Chapter 16 #2
“I’ve got it.” Oddly enough, May felt more relaxed than she had earlier, even if the unthinkable had been affirmed. She’d had sex with a hot man she’d sworn not to date and had gotten pregnant. It was a tale as old as time. “I want to hear more about your lives. Elliott, you’ve been oddly quiet.”
“Have I?” She took an exaggerated sip from her glass. May would have wondered if Elli was going to share her own pregnancy announcement if she hadn’t been drinking chardonnay. “I love work. I know that sounds pedestrian to you ladies, since you’re professionals. I mean, Lou has a book contract—”
“Almost,” Lou said.
“And May, you’re like, running Zest alongside Power CEO Jewell. And Lisa, would Evergreen Cove even exist without you working with the mayor?”
“No,” Lisa answered plainly before sipping her drink.
“I love Cup of Jo’s and making T-shirts to sell there. But…” Elliott toyed with the stem of her wine glass. “Jo is retiring next year. And I thought maybe I should step into a role that fits me.”
May felt her eyebrows lift with interest. “Are you going to be the new Jo?”
“Well, I won’t be renaming Cup of Jo’s to Elli Bean’s”—they smiled at Brady’s cute nickname for her—“but I would love to buy her out.”
“I love this for you!” Lisa exclaimed.
“Me too!” Lou agreed.
“How can you say that what you do is pedestrian?” Lisa scolded. “You’re a creative maven. I receive a thousand compliments any time I wear one of your T-shirt designs.”
“Same,” May agreed.
“And,” Lou said, “people would die to have a job they loved, a man who was solely dedicated to them, and friends as amazing as us.”
May made a show of fluffing her hair. “Seriously.”
Elli blushed. “Thanks, you guys. I never dreamed I’d have friends again, and then I end up with the best friends a girl could pray for.”
“It’s the Cove.” Lou smiled.
“Something’s in the water.” Lisa nodded.
“What about you, Lisa?” May directed the table’s attention to her bestie. “What’s going on with you? We need an update.”
“Especially if it involves a man.” Lou waggled her eyebrows.
“Or a woman.” Elliott shrugged. “We are open to either.”
“I appreciate that,” Lisa said with a laugh. “My news is of the good news-bad news variety as well. The good news being that Wanda has tasked me with taking on an art initiative in the Cove.”
“I thought the Starving Artists Festival was Evergreen Cove’s art initiative,” Lou said. “Food trucks, arts and crafts, an Asher Knight appearance. It’s practically perfect.”
Lisa took a bite of olive tapenade. “According to Wanda, Evergreen Cove has outgrown that festival. She wants something more posh. Although Asher Knight’s acoustic ballad stays. She was very clear about that.”
“No one will ever stop wanting to see Asher Knight perform.” Elliott trilled her tongue in a purr. A Cove staple, gorgeous, settled-down, world-famous rock star Asher Knight always drew a crowd.
“With the artists we have at our disposal,” Lisa continued, “it won’t be hard to find talent. “Evan Downey’s paintings, Charlie Downey’s photography. Donovan Pate’s fireplaces. Ant’s chainsaw art. Your T-shirts.”
Elliott gasped. “My T-shirts are posh?”
“Yes. And now we have an author.” Lisa gestured at Lou. “And May, I’m sure we can involve your incredible sense of style as it applies to Zest. Anyway, next summer will be the last traditional Starving Artists Festival. And then the summer after, look out, here I come.”
May kept the smile pinned to her face, but she wasn’t thinking about the future of the Starving Artists Festival. She was considering what her life would look like by next summer. Nine months from now it would be June. She’d be shopping for crocheted baby blankets and onesies by then.
“That sounds awesome. What’s the bad news?” Lou asked.
“This is Wanda’s initiative we’re talking about, so it will require a pantload of funding. And guess who she has tasked with drumming up investors?”
“Griffin,” May answered.
“Yes. Are you happy? I will finally have to work with that tool bag.”
“Does Wanda know you two—” Lou made a lewd gesture with her hands.
“No. God. No. She knows we are acquainted, but that’s it. When she mentioned him, she said, ‘I know you and Griffin aren’t close, but you might want to be considering how intimate this project is.’”
May laughed at Lisa’s Wanda voice. That warbling soprano reminded her of a cartoon woman with tight gray curls and those little glasses they use at the opera. Nothing like Wanda, but still funny.
“So tell her you two have a history and it’s not pretty,” Elli suggested.
“Yeah, Lis.” Lou smiled. “Tell her you have a history and it involved you panting and screaming his name. That’ll fix her.”
“Ugh.” Lisa dropped her head into her hands. “I never should have admitted the sex was so good.”
“No, you should have. It’s nice to know you had it good once upon a time.” Lou laughed when Lisa tagged her on the shoulder.
“This is very hush-hush,” Lisa continued. “So not a word to anyone, especially your menfolk.”
Elliott twisted her lips.
“Okay,” Lisa amended. “Broad brushstrokes only, and tell your menfolk not to share it or I’ll have their balls bronzed and hang them from the rearview mirror of my Mercedes.”
“Deal,” Lou and Elli agreed.
“I assume this concludes our big news for the evening?” Lisa asked the group.
May nodded but noticed Lou chewing on her lip. Since she’d been called out, she was more than happy to return the favor.
“You have something else to share.” May pointed at her.
Lou’s eyes widened. “Nothing as big as your news.”
“I knew it.” May snapped her fingers. “Spill.”
Lou took her time dipping a cracker into the tapenade before she almost sheepishly admitted, “There might be one more thing.”
Lou stood and reached into the front pocket of her jeans. She came out with a diamond ring between her index finger and thumb. “He asked last night.”
“What!” Lisa snatched up the ring. “It’s huge!”
Elli took it next. “It’s beautiful. Absolutely perfect for you.”
May was on the verge of offering her congratulations when she caught Lou’s throat working as she swallowed thickly. When the ring was passed to her, she refrained from gushing over the diamond and instead leveled Lou with a look. “And what did you say when he proposed?”
The other two women froze, like it hadn’t occurred to them there was any answer other than yes. May knew too well that life had a way of twisting and turning without warning. If Lou wasn’t ready to say yes, she wasn’t obligated.
But then Lou’s face split into a smile. “I said it’s about damn time!” She plucked the ring from May’s palm and slid it onto her left ring finger. “I didn’t want to overshadow my book news with engagement news. And then there was May’s news, and, well, this felt like upstaging.”
“No, never upstaging.” May stood and hugged her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Lou held on for an extra beat and then whispered, “I’m really happy for you.”
May’s throat thickened as those same heavy emotions welled up again. “Well, I’m ecstatic for you.”
“Good.” Lou gestured with a sweep of her arm. “Because you’re all in the wedding. And, May, I will need to set up a meeting with Jewell. Does she design formalwear?”
“She does, indeed.” Some of the most unique, classy pieces May had seen were from Jewell’s collection.
“I love weddings!” Elli smiled. “If I’d had bridesmaids, I would have asked the three of you. We wanted to keep it simple.”
“Aw, we know that, babe,” Lisa assured her.
Elliott and Brady’s wedding had been a small affair with Gramps officiating and Lila acting as the sole bridesmaid-slash-ring-bearer-slash-flower-dog.
“I enjoyed your simple ceremony,” May praised.
“It was fun and relaxing,” Lisa said.
“Is there a how-he-proposed story?” Elli asked Lou.
“It probably happened during sex,” Lisa joked.
Lou blushed.
“During?” Lisa gasped.
Lou laughed. “Not exactly a story we can share with our kids, huh?”
“Leave out the part about your toes curling. Maybe say you were lying in bed about to fall asleep,” Elli suggested.
Lisa, eyes on her phone once again, said, “Lou, you are going to have to make room on your calendar for a meeting.”
“With who?”
“Gloria Knight.”
“Gloria Knight? As in legendary rock star Asher Knight’s wife, Gloria Knight?”
“As in legendary literary agent, Gloria Knight. She’s open for a sit-down to review your contract. If anyone can negotiate a higher advance and great PR, it’s her.”
Lou wove her fingers together, her diamond ring twinkling in the lamplight. “I can’t believe it! I’m going to be a published author.”
“You’re going to be a published author,” Elli repeated.
“And you’re going to be a coffee shop owner,” Lou said. Then she turned to May. “And you’re going to be a mom.”
The table fell silent as everyone waited on May’s reaction. “I’m going to be a mom.”
There was a brief round of applause before Lisa piped up to ask, “What about me?”
“You,” May responded, happy to shift the attention from herself, “are going to do exactly what we expect you to do.”
“And what’s that?” Lisa inclined her chin.
May shrugged. “Run the world, of course.”
“Or at least Evergreen Cove,” Lou said.
Lisa waved a hand in dismissal. “Honey, I already run Evergreen Cove.”