But just as we stepped onto the pavement, before Mrs. Grady could whisk her son away, Babs perked up.
“Holy Guacamole, you say? Oh, I love Mexican. Fabulous choice, Chrissy!”
Chrissy?
Mrs. Grady’s expression barely flickered, but I caught the slightest downward twitch of her lips.
“Well,” she said, clearing her throat, “I was thinking Noah and I could?—”
“Nothing like good chili.” That was Ed, looking like he belonged in a vacation commercial in his Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses perched on his head, arm slung around Eddie’s shoulders.
“I found that one on my app too. It does look pretty good.” Josie squinted down at her phone and then over to her sister. “I’m game if you are, Marla?”
“Absolutely.”
By the time we arrived at Holy Guacamole, we were a group of ten. Luckily, we beat the crowds, and the hostess was able to seat us without too much rearranging of furniture.
“Ooh, they have frozen margaritas,” sang Patty—I think? I was still struggling to remember all their names. “Denise, we should get margaritas.”
Right, it was Patty and Denise.
Definitely a couple.
“I don’t know,” Denise mused, flipping through the menu. “I had a lot of salt last night. That could mess up my blood pressure.”
“Eh, just take an extra half of Losartan. That’s what I do.” Ed waved a dismissive hand.
Eddie shot him a dry look. “Oh, is that what you do, Ed?” She leaned forward, turning her attention to Noah. “What do you think, Dr. Noah? You’re our resident doctor, after all.”
Noah, who had been calmly sipping his water, frowned. “Technically, that shouldn’t spike your blood pressure, but without knowing your history, I shouldn’t weigh in.”
“See?” Patty crowed. “A little indulgence never killed anybody.”
I raised my eyebrows at that. That wasn’t even close to what Noah had said.
Noah winced. “I’m saying a little salt on one margarita shouldn’t land you in an ER. But to be safe, maybe go easy on the chips and queso. And definitely don’t take half a pill just because Ed does. Medication doses are, you know, kind of specific.”
Ed shrugged. “Works for me.”
Babs, ever the instigator, lifted her menu. “So what I’m hearing is…extra guacamole and a round of margaritas? Excellent.”
Noah just dropped his face into his hands with a sigh.
Across the table, Helen touched her husband’s arm. “Just don’t forget to take your statin, sweetie, and remember, if you take it at night, it gets absorbed better.”
“Also, remember, hydrate or die-drate!” Marla said, barely looking up from the menu.
“I’m gonna be up all night peeing,” Josie added.
I focused very hard on my water glass, trying not to choke.
“Oh, look! They have table-side guacamole!” Babs interrupted, eyes gleaming as she scanned the menu. “And I swear, if guacamole is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Right, Chrissy?”
Noah’s mother exhaled and then laughed despite herself. Because with Babs, as I was quickly discovering, you didn’t really have a choice in these sorts of things.
“I just hope it isn’t too spicy,” Chrissy added.
“Well, you know what they say about spice…”
