“You’d better meet up with us later, or your friend, Zorba here, is going to miss me way too much. Plus, the bartender might jump Grant, so I’m just giving you fair warning,” Rex said.
“I feel like I want to miss you more,” Kat replied.
“See? Great, isn’t she?” Rex smiled, patting Kat on the shoulder.
The group all got a laugh at the exchange. Annie looked at Grant, though Rex’s comment about the bartender was not something she seemed to want to hear. Annie and Kat got up to leave.
“So we’ll get together later?” Grant asked.
“Yes, I would like that,” Annie said.
“So would your buddy,” Rex chimed in.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Kat said.
“Well, thanks for coming. At all. No, I mean it,” Grant said, not quite believing he had actually phrased it right.
“I’m glad we’re here, and I’m glad you’re all right,” Annie said.
“Of course you’re glad you’re here, ’cause I’m here,” Rex added.
“That’s the reason!” Kat said.
“Listen, we’ll see you in a little while. Just take it easy. Even though you think you’re all right, a car wreck is a traumatic thing, so just go slow, all right? Don’t let Rex drag you into anything too crazy,” Annie said.
“Just being around people is enough of a traumatic experience for him, so I can’t promise he will make it through,” Rex chuckled, looking down towards the other end of the bar.
“I’ll be fine,” Grant said.
“Of course you will. I’m counting on it,” Annie said, smiling at Grant. Grant smiled back. Was she flirting with him?
“Don’t go putting extra pressure on him, you’re just asking for trouble,” Rex added.
“Well, let’s put some pressure on you, and ask you to be nice, and to be quiet. You think you can do that for us?” Kat asked, looking at Rex.
“Can I still drink?” Rex asked.
“Yes.”
“Chase women?”
“Yes, just not us,” Kat said.
“Then I think we’re good.”
“Good. We have to go. We’ll see you later,” Kat said.
At that, Annie and Kat turned and left the bar. Isobelle was watching from the other end, and Kat and Annie waved at her as they left. Isobelle smiled and waved back at them. Annie was relieved that the initial meeting with Grant, after all this time, had gone as well as it did, considering how close they had been and how long it had been since they had seen each other. She did not hold any bad feelings towards Grant and seeing him, even for this short time, was good for her.
Kat was happy with the meeting. She had heard a great deal about Grant and Rex from Annie. She was curious to meet Rex, to see if anyone could be quite like Annie had described him, but she was more interested in meeting Grant, and in being there for Annie. Grant and Rex did not appear to be people who would create any real problems for the weekend, and if they did, she and Annie could spend time with their other friends, away from these two.
Grant felt less nervous than he had before he had purged himself in his room, but his body was still sore from the wreck. He was glad to see Annie and watched her gentle, confident stride until she was out of sight. He still cared for her deeply, there was no denying that. He could have done without the throwing up, but maybe it steadied him. They would return, as she had said, and they could talk more and really catch up, though he knew he would have to participate a little more in the conversation to keep her interested.
Rex was happy; being with his old friends again after his several-year-long work ordeal meant a lot to him. He showed his feelings differently than the others, so the more fun he was having, the more he lined up for the verbal joust. He was also thinking about the ladies down at the other end of the bar. He didn’t think a diversion like that would detract from the meeting with his old friends. The man and the woman with the sunglasses did make him feel uneasy. After all the things that had happened, though, he would not have been surprised if someone were watching him.
Isobelle was happy. She liked Grant’s stature and grace, his quiet composure even in the face of a car wreck and his over-eager friend, and his gentle way of speaking to his friends. Given the quiet type of person Grant seemed to be, and the short amount of time she had to work with, she knew it wouldn’t be easy, but she was determined to get to know him better. She felt that things were going to work out just fine.
CHAPTER 8
“How long we known each other?” Rex asked Grant.
“Since high school, something like that.”
“When did we meet Annie?”
“In college.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Oh,” Grant paused, thinking.
“I’m making a point here. As much as we’ve tried to avoid it, we’re older now. She was with some friend of hers when we met her in college. I’m not sure why I remember that.”
“Yeah, and you pushed yourself on them, ruined their day, as I remember. Probably ruined Annie’s life, if you were to ask her.”
“Not all of her life,” Rex smiled.
“Just part of it. Still a serious offense.”
“Hey, she wasn’t doing anything, you weren’t doing anything, what did it hurt? Look, if I hadn’t have intruded on Annie’s life that day, you would have been doing nothing, all by yourself, all those years you were together, instead of doing things with her.”
“I don’t know about that,” Grant said.
“I do.”
“You and I raised a fair amount of hell, it’s not like you were cheated,” Grant said.
“That we did, but you sort of got religion after you met her.”
“Religion?”
“Well, let’s just say you were not wanting to risk things as much after you two got together,” Rex said.
“I can’t be a screw up like you my entire life.”
“But you missed it, and came around eventually.”
“Missed what?” Grant asked.
“All the wacky shit we used to do.”
“Look where that got me. I’m here now, talking to you, and she’s—with someone else.”
“She’s
