“Actually, if you want to, we can get in the boat now and join a few for burgers.”
“Burgers? Stone Stirling is eating burgers dockside in the Midwest on a Friday night?”
“Yep. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
“Seems like we do.”
“I’ve discovered that dockside in the Midwest is a really good place to do just that.”
ChapterTwenty-Six
July 3rd
J.J.
“It’s a Chamber of Commerce Day, Libby,” Viv said as all five of them—Goldie, Viv, Hope, Libby, and J.J.—found their spot near the sandbar. Goldie had learned how to captain her fancy pontoon boat without her handsome handyman. He was there for when she wanted to bring it back to the dock.
Aunt Emma was on the porch of Nora House. She said she wanted to watch from the shade. J.J. knew Aunt Emma would get her toes in if it got too hot.
“For my money, July 4this for amateurs. Today is the day,” J.J. said.
The lake would be crowded tomorrow. Nora House would be packed with their friends and family, but today, July 3rd, it was just them. Even Hope, who hated leaving the restaurant, was here. She’d packed the cooler with goodies. They planned to be on the lake all day.
“Push the button. That’s all you have to do. Push the button!” Goldie said, and Viv did as instructed. The awning covered the boat.
Back in the day, they’d be straining to get every drop of sun. Today, they slathered every drop of sunscreen.
“Are we close enough?” Hope asked as she looked into the water.
“We’re going to swim to it a little bit. We need the exercise,” Goldie said.
J.J. looked at her friends. She saw them as they were, back in the day: young, gorgeous, full of dreams. Some of those dreams had come true. Others had not. They’d also all found new dreams and new loves, but always the old friends.
“So, it’s getting serious with Cole and Siena,” Goldie said.
“How serious?” Hope asked.
“Serious enough that I have looked at mother-of-the-bride dresses for Goldie and for me and am not impressed. I’m going to take a crack at designing some and put them on a rack at Just the Thing.” Viv said, and she would probably revolutionize mother of the bride dresses if her track record was any indication.
“Whatever you do will be better than all that light blue chiffon. We’re Gen X, and the dresses out there are for our grandmothers. We’re not grandmothers,” Goldie said.
“Yet, any day now, ladies, any day,” Hope said.
“How’s Julia doing?” Viv asked.
“Great, she’s going to spend her last few weeks with me, just in case.” Hope’s daughter Julia was about to make Hope a grandma for the first time.
“Can you believe it? Grandmas? We’re grandmas,” Libby said.
“I can believe it. I hurt my neck sleeping last week. Sleeping! How do you do that?” J.J. said. She didn’t want Austin or D.J. to make her a grandma just yet. They were still in need of sorting.
“Is D.J. coming tomorrow?” Libby asked.
“I think so, in the early part of the day. But beer, you know, there’ll be a lot of it. So, he’s going to see us in the morning and go to a meeting. He said.”
D.J. had been home for one week. All seemed well so far. She’d made Austin his supervisor, so she was sure they’d eventually start fighting. But she knew Austin would handle it.
“Well, I’m glad he’s back on the job. I missed him,” Libby said and reached out to squeeze J.J.’s hand.
