arose. The girls were so much better than we were at the details.
“Hey,” Aamee snapped. “The Yard opens in a week, and you wouldn’t even have thought to put trash cans on the lawn if I hadn’t suggested it. You’d have garbage and cigarette butts all over the place if I left it up to the two of you.”
“Whoa, whoa, I didn’t mean to leave you out. You and Sophia have done so much. But you’re our girlfriends, so it kinda goes with the title. You’ll be fixing our mistakes and seeing that we don’t fuck things up for the foreseeable future.”
Brody put the last box of liquor bottles on top of the stone bar and looked at Aamee like he was apologizing for something he hadn’t even done yet. “It’s a big job,” he said. “Hope you’re up for it.”
Smiling, she grabbed two bottles of vodka and headed behind the bar to put them away. “Oh, I knew what I was in for from the beginning.”
Sophia was out on the lawn putting up small lights she’d picked out, and Cody and Carter were hanging a hammock…or something…when Xander called them over.
“Now that the alcohol’s here, we should have a drink to celebrate.”
I glanced at Brody hesitantly, unsure of whether it was best to celebrate something that hadn’t actually happened yet. I was kind of superstitious that way. Though at least Sean was on board with moving ahead with the Yard as planned. Short of the place burning down in the next week, the deck would be open and ready for customers.
Which made me notice Brody. He was already plopping himself down on one of the barstools like he was preparing to settle in for the night.
“What’re we havin’?” I asked, knowing after the drink I’d probably have to pull Brody out of his seat to get him to continue working.
“It’s a surprise,” Xander said.
He was already moving around the bar, focused and obviously excited for whatever he was making. A few moments later, he lined up some rocks glasses. He gave the shakers each a flip, one of which he managed to catch behind his back.
“I’ve been practicing that,” he said when all of us looked shocked.
He poured the dark-orange liquid into each of the glasses. Once we all had one in our hand, Xander suggested we do a toast.
“I’m gonna have to object to the toast,” I said. “I don’t wanna jinx anything. Let’s wait until opening night for that.”
Xander nodded his approval. “Fair enough. Drink up, then.”
At first I was a little worried. I knew he’d been working on some drinks specific to the Yard, but I had no idea what was in them or how they would taste. He’d been pretty secretive up until now.
“This one’s called Backyard Brew,” he said. “It’s kind of like a mule meets a Creamsicle. I’d usually top it off with an orange wedge, but we aren’t quite that ready yet.”
That sounded like an absolutely horrible combination, but there was no way in hell we’d tell him that. Giving the others a cursory glance as they brought their glasses to their mouths, I tried to pick up on any reluctance, but they all seemed excited to try it. That made all but one of us. Until the compliments began coming. In the few seconds it took them to take a sip, they’d decided Backyard Brew was a keeper.
And when I downed my first taste, I had to agree with them. Carbonated, with the tanginess of a grapefruit and the sweetness of an orange, it went down easily without being overly sugary. I could easily see people ordering rounds of these as they played lawn games.
“This is awesome,” I told him before I drank the rest of mine down. “You gonna tell us what’s in it?” I had some guesses, but I hadn’t paid close enough attention as he was making it to know for sure, let alone know what the measurements were.
“I’m only telling the bartenders,” Xander said. “It’s the one drink that doesn’t have the ingredients listed on the menu.”
“What menu?” Brody asked, but Xander was already reaching under the bar to put them in front of us.
“You made these?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
At the top of the sleek menu was the Yard’s logo, and below it, Backyard Brew was listed as our signature drink. All it said beneath the name was A clever mix of Brody and Drew, creators of the Yard.
I couldn’t argue with the clever