Mari held up her hands. “Only for a second.”
“Lies!” I shouted.
She looked at me and glared but was also sort of laughing around her eyes. “Mostly, I was just shocked to see him here, threatening to ruin Christmas. But it couldn’t be him because he was at school that day we came here, and, uh—” She flushed.
“Oh yeah,” I said, remembering the day we got my drum kit.
“You both owe me an apology,” Janice said.
“Sorry,” we mumbled in unison, heads down like scorned children.
Vander jogged back into the room, tossing his keys to the side table. “Who was that toolbag?”
“My boss,” Mari said as Janice said, “My neighbor.”
“He seems like the guy who brings up old football plays to any woman he talks to,” Vander said.
“He tells women they’d look prettier if they smiled,” I said.
“He pop quizzes any person wearing a band shirt and says, ‘Oh yeah, you like Nirvana. Name five songs?’” Vander returned.
“He asks the beverage cart woman on the golf course for a hug.”
“He thinks the vulva hangs at the back of your throat.”
“He’s gestured at countless women to take off their headphones at the gym, just to talk.”
“A pair of brass balls hangs from his lifted truck.”
“He actually does have that,” Mari cut in before our back-and-forth went on too long.
We were all laughing when a new person entered the room.
It was Faye Brentmore, one of the newest women to join the Bunco Broads, a transplant from New Jersey who had moved here after she retired...oh.
“Is there a reason that awful man is out on the front lawn with a tape measure?” she asked by way of greeting. We all turned to the new arrival, and Janice made a sound of happy surprise. Faye carried a holiday tin with a big red bow on it. Her long, straight black hair was streaked with gray and pinned over her left ear with a sparkling clip.
All at once, I was filled with warmth.
Faye was funny and kind, and I genuinely liked her. Not that my opinion mattered if she made Janice happy, but compared to having just assumed the worst, I wanted to scoop Faye up like a trophy.
Instead, I went to her and gestured for a hug. “Nice to see you again, Mrs. Brentmore.”
“Faye is fine.” She returned my hug. “Hi, Leo. Nice to see you again.”
“Excuse me, son,” Janice said, gently knocking me out of the way. “Hi, dear,” she said and embraced Faye.
The two women shared a look that had me going to Mari to hold her.
Introductions were made all around, and we finally sat down to eat.
Much later, full of food, cheeks sore from laughter, I looked around the table as peace spread through me.
These were my people, and I was happy here in Green Valley. Maybe if I wasn’t so content, the realization would have surprised me, but I’d felt it for a while now.
Mari had her head on my shoulder, and I kissed her hair.
She sighed contentedly. “I wish this could last forever.”
