“Paul and I’ll clean up down here,” he said.
“Are you sure? I know you hate—”
“I’m sure. You and Christy go upstairs and do…” He waved his hand vaguely.
“Girl stuff,” Christy said.
“Right, girl stuff. Make yourselves beautiful. More beautiful,” he amended. He stood and picked up his plate. “You coming?” he said to me.
I shot Christy a look of bemusement.
“You heard him.” She grinned. “Chop-chop.”
The doorbell rang as we pushed back from the table.
“I’ll get it,” I said. “You all go upstairs and get ready. Trip…”
“Yeah, I know,” he said with faux resignation. “Do the dishes.”
“The things we do for love,” I said.
“I dunno ’bout you,” he shot back, “but I’m doing it to get laid.”
Wren rose on tiptoes and motioned him down for a kiss. “You will.”
“See?” he said with a goofy grin. “Works every time.”
Trip began to clear the table, the girls headed upstairs, and I went to answer the door.
“Hey,” Terri said cheerfully. “I hope I’m not too early.”
“No, come on in.”
She brandished a bottle of wine as she stepped inside. “I hope you like it. I didn’t know white or red.”
“We’re color-blind here. We only see alcohol.”
“Ha! Okay.” She held up a gift and added, “I also brought this. I hope she likes them. I had to guess her size.”
“Small,” I chuckled as I swung the door closed.
“You don’t even know what they are.”
“Doesn’t matter. Everything about her is small.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. I happen to like small.”
Terri’s dark eyes sparkled with amusement. Then she wrinkled her nose. “Uh…?”
“Burned duck,” I said flippantly. “Long story. Don’t ask.”
“Okay, I won’t,” she laughed.
I led her toward the kitchen. “The girls are upstairs getting ready. Trip’s cleaning up. He’s feeling guilty.”
“The duck?”
“It was a tragic loss.”
“Cremated?”
“Very funny,” Trip said as we entered the kitchen. Then, “Hey, Terri. Thanks for coming.”
“Paul said I shouldn’t ask…”
“But he told you already?” He pretended to glare.
“Can I fix you a drink?” I asked him. “As a peace offering?”
“It’ll take more than that, but a Jack and Coke’d be awesome.”
“Coming right up. You want one?” I asked Terri. “Or stick to wine?”
“Uh… whatever you’re having.”
“Sounds good. Three Jack and Cokes, coming up.”
* * *
Freddie and Rosemary arrived a little while later with a bottle of sambuca and a four-pack of wine coolers.
“Ay, paisan,” he greeted Trip. “Good to see you.”
“You too, Freddie.”
“I brought some of the old country for you to try.” He held up the bottle.
“Not too much,” Rosemary cautioned. “We have class in the morning.”
“I’ll behave,” he promised. Then he saw Terri. “Oh, ay, who’s this?”
I introduced them and added, “She’s a friend of ours from the dance team.”
“Oh, right!” he said. “Twinkletoes here was tellin’ us about that. Ballroom. Too swanky for me.”
“Anyone can learn,” Terri said smoothly.
He shrugged and changed the subject. “Say, where’s the birthday girl? We brought her somethin’. You have it, hon?”
“Right here,” Rosemary said calmly. She held up a gift bag. “We didn’t know what to get—”
“But booze is always appropriate,” Freddie finished.
“You got that right,” Trip agreed. “Come on to the kitchen. I’ll share some of my old country, Tennessee’s finest.”
“Go on,” Rosemary told Freddie. She grabbed a wine cooler and sent the rest with him. She waited till he was out of earshot before she said to me, “Thanks for inviting us. It means a lot to Freddie.”
“It means a lot that he’s my friend,” I said.
“Thank you.” She frowned and looked around. “Freddie was just being polite, but where is Christy?”
“She and Wren are upstairs,” I said. “Still getting ready. We… um… had a bit of an adventure earlier.”
“They burned a duck,” Terri added.
“Oh, okay,” Rosemary laughed. Then her forehead wrinkled. “Is that a joke or something?”
“Unfortunately not,” I laughed. “But Terri’ll have to explain. If you’ll excuse me a sec, I’m gonna check on Christy and Wren.”
“Sure,” Terri said with a smile. “We’ll be here.”
I left them making small talk and headed upstairs. The girls were in the master bathroom, where Christy was putting the finishing touches on Wren’s hair.
“Wow, total transformation,” I said to her in the mirror.
She still looked tired, but it was her attitude more than her looks. Christy had done a great job with everything else.
“You mean it?” Wren asked.
“Absolutely. You look fantastic.”
Christy thanked me with a smile and unplugged the curling iron. Then she glanced at her watch. “Is everyone here?”
“Terri, Freddie, and Rosemary,” I said.
She frowned. “I hope Lily and her boyfriend come. She said she would.”
“We’ll have fun no matter what.”
“Fun?” Wren said. “What’s that?”
“It’s a strange thing people do when they aren’t working all the time.”
“Do we know anyone like that?”
“I don’t think so,” I chuckled. “We’re all pretty busy. So let’s relax and blow off some steam tonight.”
“I wish I could,” she said.
“Lorelei Wren Hilliard,” Christy said, “I refuse to let you ruin my birthday.”
“You heard her,” I chimed in. “Besides, it’s one night.”
Wren looked at herself in the mirror and made a decision. “Yeah, I need this more than I need honors when I graduate.”
“That’s the spirit!”
“Thank you, Mr. Positive,” Christy said sincerely.
“Thank you both,” Wren said. “And Trip too. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
We shared a quiet smile before the doorbell cut it short.
“Perfect timing,” I pretend-griped.
“Oh my gosh, that’s Lily,” Christy said. “You’re going to love her.” She caught my eye and practically begged me to like her new friend.
Seriously? I asked.
Oh, Paul, she answered with a look. Wait till you meet her. You’ll see.
“All right,” I said aloud. “We’d better go down.”
“Here?” Wren teased. “Now?”
I rolled my eyes. “Later. After everyone leaves.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” she said.
“Mmm. I’m sure you will. But in the meantime, let’s get downstairs and greet our guests.”
“We finished the wine anyway,” Christy said to Wren. “And I’m ready for something stronger.”
“Amen,” Wren agreed.
“Well, the bar’s open,” I said, “and Freddie brought a bottle of sambuca.”
Wren’s eyes lit up. “Really? We have Baileys. I can make Slippery Nipples.”
“Sounds yummy,” Christy said.
“Yeah,” Wren smiled, “this is exactly what I need.”
* * *
Lily and her boyfriend were talking to the others downstairs, and I suppressed a smile when I saw her. She was definitely Christy’s type, at least in the body department.
She was dark-haired, dark-eyed, and attractive. I immediately thought of a farmer’s daughter. She didn’t have huge tracts of land, but they were big enough to keep a farm boy happy. She reminded me of Kendall. She was slimmer through the hips and not quite as tall, but her hair and chest certainly matched.
Her boyfriend was about Trip’s height and build. He was good-looking, with chiseled features and sandy hair. His name was Will, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. We made small talk with Trip and Freddie while Christy and the others went through to the kitchen.