I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Creed smirked. “Sailor’s boyfriend is a med student in Boston. He’s my cousin’s roommate.”
Fleur’s eyes went wider then she laughed out loud. “I need some entertainment in my life. Other than swollen ankles and not being able to see my feet anymore. God, I wish I stilled lived in Portsmouth.”
Creed took my arm and motioned his head toward the booth. “Ignore her,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
I moved into the booth so that when it was time, I could see the stage clearly. Creed moved into the bench across from me. “If you’re done making up drama that doesn’t exist, we’d like lobster rolls and I want and Impy Stout.” He glanced at me. “What do you want to drink?”
I hadn’t seen a drink menu and I wasn’t one to know my order. I liked to see the specialty cocktails. However, if they didn’t have one, I was afraid it would be rude to ask.
As if she had read my mind, a menu was placed in front of me by Fleur. “These are our specialties. I suggest the Hampton Falls. It’s incredible if you like tart and sweet. If you prefer a smoother slightly sweet then the Snowy Sunrise is a great one.”
I decided I’d try both. “I’ll start with the Hampton Falls,” I told her. Fleur appeared pleased.
“Keep the menu. You can try more,” she told me then winked before turning and walking away rather impressively for someone that far along in her pregnancy. Wasn’t she supposed to be waddling around by now?
“She’s a real witch, isn’t she?” Creed asked casually after she was far enough away she couldn’t hear me.
I shot him a sheepish look. I already felt bad enough assuming she would still be mad at me for taking Creed away from her eight years ago. “She’s great,” I said honestly.
He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest grinning. “You’ll like Josh too. They’re good people.”
I was sure I would. “Did all our friends get married and start procreating?” I asked him.
He gave me a wry look. “Apparently most did. There are a few still living the single life. Fleur’s brother Derek for starters. He was engaged a couple years ago, but she left him for a divorced surgeon and moved to Manhattan. Greg Harris is still single, he was the curly haired kid that lived at the end of the street. A foot taller than everyone else and the goofball.”
I had forgotten about Greg. He had lived to make people laugh back then.
“What about Ryan?” I asked, before I had time to think about what I was asking. Wincing, I started to apologize but Creed seemed okay with the question. Ryan had been Cora’s boyfriend the summer she killed herself. She had crushed on him for years and that summer I had wondered why she didn’t seem happier about finally getting him.
“He’s not married either. He’s had a hard time. His mother died of cancer two years after Cora died. His dad remarried and he didn’t take it well then a year into that marriage, his dad decided to end his life.” Creed stopped then and shook his head.
I didn’t know what to say when Creed mentioned suicide. Losing Cora the way he had made it a sensitive subject. Causing him anymore pain wasn’t something I wanted to do.
“Your beer.” A waitress that looked older than Lulu appeared with our drinks. “And a Hampton Falls. Fleur got your orders in and food should be out shortly. I’m Mary, if you need anything,” she said, before turning to head over to a table across the room.
Creed brought up a memory with Fleur and Derek that I’d forgotten. After that, we talked about funny things that had happened over the years with all our other friends in Portsmouth. Creed even spoke of Cora, without looking as if it was painful to remember her. We had finished our lobster rolls that had indeed been amazing and I was on my second drink the Snowy Sunrise when Creed had to leave me to go get set up on stage.
I wasn’t there alone for long; Fleur came over and sat down beside me pulling up a chair. Either it was because she couldn’t fit in the booth with her stomach or she wanted to see the stage.
“How has life been Sailor Copeland?” she asked me with a sincere smile. Fleur was happy. There was a glow about her that you couldn’t fake.
I shrugged. “Good. I went to college in Nashville. Met my boyfriend there. Graduated then moved here to live close to Griff while he is in medical school.”
She took a drink from a fancy bottle of water she was holding. “I saw you two years ago at the CMA’s and I told my brother he needed to fly down to Nashville while you were still unmarried. That black dress you had on with those red boots. Fire!” she told me.