with fresh beers and set them down in front of Shane, Zion, and Andrew. He tilted one toward me. “Layla?”
I’d already had two, but in what world would I say no to Adam?
Peg came around to give Zion and Andrew a hug. She patted Shane on the shoulder, then knelt by the baby, whispering, “I don’t want to bother him.”
“Are you heading home?” Eden had pulled her feet clear up into her chair, one knee hugged up against her.
“Your dad’s all alone.”
“Despite what he thinks, he doesn’t need a passport to enter the state of New York.”
Peg stood and bent to kiss her daughter’s forehead. “Will you come to church on Sunday?”
Eden closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. “Mom. We were just out there last week.”
“And so?”
Adam laid an arm around Peg’s shoulder. “We’ll come next week, okay?”
She turned into him and let herself be pulled into his hug. She didn’t even seem to realize she’d be the instant envy of my fan forum if I posted a pic of that online right now. She gave him a final pat and asked, “You’re going to synagogue this week?”
Eden answered for him. “Just like always.”
“Good. As long as you’re going to worship.” She grabbed her purse and waved once more to everyone. Then she was gone.
Adam sat beside Eden and took her hand in his, his thumb gently stroking hers. The ring on his fourth finger glinted in the last gasp of sunlight, and I imagined his skin under that strip of gold was fish-belly white from lack of exposure. Lots of girls would be disheartened at his devotion to Eden, but I loved it. I wanted my heroes to prove they were worth looking up to.
“Are you raising Joshua both Jewish and Christian?” Maybe the beer had loosened me up.
Eden pulled herself back up to the table. “Jewish mostly. I mean, it can’t hurt him to spend time at my mom’s church, but I’m converting.”
“Really?” That was new to me. Twice in this one night, I’d come to realize that I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought I did about her. In a way, it made me glad. Maybe my obsession wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. On the other hand, maybe I’d been fantasizing about fictional people for the past decade.
“My mom doesn’t know yet.” She smiled. “But I think she’ll be glad I’m no longer straight-up heathen. And Adam will score another point with her.” She shook her head. “He can do no wrong. Saint Adam.”
Adam chuckled and laid his other hand on her arm. “Honey, we don’t have saints.”
The sun had fully set, and the purple-black sky shed no light on the company. The stillness blanketing the backyard seemed to drive everyone into their own thoughts. Conversation stalled while we sipped beer and listened to the crickets chirp. Eden sauntered into the house and returned with citronella candles.
Now faces floated, eerie, golden, and unfamiliar. As the beer settled into my veins, I relaxed and convinced myself we were all just regular people sharing a moment in time.
Adam and Shane started reminiscing about some inside joke, which led Shane to share a story about when his band first started out.
“Noah’s been drinking, so he’s over on the edge of the stage, playing his guitar and flirting with this girl at the same time. I’m back behind the drum set, you know. No girls coming around behind the stage to flirt, so I’m living vicariously through Noah, as usual, watching all this unfold.”
Adam snickered. “Ah yes, I remember the celibate life of the drummer well.”
Eden shushed him. “What happened?”
“You have to imagine this place. It’s this hole in the wall country bar with a massive pool table dead center. The barflies are all back there—” he flapped one hand toward the distant imaginary bar “—ignoring us. The pool sharks are ignoring us. There’s this one girl yelling out cover song requests over and over and sort of swaying and dancing in front of Noah.”
We all sat rapt. Shane in motion mesmerized me. A kaleidoscope of dramatic expressions crossed his face while he regaled us with his tale, all of them more adorable than the last.
“Noah turns back to grin at me like the arrogant prick he is, so he doesn’t see the man approaching as fast as a bullet. Micah’s center stage singing his heart out, eyes shut tight. Rick’s on the side, all honey badger and not giving a fuck about any of this, and