Right now, Dutch courage was my one and only friend. Well, along with the cute little black-and-white dog sniffing at my shoes.
“I didn’t step in anything, I promise,” I told the dog, reaching down to pat him. He immediately rolled onto his back, giving it up for a good belly scratch. “Yeah, baby. You know you want it.”
“He really does,” a man with shoulder-length wavy blond hair told me. Not Joe, this one was actually smiling at me. “Hi, welcome to my home. Well, actually it’s my wife’s place, she made me sign it over to her because apparently I’m not responsible enough to look after things. Accidentally burn down one kitchen trying to make popcorn old style and you never hear the end of it. Like I had a clue a pan full of hot oil left unattended would catch on fire. Crazy, right?
“Um.”
“But no, I get the blame same as always. She’s all, like, you’re why we can’t have nice things. Actually, between you and me, I looked pretty fucking funny with no eyebrows for a month. That’s Killer, by the way,” he nodded at the dog, before continuing on with barely a pause for breath, “such a lady’s dog. He’s always chasing tail.”
Eyes wide, I just stared. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you Mal Ericson from Stage Dive?”
“Hmm? Yeah. That’s me.” His brow furrowed. “Hang on, why would I take that the wrong way?”
“Oh. No, well—”
“Hey,” said a guy with dark, slicked-back hair and a cool gray suit, who looked like he’d just stepped off the cover of GQ. Apart from the two toddlers. I don’t think they usually accessorized with those. “Man, can you take Zeny for a sec? Lena’s just chilling with Anne and Lydia and I don’t want to disturb them. But Steph needs her diaper changed.”
Holy hell, it was Jimmy Ferris. Also from Stage Dive. Mind. Blown.
“Sure.” Mal took one of the twins off his hands. Lord knows how he knew which was which, the gorgeous girls were absolutely identical with their dark curls and cherub mouths. “Who loves Uncle Mal best? Yes, you do. You’re helpless to resist my charm, aren’t you?”
The toddler giggled, then smacked him in the face. Honestly, I kind of liked her style. Funny thing, though, even when Jimmy strode off blowing bubbles on the other baby’s neck and making her screech with glee, the bad smell didn’t dissipate any.
Mal just sighed. “You’ve done something bad in your pants too, haven’t you?”
“Da-da-da-da,” said Zeny.
“Z, your da is a big naughty word that starts with d and ends with k.” Mal turned back to me with a pained expression. “You’d think being a millionaire rock star would save me from having to deal with poopy diapers, wouldn’t you? But no. My life is a complete misery ever since everyone started popping out babies. Total chaos. It’s not okay.”
He searched the crowd, eyes narrowing in on someone. “And she knows about it. She’s laughing at me, Z. Why, I bet your Auntie Anne sent you over here for me to deal with, didn’t she? They’re all against me.”
Zeny smacked him in the face again, following it up with a big wet open-mouthed kiss to his cheek. Talk about slobber.
“You’re lucky I love you,” he told the baby. Meanwhile, the little dog, Killer, yipped joyfully, jumping at Mal’s feet, making the baby laugh even more.
Zeny reached for the dog with one chubby fist. “Kiy.”
Beyond us in the main room, the party kept on keeping on. I hadn’t seen Joe yet, but he had to be here somewhere. Ever so calmly, I clutched my hands together. Hopefully that’d hide the worst of the shakes. Ah, anxiety, my old friend.
“Go, frolic, have fun,” Mal told me somberly. “I have to deal with Miss Smelly Pants here.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I smiled, trying not to laugh at the broken look on his face.
Which left me confronted with the large room full of people again. Ugh, parties. Worst. No, none of that nonsense, I could do this. One step at a time, I made my way toward the gathering. Why, a knight in shining armor facing down a dragon horde couldn’t have been as brave. There were a whole lot of people here I didn’t know. Fortunately, there were quite a few people here I did know too.
“Alex.” Lydia threw her arms around me, her cheeks a rosy hue. A color suggesting the lady had a few drinks before I arrived and was thoroughly enjoying herself. “I’m so glad you came. We weren’t sure if you would.”
“’Course I came.” I’d only finally made the decision the night before. But Lydia didn’t need to know that. “Couldn’t miss seeing Nell and Pat re-tie the knot.”
“Isn’t it great? Love, thy will be done.”
“Why are you quoting eighties song lyrics?” asked Rosie, giving me a quick side hug.
“Because Mal got the expensive champagne and I’m making the most of it.” Lydia grinned. “That redheaded guitar man is so getting drunk sex tonight. Rawr.”
“Okay, Tiger.” Rosie laughed. “Settle down.”
“Soooo,” I said, dragging out my last moments of happiness, etc. “How’s Joe?”
Dating Star. No, married to Star. God help me, he was probably pregnant with Star’s baby somehow. I wouldn’t put anything past modern science. They were all out to ruin my life.
“Good,” said Rosie, ever so succinctly.
“Oh. Great.” I grabbed another scotch off a passing tray. “Good to know he’s still breathing.”
“Yep. He’s definitely doing that.”
“Is he still working on the apartments?”
“Mmhmm.” Rosie nodded.
Taking another sip of champagne, Lydia tried to hide a smile. Not so successfully, as it turned out. Mostly she just wound up nearly dribbling the good French stuff.
I frowned.
“Why don’t you just ask me what you’re really dying to know?” said Rosie.
“Fine.” I sniffed. “Is he with Star?”
“Nope.” She grinned, showing lots of white teeth. “That turkey-brained girl is gone.”
“Once she realized Joe wasn’t going to fall at her feet, she suddenly had to be somewhere else,” said Lydia. “Maine, was it? Or New England?”
“Somewhere over that way.” Rosie shrugged. “As long as it isn’t here, we’re happy.”
“You should have seen her flirting with everything that had a penis within a fifty-mile radius.”
“Gag worthy,” said Rosie. “She even tried that shit with my husband when he came in to pick me up one time. He just ignored her, but still … not cool.”
“No,” I agreed. “Wow.”
“Feel better now?” asked Rosie, giving me a wink. “Your man is still a swinging single. Pissed at you. Still single, though.”
“Oh.”
Brows high, Lydia nodded. “He really hasn’t gotten over you leaving without saying goodbye.”
“Okay.” Bummer. Not a surprise, but still. I took a sip of the scotch. “It’s been over two months. I was sort of hoping—”
“No,” said Rosie.
“Nuh,” added Lydia. “Alex, with all due love and affection: that was not your best move.”