“He didn’t take the flashlight away yet,” Greta said.
True, there was that.
Greta finished her drink and, flagging down a waitress, took a new glass. “Another round, girls?”
“You’re mighty happy lately,” Rebecca pointed out, accepting another flute of champagne.
“I totally am.”
Wilma didn’t have to follow Greta’s gaze to know her friend was looking at Connor. “Are you that pleased he’s back?”
Greta nodded. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that Connor will stand up to his dad and make him back down.” Wilma and Rebecca turned to her. “Okay, okay, that might help, but I thought I’d never see the day my grandson would be back with us for good.”
Greta had always pretended not to worry, but Connor being in the military had caused her many sleepless nights, praying for his safety.
Wilma looked over at Rachel and Adrian, who were headed somewhere private. Then she looked at Kyra and Mike, sitting on a swing, smiling at each other with their fingers interlaced. “We’re great at matchmaking, don’t you think?”
“Yes. Kyra and Mike. Rachel and Adrian. Now it’s Connor’s turn,” Rebecca stated.
Greta frowned. “That’s going to be our biggest challenge, I’m afraid. I’m not sure he’s ready.”
True. Connor had spent the whole evening standing in a corner, looking somewhat pained and awkward. He wasn’t used to mingling nor chitchatting. It seemed he’d lost the art of small talk during his years in the military.
“We’ll make him ready,” Wilma assured her friend.
“Of course,” Rebecca added. “No one can stop the OGs.”
“Thank you, girls,” Greta said, glancing around. “Audrey’s Inn. I still can’t believe it. Whoever named it, we’re indebted to them. This place looks like it used to, but better, right?
Wilma and Rebecca nodded. “I bet our Audrey is looking down on us right now and smiling,” Rebecca said.
“Did someone say my name?” A woman approached, a big smile on her beautiful face. “How are you doing, ladies? Are you enjoying the evening? My name is Audrey. I’m the owner of Audrey’s Inn.”
Wilma and the others were stunned, looking at the newcomer. Jesus, how much had they had to drink?
“Did we take the Ouija board out and I forgot?” Wilma asked, her eyes never leaving the woman in front of them.
“Are you seeing this too, or am I hallucinating?” Rebecca whispered.
“Thank God you see it too,” Greta answered.
The new owner of the inn was the spitting image of their friend Audrey when she was young. The hair was a bit different. The clothes, too, but the face was pure Audrey.
“Ladies? Are you okay?”
“Sorry, dear,” Wilma apologized. “Did you say your name was Audrey?”
The woman smiled again. “Yes. A bit old-fashioned, I know. I was named after my maternal grandmother.”
Wilma stilled. “Are you by any chance related to Audrey Fleming?”
She nodded. “She was my grandmother. I never met her, though.”
Holy cow. “We thought the inn had been sold outside the family,” Rebecca said, shocked.
Audrey had had a daughter, but the girl had left Alden when she got married and had only come back briefly for Audrey’s funeral, thirty-something years ago. They had known Audrey had a granddaughter, but they had never seen her.
“It was sold outside the family many years ago, but I bought it back. I’m a sucker for family legacies. Did you know my grandmother? I never met her.”
“Did we know her?” Wilma said with a soft snort, already rummaging in her purse. “We grew up together, the four of us.”
“You look so much like her, honey,” Greta said, her eyes already glassy from tears. “It’s like having her in front of us when she was young.”
The resemblance was uncanny, really. “Here.” Wilma took a picture of the four of them on Audrey’s motorcycle out of her wallet. Audrey was driving. Wilma was sitting right behind her, and Greta and Rebecca were in the sidecar.
Audrey looked at the picture and pointed to her grandmother. “That’s her, right?”
All the OGs nodded.
“This bike with sidecar…” Audrey started.
“It was your grandmother’s most precious treasure. She was a daredevil,” Rebecca explained. “A pity it was lost after this place was sold.”
Audrey smiled. “I don’t think so, ladies. I found it in one of the barns. It’s going to need some repair, but I think we can get it running again.”
The OGs looked at each other, lifted their glasses, and yelled in unison, “LOLOOOO!”