Page 63 of Sundown Somewhere

“You have one more?” Mrs. Ngo, the longtime owner of Ming Garden asks us in her heavily accented English, pointing to the empty chair. We all nod, not bothering to explain to her that Margeaux got delayed due to a “debrief session”—which we all know is code for her and Gus sneaking in a quickie in his office. “Okay, I bring tea.”

She shuffles off before any of us can object. We have never—in all the years we’ve been coming here—drank the tea she brings us. In fact, calling it tea is generous. It’s really more slightly discolored bitter water. Because while she and her sisters are unrivaled in the kitchen, and make the best pot stickers and chow mein in the state, the tea leaves a lot to be desired.

“I just feel so bad,” Rose says, her normal bubbly persona mellowed at the moment. “Cary said that they haven’t had a freeze this bad since the fifties, and we’re going to be lucky to get any peaches this summer.”

At all? Yikes. Hux said it was bad, but I hadn’t realized it was that bad. As chief horticulturist for Hayes, Rose’s older brother, Cary, would know. He, Anton, and Hux have been working to do whatever they can to save the trees and the fruit, thanks to the freak cold snap we got while we were at the beach.

The one Hux and I missed altogether since we were too busy staying inside. With each other.

I need to tell them. I can’t keep this to myself. Right?

“Not just Hayes. Like the whole state,” she continues.

“That’s not good,” Alice replies.

They deserve to know, I reason. These three are my best friends and have been by my side longer than anyone. Even Hux. So what if I said we were keeping this to ourselves. I did say they’d probably figure something was up. By telling them I’m simply helping that eventuality along.

“Is there anything they can do?” Emily asks.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rose shrug. “Only time will really tell. Cary said⁠—”

“I slept with Hux.”

Crash!

The words tumble out of me like a barrel over Niagara Falls, hurtling over the edge, speeding toward the splash below, accompanied by the clang of porcelain and silverware bouncing off each other before hitting the floor.

All four of us freeze, looking up to find a startled, unmoving Mrs. Ngo, her hands still midair from where she had been holding the tray of tea and cups. Before she happened upon my word-vomited confession.

Well, shit. Didn’t mean for that to happen. Well done, Dolly. Way to scare the shit out of the nice restaurant owner with your potentially questionable romantic behavior.

Still in shock, Mrs. Ngo slowly starts to back away. “I send someone to clean up.”

We might not be welcome back here…

A young bus boy appears out of nowhere with a dustpan and broom, our entire table still sitting silently as he makes quick work of the cleanup. No doubt because he was told to get in and out as fast as he could and not to listen to our conversation.

“Once more, please,” Alice says, turning her attention back to me as soon as the teenager is done. She’s looking at me as if my statement has been uttered in Spanglish—a few words she understood mixed in with a bunch she didn’t. And there were only four of them.

I swallow hard, feeling all their eyes on me. This was much easier when they weren’t so intently focused in on what I was about to say.

“I slept with Hux.”

There. I said it. Twice.

A weight lifts off of me, the physical relief of being able to share more pronounced than I thought it would be. In fact, I’m halfway giddy. Because all I want to do is talk about it. Like I’m fourteen all over again and finally kissed a boy.

“Like, for real?” Emily questions.

What?

“No, for fake, Em,” I sass.

“I mean, like…” She holds up her hands, making a circle with her forefinger and thumb with her left and sticking her right pointer finger through it. Same as we did when we were tweens and were embarrassed by the word sex.

I roll my eyes, trying to hold in my laughter. “Yeah, just like that.”

“Squeeeeee! OMG!” Rose grabs my hands as she squeals, her melancholy on behalf of her brother now forgotten. “Was it amazing? It was amazing, wasn’t it? Hux Hayes knows what he’s doing, I know it. Tell us everything!”