Page 6 of I Do, or Dye Trying
“You want to do this now, babe? Our guests will be arriving any second,” Josh replied. “Including Emory.”
“How long of a discussion were you planning?” I asked in confusion. I heard car doors closing and realized that his supersonic hearing had picked up on their arrival.
Josh straightened up from smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles in the tablecloth and faced me. “Baby, I’m just glad that I’m getting a break from the crazy this time. I’m thinking I’ve had enough for a while between Oscar trying to kill me and then Billy stalking me.” My mouth dropped open in shock. “Sure, Wanda knocked you upside your head that one time but you’ve lived a relatively charmed life recently. I mean, we want to be equals in all things, right?”
Before I could answer, Willa, Meredith, and Harley rounded the corner of the house and entered the side yard where Josh had the shindig set up. Meredith and Willa both held covered dishes in their hands while Harley held a twelve pack of beer that I thought might come in handy.
“I can tell by the look on your face that my boy hasn’t lost his touch,” Willa said, crooking her finger for me to bend down so she could kiss my cheek. “Just march and clap alongside him, baby.” While it was true that Josh marched to his own beat, we were usually in rhythm.
“I just need a minute of Sunshine’s time,” I told them. I nodded my head for him to follow me. I turned to face him once we were out of sight of prying eyes. “Okay, I know damn well you didn’t mean that flippant response. So, how is it that you’ve come to terms with what Emory said?”
“Before you have, you mean?” Josh asked.
The truth was, Emory’s warning bothered me more than it should’ve based on what little he said. The problem was, I had plenty of people in my past who might want to cause me harm. “Maybe,” I confessed.
“I decided to be practical, even in the light of the most impractical scenario,” Josh said. “Emory couldn’t say for sure that your life is in danger, and he sure as hell couldn’t give us a hint as to the identity of the man you’ll be having words with on the front porch of our future home. Hell, for all we know it could be the cable guy who was late to hook up your service at the new house, which caused you to miss out on the next best sporting event in the whole damn world. There’s one nearly every single week,” he added sarcastically before he smiled broadly.
“No more fear,” Josh reminded me. “It robs us of the moment we’re experiencing. I had enough moments without you, Gabe. I cannot allow myself to imagine my world without you again. I won’t do it.” His voice cracked with emotion, and I regretted pushing him.
“You’re right, Sunshine,” I said, folding him in my arms. “I won’t mention it again.”
“You two didn’t get enough of that last week?” Chaz asked, walking up the driveway. “Some of us are lovelorn, so could you knock it down a notch, or ten?”
Josh pulled out of my arms and faced his friend. “Lovelorn?” he asked. “When did you start using words like that in place of horny?”
“That too,” Chaz admitted sheepishly.
Josh opened his mouth to reply then closed it just as quickly. I knew he was about to suggest how Chaz could take care of his problem but then changed his mind. He learned his lesson when his matchmaking attempt at Easter created tension between the two of them.Or maybe not,I thought to myself as I saw Kyle park behind Chaz’s car.
“I, um…” Josh said sheepishly as Chaz looked to see what—or rather who—had caught my attention.
“… Just can’t help yourself,” Chaz finished for him, but I noticed that his tone was lacking anger. “Don’t worry about it, Jazz. It’s cool.” I noticed he didn’t stick around for Kyle to catch up to him before he joined the party.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Kyle asked. He ran his hand over the back of his neck like he did when he was nervous. I might’ve been guilty of not picking up on every little nuance of Kyle’s personality when we were together, but that was a familiar gesture.
“It’s fine,” Josh assured him. “Besides, he’d be angry at me and not you.”
“Okay,” Kyle said uncertainly. “If it’s a problem…”
“It’s not,” I assured him. “What’d you bring?” I nodded at the covered bowl in his hands.
“Melon balls, you know I don’t cook worth a damn,” Kyle said with a self-deprecating scoff.
“Spiked?” Josh asked hopefully.
“Maybe next time.” Kyle winked and headed around the corner to join the rest of our guests.
“So, are we good here?” Josh asked.
“We’re amazing,” I replied.
A smile spread slowly across his face. “We kinda are,” he agreed before we returned to our party.
I began grilling chicken and ribs while Josh arranged the dishes everyone brought into categories: appetizers, side dish, and dessert. Adrian and an obviously pregnant Sally Ann showed up next, and Emory wasn’t far behind them. Josh and the gals fussed over Sally Ann, making sure she wasn’t given a “rickety-ass” folding chair since she was carrying precious cargo. Josh made Adrian go to the front of the house and get the chaise lounge chair with the thick, soft cushions for Sally Ann to sit on. She told them not to fuss, but she sighed happily once she realized how comfortable it was.
Next thing I knew, Josh had Adrian follow him into the single car garage that was packed too full with stored items to park Princess in, which said a lot because she was a small car. They came back out with rectangular wooden boards with legs that unfolded from the top that propped them up at an angle. Josh set one up and stepped off so many feet before he set up the other one to face the first board.
“Needs to be twenty-seven feet,” Adrian said. “You have a tape measure or something?”