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“You.”
He drew back so quickly that he nearly stumbled. “Are you insane?”
“Come on. I hear it’s amazing.”
“Amazingly painful!”
When she started giggling, Eric managed to calm down, though his skin still crawled with terror. “Are you serious?”
She shrugged. “Rex and Harrison do it for Cairo.”
“I don’t want to know that!”
“Sorry,” she said with a shrug that said she wasn’t sorry at all.
“You’re a monster,” he muttered just before the doors flew open.
Jamie’s mouth was grim as he faced the front door. “It’s time.”
“Are you ready?” Eric asked.
“Maybe.”
He slapped his brother on the back. “You’ll be great, Jamie. You need any help?”
“We’re good.”
An hour later, the place was packed with people. Like any normal night, the brewery rang with laughter and music. But the differences were strange and surreal. There were plates and silverware crowded on the tables, the air smelled like spice and tomatoes, and every single face in the crowd was a good friend.
Luke was there, helping out with the occasional spilled glass or dropped utensil. And he’d brought along Simone, who cradled her baby girl in her arms.
Jamie’s girlfriend, Olivia, had brought a few of her friends from the university, and she looked more relaxed than Eric had ever seen her, her face aglow with triumph for Jamie.
The other three dozen people were all friends they’d made over the years. Former servers and employees. Women who worked at the White Orchid. Allies from the local business community.
Smiling, Eric loaded a tray with dirty plates and took it to the kitchen.
If the front room looked subtly different, the kitchen was a different place entirely. Between the oven and the new fridge and the freezer and racks of flatware…he wouldn’t have recognized it if he hadn’t seen the transformation himself. And Faron ruled over it all like a tiny, peaceful dictator. Her word was law in the kitchen, even if her voice was soft and gentle. No one wanted to disappoint her, certainly not Wallace. The man was as lovesick as ever, though much happier now that he’d convinced Faron to love him back. What Eric hadn’t expected was a kinder, gentler Wallace. He didn’t like to yell, because that always drew a disappointed frown from Faron’s direction. Hiring Faron may, in fact, have saved Eric’s sanity. It had certainly saved his eardrums.
“Hey,” Luke said as he pushed through the double doors with two beers in his hands. “You look like you need a drink.”
“Thanks.” Eric took the lager that Luke offered and clinked it against Luke’s beer. “Sláinte.”
“It’s a good night,” Luke said. “The pizzas are all great. Hell, I even liked the one with marinated eggplant on it.”
“It is a good night. I’m glad you brought Simone. I haven’t seen the baby since September.”
“She’s big now, huh? Smiles and everything.”
“Is it true you babysat this weekend?”
Luke cringed. “With Tessa’s help.”
“Are you in training?”
Luke gave him a sidelong glance. “We haven’t discussed that yet.”
“Yeah,” Eric said with a grin. “I bet that conversation will happen soon. I mean, I can only assume you’re thinking of proposing, since you’re living with her.”
