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“I may have planted the seed of the idea, but it wouldn’t have grown without Xander.” She smiled. “And it won’t bloom without all of you. Anyway, I think I’ve talked enough.” She turned to Clay. “All that remains is to introduce this man, the man you’ve all been waiting for, Mr. Clay MacAdam.”
Xander kept his arm around her as everyone applauded, and they made their way down from the stage.
Clay waited for the applause to die down before he spoke. “Thank you all for coming tonight.” He nodded to Xander and Tori. “It’s an honor and a pleasure for me to be a part of it. I’m wishing you guys every success with this place – you deserve it.”
As he launched into one of his songs, Xander turned to Tori and wrapped both arms around her. Her eyes sparkled.
“Do you recognize the song?”
He nodded happily. He knew that it was one of her favorites. It was called The Moments; it was all about living every moment. He’d never heard it before he met Tori, but now, he was able to quietly sing every word to her as they swayed to the music.
He didn’t care who was watching as he lowered his head to kiss her. This was a moment that he wasn’t going to let pass him by.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was two o’clock in the morning by the time they locked up the bar. Tori was almost asleep on her feet. Xander wrapped his arm around her as they walked back to the truck.
“Wasn’t it a great night?” she asked.
He nodded happily. “It couldn’t have gone better. I think Violets is off to a great start, don’t you?”
“I do, and I love that so many of our friends were here to celebrate with us.”
She couldn’t figure out the look he gave her as he opened the truck door for her.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Not a damn thing, sprite. It’s all good.”
As he drove the short distance up the east shore of the lake to their new home, Tori tried to keep her eyes open, but she couldn’t quite manage it. She startled, realizing that she’d been drifting off to sleep, when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket.
“What’s that? Is everything okay?” Xander asked as she pulled it out to check it.
She smiled. “It’s okay. Nothing’s wrong. It’s a text from Callie.”
Callie: Hey, girl! Sorry we couldn’t be there with you tonight. I hope it all went well. I can’t wait to see this new bar of yours. We’ll come visit just as soon as we can. I’m so happy for you that you and Xander finally got together – and I’m not above saying that I told you so! Love you, girly. Let’s talk soon, okay?
Tori smiled as she read it.
“Are they okay? I haven’t spoken to Kolby in a while.” Just as he said that, his phone beeped with an incoming text.
Tori looked down at her phone again. “Callie says that Kolby’s texting you, too. So, I guess that’s him.”
When they got back to the house, Xander led her by the hand to the kitchen.
“Are you tired?” he asked. “Do you want to go straight to bed?”
“I am tired but I’m too wired to go to sleep, yet, I think.”
“Me, too. Do you want a drink?”
She grinned at him. “How about some of that special vodka of yours?”
He chuckled. “That’s what I was thinking.”
He poured them each a glass and brought hers to her. “Don’t think that me giving you this means that I expect you to take advantage of me later – I know you’re beat; it’s been a big day. It’s been a long week, for that matter.”
She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Don’t you go thinking that claiming you’re tired is going to stop me.”
