Page 90 of Waiting for Friday Night

She took a shaky breath. The realization both unsettling and comforting. “We are a family, aren’t we?”

He nodded. “Yes, we are.”

Twenty-Eight

Because he had no good reason to get out of it, Quinton attended the special Business Guild luncheon on Sunday afternoon. The point of the meeting was to give Khris and his crew from Travel Magazine one grand goodbye after they finished their official review on Friday. Quinton could have skipped the entire thing, but the school district asked him to be there. That and Halle had agreed to back him up if Khris tried to get slick.

The memory of that offer had made him smile. He liked her being willing to defend him, even if he didn’t need it. He’d made his thoughts clear to Khris earlier that week. He and Halle didn’t arrive together. The town gossips had moved on from the startling discovery of him being Shania’s dad once the magazine reps had come to town, but arriving together would get things started again now that there wasn’t a need to put their best foot forward.

The farewell luncheon was at Tracey’s Get Fresh Inn. It was a sunny day with mild weather that was perfect to enjoy the grounds and the nearby pond. Picnic tables were set up on the lawn where she hosted weddings. Her cook, Shirley, had brought in all the help to prepare a Southern Sunday dinner complete with fried chicken, mac and cheese, cornbread and all the fixin’s.

He walked onto the lawn and immediately spotted Brian on the edge of the crowd. He made his way to his friend.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Quinton said.

Brian clapped hands with Quinton before looking back at the gathering crowd. “Tracey is loaning out some of the shrubs from my nursery for the event. I want to make sure everything looks good.”

“You’re caught up in the best-small-town thing, too, huh?” Quinton asked.

Brian gave a lopsided grin and shrugged. “Hey, if my nursery even gets a mention in this article, I’ll take it. I’ve got some people from Augusta coming here to buy from me, but if I can get people from other areas to visit my nursery, too, I’m not going to complain.”

“I hear that. Tracey loans from you a lot?”

Brian nodded then frowned. “For her big events. I gave her a deal, but she talked me down even more. That woman is stubborn as hell.”

Quinton chuckled. “You’ve got to be stubborn sometimes to start your own business. You know that.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, but she’s stubborn about the wrong things.” His scowl deepened before he nodded toward the crowd. “Her husband is here.”

Quinton looked in the direction Brian indicated. He recognized the guy from around town but didn’t know Bernard well. “I don’t ever see him a lot.”

“Because he’s always running around in Augusta. That guy is trifling as hell.”

Quinton looked at Brian. “That’s Tracey’s problem. Not yours.”

Brian sighed and nodded. “I know. Still, I knew Tracey in high school. I don’t like seeing him treat her like that.”

“Still, not your place. Don’t get involved in other people’s relationships. Never ends well.”

“You right. Don’t mean I have to like the mutherfucker.”

Quinton chuckled. “I agree with that.” His eyes scanned the crowd and landed on Halle. Damn, she looked good in a dark orange sweater dress that clung to her curves. All he wanted to do was peel the damn thing off her and get lost in her body.

“I’m going to ignore what you just said and get all up in your relationship. What’s really going on with you and Halle?”

Quinton blinked and looked back at his friend. “Huh?”

Brian shook his head. “That huh and look on your face tells me all I need to know. You hit.”

“None of your business,” Quinton said firmly. He and Halle had made headway in their relationship. They were able to talk through most of their disagreements, but he wasn’t ready to let a lot of people in on what he was building with her.

Brain nodded. “You hit.” He raised a hand when Quinton glared. “You know me. I’m not going to tell no one your business. I guess you made up your mind to go for it.”

“I did.” No need to deny that much. Brian knew how he felt about Halle. “I think she’s coming closer to making up her mind. She’s worried about Shania. I am, too. Do you really think she’ll be upset if we get together?”

Brain shrugged. “The hell if I know. I’m not an expert on teenage girls by any means. I’d think she’d want her parents together, but kids these days are different. Either way, you’ll figure it out.”

“We’ve got to.” Because Quinton didn’t have any plans to let her go.

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