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“Let’s get two.” Lauren grinned and set her bag beside Casey’s. She leaned back in her chair, tilting her face to the sun.
“You don’t need to convince me.” Casey winked at the waiter as he approached the table. She pointed to the list of specials. “Two pitchers of Miller Lite please.”
“How many cups?” He scratched their order onto a small notepad, eyeing the two empty chairs beside them.
Lauren laughed and tugged a pair of sunglasses from her bag. “Just two.” She smiled. “I’m on vacation.”
“Two it is, ladies.” He snorted and walked away.
Casey giggled and propped her feet up on a chair. She leaned back and sighed. “You know, usually I’m the one pouring the beer. This is a nice change.”
“Have you been bartending long? That’s how you met Mavis, right?”
Casey nodded. “About eight years.”God, has it been that long?“And yeah. Mavs worked at The Broken Shaker before me. She trained me on my first shift and the rest is history.” She smiled despite the twinge in her gut. Casey shrugged. “I miss her.”
With a sigh, Lauren tilted her head. “Before everything you know,happened... Mavis was my best friend too. I know what it feels like to lose her.”
Yeah, I guess you do.
The waiter returned, setting the two full pitchers of beer on the table with two plastic cups. “Enjoy, ladies!”
“Thank you!” Casey snagged the cups and poured. “You must be happy to have her back now though.”
“Oh, absolutely.” She accepted the cup Casey offered and brought the beverage directly to her lips. She sipped and smiled. “This is so good.”
Casey gulped and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Nodding, she smiled.
“So, can I ask? How did you and Austin get to be...?”
Casey’s cheeks flushed, warmth rising in her body. She lifted her gaze to Lauren’s and her brown eyes stared back.
“Umm... I guess I’m not really too sure. He was obviously here when Mavis moved out. Then we hung out that night and just texted dumb stuff to each other for a few weeks until he got his new job.” Casey drained her cup and reached for the pitcher. “Oh! And he offered to help me with my political science course this summer. He’s like... way smart.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. Imagine being the little sister of the brilliant Templeton twins.” She snorted. “Now let me tell you, that’s a tough act to follow.” She tipped her head back and drained her cup too.
Casey grinned and refilled. “I can’t even imagine. Valedictorianandsalutatorian, I hear?”
With another gulp of beer, Lauren winced. “Don’t remind me.” She shook her head with a laugh. “What about you? Do you have any siblings?”
“Yeah, I have an older sister, Cassie. But we haven’t talked in a while.”
Lauren frowned. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“No, no, you’re totally fine. She’s in jail, so we kinda lost touch.” Casey cringed, bringing the cup back to her lips.Why did I just tell you that?“And... I’m making myself sound crazy...”
Lauren smiled and stretched her arm across the table. She squeezed Casey’s fingers. “You’re not crazy, Case. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Her cheeks flushed red again, the embarrassment swirling in her gut. “No, no... don’t apologize. My family is just a littlemessy.” Her gaze lifted to the sky as Mavis’s warning swirled in her brain again.The Templetons... they just see things differently.“I haven’t really even told Austin anything about my family yet,” she admitted.
“Austin is really understanding about literally everything. He processes things differently, never any judgment.”
Casey nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.” She sipped again. “I really envy how close you all are.”
Lauren smiled, slouching back in her seat. “I do love it, but twin brothers come with a bit of drama.” She tipped her beer in Casey’s direction. “It’s actually been really nice not to have to listen to them fight lately.”
“Yeah, I bet. I just saw a tiny bit of it that one weekend.” Her eyes widened with recall.
“I seriously thought Josh was going to murder Austin.” She drained her cup and reached for the pitcher, pouring the last of the golden liquid. “And honestly, I think I could have murdered him myself after what he did, going after Mavis like that.”
