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Daniel patted me on the shoulder and added, "Plus, what's a housewarming without food?" He gestured at the picnic tables and grills set up around the garden. It seemed like they had prepared enough food to feed an army.
"This is amazing," I said in awe, looking around at all our friends, coming together to make this happen.
Ariel gave a mischievous nod towards the brightly wrapped gifts, inviting Meagan to open them before indulging in our sumptuous meal. She added with an impish glint in her eye: "But not until we've popped that champagne!"
Megs scrunched up her nose and giggled. "Unfortunately, I can't join you for a drink – not while I'm nursing."
"Someday…" Ariel grinned. “Did you see Joyce? She just came in, said she wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
An hour later, an array of wrapping paper littered the floor, and boxes full of towels, a personalized welcome sign, a herb garden kit, and other crazy gifts were stacked here and there. Then Megs made herself heard again by clanging a new pan with its spoon to draw our attention.
Meagan beckoned for me to join her, cuddling against my chest. "Thank you all so much! This has been incredible!" Then clearing her throat, Megs gazed directly into my eyes then over at Ariel and Guy standing nearby. "I have you two to thank — if they hadn't pushed me to go to the new office grand opening, I would still think Chase was a jerk and had never spoken to him again. Thankfully, that didn't happen — now look where it's taken us."
After she blew them a loving kiss, everyone applauded and laughed before turning to me. "Fantastic job, my dear. I have nothing to add. Everyone here already knows how I feel.” I placed an affectionate kiss on her head and presented her with a bottle of water as I picked up my Champagne glass. Then, turning towards Mitch at the back of the room, I exclaimed jovially, "Your turn next, bro!" Raising my glass high while everyone laughed merrily along with us, I proposed a toast to his future endeavors – "Bottoms up!"
Mitch blushed and waved me off. "Don't hold your breath!"
Mitch
"It looks like these ribs are cooked to perfection! Just to be sure, I’m adding some more of Brad's famous BBQ sauce for extra flavor." With a happy smile, I generously slathered the sticky-sweet sauce on top.
"That's enough, Mitch!" Brad bellowed. "A little goes a long way!"
I chuckled as Brad grabbed a pair of tongs and lifted the ribs off the grill, sliding them onto a big plate. He had been hovering over them all afternoon. Finally, he was satisfied. The ribs were his masterpiece — the meal we'd been secretly looking forward to all week.
With friends around me and the delicious taste of Brad's ribs and Courtney's potato salad in my mouth, I couldn't help but periodically check my phone for a response from Amy. No matter what, she was determined not to miss out on the housewarming, but here we were hours later with no sign from her. Despite how much fun I had at the party, it felt like a cloud of unease had descended upon me. This wasn't like Amy to miss a Rosedale Tech party, or a trip to Vail. She was almost like family.
Meagan noticed my distraction and asked me in a concerned voice, "Where’s Amy? I thought you were picking her up?"
With a heavy exhale, I replied, "No. Amy never answered when I called." I leaned closer, "honestly, I thought maybe she was coming with someone else."
"I highly doubt that Amy has been seeing anyone. She's dedicated all her time and energy to finishing her papers and projects to get her MBA." Then, as Martha trudged up with a squalling infant gnawing her fists, Meagan declared, "Motherhood calls. I'll give Amy another try in just a bit."
Before she stepped away, I gently grabbed her arm, "Please don't make this about me... because it's not. Amy and I have never dated. "
"Gotcha! You mean not yet!" Meagan snickered as she followed Martha into the house.
With the meal concluded, two teams of guys and gals assembled in Chase's backyard for a rowdy game of cornhole. It was sure to be an entertaining showdown!
Ariel smugly handed beanbags to Martha and Courtney, a mischievous grin on her face as she announced, "You'd better not underestimate us!"
I shot a doubtful glance at Ariel as Chase grabbed two bags, then aimed for the board. Making a big show of winding up like a baseball pitcher, Chase threw the first bag. Unfortunately, it slid off, missing the hole. The gals cheered, and the guys hung their heads in faux shame. "Chase, you let us down," Brad chuckled, shaking his head.
"Take this!" Courtney teased as she tossed not one but two of her bags, and they flew right in!"
"We dominate!" Martha whooped it up, pumping her fist.
As I threw my next bag, I couldn't help but glance around the backyard to see if the car pulling up was Amy — nope. It was the front gate guard. "Wonder what he wants?" Guy threw his bags on the ground and strolled over to see.
I tossed a beanbag up into the air and caught it a few times as we all turned to see Guy leaning against the window frame of the guard's SUV, seemingly fascinated with something inside. Guy slowly walked toward me holding out a large envelope. "It's addressed to you," he said, peering at the return address, "150 State Street, Sacramento, California is where it came from.”As I gingerly took the envelope from him, my heart raced with anticipation. It had to be about the grant! The telltale logo of Fed Ex stamped on its front confirmed it was urgent news.
"It's probably the payment that was supposed to come in last week," Chase sighed. "You know how it is with the government — they're always slow."
Astonished, I held the envelope and pondered, "Why is it addressed to me instead of Chase, then? He's the grant administrator!"
"Yea, that's right. The first payment was late. I'll bet that's what it is," Guy chimed in.
"There's a lot of paperwork inside. I'll open it over on the picnic table."
