he lay and, mustering as much sass as I could, said, “I guess you’ll never know.”
I started to walk away, and he groaned, throwing unpacked snow in my direction. I just laughed more.
“There you are,” Stephen said. “Holy shit, you’re covered. You’re going to be frozen.”
“I already am. What’s up?”
“I have to go. Edie’s had the baby.”
“Oh my gosh. How are they? What did she have?” I asked, smiling, my heart filling even more. Edie had wanted to be surprised by the gender of the baby, and no matter how much some of us had begged and pleaded, she’d never relented.
“Mama said they’re both perfect. She had a baby girl. Seven pounds something.”
I hugged Stephen. “We should all go see her.”
He nodded. “We should, but because some stinker started a snowball fight”—he shoved snow into my face from a hidden handful—“we have to go get dry clothes first.”
I pushed the snow off of me, still smiling.
“We needed it,” I said.
Stephen and I turned to look at the gang of people who were grinning, but also now shivering as they brushed at the wet clinging to them.
“Yeah. We did,” he said.
Everyone headed back toward the parking lot. Phil was waiting for us at the back door of the bar, cigarette lit.
“What happened to y’all?” he asked.
“A snow war,” Khi said with a smile.
“Is the event room already cleared out?” he asked.
“Cleared, cleaned, and ready to be decorated,” I said, trying not to breathe in the gross cigarette smell. He smiled at me, taking in my wet clothes and wet hair, causing a shiver to creep over me that had nothing to do with the snow. When had Phil gotten so creepy?
“What’s next?” he asked.
“Well, we’re heading out, but some of us might be back later to do some more work,” I told him.
“Sounds good. You have the key still?”
I nodded. Thankfully, it was zipped up in the inside pocket of my jacket.
Phil looked us over, eyes lingering on me, crushed out his cigarette, and went back inside. I shuddered, and when I turned around, Cole’s eyes were squinted with displeasure.
♫ ♫ ♫
It was dark out, the light from the back parking lot of the bar was dim, and I was stupidly hauling a floor polisher up the metal stairs. I wasn’t sure why I was investing this amount of time into a space that didn’t belong to us. Maybe because I’d seen Edie’s face torn between pure bliss and deep sorrow that afternoon. I just wanted to give her this. To have the party she’d planned go off without a hitch in a place that was as beautiful as she’d imagined it could be when other things in her life weren’t going so well.
When we’d cleared out the room this morning, I’d noticed the wooden floors were actually in pretty decent shape, but they were dull from years of neglect. I wasn’t sure anyone would even notice the floors, but I knew they could be buffed into a shine.
At least, I hoped they could, because I’d never buffed a floor. Which made it hard to explain why I thought I could suddenly polish these. I pushed the key in the lock, turned the handle, and dragged the machine into the building. I had to cross the room using my phone’s light to turn on the two tiny bulbs that swung from the ceiling.
Tomorrow, we were going to string hundreds of strands of white lights like a net across the ceiling. I wanted the room to glow, pushing away any darkness. I wanted it to show off the people and the family we were celebrating. Ringing in a new year that was full of change for many of us.
I read the instructions on the polisher twice and was about to start when the door opened. Phil sauntered in, mouth dropping as he took in my awkward position installing the brushes. I immediately adjusted so I wasn’t giving him a good view of my backside. He looked around, as if he expected the rest of the gang, before returning his eyes to me.
“Is that a polisher?” he asked.
As I stood up, he sauntered over.
“Yes. I didn’t think you’d mind,” I said.
“Hell no. If you’re prepared to do the hard work for me, why would I complain?”
He threw his arm across my shoulders, and I froze, holding my breath at the odor that had hung over him all day. He smelled like stale beer and old cigarettes covered with cheap cologne.
I tried to take