Chapter 34 Wine Night
Claire
The look on Everett’s face when he figured out I know a thing or two about playing hockey was priceless.
This playful side of him is making me fall harder by the minute.
The way he challenges me stirs something deep in my soul, and I really hope when all of this is over, these feelings don’t disappear with this town.
I think that might completely break me if they did.
“Hey, stranger!” Aster yells, crossing the street with her arm linked through Lolly’s. Both women are holding a bottle of wine. “We were wondering if you’d show up.”
“I didn’t realize I was imposing on your get together,” I whisper to Cami, suddenly very unsure of agreeing to join her.
“What are you talking about, hun?”
Panic sets in. Fuck. My mind fumbles through possible excuses I could give for my out-of-character response, but I don’t have any ideas. I wish Everett was here.
“Wine night is becoming our little tradition. If anyone is imposing, it’s me. I’m just happy you young girls let this old bird join in.”
“Where have you been?” Lolly asks when she and Aster meet us at the door of Citrine Brews.
“Busy,” I lie.
“So busy you can’t respond to any of our texts?” Lolly asks.
“For real. I was starting to think we had upset you or something,” Aster says. “We’ve missed you.”
Blush crawls up my neck. “Yeah, sorry. Stella’s been extra about me and Everett getting special treatment ahead of the Extravaganza. Didn’t want her thinking you three are influencing the outcome.”
“What Stella doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Cami says, winking.
“I can’t believe you and Everett agreed to judge this year’s competition. It sounds miserable,” Aster says.
“It’s not like they had a choice,” Cami says, unlocking the door of the shop and gesturing for us to follow her inside. “You know Stella. Once she gets an idea, the whole town has to go along with it.”
“God, I know,” Lolly says, as she, Aster, and I make our way over to one of the couches. “I still can’t believe she made Chip and me the co-chairs of the decoration committee and then somehow convinced him to let me use his freezer to make my peppermint bark today.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“Did you remember a bottle opener?” Cami asks, walking behind the counter.
“I did,” Aster replies, pulling it from her bag and opening the bottle.
“The freezer went out, and you guys know how long it takes to get parts for that kind of thing delivered here, so I have no way to set the peppermint bark. Stella’s grand idea was for me to use Chip’s freezer, and for some reason I will never understand, he agreed.”
“Are you worried he’s going to sabotage it?”
“No,” Lolly says, rolling her eyes. “He’s harmless. Infuriating, but harmless. I don’t know what Stella is thinking.”
“I do,” Cami says, approaching us with four wine glasses in her hands. “She’s trying to push you two together because she thinks you’d make a cute couple.”
Aster collects the glasses one by one, filling each with a heavy pour of red wine.
“You know how she works,” Cami continues, and Aster hands me the first glass. I take a sip. A mix of oak and spices run over my tongue and warm my body, putting me at ease. “I mean, she did the same thing to Everett and Claire.”
I choke on my sip, coughing and sputtering.
“You good?” Lolly asks.
“Yeah, fine,” I say, clearing my throat. “What do you mean she did the same thing to Everett and me?”
All three burst out laughing. “Please, Claire, you may be obsessed with the man now, but you hated him when he first moved here,” Lolly says. “Don’t act like you don’t remember.”
“Well, she hated him until she slept with him,” Aster teases.
“Maybe that’s what you need to do,” Cami adds, looking in Lolly’s direction.
“I’m not sleeping with Chip,” she deadpans. “He wears grandpa sweaters and reads the newspaper like he’s a ninety-year-old man. I doubt sex with him would be anything other than mediocre.”
“It’s always the quiet ones that surprise you.” Cami shrugs. “Take Joe for example. Just last night—”
“Stop,” Lolly and Aster yell.
“Please don’t ruin Joe for us,” Lolly says. “He’s like the town dad.”
“Cami’s right about the quiet ones, though,” Aster agrees. “I remember Claire thinking the same thing about Everett, and look at them now. Heard you two took quite the dip in the hot tub yesterday. Gave the whole block a show.”
“Who told you that?” I ask, my eyes going wide.
“Ruth.” Aster laughs.
“Of course she did,” I say, forcing a laugh and pretending like I understand anything they’re talking about.
“The hot tub?” Lolly questions over the rim of her glass, wiggling her eyebrows in my direction. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I say.
“Oh, come on,” she says. “It’s us. Give us the dirty details of your slutty little marriage so we can live vicariously through you.”
“On the way to our house, he started a snowball fight, and that led to us freezing our asses off in the snow, so when we got back to the house, we took a dip in the tub and made out a little. It really wasn’t anything scandalous. We are married after all.” I fidget with the ring on my left hand.
“You two are really the sweetest things ever,” Aster says. “I wish I could find my person.”
“You will, honey,” Cami says.
“Well, last time I checked, there were no other single women in this town interested in me, so I doubt that will happen anytime soon.”
“If it makes you feel any better, the pool of single men is severely lacking too,” Lolly says.
“That’s not true,” Aster says. “You have your pick with Chip and Reid.”
Lolly gags. “Reid!” She gasps, gagging again and making all three of us laugh at her reaction. “You did not just insinuate that Reid is a viable option.”
Aster shrugs. “I’m just saying, you have two, and I have zero.”
“Claire, will you please explain to our friend why Reid wouldn’t be an option even if he was the last man on the planet.”
I giggle, trying to come up with reasons why a man that I know nothing about is a bad choice.
“He does give me a strange vibe.”
“A strange vibe?” Lolly laughs. “He’s the neighborhood recluse! When he showed up to the town meeting the other day, I couldn’t believe it.”
“Fine, so you have one choice,” Aster says. “But that’s still better than zero.”
All four of us burst out laughing.
“You know you girls are always welcome to my crystals,” Cami says. “I was just telling Claire the other day that that’s how I nabbed Joe.”
“I might have to take you up on that,” Lolly says.
I find myself relaxing back on the couch, sipping my wine, and enjoying their company. I don’t know these women, but something about being surrounded by them and hearing them talk makes me feel more included in their friend group than I ever have before.
What a sick joke.
After another hour, both bottles are empty, and I make my way to the front of the coffee shop with the girls. Each one offers me a hug, and I try to push away the feelings that tonight brought about friendships and my life back in New York. The things that I wish I had but am missing.
Opening the door, I leave them, walking onto the street. The sun is low in the sky, and in the distance you can see the first signs of the moon. I check the time and find it’s a little before six.
Lamp posts and strung twinkle lights glitter above the snow-covered street, ready for whatever tonight will bring.
Pulling my jacket tight across my chest, I turn to head toward the ice rink. Everett is standing tall on skates and holding a hockey stick. Four young kids are in the middle of a circle of cones, playing keep away while their teammates, Joe, and Everett watch.
The boy in the middle steals the puck, and Everett blows his whistle. “Nice!” he calls out. “Alright, last group, you’re up.”
The four children skate to meet their team, and four new kids move into the middle of the cones. The whistle blows, and the three on the outside begin pushing the puck across the ice to one another, keeping it away from a little girl in the middle.
Everett moves around the ice with such ease, and it’s clear every child there looks up to him. The four practicing keep looking in his direction for approval, and the others watch his every move. He’s incredible with the kids, and my heart swells as I watch him.
The girl catches the puck as it passes by her, ending the game, and Everett claps his hands. “Good job,” he calls, blowing his whistle again. “Alright, that’s practice. Everyone help pick up the equipment.”
The team does as they’re told, and when everything is put away, they all meet him in the middle of the ice.
Huddled around Everett and Joe, each one puts a small hand outward. “Polar bears on three,” Everett shouts. “One, two, three.”
“Polar bears!” they all yell together, breaking away toward the entrance to the ice where their parents wait for them.
I wait patiently for Everett to finish gathering his things, and I can’t take my eyes off of him. He greets a few of the parents as he steps off the ice and walks over to a bench. Sitting, he begins to change his shoes, and I walk over to meet him.
His whole face lights up, and his eyes seem to twinkle when he sees me. “Hey, Sugar.”
“You looked good out there.”
“You were watching me?”
“Not for very long.”
He stands then bends down, kissing me.
“You hungry?” he asks.
“Starving and a little drunk,” I say as the effects of the wine swirl around my head.
“You had fun with the girls then?”
“I did.”
He throws me a reassuring smile as he stands, swinging his bag over his shoulder and taking my hand.
We begin to walk back down the street toward the house.
The sun has dropped even lower in the sky, and a dusting of snow falls around us.
The streetlights are casting a soft glow on the snow beneath.
It’s quiet, with most of the people dispersing to other ends of town away from the main square.
The cool air burns my nose, filling it with the scent of fresh snow.
We walk in silence for a while before I hear him clear his throat.
“Tonight was strange,” he says as we pass by The Chocolate Bar.
“What do you mean?”
“Coaching felt natural, like I’ve done it forever, and Joe kept talking to me like he was one of my oldest friends.”
“My night was similar.”
“Yeah?”
“It was weird. I felt more included in that group of women, who should be strangers, than I’ve ever felt with anyone else. I don’t have a friend group like that back home, and it was nice to pretend like it did.”
“Does it make you want to stay?” he asks.
“God, no,” I say, shaking my head. “My family is in New York, and so is my career. It was just nice for tonight, that’s all.”
Everett hums to himself. He stops walking and pulls me into him, his mouth finding mine.
“What was that for?” I ask, pulling away slightly.
He shrugs. “I’ve been thinking about kissing you since you walked away earlier, and I couldn’t wait any longer.”
Pushing up on my toes, my lips find him again. He kisses me hard as the snow falls around us, and I allow myself to dream about what a life with Everett in New York could be like.