Page 80 of Finally Moore

“I’ll be accompanying Mr. Moore this evening as his plus-one,” Zach says, and I stumble over my next step while trying to stifle my laughter.

If Jake were here, he’d tell me I could do worse than Zach Young. I mean, as far as guys go, Zach’s not a bad-looking dude, I guess. I shake my head at the thought.

“Very good, sir.” Garret waves over a staff member and says quietly, “Please ensure they are seated in the VIP section.” He smiles at me. “I hope you enjoy your evening, sir.”

We walk through the heavy black curtains, and my eyes scan the opulent setup. Zach wasn’t lying when he said tonight was an experience. All the tables are set for two. Everything from the tablecloth to the curtains is solid black. Then there are several gold accents sprinkled sparsely around the room, to include napkins and gold-dipped roses. Perhaps the most stunning part is the large globe hanging front and center in the middle of the open-floor plan, with a countdown clock to midnight.

A young woman seats us in one of the raised balconies that offers additional privacy, with a lacey black curtain that’s just enough to diffuse prying eyes from peeping in. As strange of a turn as this night has taken, it hasn’t gottenthatstrange, so I don’t think Zach and I will need it. Granted, he might like not being seen by various attendees.

The server grabs a bottle of champagne from the wall, pops it open, and fills both of our glasses. “Enjoy. Your hors d’oeuvres will be out momentarily,” she informs us before taking off.

“First of all, this is beyond incredible,” I tell Zach while raising my glass into a toast. “But seriously, dude, you don’t need to waste your night with me. I’m sure you had this seat reserved for some lucky girl and I don’t feel right taking it.”

“Nope, no lucky lady tonight. I hadn’t planned on participating, only observing from the kitchen. But what better way to test the competency of my staff than by being one of the guests.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” Elbows resting on the table, he leans in. “Look, on any given day, I’d take my pick. But on holidays, it’s a no-fly zone for me. Girls always get caught up in the moment and they look way more into what’s happening than they should. Which, in turn, makes me have to be the asshole who breaks their heart. Even when I preface our evening withthis is just sex, somehow the next morning rolls around and they’re picking out wedding china.”

Is that what I did with Scarlett? Let Christmas and our families get to me?

“Besides, it sounds like there’s a lot to catch up on. What are the rest of the Moores up to?”

“Robbie, he’s married with a daughter.”

“No shit.”

“Yup, his wife is actually Killian Murphy’s sister.”

Zach laughs. “Talk about a small world. I invited that bastard here tonight, and he flat-out turned me down. Fucker rather get wasted at his own bar and start an orgy.”

“Sounds about right. Jake—”

“No way. Don’t even tell me.”

“Yup, Jake is getting married in a couple of weeks. He and Letty are flying out to Vegas.”

“Letty, as in Letty Ruiz? Shit, when did those two stop bickering long enough to finally fuck?”

I chuckle. “This past summer. A tornado ripped through town, almost destroyed Harper’s. She stayed at the house and, well, I bet you can figure out the rest.”

“You know, it’s funny. I always had this suspicion that those two were secretly boinking. There was this one summer I could’ve sworn I saw them making out behind the diner. But I couldn’t get a close enough look.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Okay, who else? What about Derek?”

“Still single.”

“Damn. I assumed he’d be married and five kids deep by now. Building the next Lafferty generation to rule the sheriff’s station.”

“Nope.” I run through our short list of mutual friends. Zach isn’t exactly a local. He spent his summers in Tral Lake with his aunt. So the pool of people we have in common is pretty small.

“That’s cool… And Leroy?”

Ah, there it is.I’ve been waiting for him to ask. While I’m sure he’s enjoyed catching up on some old friends, I know there’s one in particular Zach’s really interested in hearing about.

“He’s good, still running the hardware shop.”

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