Page 95 of Crazy for You

Ouch. That was awkward, but no way around it now.

Mark glanced at Jessica, his eyes dark and unreadable.

Hers weren’t. They flashed with anger, but she sat, casting a warm smile at Emma.

Sorry, Emma mouthed to her. Jess and Mark hadn’t exactly been on speaking terms since he dumped her in high school, but that was ten years ago now. It seemed like enough time had passed that they could handle being civil to each other here tonight.

Jessica shook her head, letting Emma know it was okay. “So I hear you’re leaving us next week?”

Emma nodded. “Lucas and Mary are retiring so I’m going to take the chance to get my degree, maybe open my own landscape design firm when I graduate.”

“That’s great,” Jessica said, pointedly not looking at the tall, silent, scarred man beside her.

“We need to squeeze in another girls’ night out before you go,” Gabby said from across the table. “Jessica, would you like to join us?”

“Yeah, sure. I’d love to.” Jessica’s beer arrived, and she took a long sip.

Emma sighed into her own beer. “We finally have this awesome girls’ night out group, and now I’m leaving.”

“You’ll meet new people,” Gabby said. “You told me yourself you’re a social butterfly.”

Yeah, but this was the first time she’d had such a group of close friends. “You’re right. I’ll make new friends. And I’ll be back to visit so often you guys will get sick of me.”

“Not sure that could ever happen,” Gabby said with a grin.

Their food arrived, and conversation became more scattered as they ate. Ryan and Ethan were talking about a big group of zip-liners they were taking out the following morning while Gabby shared wedding details with Emma, Carly, and Jessica between bites of her shepherd’s pie.

Emma soaked it all up, the big table full of friends laughing and talking. Jessica had her hands in the air, telling Carly a story Emma hadn’t caught the beginning of, but it involved someone walking in on a guy jerking off in one of the spring-fed hot tubs at the spa, and Carly was laughing so hard that tears leaked from her eyes.

“And then he was like—” Jessica flung an arm up to imitate the guy, and her elbow caught the handle of her beer mug, sending it flying. Jess’s beer shattered on the tile floor with a crash that silenced conversation across the restaurant.

All eyes were on their table.

Mark popped out of his seat and hovered over Jessica, his brow bunched in concern. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just…klutzy.” Jessica’s cheeks were red with embarrassment.

“It happens.” Mark gathered several napkins from the table and placed them over the puddle of beer on the floor. The waitstaff arrived a few seconds later to clean everything up.

Jessica still looked mortified after they’d left, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

“Seriously, Jess,” Emma said. “We’ve all done it.”

“Maybe not in such spectacular fashion,” Ethan added with a grin, ribbing her.

“How about a toast?” Emma suggested, after Jessica’s beer had been replaced. “To great friends and spilled beer.”

“Here, here.” All around the table, hands lifted mugs of beer into the air.

“And to you, Emma,” Gabby added. “May this be your year to shine in whatever direction life takes you.”

22

Their first zip-lining group of the day canceled last minute so Ryan, Mark, and Ethan seized the opportunity to walk the property together, finalizing the course for the upcoming Adrenaline Rush. They’d held the team-based obstacle race for the first time last summer as part of the grand opening for Off-the-Grid, and it had been such a success they’d decided to make it an annual event.

“I think we should add a mud obstacle this year,” Ethan said, leading the way down the path toward the stream.

“You really want to make a mud pit out here?” Mark asked.