“Oh man, I love Nick’s burgers,” Carmen said, piling all the fixings she could onto a delicious sizzling patty.
“They’re what made me fall madly in love with him,” Lanie said, gently rocking the baby carrier next to her. “All those many moons ago in that little diner in Louisiana.”
Nick grinned while he set two more patties on a tray, and added a bowl of caramelized onions.
“That was the day she bought me out of a parking lot,” he said, looking up and winking at his wife.
“Best purchase I ever made, love,” she said, beaming at him and then turning all her love to the sleeping baby sucking in his sleep.
Three whole weeks had passed since baby Bailey barreled into the world with gusto, and to further mark the occasion with the opening of the New Blue Grille tomorrow, Nick invited us all to the diner for a burger buffet to break it in. The layout was gorgeous, set with every possible topping you could put on a burger, specialty buns, and a variety of cheeses. He was so in his element, and I watched Lanie glow with pride every time she watched him work.
“The diner is gorgeous,” I said. “Y’all truly outdid yourselves.”
The old Blue Banana Grille had been—old—but it had an eclectic charm. They’d managed in the newly built and designed version to hold on to that charm, including some of Allie’s dad’s old photographs that had survived the fire and some other random items, but modernized the diner itself to be very streamlined, state of the art, with a hip retro feel.
“Well, the extra coinage didn’t hurt,” Allie said on a chuckle.
We’d all gone to the official reading of Albert Bailey’s will, which was really just a repeat of the original event, except with fancier wording and dressier clothing. I refused to wear sweats to the cutting of a $1.6 billion check. Yes. That’s right. Not that there were actual checks in this scenario. It was wire transfers and new accounts set up at Bailey’s preferred bank. Because our own local banks weren’t evidently trusted with that many zeroes.
I wasn’t sure that I could be trusted with the zeroes, either, so I had a meeting scheduled with a financial advisor.
“What was your daughter’s reaction to the news?” I asked Allie.
“Angel wasted no time picking out her college of choice,” Allie said.
“And a car,” Bash added.
“Yeah, I think she’ll adjust to the new financial situation just fine,” Allie said, laughing. “I’m just trying to keep it real.”
“Me, too,” Carmen said. “I don’t want to lose my mind, it’s a little intimidating.”
“But we are gonna travel,” Sully said, kissing her head as he sat down next to her with his plate.
“Definitely,” Carmen said in an excited whisper, her eyes shining.
“Have to keep my woman’s wanderlust addiction fed,” he said.
“Are you putting any of it into the Lucky Charm?” Bash asked.
“Not planning to,” Sully said. “At least not right now. It’s really doing fine on its own, and honestly, this town wouldn’t support anything bigger. I mean, if something comes up later on, maybe, but I’d rather aim that money at other things.”
“Like?” Micah asked.
Sully shrugged. “Maybe other business ventures in different locations. Bailey’s holdings are so all over the place, I’m still going through files to find out what all I own, so it won’t be anytime soon.”
“What about y’all?” Carmen asked Micah, pointing at Allie, too. “You told me what Angel wants, but aren’t there at least two weddings on the books in this room? Any plans?”
“We don’t know how we’re going to do our wedding yet,” Micah said, punching Leo in the arm when he rolled his eyes. “We don’t!”
“You completely do,” he said around a mouthful of food. “You have a binder thing full of notes.”
“And notes are notes,” she said, throwing a tomato slice at him. “Not firm plans. I’m just keeping track of things when I think of them. And Gabi and I have a lot of work to do on Wild Things this spring, kicking it off. Preparing the new land, all that,” she said, smiling at me. “But honestly, after having a big wedding shoved at me last summer, I’m not interested in a big showy event. I’d rather fly us all to Cabo and get married on a beach.”
“Oh, I love that idea,” Lanie said. “Holy hell, yes. Let’s go.”
“We bringing Little Shit?” Nick asked.
“Well, we can’t leave him behind, or my boobs would explode,” Lanie said. “So I guess so.”
“Let’s get a date figured out first,” Leo said, poking Micah. “That’s a hint.”
She looked at him. “You really want to go to Cabo? I was just throwing that out there.”
“I will marry you anywhere, woman,” he said. “Anytime you want to.”
“May seventh,” she said, making him nearly spew his soda.
“That’s oddly defined,” he said.
“My dad’s birthday,” she said. “In Cabo. On a beach. No shoes. All our friends and family. Your niece.”
“I’m there,” Leo said.
A chorus of “me toos” filled the room and a laughing Micah kissed Leo.
“Oh, you know Addison will be excited about that,” Nick said, finally making himself a plate. “She’s a sun worshipper like her mom.”
“What if we made that a double ceremony?” Bash asked, giving Allie a side-eye.
She gave him a look. “They don’t want us crashing their day, Bash.”
“Totally crash our day!” Micah exclaimed. “That would be a blast! You don’t have other plans yet?”
“Honestly, we’ve been so busy, we haven’t had time to really think about it, so—”
“Do it!” Micah said excitedly. “Let’s have a double wedding!” She slapped a hand over her mouth and looked at Leo. “Sorry—do you mind that?”
Leo laughed and hugged her. “Not at all.”
“What’s your plan, Lanie?” I asked, as the door opened behind us and I turned to see a gorgeous hunk of man walk in. The fact that he was there to be with me was the best bonus.
“Hey, babe,” Thatcher said, dropping a kiss on my lips before heading straight to the food. “Sorry, I was running behind. My God, this looks good.”
“Me, or the food?” I asked.
Thatcher pivoted on a dime and circled back to me. “All you, love. All you.”
I laughed, and shoved at him. “Go eat.”
Don’t think my stomach didn’t do acrobats on his word choice, either. The others might not have noticed it, but Micah did. She was grinning at me like a fool.
And I was ready. I didn’t think I would be yet, but I didn’t think a lot of things when it came to this guy. They happened anyway. I was in love like I’d never been before, and I was more than ready to say it. I just—got choked up every time the opportunity arose.
“Well, Nick is talking about expanding The New Blue,” Lanie said. “Opening his own location, maybe in Denning. So that might happen.”
“Long way to go before that happens,” Nick said. “It’s just talk right now.”
“You’ll do it,” Allie said, winking at him. “And my dad would be so proud if he knew what was going on.”
“I, for one, am quitting my job at the bank,” Lanie said, holding up a hand.
“Me too,” Carmen said.
“This little one coming into the world the way he did,” Lanie said, pulling a blanket tighter over him. “Taught me that life is too short. It’s all precious. So after maternity leave is up, I’ll go in to train someone, and then I’ll belong to my son and my husband and be wherever they need me to be unless a good book decides otherwise.”
Laughs went around the room, and the chatter died down for a few minutes while we ate. Then I thought of something.
“Does anyone know what Mr. Bailey meant when he said that one of us knows where his money originated from?” I asked. “I assume that’s you, Sully?”
He shook his head and wiped his mouth. “No,” he said. “I wondered that, myself.”
“It’s me,” Allie said.
Bash looked at her curiously. “Really?”
“It’s always the quiet ones,” Carmen said.
“I found a bunch of money at my dad’s last year,” she said. “Like a crazy amount of money—stuffed in a dresser drawer. My dad was still lucid then but would go in and out.” She played with a fry. “He told me that Mr. Bailey had come to visit, and I knew they’d been friends when they were young. I assumed he’d brought the money, but I didn’t know why, so I went to see him and he ended up telling me the story.”
Allie took a bite of her burger, and everyone waited. When she took another one, Bash pulled her plate away.
“Seriously, woman?”
Allie laughed. “Anyways, Bailey, Lanie’s Aunt Ruby, and my dad were kind of all outcasts as kids. They didn’t have friends so they became friends. Bailey grew up in that house, with his grandmother, and my dad and Ruby would row out there and they’d play in the woods. And in the caves. One day, they were digging around in one of the caves, and found money buried in there.” She stopped with raised eyebrows. “A lot of money. And they were just kids, so in all their wisdom, they didn’t tell anyone, they just split it up and hid it. Grew up, Bailey invested his and grew it into—well, we’re seeing what it grew into. My dad didn’t handle money well, unfortunately. He and my mom opened this diner, so that was a positive thing, but he gambled most of it away. The money in his drawer was what he had left.”
“Oh, holy shit,” Lanie said. “The money that Aunt Ruby left me that Carmen couldn’t figure out where it came from?”
Allie nodded.
“Wow,” Nick said.
“Oh my God, that’s—wow,” Lanie said again.
“Did he ever figure out where it came from?” Bash said. “Who put it there?”
Allie shrugged. “I don’t know. He said it looked old, even then, so they figured no one would come looking for it. But I never talked to him about it again, so that’s all I know.”
“Could be the mob,” Thatcher said.
“Or pirates,” I said, nudging him.
“Can you see either of those in Charmed?” Carmen said.
“Well, but it wasn’t always a town, or a pond, but it was probably always woods and a cave,” Sully said. “I wonder if there’s more that the pond covered.”
“Or if Bailey’s great-grandmother had a secret rich lover,” Lanie said, “and he stashed his money there for her. Then she got senile, or lost her mind and forgot about it and died.”
“Or that,” Bash said, pointing.
“Wow,” I said. “I’ve lived here my whole life and never knew all that. I never even knew much of him until we started hanging out after Lanie came back.”
“He kind of brought us all together,” Allie said. “And speaking of that, it reminds me of something I wanted to show y’all.”
She got up and went behind the counter and disappeared into the back hall, coming back with something in a frame. Holding it out for Lanie, she smiled.
“Recognize the little girl?” she asked.
Lanie’s mouth opened and then closed again, unsure.
“Is that Aunt Ruby?” she asked.
“Yep,” Allie said. She handed it to me to pass around. It was a grainy black-and-white photo of three kids about eight or nine, sitting on a large rock. They weren’t grinning and carefree like most kids are in pictures. They had small, introspective smiles, and far too much wisdom and experience in their faces for their ages. Allie’s dad was thin and dark-haired and looked quiet just like Allie. Ruby had curly, wild hair, and sat like she was spring-loaded and ready to pounce. Mr. Bailey was long and lanky and blond, and sat a little farther away from the other two, although he had the biggest smile.
“I wonder who took the picture?” I asked.
Carmen took it from me and studied it. “It’s by the caves, so maybe his grandmother?” she said. “It’s so weird to see him ever be young. Allie’s dad doesn’t look that old.”
“I made this copy and brought the original to my dad,” Allie said, folding her arms across herself. “It made him cry.”
“Aw,” I said.
“I know, it broke my heart,” she said. “He just hugged it and cried.”
“Gabi?” Micah said, a mischievous look in her eyes. “You haven’t told what your money plans are.”
“No, I haven’t,” I said, giving her a look right back. She knew my plans, but I hadn’t said them out loud yet. Not to anyone but her and Thatcher. I hadn’t even told my family yet.
Thatcher finished eating, and sat back with his arm across the back of my seat, one finger lazily tracing a pattern on my shirt.
“So spill!” Lanie said.
“Well, first thing is I’m buying a house,” I said, bringing chuckles all around. “I haven’t found one yet, but it will come. I can’t take the dorm room much longer.”
“And I just got approval to take the paramedic’s exam,” Thatcher said, giving me a sideways grin.
“Oh my God,” I said. “They are letting you test out?”
“To see what I remember, and go from there, rather than start all over,” he said.
“That’s awesome, big brother,” Micah said. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, baby girl,” he said. “I’m excited. And I’ve got a new office manager starting at the farm on Monday, much to Roarke’s excitement. He thinks he’s really going to run things and just tell the suit what to do.”
“Why didn’t you just promote Roarke?” I asked.
“Because he’d rather shoot off his own foot than work in an office,” Thatcher said. “He knows everything, but he wants to be out there in it.”
“Here, here,” Micah said. “Boy, do I get that.”
“So, what’s the other thing?” Lanie said, narrowing her eyes. “I sense there’s another something-something.”
I licked my lips and looked at Thatcher. He winked at me and just settled in on me with that laid-back look that just said—everything.
“You’ve got this,” he said, the words so low I wasn’t sure they were even out loud.
“I’m—um—” I looked down at my hands, and then chuckled when Thatcher covered one of them with his. “I’m starting the process to adopt a baby.”
Gasps and wows exploded around the room. Lanie was on her feet in a microsecond, coming to hug me. Allie fanned her face to keep from crying.
“That’s phenomenal,” Bash said. “Congratulations.”
“And if you need legal help,” Carmen said. “You’ve got it. No charge.”
“I probably will,” I said, chuckling, swiping under my eyes. “It’s all just starting, I’m getting in the system, with all the vetting and everything. It’ll be a while before there’s an actual baby, I’m sure.”
Micah got up and came to sit across from me.
“You are going to be the best mom ever,” she said, tears in her eyes. “And I’d better be the godmother, that’s all I can say.”
“Deal,” I said, laughing.
It was more hope than I’d felt in a really long time. Years. I might actually get my dream after all. Don’t give up faith on what you want.
Thank you, Mr. Bailey.
I saw all the guys eyeing Thatcher, probably gauging a response. We weren’t married, we were barely dating. It was a heavy thing to bring to a brand new relationship.
“Yes, I’m on board with it,” he said suddenly, and the guys snickered. “What you may or may not know, is that everything about Gabi and me has been unconventional.”
I laughed out loud, and his gaze swung to me.
“Understatement.”
“Well, lunacy seemed a bit over the top,” he said. “We met in a group with no real names, and were involved before we ever knew that we already knew each other.”
“Not complicated at all,” I said.
“So, if she wants a baby, I say go for it,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere, and I love kids, so I’m thrilled. We’ll cross the other bridges as we come to them.”
Watching him talk about our life, our future—in public, with people we loved—it filled me with what I needed to push me forward.
“I love you,” I said.
It was so simple, and yet so profound. The sound of those words swirled around inside my head, telling me I’d used them. Just in case the shock had blocked the memory.
His expression said that words had escaped him, but he recovered faster than I did.
“I love you, Gabi.”
“God help us,” I said, nervous laughter catching throughout the room.
He leaned over and pressed a soft kiss on my lips. “I had no doubt.”
That’s why I had him. To balance out my constant doubt. But I was learning to never doubt this guy. He was so crème brûlée.
“Well, so we have a double wedding coming up,” Carmen began.
“Whose double wedding?” Thatcher asked.
“Oh!” Micah said, holding up a finger. “You weren’t here yet. Leo and I, and Allie and Bash, are getting married in Cabo in May, and everyone is coming.”
Thatcher nodded. “Good to know.”
“We’ll have another new baby in the future,” Carmen continued. “A new love, new businesses, new life structures, lots of travel.” She reached behind her neck and unfastened a necklace that she pulled from under her shirt, sliding something off it. She put it on her finger. Her left hand ring finger. “So I guess it’s time to fess up that we got married in Greece.”
“You did what?” Lanie exclaimed, twisting around.
She held up her hands. “It’s how we always wanted it, kind of a nomad style, so we were at this really beautiful villa, and there was music and the ocean and we were like—we just need to do it and apologize later. So we did!”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Lanie said.
“Well, the day we got home, Sully found Bailey,” Carmen said. “Then the next day, Micah and Leo had just gotten engaged so I was going to wait a day, then you almost died. Then you were in the hospital, and then everyone was busy and scattered, and life got crazy like it always does. And we wanted to tell everyone at once!”
Lanie pouted. “Okay. I guess.”
“What, I don’t rank a hug?” Carmen asked. “You about killed yourself getting to Gabi a minute ago, but I get married and I get a thumbs-up?”
“You know, you would have gotten a hug, a shower, a party, and presents if you’d told me you’d gotten married,” Lanie said, rolling her eyes as she got up. She attacked her friend in a bear hug. “I love you, my friend.”
“Oh my God, y’all are killing me,” Allie said, dabbing at her eyes as we all got up and hugged them. “Okay, if everyone’s not crying too much, can I get a picture?” She held out a rod thing. “Angel gave me this selfie stick thing, you attach it to your phone, and—oh, hey, it works.”
She held the phone way out in front of us for practice.
“I want a picture of us for the counter,” she said. “My dad always had one of him and my mom, and later we had some of our family, and Bash.” She gave a little smile. “This diner represents all of us. Family, old friends, and new friends. Bonded by an odd old man who cared about us all for different reasons.” She held out the phone on the selfie stick. “Here’s to Mr. Bailey.”
Thatcher’s arms went around me, my back solidly against him. Nothing felt better than that. Nothing would ever be better than that. Take one for me.
I did.
“Here’s to Mr. Bailey,” we all repeated in unison. Sort of.
“Okay y’all,” Allie said. “Three…two…one…”
THE END