Page 241 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

Megan shook her head in disgust, topped the measure of wine off with Apothic, and dumped it into the cocktail, adding the cherry on top with just a spoonful of the juice it sat in.

“That doesn’t even look like it would taste good. Cherries, a bourbon-barrel aged wine, sugar, and whiskey?”

“Yeah, it’s not my favorite. But he loves it.” She swirled the glass and set it on the counter beside me for when he came upstairs.

Noah put his hand on Megan’s shoulder. “Can you... I have to...” He was holding his cell phone.

“Yes Sir!” She shooed him away and he jogged into the back of the house, answering his phone as he did so.

Megan stood behind the bar and took over slicing the limes for Noah. We talked a little more, and I asked her about her job, and Noah. She asked me about Reuben, and how we were doing.

“Is it weird,” I asked her, “seeing him here? Do you interact with him a lot?”

“I don’t see him that often, but it’s more than I used to. For a while, I’d avoid the bar when I knew he was coming by. I didn’t like to hear him talk, even in the background. It just felt so weird, so hurtful to know I wasn’t enough for him.

“But... that was a selfish way of thinking, and I’m really glad Becca called me out on it. It doesn’t bother me anymore to see him around, and we chat sometimes. I think once I realized that he wanted to see me happy, and he set me up with Noah because he thought we would be happy together, it felt like a gift. And... we can be friends now. The pressure is off. He really is a good man, and I have a lot of respect for him, regardless of how it ended.”

A moment later, Reuben made his appearance. I watched as he entered the room, his eyes scanning over the pockets and groups of people talking and playing. He looked... proud. Confident. Content.

His eyes fell on me, and he smirked just a little. Before he had a chance to come over, Julia and Paul and a few others approached him in greeting.

Megan seemed somewhat uncomfortable, and at first, I thought it was because of Reuben, but I realized she was looking into the back of the house, where Noah was on the phone, pacing and scratching the back of his neck.

“Everything okay?”

“We’re trying to buy a townhouse. We’re in a bidding war, and people keep out-bidding us. There are only a few more properties left in the neighborhood we want, and it’s the only one we can afford right now... ugh,” she clasped her hands. “He’s so stressed about it. But we found the perfect one,” she said, turning back to face me. “There’s this cute, three-bedroom place, so we can have a guest room, and he wants to turn one room into a playroom. The kitchen is small but perfect, and there’s a gas stove, which is super important because...” she trailed off as her eyes fell away from me.

I felt Reuben’s hands on my shoulders.

“Because?” he asked, almost playfully.

“Because electric stoves don’t maintain heat in pans the same way. And yes, you were right. It is super annoying. Water takes ten minutes to boil, and my chicken is sometimes raw, and sometimes burnt. Even cooking on cast iron doesn’t completely alleviate the issue. In other news, I now have an extensive and very well-seasoned set of cast iron.”

He chucked and took the glass by my elbow, raised it slightly, and said, “Thank you.”

He took several sips and set the glass down. “Perfect as always, Megan. Thank you.”

Megan’s face changed from confusion, to horror, to something like betrayal. She stared at me. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Told you so!”

Reuben from Megan to me, getting a little pissed. “What? What did you do?”

“Nothing!” I laughed. “Absolutely nothing. God, that is amazing.”

Megan sighed and confessed the truth, unable to keep the secret. “We ran out of your favorite wine for the drink. It’s about a third Apothic instead of the Four Virtues.”

He shook his head in disbelief, then looked down at me. “I blame you for this.”

“I did nothing!”

He sighed, shrugged, and took another sip.

“Refined palate my ass,” I muttered.

He glared down at me. “Now that you mention it, it does taste different.”

Megan closed her eyes and turned away, fighting a smile and continuing to slice citrus wedges.

“You could give it to me,” I grinned.

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