“I can’t believe you haven’t met her yet,” Mason said, I assumed about Pia’s good friend Delaney. I wasn’t born and raised in Cedar Falls and therefore didn’t know every single person in town like Mason and Beck.
“I don’t think she’s lived here full-time since you came to town,” Mason said.
“But she’s been here at least since Pia moved to town so she’s been around since fall.”
“True. But with the long-distance boyfriend, Delaney’s usually out of dodge whenever she’s not working.”
I was about to ask him what Pia’s friend did for a living when Beck reappeared.
“Round of shots for the best of us.” He slid one toward each of us. As he held up his phone, a familiar face appeared.
He might be crazy as hell, but Beck was one thoughtful motherfucker too.
“Congrats on the big award,” our friend Cole said through the phone. He was the only one of us not living in Cedar Falls.
“It’s not a big deal,” I insisted.
Cole adjusted his dark-framed glasses, which made him look every inch the college professor that he was.
“To Parker,” Mason said, lifting his shot glass. “The nice one.”
Even Cole lifted a shot glass. It looked like he was at a bar too, though it would be very different from this small-town Irish pub, Cole living in Manhattan and all.
“Bound by life’s ride,” Beck said as we all finished our familiar toast. “Here’s to the journey.”
Beck handed the phone to me and went back to work.
“Thanks for checking in. When you coming back to town?” I asked him as Mason looked on.
“Can’t hear you guys well,” Cole said.
“Never mind. We’ll talk to you later.”
“See ya, Cole,” Mason added before Cole put up a hand, signing off.
“What’s next for the big award winner?” Mason pushed his shot glass toward Beck, who grabbed it walking by. The guy was a phenomenal bartender, even if he picked up nearly as many women as he served.
“Not you too?” I took a swig of beer.
Mason almost smiled. It took a lot for the corner of his lips to actually rise. “Seriously, though. What’s on tap after your weatherproofing job?”
“I was thinking we could tackle the bathrooms?—”
“With you, not the inn,” Mason clarified.
Since he took over his father’s inn, leaving the NYPD behind and moving back to Cedar Falls last year, I moved in and helped to renovate the place. So of course Beck did too, not wanting to miss out. Thankfully, even though Mason got together with Pia, his fiancée was on good terms with us clowns and cool with the arrangement.
“Nothing major,” I said. “A lot of odd jobs. Painting, tiling. We lost the apartment complex bid.”
“How did Jack manage to fuck that up?”
“By being Jack.”
My boss has a penchant for fucking things up.
“Park, you gotta get out on your own.”
Different day, same discussion. “Yeah, yeah.”
