“I’ll try harder.” I feel like I’ve failed at something I really didn’t want to take on until my wife put the idea in my head. I make my plate, mingle, get seconds, and finally find a place to sit.
Teagan sits next to me. “Everybody knows everybody.”
“Perks of a small town.”
“Maybe. I’ve never been invited to a bartender’s house.”
I laugh, end up choking on my food, and have to beat my chest to clear the lump in my throat. “I’m not often the bartender. I own the bar and my son manages it because he’s retired. I help out when I’m needed or bored. As for being invited, that’s who Josie and I are. Bex—” I nod toward her. “She’s also new in town and we figured this would be a nice little get together.”
“It’s all your family,” she points out.
I pretend to look. “You’re new in town, so I’ll tell you now, in case you don’t know, my family is da bomb. Legit coolest family in Beaumont. My wife’s amazing. My kids are the best. My daughter-in-law rivals all daughters-in-law. My niece is fierce and her husband is one of a kind, and then there’s my nephew.” I point at Quinn. “He’s married so don’t get any ideas, but he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.”
Teagan looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
I probably have.
“And Mr. Ashford . . . how does he fit in other than dating your wife at one time?”
“And being my high school rival,” I remind her.
She doesn’t look amused.
I sigh heavily. “He’s family. As much as I hate to admit it, he is.”
“Because he raised Noah?”
Now I’m the one looking at her funny. “How’d you know?”
“My son heard Noah calling Mr. Ashford Dad one day at practice and referred to Mack as his brother. I asked around. It’s not a secret.”
“There aren’t any secrets in Beaumont. Also, call him Nick.”
“Nick,” she says as if she’s trying it out for the first time.
“But yeah, I was an idiot. He raised my boy. That’s that.”
She accepts what I’ve said, and I think we’re done talking until she asks, “And the two of you are all right now.”
“We tolerate each other. And I returned the favor when he got divorced. It works for our family.”
“I thought my life was messy.”
“The joys of a small town. Everyone knows everyone and everything,” I say.
Teagan and I talk a bit more until Noah says he needs me. He wants my ruling on a quarterback he thinks is overrated. Bex and Elle corner me together now, tag-teaming me with ideas, and I tell them both to talk to each other and leave me out of it, which they were already doing.
Around the time the food’s gone, Quinn brings one of the guitars up from the studio in the basement. Justine sits next to him and the two start to harmonize. Elle sets up her phone to record, saying this is prime social media content and fears the wrath of Paige if she doesn’t capture this moment.
Everyone ends up in the living room, listening. Peyton and Noah are swaying together, and Ben has his arm around Elle.
Josie pulls her phone out and calls Katelyn, putting her and Harrison on video chat so they can see their son and daughter-in-law perform.
When they’re done, everyone gives them a massive round of applause. Quinn’s cheeks redden and he ducks his head. He stands and holds the guitar out for me. I shake my head.
“Come on, old man. One.”
Justine starts singing one of 4225 West’s hits—“Painkillers.” It’s another one I wrote about Josie. Honestly, most of the songs I wrote were about her, and they will continue to be. Justine leaves me no choice but to sit down next to her. She begins to hum while I tune the guitar to where I need it.
