesterday. Gave the whole block a show.”
