She and Jenna take a seat at the bar, a short distance from Drew. I’m sure if there were any other seats available, Audrey would’ve dashed for them.
I lean over the bar toward Audrey. “Peppermintini?”
“Sure,” she says distractedly, staring off in the distance. I always think Audrey has a lot more in her head than what comes out of her mouth.
I get started on my friends’ peppermintinis, glancing over at Drew. He stares at his beer, lifts his head, and gives Caleb a clap on the shoulder.
“Looks like everyone’s keeping Harper busy,” Jenna says, reaching up to check her glittery tiara and smoothing her blond hair down.
I give the martini shaker a shake. “Oh, yeah. Everyone mostly wants to hear about her old show Capital Asset.”
“Well, it’s what made her famous.” She turns to Audrey, who’s still staring off in the distance. “You okay?”
“Of course,” Audrey says brightly.
Jenna and I exchange a look. Audrey moved to town in first grade, and we’re as close as sisters, which means we know she’s lying. Something is bothering her, and it has to do with Drew. Did she finally tell him how she feels? If she did, it must not have gone the way she hoped.
I meet Audrey’s blue eyes with a sympathetic look. Jenna gives Audrey’s arm a squeeze.
Audrey twirls a lock of her long black hair, feigning nonchalance. “Stop staring at me. I’m fine. Everything’s okay. Nothing’s new.”
I pour out a martini. Awfully defensive for someone who claims to be just fine. I’ll get it out of her at our next Thursday night book club meeting, which I’ve officially dubbed the Thursday Night Wine Club because who are we kidding?
I slide over the two drinks, refusing payment because they helped me plan this whole night, but Jenna slides a twenty-dollar bill onto the bar anyway, giving me a little air kiss. Audrey follows suit.
A short while later, the buffet is ready in the front room for the main dinner courses. I make sure Harper, Garrett, and her bodyguard, Joe, get their meal delivered to their table before directing the crowd to line up for their meal. Everything’s going as smoothly as I could hope. I go back in the kitchen to check on things and finally give myself a break, taking a seat on a stool in the corner and eating my own dinner of chicken wings, French fries, and carrot sticks.
By the time it’s near midnight, I’m dead tired. Between all of my duties and trying to rein in my temper, it’s been an exhausting night. One last burst of energy to keep up the festive spirit. One, two, three, go!
I hand out Happy New Year sunglasses and party horns to the people sitting at the bar and weave through the crowd in the back room, giving out favors with a smile. When I get to Wart’s table, I give Garrett the favors and skip Wart completely. He clutches his chest like he’s wounded. Garrett looks between us two with a small smile on his face. Has Wart been trash-talking me? He deserves everything I dished out tonight. And I restrained myself too. I didn’t dump a beer on his head, now did I?
I make it back to my friends’ table, where Harper is now sitting. “Happy New Year’s, ladies! May it be our best yet.” I hand out the favors.
Jenna and Audrey put on the New Year’s glasses and blow their horns at me.
Harper surprises me by standing to whisper in my ear, “Syd, I know Wyatt rubbed you the wrong way, but he’s actually a good guy.”
I snort. “Right.”
“Anyway, happy New Year.” She kisses my cheek.
I continue my relentlessly upbeat tour of tables, handing out party favors.
Five minutes before midnight, I flop down in the seat next to Harper and hand her a glass of sparkling water, the pregnant woman’s champagne. “I’m going to count down for the New Year’s toast, unless you’d like to do it.”
“Nah, you’re the star of this show.”
I put my arm around her, and she rests her head on mine. “Thanks for coming, Harp. The auction is doing great. Someone bid a thousand dollars to have lunch with you.”
“Really? Last I saw, it was at a hundred fifty.”
I pull away and grin. “Well, you are Harper Ellis.”
“Stop,” she says.
I sock her on the shoulder and head over to Eli on guitar to let him know he’s off duty. As soon as he leaves his post, I stand on his chair and wave for attention.
Garrett stands and lets out a sharp whistle, and the crowd settles down. He strides over to Harper’s table, and all eyes follow him as he crosses the room. He takes a seat and drops an arm around her shoulders. They’re quite a beautiful couple.
I gesture toward them. “Let’s all give a big round of applause for our hometown star Harper Ellis!”
Polite applause rings out. Harper smiles and waves at everyone. I feel like they could’ve shown more enthusiasm, but don’t want to beg for applause on her behalf.
I continue. “I know you all love The Horseman Inn as much as I do, so I hope you’ll stop by in the new year to check out our new appetizer menu.” Take that, Wart! I was so angry I forgot to use that as a comeback when he criticized our dinner menu. We added five new appetizers. “We’ll be sponsoring a fun trivia night every Friday, starting this Friday, and, ladies, half-price drinks on Thursday nights starting next week!” We’re closed tomorrow for New Year’s Day. It’s pretty dead in town that day, and I wanted to give the staff the day off.
The women applaud and cheer enthusiastically.
“What about the guys?” Wyatt asks. “Which night is half-price drinks for us?” He lifts both palms as if to say you forgot about us poor billionaire guys.
I narrow my eyes.
“Ten seconds!” Harper calls out, saving me from telling Wart off in front of everyone.
“Right,” I say brightly, checking my phone. “Here we go!” I count down at the top of my lungs. “Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!” I blow my horn, and then the room erupts in horn blowing.
Except Wart, whom I didn’t give a horn. He does a slow clap, smiling at me, looking positively devilish. He cups his hands around his mouth and shouts over the noise of the crowd, “Happy New Year, Cindy!”
“Happy New Year, Wart!”
I join my friends, ignoring his bark of laughter.
3
Wyatt
I’ve been nosing around Sydney Robinson’s business, the oddly named Horseman Inn, at my friend Harper’s urging and came to the conclusion that, while Sydney is incredibly entertaining, she’d be impossible to work with. I could help her out, but let’s face it, her type—hot-tempered and fiery—is great in bed not in business. And I wouldn’t mind if my bed is exactly where she lands.
In the meantime, I can’t seem to help pushing her buttons. She cracks me up. Most people kiss my ass because they want my money. She gestured for me to kiss hers. I look forward to seeing what she’ll come up with next. I am one sick puppy.
Speaking of…
Snowball races to the front window, her paws scrabbling on the sheets covering the original hardwood floors in the fixer-upper I bought. She’s a seven-year-old shih tzu with a mostly white coat and a few tan and dark gray markings. Not a puppy, but with her small size and big black eyes, she still has that puppy appeal. She’s attached to me, so I had to adopt her.