Page 107 of Legal

They shook off the snow and came in, peeling off their wet coats. Perry tossed her hat down on the mat. “Aww… Remember when we were like this, honey?” she said to Stephen. “Now we’re down to twice a day like an old married couple.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as Chase smiled. He pulled me next to him and kissed my forehead. “We should be so lucky,” he whispered.

Wait, what? Lucky how? My mind started whirling. Twice a day or old married couple? We already did it that often when we saw each other, so did he want to see me more or….

Stephen handed me a paper bag, snapping me out of it. I peered inside. “We brought plenty of champagne,” Perry said.

I hauled out a bottle, then put it back in the bag. “We have plenty of beer too.”

“I’ll take one of those,” Stephen said.

“No, you guys. You can’t drink regular ole beer on New Year’s Eve. You have to drink champagne. Chase?”

He shrugged. I knew he could tolerate this shit about as well as me. “Perry, this is more like extra-fizzy soda. It’s not even dry champagne,” I said.

“Of course not. Champagne without sugar is nasty. It tastes like nail polish remover.”

I walked into the kitchen with the bottles, and Perry followed me. “How’d you two get here anyway? There’s no way you could make it into my driveway, much less the side streets. I haven’t seen a plow come through in hours.”

“Stephen’s truck can get through anything.” She hopped onto the counter while I unloaded the six bottles. “So, what should we do tonight? The guys will probably try to watch football. Wait, the Badgers aren’t playing, right?”

I smiled. “No, Perry.” My hand had just made contact with the fridge door handle when the room went black.

“Ha! Now they can’t watch TV anyway, and you can’t get your beer. We have to drink my champagne.”

“Let’s just get some candles going first. Don’t forget I have plenty of vodka too.”

She sighed and jumped to the floor, almost flattening me to the ground. “Sorry, it’s dark, you know.” We both left the kitchen, rounding the corner to the living room where there was enough light from the fireplace. Chase was pulling a lighter out of the table drawer, several candles sitting out and ready to go.

I kissed him. “Thank you.” It was a weird thrill, feeling pleased that he knew where everything was located.

I lit the candles and brought a couple back with me to the kitchen. I had no idea how long the power outage would last, but Perry was right. I couldn’t open my fridge unless I wanted everything to spoil inside. The last time this happened, it’d been out for fifteen hours.

I opened a bottle of her stuff and figured I might as well try it to make her happy. I poured some into a glass and took a sip. Yeah, no. She’d already made me suffer enough when we went to that bridal show a couple weeks ago. I swear she only went for the desserts. But you know what? I still loved every minute of it with her.

As soon as Perry bounded into the room, I handed her the glass, and she frowned. “Tell you what,” I said, reaching into the cupboard and taking out my Grey Goose. Loved the stuff, but drank it sparingly. “We’ll compromise and try mixing it.” That didn’t sound appealing either, but I could handle a splash of sweet.

“I don’t know how you can drink that,” she said, scrunching up her nose.

“I like the hard stuff, remember? Isn’t that what you told Chase the first night we met?”

“Oops… Did I really do that?” We both started laughing. Wow, that’d been over six months ago. I couldn’t believe how much had changed since then. “And it’s been good, Jills, hasn’t it?” I nodded. Yes, it has. “What’d I tell you all along? He’s the one.”

I smiled softly and took a sip from my glass. Was he? It sure felt like it. He certainly fit right into our family. Stephen was even coming around, and my mom adored the hell out of him. I was happy. Really, really happy.

Now all that was left was for Daniel to meet him.

“I know, let’s play a board game tonight,” I said. I prepared a couple more drinks, figuring they’d appreciate the way I made them versus Perry.

“No, notBunked.” She groaned. “Haven’t you guys used up every question by now?”

“Nope, you lucked out.” I took a candle. “Can you grab some chips from the pantry while I go get the game? It’s going to have to be a munchies night.” I maneuvered down the hall, chuckling at all the little pouty noises she was making.

I went into the bedroom and hauled down the game from the top shelf of my closet. Chase had brought over a new one in November to commemorate both our birthdays. We shared the same month, two weeks apart. I was now one year closer to forty, and he’d technically moved into his mid-twenties.

But during those two weeks apart, I got older, and he stayed the same. For fourteen days, it could have been said that I was not fifteen, but sixteen years older than him. We’d celebrated in the middle of it by going to Zydecki’s. We ate as hot as we could stand and danced until we couldn’t. And when I made it through November without a panic attack… that’s when I knew everything would really be okay.

When I returned to the living room, they were all hanging out together. I smiled wide and plunked the box onto the table, pushing aside all the food bags. “Just so you know”—I pointed at Perry and Stephen—“you two are staying over tonight. Do not even think about trying to drive home.”

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