He hugged me with one arm as a beautiful, and obviously pregnant, brunette came into the kitchen.
“You must be Pia,” I said as she smiled warmly and hugged me. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Same. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Mae O’Malley.”
I turned toward the voice. “Delaney Thorton. It’s good to see you. Congratulations, by the way,” I said, hugging my old classmate. She was a year ahead of me, and though we were friends, Delaney and I hung out in different circles and were never close. I’d always liked her though.
“Mae, you remember Parker?” Beck asked.
I stuck out my hand, and he shook it. “Nice to meet you, Parker,” I teased as if we hadn’t partied together the weekend of his college graduation.
“Nice to meet you too,” he teased.
“Very funny,” Beck said. “I was being polite. Where’s Cole?”
Parker shrugged. “No idea. We were just out at the lake. Mason gets cranky when he’s cooking.”
“Do not,” he grumbled, proving Parker’s point.
“As you can see,” Pia said, “it’s a taco night. Beck’s on margarita duty but we also have Corona and?—”
“A margarita is perfect,” I assured her. “What can I do to help?”
“We’ve got it under control.”
“I could use a lime cutter,” Beck said from the side counter where tequila glasses were already lined up. Having worked in my parents’ bar since before I was legally able to, I could easily help Beck and keep up with the chatter.
“Question. I am fully aware of the bachelor pact,” I said. “So I’m curious how all of this”—I waved my arms, indicating the two couples—“happened.”
I tried not to think of Mathieu as they told their stories. It was impossible not to notice the similarities, and differences, as both talked about the challenges they’d faced before ending up together.
Grabbing each glass and salting them, Beck poured the margaritas as I added a lime to each and passed them out. Pia had a non-alcoholic version, and Mason drank beer, but the rest of us were about to toast with our fresh margaritas when Cole stepped into the kitchen.
Unlike the others, he shook my hand in greeting, and from what I knew of Cole and my interactions from the few times we’d met, it tracked. He wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type. Then again, neither was Mason, but there were differences between them too. Mason was hard in a “former army ranger, NYC cop” sort of way. Cole, on the other hand, was just… unapproachable. Nice enough when you got to know him, and clearly smart, but more buttoned-up than the others.
“We’ve been blabbing about us,” Pia said as Mason finished cooking and Delaney added bowls of meat to the counter. “Tell us more about you, Mae. What was it like growing up next to this one?”
I regaled them with stories of Beck as we ate and drank. One margarita became two and, by three, I was glad I’d brought an overnight bag. The inn was sold out this week, Beck said, but there were still extra rooms in the house side, so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a car back.
Already knowing I liked Delaney, and hearing so much about Pia from Jules who’d gotten to know her a bit, by the time the taco bar was cleaned up, I felt as if we were all old friends.
“I needed this,” I said as Beck and I worked on the third round of drinks. “Thank you.”
“Want to talk about it or nah?” Delaney asked.
I scanned the room. Even Cole smiled encouragingly at me. Beck’s hand moved to the small of my back, as if to support me. Taking a deep breath, I shared my story. Told them about our whirlwind meeting and engagement, the fateful dinner and my decision to come back home, permanently.
Having sufficiently brought down the room, I ended on a more positive note.
“Enough of Debby downer. Will you guys help me force Beck to answer a question I asked him on the way here?”
“Oh, no, Mae,” he warned.
One I didn’t heed.
“I made a comment that it was strange, or maybe not, that the three hottest guys in Cedar Falls all became friends. And then picked up hot guy number four in college.”
