Page 29 of Tangling Hearts

I shake my head no, as a really pretty woman with shorter dark-brown hair comes over to say hello. Brendan introduces us. “Teri, this is Annie and Taryn.” Then he takes my hand purposefully and I watch Teri’s eyes change as she shifts her weight, her head going back a little, signal received loud and clear. Which means I’m getting the signal even louder. How many of these women am I going to have to meet? But when he squeezes my hand,

and Mark looks at him with amusement, I feel better.

“Nice to meet you,” Teri says, mostly to me. She smacks Mark on the shoulder, holding her hand there like a friend. “I’m meeting some people to watch the band. I’ll catch you creeps later.” She smiles and walks off, with Brendan the only one not watching. He’s looking down at his lap.

Mark’s eyes flit to my face and I raise my eyebrows at him, defiantly. He laughs, “I like you, Annie.”

Everyone looks to the booming voice of the hot momma walking up, yelling, “Well, well! Hail to the wounded out in the real world!” Laura’s grin is lopsided and her husband Dan is right behind her, the perfect Allen to her Burns. He’s got longer hair since he’s a musician and that seems to be the requirement.

I introduce them to Brendan and Mark. Manny and his cousin wave and turn back to the T.V. Taryn and I hug her and Bobby leaves a customer to come over, because he recognizes her immediately. Who wouldn’t?

“Hey! I need a bunch of those decals.”

She cocks her head to the side. “You said you didn’t!”

Bobby puts his hands on the counter and leans well over the bar, moving his head around in a funny way. “I changed my mind!”

Laura and Taryn try to high-five, but miss, which is fucking hilarious. Taryn cries out, as we’re all laughing, “Try it again!” They get it right and whoop like they just won The World Cup.

“Oh!” I reach out and grab both of their arms. “I spoke to the contractor today! He’s going to install one of those security gates, you know, those iron ones that fold into the sides of a building?” They nod, everyone listening. I glance to Brendan. “And Brendan asked if he could do that first so we can open while they’re remodeling! We get to open this weekend! Probably not before Sunday, but that’s still the weekend and it’s better than being closed!”

They both freak out and we start planning. I describe what the patio will look like, the cocktail ideas Brendan and I came up with. Everyone interjects ideas about new drinks, and Mark offers to send out an in-house email to the company where he works, which spurs offers from everyone to post on social networking sites and help. Manny, who must have been listening with those eagle-ears of his, calls over, “We’re sharing stupid shit from people we don’t know anyway. How hard is it to put up a picture and spread the word for a friend?” He rolls his eyes and turns around, disgusted by the way society has become. We all stare at him for a second, then go back to talking.

Dan asks, “What’s it like to be shot?”

Brendan glances to me. “It wasn’t so bad.”

I melt and lean over to kiss him. The girls in our party get all mushy-faced, but it’s Mark who’s the real surprise. He excuses himself to call Nicole, his love in New York, looking like he wishes he wasn’t here anymore.

Taryn joke-offers to bartend one night topless, “if that’ll help. What?” She smiles, looking adorable, and everyone launches into offering their bodies up for display in the new patio window. As they’re laughing and suggesting costumes like loincloths and tassels, I look around the faces as though I’m drifting outside of my body and watching from above. It’s one of those moments like in the movies where individual voices go away, a musical score begins, and you can see all the things you have to be grateful for, and those ‘things’ are always friends and family.

“What’re you thinking about?” Brendan asks, putting his hand on my leg.

I look over and see his deep, thoughtful eyes waiting for an answer, and I smile. “How lucky I am.”

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