Why Not Tonight
Page 19

“Is there liquor in this?”
“Would I do that at lunch? We all have to work later. I do make a version that would knock you on your butt in three minutes, but this is not that.”
They walked over to the table and took a seat. Natalie glanced around at the displays. “You’ve made a few changes. The big pictures on the wall are great.”
“Wynn did those for me.”
Wynn owned the local graphics and print company. She’d started taking photography classes so she could take pictures for her clients. She always joked she was nowhere near wedding-ready, so wouldn’t be putting any of their local photographers out of business, but sometimes a client needed corporate images or a head shot or, in Silver’s case, a wedding setup. That was where Wynn came in.
Silver sipped her drink. “I need your advice. I’ve found a couple of trailers for sale.”
Natalie leaned toward her. “Really? You’re going to expand? You said you were thinking about it. Wow—that’s exciting. Good for you.”
“I haven’t done it yet. I don’t know. It’s a lot. Not just the money, although that’s a consideration. I have savings, but if I buy the trailers, I’ll need to refurbish them so they work as bars and then I’ll have to hire people to staff them.” She looked at Natalie. “I can’t buy them for cash and remodel and pay staff.”
“I’m sure you can get a small-business loan.”
“Probably. Maybe. But I’ve never done anything like that. It’s scary to think about expanding. Right now it’s all on me. I have a crew I work with, but I make all the decisions. With another trailer, I’m sending it out into the world without me. I’m trusting someone else to handle an event.”
“Do you want to expand? What if you kept things exactly as they are?”
“I’ve thought about that, but it seems so cowardly.”
Because Silver was always larger than life. “What about taking on a business partner?”
“No and no. I don’t play well with others.”
Silver’s sweater slipped off her left shoulder, exposing the top of a tattoo on her upper arm. Natalie knew there was other ink on her friend’s body, yet more proof she and her friend were wildly different.
“Change is uncomfortable,” Natalie said. “Maybe if you look past that part to the end goal you want. You know, visualize your success.”
“Because you don’t see me failing?”
Natalie grinned. “Hardly. You’re smart and determined. You will get wherever you want to go—I know that for sure.”
“If you’re not the nicest person I know, you’re very close to it, and I don’t mean that as a compliment.”
Natalie was still laughing when their other friends arrived. Carol, Wynn and Pallas each carried a bowl or tray.
Carol, a pretty redhead, was married to Ronan’s brother Mathias. She ran the local animal preserve next to the town dump. Carol was in charge of several gazelles, a few zebra, one water buffalo and a new giraffe herd. Wynn ran the graphics and printing company while Pallas owned Weddings Out of the Box. Bethany, the other member of their girlfriend crew, was visiting family in El Bahar.
Bethany had moved to Happily Inc the previous December. Actually, she’d come for a short visit and had ended up falling in love with Cade Saunders, which was in and of itself fairly notable, but not the real thrill of the story. Cade had purchased a stallion from the king of El Bahar’s royal stable and Bethany had been the groom to accompany the horse while he got settled. Unbeknownst to anyone, Bethany was in fact the king’s stepdaughter and a real, live princess. There had been quite the conversation when the truth had come out.
Natalie could sort of understand how life could be difficult if one were royal. Cade and Bethany had gotten engaged and Bethany had settled in Happily Inc. Natalie believed the two of them now both owned the ranch, but she wasn’t sure.
There were greetings and plenty of hugs as the friends got settled. Natalie was relieved to find out that there weren’t three salads. Instead Carol and Wynn had brought different kinds of cookies, while Pallas had made a chopped salad.
Natalie studied it doubtfully. “Is that kale?”
“It’s actually really good and it’s healthy.”
Silver handed them each drinks before leaning close to Natalie and whispering, “We can all see you’re thinking ‘but why’ on the salad.”
“I’m not,” Natalie protested, even though it might be true. She understood the value of vegetables, if only they weren’t so...vegetable-like.
In a matter of minutes, all the food was unwrapped and the five women were serving themselves before taking a place at the table. Natalie breathed in the scent of the BLT mac and cheese casserole (the L standing for leeks, which were technically a veggie but one Natalie actually liked) and made a mental note to get the recipe from Silver.
Natalie let the friendly conversation wash over her for a second as she enjoyed being with her friends. She would offer to take the next lunch. The gallery was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Atsuko, Natalie’s boss, allowed her to use the space for her girlfriend lunches as long as Natalie cleaned up afterward.
“That was some storm,” Carol said, passing the garlic bread around the table. “One of the days, most of the animals didn’t even want to go outside in all that rain.”
“That had to have been some barn cleanup.” Wynn wrinkled her nose. “Hunter did a report on the zebras for his science class and couldn’t get over how much they poop in a day.” She waved her piece of garlic bread. “I can provide details if anyone is interested.”
“No, thanks,” Silver said, glancing at Pallas, who looked a little pale. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s the combination of lunch and poop that has me unsettled.” Pallas turned to Natalie. “Tell us about your adventure, young lady. I’ve heard all kinds of rumors.”
For a second Natalie had no idea what she was talking about. Then she remembered her trip up the mountain. She practically bounced in her seat.
“I’m getting a new car. New-to-me, anyway, and I’m superexcited.”
“Good for you,” Carol said. “Did you sell your old one or are you using it as a trade-in?”
“It’s totaled. It fell off the mountain.”
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
“What happened?”
Her friends all spoke at once. Then Pallas excused herself to use the restroom.
“I’m fine,” Natalie told them. “I wasn’t in it.” She smiled. “Right at the beginning of the storm, Mathias and Nick realized Ronan hadn’t been in for several days and he wasn’t answering his cell phone. He doesn’t have a landline, so someone had to go check on him.”
Silver’s eyes darkened. “They sent you up the mountain in your car in a storm? What is wrong with them?”
“Nick insisted I take his truck, but I was nervous about driving it. Anyway, I made it up to Ronan’s with no problem, but I parked it too close to the edge. A bunch of trees fell and they took my car with them.”
She sighed with happiness. “I’m going to be getting a check from my insurance company. That combined with what I’ve been able to save means I can afford a new car. I’m getting a red one.”