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“It’s a done deal. This time next week, you’ll own Coyote Ridge.” Jude tossed back the rest of his drink and signaled Gabe to refill his glass.
“We’re sure this time. Right?” I’d gotten excited for the first closing and the second.
“Fourth time is the charm.” Jude’s words had the soft slurred endings of a man who’d had more drinks than was prudent.
“Thank God. Rae wouldn’t have complained, but her heart is set on a Christmas wedding. And another delay would have ruined it.” There was nothing I wanted more than to start the new year with my new wife at our new ranch.
“There’s an epidemic of weddings in this town right now.” Jude aimed his complaint at the TV, not looking at me.
“I’d say you were getting cynical in your old age, but you muscled three twenty-year-olds out of the way to catch that garter.” I snapped the purple lace band stretched around Jude’s bicep, and he turned in my direction. With bleary eyes and a crooked tie, Jude looked worse than he had after his last divorce. Something was up with my friend. And a bar at a wedding wasn’t the place to hash it out.
“Saving those boys from themselves. Have you looked at the single women available here tonight?” Jude flailed his hand, holding the fresh cocktail Gabe had delivered toward the dance floor.
Under the branding iron chandelier, women packed the dance floor. Most of the dancers were over the age of sixty. They were doing a spirited rendition of the Cha Cha Slide. Amaryllis, Cameron, and Rae were leading the line dance with Wanda sandwiched between them.
“The bunco ladies might be more than most boys in their twenties could handle.”
Jude snort laughed into his drink. “Most of those ladies have buried at least one husband. And yet look at them: no remorse, no regrets. How do you get to that age and live so free?”
“As long as you’re having fun, you never get old.”
“Amaryllis says that to me all the time. I want to skip all this bullshit midlife crap. I want that.” He pointed at the women on the dance floor again.
I didn’t have the heart to remind him most of the bunco ladies were single, not by choice but because we men died young. The way Jude lived, working excruciatingly long hours behind a desk, wasn’t increasing his chance of longevity.
“How is Amaryllis’s campaign going?”
“She thinks I’m a pessimist. I think she’s underestimated Ferguson. He’s got political aspirations. Elmer is only step one for him.”
“Elmer is so small. Can being mayor here launch a political career?”
“You’d be amazed. Things in the campaign will heat up as soon as the holidays are over. Ferguson and his people won’t play fair.”
“I promise to make sure Rae gets her voter ID as soon as we move to the new place.” Politics was a numbers game. Votes counted. And Amaryllis would get mine and Rae’s.
“A toast.” Jude lifted his mostly empty cocktail. “To a pair that has this all figured out. Much love and success.”
“To Wanda and Melvin.” I clinked my beer bottle with his glass.
“I meant you and Rae. But I think you’re right about the bride and groom. They’ll go the distance. Nothing like my marriages—doomed to fail.”
I patted Jude’s shoulder, not sure what else I could offer in the way of comfort. He’d gone down the poor me rabbit hole tonight with a scotch in one hand.
Behind us, the Cha Cha Slide had ended and the DJ that was filling in while the band took a break had transitioned to Beyonce’s song “All the Single Ladies.” “Jude Morgan and the garter needed on the dance floor along with all my single ladies!”
Jude drained the last dregs of his drink. “Show time.”
No way I missed this. I followed his meandering progress from the bar to the dance floor. Jude was less than steady, and I worried he might crash land before he got to put the garter on a single lady’s leg.
I grabbed his arm at the edge of the dance floor. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Nah, it’ll be fun. An octogenarian will grab my ass, everyone will laugh, and Beautiful Hills will get a new house listed for sale with us because someone in this room will remember I’m a fun guy.”
I stepped back and crossed my arms. The bunco ladies already on the dance floor parted like the Red Sea for Jude as he made his way to the DJ.
Rae
“Tell them they are still single.” Lara poked Atley in the back, and he turned from the dance floor to look at us.
