Page 110 of Choosing Forever
“It’s nice havin’ you here, Delaney,” Johnny says before tugging Brody toward our usual table.
While the owners of Peakside can’t stand a single one of us, even they haven’t been able to keep the table from becoming as good as ours. Everyone in town knows it belongs to us, and it’sgoing to stay that way until we’re all too old to come here on Saturday nights.
“Della, you’re here!” Anna cheers, rushing over now that the guys are gone.
“Anna!”
Delaney turns and opens her arms for a hug. Anna hides her surprise well, but still, she doesn’t hesitate to accept the affection.
“We don’t see enough of each other,” Anna murmurs.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize! I just wish we had the chance more often. Maybe I need to start hitching a ride with Poppy every time she goes to see you. The shop can handle a few hours without me every day.”
Thistle and Thorn, Anna’s hair salon, has boomed over the last couple of years. Appointments book up months in advance, with customers driving hours to see her. Brody’s nauseatingly proud of her and the life they’ve built here in Cherry Peak together. Fuck, I think we all are.
“I’ve only invited you a million times,” Poppy says, coming over with Garrison’s hand clutched tight in hers.
Anna stands back and throws Poppy a scowl over her shoulder. “And if I could have, I’d have been there every one of the million.”
“You sound too sober, Anna. Do you want a daiquiri, or are you a beer girl now?” my sister asks, already leaning over the bar and flagging the bartender back over.
“Is that a serious question?”
Poppy smacks her lips together. “You’re still living on the ranch.”
“And? When Garrison was in the guest house, did he start drinking beer? I have my own house! Don’t insult me.”
The scoffed laugh I let out is completely accidental. Garrison snaps a look at me that I can feel, but it’s Delaney’s reaction that holds my attention. Her back curves with her own silent giggleas she reaches for the hand I’ve got pressed to her and pulls on it. The twinkle of laughter I hear next has me disregarding the others and swooping in to use our joint hands to help her off her seat.
Delaney’s mouth pops open while her eyes meet mine, questioning what I’m doing. I tilt my lips into a crooked grin and guide her into my side.
“Dance with me.”
“I haven’t had another drink yet,” she whispers, swaying softly.
“You don’t need it.”
She keeps still for a moment, and I wait with more patience than I thought I possessed. I know everyone’s watching us, but they don’t matter. They never have when it came to my best friend.
“You better have been telling the truth about the dancing,” she says,finally.
“You have my word.”
“Let’s go.”
Without another look at our friends, I lead Elle past the empty tables and to the dance floor. With old wood and peeling paint, the bar has seen better days, but that’s what makes it Peakside. The scent of stale beer, cigarette smoke sneaking in through the front door and the memories that will follow all of us into the next life.
It was in this bar that we celebrated Delaney’s eighteenth birthday with a confetti gun Poppy snagged at the thrift shop in Oak Point and where Bryce and Brody found me crying at our table a week after Abbie was born. These walls have seen some of my highest highs and lowest lows. I found and lost myself here and everything in between.
And now, it’s where I’m holding my Delaney again.
Her overalls hang off her in a way oversized way, making her seem even smaller than she is as she stands across from me on the dancefloor. I stare down at our connected hands and squeezemy fingers. She follows my eyes and takes a step closer. The toes of our shoes touch, and her eyes are waiting for mine when I lift them.
“I’m sorry I called,” she blurts out, the words slurred.
“Why?”
