Every Yesterday (Boot Creek) (5 page)

Chapter Five

So many cars lined Main Street in front of the Blue Skies Café, it almost felt like Blackberry Festival time. Megan strolled down the walkway, not surprised by the turnout. Angie was well liked by the people who knew her, and her customers loved her too. Angie was one of those people that had no barriers. Even though she’d been through plenty of situations in her life that had given her cause to shut down . . . she’d risen above them all. She was the first one to volunteer or show up to offer a hand when someone needed it. Megan wished she were more like that sometimes. It just wasn’t her way. She was more of a dove, while Angie was like a cockatiel. Social, friendly, and whatever she said sounded like pretty music.

Even before Megan opened the door to Blue Skies Café, the aroma of good food surrounded her. She walked inside.

Standing room only.

When ol’ man Johnson had said he wanted to host a pre-wedding/going-away party for Angie, his number one waitress, Megan had no idea that he’d meant that he was going to invite darn near the whole town. Folks in these parts loved his food, so no one was about to miss this spread. But on top of that, anyone who had ever met Angie loved her. All of her best customers seemed to have turned out.

Megan spotted Angie leaning against one of the booths. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought Angie was ready to take the person’s order. But tonight was in honor of the hardworking girl, and ol’ man Johnson had brought in a group of young folks from the 4H to wait the tables.

The bright green shirts of the 4Hers moved through the crowd like Olympic speed skaters.

Inching her way through the crowd, Megan finally made it over to Angie. “What a turnout.”

Angie spun around and hugged Megan. “Is this nuts?”

“A lot of these people won’t be at the wedding, right?”

“Exactly. Customers mostly.” Angie’s eyes were misty, her smile genuine. “I mean who wouldn’t show up for free food? But it was really sweet that they’d come. And did you see Johnson put up a tip box for me? He dropped in a one-hundred-dollar bill to get things started. It was so thoughtful. I’m going to miss working here.”

“No you won’t. You worked your butt off here.”

Angie looked around. “True, but it’s been a good living. Billy and I’ve done fine with my income from this job, and ol’ man Johnson has been so patient with me through the divorce, the harassment from Rodney, my car problems, and Billy getting sick when he started school. I swear I couldn’t have asked for much more.”

“Well, you’ve got much more now,” Megan said. “You’ve got a great husband who is going to soak up half that burden from now on. And the job with Derek and Katy at Lonesome Pines is going to be so much better for you. Besides, if Billy gets sick, you can stick him in one of those rooms at the inn, or better yet, work from home.”

“I can’t believe my life has changed so much in the past year. I never even dreamed my life could be like this.”

“You know what they say, when you least expect it . . . you’ll find love. And you deserve it.”

“That sure was the case with Jackson. The only reason I even went out to Criss Cross Farm was to show Katy around that day. Then I saw Jackson.”

“Someone say my name?” Jackson wrapped his arms around Angie’s waist from behind.

“That was me. Hey, sweetheart.” She leaned back and turned her face toward him for a kiss. “Love you.”

“And more,” he said. “I wanted to introduce your girls to my guys.”

“Great.” Angie tiptoed and waved Flynn and Katy over. “I’m sure they’ve met Flynn already.”

Megan stepped back as Katy and Flynn gathered. Suddenly it was as if they were being lined up for some kind of hoedown.
Swing your partner.

“We’ll get some time together to talk, but I wanted to get y’all introduced,” Jackson said. “The dark-haired guy with the California suntan is Noah. My best man.”

“I think we’re going to need name tags,” Katy said with a laugh.

Megan wondered just how much work Noah did to maintain a tan that dark. Then again, Angie
had
said Noah was kind of the playboy of the group. He looked the part too. Hotter than hot, with a little salt in his pepper hair and eyes as dark as chocolate ganache. His full lips were shadowed by a day or two’s growth, and although it hadn’t ever been one of her favorite looks, it looked particularly good on him. Even a little dark and dangerous in a sexy sort of way.

His lips parted, as if he knew what she was thinking. A dimple forming at the lower right of his cheek. “I’m Megan,” she said, mostly to save herself from his stare. “Guess I’m your other half. The maid of honor.”

A faint line appeared between Noah’s brows as he studied her. Other half? “That’s an interesting way to describe it.”

Jackson tugged the tall guy with the shaggy long brown hair by the arm. “And this one who looks jet-lagged is Ford. All the way from Alaska.”

Ford smiled and held his beer up. “By way of one long layover in Colorado, but I’m here. I promise to rest up and be proper fun the rest of the week.”

“I can promise you good rest and hearty Southern breakfasts,” Flynn sidled up to him. “I’m Flynn. You and I haven’t met yet, but I own the inn where y’all are staying.”

Ford’s face lit. “Oh you had me wondering for a minute there how I was getting so lucky. Nice to meet you, Flynn. And thank you. I’m about thirteen hours past needing rest at this point.”

“You just let me know if you want to get on out of here early. I can give you a lift,” Flynn flashed him a sweet smile.

Megan turned her back to Flynn and Ford. “Am I the only one feeling that vibe all the way over here?” she mouthed the words.

Katy pressed her lips together and shook her head.

Angie broke the buzz that was pulsing between Ford and Flynn. “And Katy here was the magic that put me in the path of Jackson to begin with. She’s the newest of us to Boot Creek, but she’s one of the gang already. Her better half is the one walking me down the aisle and giving me away—Derek.”

Megan caught the hiccup in Angie’s voice. If it were Megan getting married and Dad had missed it, she’d have felt the same way. Angie’s dad had died when she was just a little girl.

Jackson clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Great. Now everyone knows someone. Have fun tonight. I have a feeling this week is going to fly by.”

Megan watched Flynn cast her best flirting in Ford’s direction again. Did that Alaskan know what he was in for? If nothing else, there’d probably be some hot and heavy fun between the two. Then Flynn would be in love and Megan, Katy, and Angie would be consoling her for two weeks after Ford fled back to Fairbanks, or wherever the heck he lived in Alaska. It would take that long for Flynn to finally admit to herself that she didn’t even know the guy, much less love him. And that he really wasn’t so perfect after all.

“They are so cute together,” Katy said.

“He doesn’t seem the lawyer type.”

“He’s not,” Katy said, leaning in. “He has his law degree, but he decided that wasn’t how he wanted to spend his life. Now he’s a craftsman.”

A craftsman? Visions of taxidermy flashed in Megan’s mind. Whalebone carving. Followed by a not-quite-so-elegant hat covered in hand-tied fishing lures in every highlighter color imagined.

Katy pushed those images away quickly with more details. “He’s a glassblower. Apparently a pretty darned good one. He’s going to meet up with a glassblowing company not far from here while he’s in town. That’s why he rented his own car.”

“Glass? Really?” She looked back in his direction. She could picture him in a long lab coat and safety glasses working the hot molten glass. But right now he was working Flynn, and it was nice to see her with a genuine smile on her face. “I need another glass of wine. Want one?”

“I could use a refill,” Katy said.

“Good. Because this maid of honor needs to probably do that whole toasting thing and I make much better toasts with a couple glasses of courage in the hopper.”

“Better you than me. I can never come up with anything clever to say for those things.”

They went over to the lunch counter that had been turned into a bar for the night and the bartender set them up.

Megan and Katy sipped their wine as the crowd continued to grow, and the noise level rose to nearly shouting level.

“Okay, here goes nothing. If I don’t say something soon, it’ll be too loud to get anyone’s attention. Give me a hand up onto this chair.”

Katy spotted Megan until she was steady, then kept one hand on the back of her leg for safe measure.

Megan tapped the side of her glass with a spoon. “Can I have your attention?”

Friends, neighbors, and family hushed and pulled in closer. “Welcome!” She raised her glass in the air. It was nice to see so many of the people they’d known all of their lives together having a good time. “I’m Megan. I know most of you, but for those I haven’t yet met, I’ve known Angie since grade school. Thank y’all for joining us to celebrate Angie’s retirement from Blue Skies.”

Her customers hooted and whistled.

“And help me wish her well on her upcoming nuptials.”

Megan watched Jackson tug Angie closer and kiss her on the temple. It made her ache just a little for that kind of love, but she knew she could never risk that kind of hurt again. You love too much, you hurt too much. That was a simple equation.

“Angie and I’ve been best friends since the day we met at Boot Creek Elementary School. If we could have gotten air miles for each minute we spent talking on the phone over the years, we could’ve traveled around the world a few times. We’ve laughed together, cried together, laughed until we cried, okay fine, or until I snorted, which always made her laugh even harder, but all the same it was good. We’ve been there for each other through the hardest times in our lives, and I couldn’t be more delighted to see her happier than I’ve ever seen her . . . with you, Jackson.”

Everyone clapped and Jackson kissed Angie as the onlookers
aaaawwwwwed
in response.

“How many of y’all believe in love at first sight? Show of hands.” Megan raised a hand in the air.

A smattering of hands rose. Noah stood across the way with his hands folded across his chest, a beer in one hand. He had one of those, “Really?” looks on his face, which she promptly ignored.

“Yeah, I used to be a skeptic too,” Megan said, making eye contact with Noah. “But these two are proof that it happens. The smile on Angie’s face the first time she mentioned Jackson’s name was the widest, brightest smile I’d ever seen. And when I met Jackson, I knew why. I love the way you love her, Jackson. You made this girl believe in love at first sight. Help me give our host tonight, ol’ man Johnson, a round of applause to thank him for this fabulous night.”

Derek stepped over and reached for Megan’s hand to help her down. The volume in the room soared back to where it had been a few moments ago, and folks went back to mingling.

From across the room someone let out a loud whistle, the kind that usually requires a couple fingers in your mouth. All heads turned in that direction.

Noah didn’t bother to stand on a chair. Didn’t need to at over six feet tall, but he had everyone’
s attention.

Show off.

“I’m Noah Black. Jackson and I go way back to our days in Tennessee. I’m from California and Ford here traveled all the way from Alaska. Angie, when Jackson called and told me he was getting married, I couldn’t believe it, but after meeting you I can see how and why he fell so deeply in love with you. I believe marriage is a wonderful thing for Jackson. It will teach him loyalty, self-restraint, and compromise. It’ll even develop his sense of responsibility and so many other things he wouldn’t have even needed if he’d stayed single.”

The men laughed, the women groaned.

Megan grabbed a fresh glass of wine from the bar and took a long sip. Well, if that wasn’t the most backhanded compliment she’d ever heard. Even if he did have a point.

“Seriously, everyone is here tonight to wish you two well, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we are so happy you included us in this very special occasion. This time next week you’ll be honeymooning.” Noah leaned toward Jackson. “Not mooning. Those days are now in the past. May the countdown begin?”

Guys slapped Jackson on the back, but Megan heard the undertones, the unspoken in Noah’s speech. She couldn’t agree with him more. Being married changed a person. That was one heck of a price to snare a long-term roommate. At least he was straight up about what he felt, unlike the men that would tell you what they thought you wanted to hear.

Megan grabbed a plate off the buffet line and headed out back to grab a burger and to keep herself from chastising Noah. It wasn’t her place, but really why had he seen the need to make a second announcement?

Several couples were eating out on the back lot. It was cooler out here without all the body heat of the packed restaurant. But the party was inside. With her plate politely full of a little bit of everything ol’ man Johnson had cooked up, Megan went back in.

“Mind if I slip in here with y’all?” Megan asked Derek before she registered that Noah sat on the other side of the table.

Keep your enemies closer.

Derek slid over to make room. “Sure. Join us.”

The atmosphere was casual and fun, but something about Noah set her on alert. She wasn’t sure why. Derek was telling a couple she didn’t know and Noah about his plans for the retreat.

“The retreat is for the doctors. A place where medical professionals can renew themselves. Regain balance.”

The woman sitting across from Derek said, “I can’t imagine dealing with end-stage cancer like you did. It has to tear you apart.”

“It is hard. Wears on you emotionally. But the drive to heal, to find something that will work, keeps you going. I was burned out way before I realized it. Even before Laney had fallen ill.”

Megan caught the subtle choke in Derek’s words. “Keep them healthy so they can heal more people,” she offered.

“That’s the plan.”

Megan ate while the others made small talk and drank. An older couple walked up to the table, Flynn in their wake.