Page 67 of Wild Abandon

“Have you been inside yet?” I ask.

He shakes his head, so I take his hand and give him nudge.

“Come on, I have more to show you.”

We walk through the back door, and I flick on the lights. Oh, yeah, I added track lighting to the ceiling. It’s quite possible I’ve spent every penny. But I don’t care.

Ed stands up straight, the straightest I’ve ever seen him, as he takes in the new room. He looks at the space, taking in the new elements, but when he spots the grand surprise, his body leans further onto his cane, and his hand rises to his heart.

He’s seen the white walls already, but what is catching his eye this second is the mural behind the bar.

A peacock.

With a noble body and long, graceful neck, the bird has its feathers of iridescent blue-and-green plumage fanned out with pride. A reawakening. A new life. Golds, purples, and magentas grace the painting, creating a visual so magnificent and eye-catching that I believe my sweet Ed is grumble-less and grunt-less.

He walks forward, taking in every inch of Naomi’s masterpiece, and for a moment, I am worried he might not like it.

Ed turns to face me, and my concerns vanish.

Tears fill his tired eyes, and for the first time, they look joyous. “I think it’s time we opened our doors.”

Believe it or not, his comment causes me to have tears in my eyes as well.

Turns out, Ed has quite the brotherhood of friends. The following day, Ed hosts a potluck at the ranch for his friends—a long overdue tradition. The men get together once a week, usually at a bar, but tonight, for the first time in years, Ed wants to host.

Five men, all with rather descriptive names, walk through the door, arms filled with food and booze. Handsome Harry brought fish tacos. Dan the Band Man comes with a cooler to make vegetable pizzas on the grill and a guitar slung around his back. Outback Aussie, with his wrangler hat, brings the steak while Hearty Henner and Mountain Mark wheel in the bourbon.

I was instructed to bring my cello.

The six men are hysterical, taking every moment to rib each other. They cook the food together on the veranda and tell stories about the good old days.

Outback Aussie is from Australia and recalls the day he met Mountain Mark and Big Ed. The two were up in the mountains, trying to steal a root from another vineyard. They were young and dumb and quite drunk. Aussie was in the area, wrangling alpacas that had roamed onto the vineyard. He caught the two men red-handed.

Instead of running back to his owner about the thieves in the vines, he turned to Big Ed and asked, “You got any more?”

The three men got sloshed together in the vineyard and woke up the next morning to a shotgun aimed at the them before the vineyard owner kicked them off his property. Outback Aussie was out of a job, so he worked at Russet Ranch for Old Man Russet for a few years. Now, he runs an alpaca farm in the hills.

They tell stories of Ellie running through the vines, eating the grapes, even when they were sour, and recalling all the trouble she got into as a teenager. They tell stories of Rosemary and how Hearty Henner was in love with her. You’d assume Ed would be upset at this, but he always knew and understood his friend’s affliction.

He says he didn’t have a problem with it, knowing his Rosemary would never stray. “Now, if it were Handsome Harry, it’d be another story!”

The men laugh. Hearty Henner doesn’t find the comment as amusing as everyone else.

“You have the magic touch.” Handsome Harry has saddled up next to me, chewing on a toothpick. He motions toward Ed, who is now having a heart-to-heart on the other side of the veranda with Mountain Mark.

Mark’s hand is on Ed’s shoulder, the two of them with eyes downcast, recalling some memory. Ed is nodding in understanding.

“All I did was paint the walls,” I say as I take in how nice it is to see Ed surrounded by people who love him.

Harry lets out a laugh. “Well then, you did a hell of a job with a paintbrush.” There’s a twinkle in his eye and a look of sheer appreciation on his face. “Thank you for bringing my friend back to life.”

“Ed tells the most beautiful stories about Rosemary.”

“You remind me a lot of her. Remind us all of her.”

“Well, I am pretty spectacular.” I swing my hair around my head and bat my lashes in a rather dramatic fashion.

Harry lightly taps his foot. “Gotta love a woman with modesty.” He takes the toothpick out of his mouth and points it at me. “You’re good for him.”