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“These ol’ things?” Daisy said, dramatically crossing her legs.
“Daisy did get more than her fair share. Must take you forever to shave ’em,” Lizzie said.
“Oh, I switched to waxing,” Daisy said. “Painful, but worth it.”
“I’m so glad you moved home,” Emma said. “I missed you.”
“I missed y’all too.” Daisy smiled.
“Now that you’ve been back in the country a few weeks, anything taking some getting used to?” Kate asked.
“A crying baby at dinner is new,” Daisy said.
“Tell me about it,” Kate said. “I’mstill adjusting to that.”
“How are Duke and Luna handling it?” Emma asked. Duke was Adam’s German Shepherd, and Luna was the spoiled fluffy Bolognese usually glued to Kate’s side.
“Duke’s great,” Adam said, having come out and sat next to Kate. “Luna…not so much.”
“Luna’s used to being the center of attention,” Kate said. “She’s having a little trouble sharing the spotlight.”
“Wow. That news is so surprising,” Lizzie said.
That earned an eye roll from Kate and a laugh from everyone else.
Their father emerged, carrying a plate of raw meat. “I’m starting the grill. Your mother’s ready for some helpers.”
Daisy and her sisters obediently headed inside. With so many hands, they whipped up the potato, green, and fruit salads in no time. Daisy finished the relish tray just as her dad reentered with a mountain of sizzling burgers, grilled to perfection.
Daisy’s mouth watered in anticipation. A good ol’ American cheeseburger. Exactly what the doctor ordered.
“You’ll have to do without me for a couple weeks,” Daisy said when someone mentioned next week’s dinner. “I leave on Thursday for my road trip and won’t be back until after the award ceremony.”
“And don’t forget. The week after that is my play,” Nana reminded everyone. For the millionth time.
“We’ll be there, Mom,” Daisy’s dad said. “Pete and Bella are even coming to town for it.”
Pete was Daisy’s uncle, and Bella, her sixteen-year-old cousin. Her aunt had passed away a few years prior.
“Fantastic,” Nana said.
“It’s community theater, but she’s treating it like it’s Broadway,” Daisy’s father whispered to her with a shake of his head and a smile. Nana could be a handful, but she also made things interesting.
“Hey,” Lizzie said to Adam, who was refilling his wineglass. “Top me off, eh?” She held up her glass, and he poured.
“Speaking of booze,” Adam said. “Any progress on selling the bar?”
“Kate said I’d be the first to know,” Lizzie said, shrugging. Kate was a real estate agent, and Lizzie had hired her months ago to sell her bar. “We may have to implement Plan B.”
“Um, what’s Plan B again?” Adam asked.
“I do what Lucy did with the coffee shop and run both locations until I can unload the Main Street one. I wanted to sell it before moving, but I doubt you want your property sitting empty.”
“Well, no,” Adam admitted. “But I don’t want you doing anything that’ll put you in a financial bind either.”
“If the new bar makes enough, I could close The Drop on Main Street and just keep paying the mortgage until it sells. I can’t run them both indefinitely—that’ll split the clientele, and neither will be profitable. But maybe for a little while.”
Adam had purchased and renovated a small strip mall. Kate, Lucy, and Emma had already moved their businesses there. Kate, a real estate office. Emma, her accounting firm. And Lucy a coffee shop called The Drip 2.0. The original Drip was still open and running directly across the street from Lizzie’s bar, The Drop.
