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This time I looked around to make certain we were alone. “Fern, I know you’re going for a new nursing gig, and I’m in the middle of hockey season, but I want us to promise we’ll meet for a weekend within the next month or so.”

The bartender slid a glass of water across the bar to Fern, and she gushed at him. “Thank you so much, Mr. Bartender. You must get so much fulfillment from bringing all this joy to people. Right?” She leaned forward. “You’re like the booze wizard.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

She squinted her eyes. “Your shirt says Bangin’ Beers. I want a shirt that says Bangin’ Beers, too.”

Anything she wants, she must have. I am her hero. “Hey bud, do you sell those shirts?”

“No, just the staff has them.”

Fern slapped her hand against the wooden bar. “Well, this blows ass. I love that shirt.”

Get the beautiful woman what she wants. No option. “I’ll give you one hundred bucks for your T-shirt.”

His eyes went wide. “What? For my shirt?”

“You got it, but the offer lasts ten more seconds, and it’s off the table.”

The boy whipped off the shirt and handed it to Fern while I grabbed my wallet and passed over the cash.

She turned to me as she held the shirt over her heart. “You’re my hero.”

I did a quick jump. “I just said that in my mind!”

Her laughter wrapped around me. “You did? Really?”

I believe I felt the last Captain Morgan and Coke flow into my blood stream. “Yes! I totally said I needed to be your hero, and I am!”

She pulled the tee over her head, before throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me. As amazing as it was, I quickly peeled her off me and put her hands back on the bar. “I’m nobody’s hero if Dave kills me tonight.”

She held her finger up. “Yes, my brother is here and would likely murder you in a horrific way, and then the whole bridal party night would be ruined.”

The bartender, who I hadn’t realized was watching us, slid the tip jar to Fern, and she instantly dug in her pockets, pulled out a wad of cash and tossed it into the tip jar. “You deserve all of my dollars, fine sir.”

The bartender walked away and I fished out forty of the fifty dollars, and shoved it in Fern’s jean pocket without her realizing. “So what do you think?”

Her head flipped towards me. “About what?”

“What I was saying about the weekend pass?”

“What were you saying about the weekend pass?” She giggled.

“I said I wanted us to have another weekend even though you’ll be at your new job, and it’s hockey season. Maybe on a bye weekend or something, we could have more time together.”

She gasped. “You said that to me? Really?”

This was turning into an exhausting conversation. Damn Dory. “I’m saying that to you. I’m saying I want us to be together again.”

Her eyes narrowed “Together again?”

“Yes, because I dig you, Fern.” Oh shit.

I froze as her eyes got misty. Then my eyes searched for Dave.

I was happy he was still playing beer pong.

I took a napkin from the bar and dabbed her eyes.

“Please, please don’t cry. If Dave thinks I made you cry this whole thing will unravel, and I’ll be dead or at least seriously injured. ”

Fern nodded. “But I don’t know if he’d actually kill you. He’s not an animal.”

“When it comes to you, I guarantee he’d put me in his trunk and then help everyone look for me while I froze to death.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Her shoulders shrugged dramatically.

The shirtless booze wizard reappeared and put a drink in front of me I didn’t recall ordering. “This isn’t mine.”

“It’s on the house.”

The smart thing would be to refuse so I slammed it. One more wouldn’t hurt. Right? I turned back to Dory. “So what do you think?”

“About you digging me?”

I nodded.

“I think you can’t get enough of me,” she whispered.

Bingo. I stared into her eyes through my liquor haze and had never been more content. “Maybe so.” I scoped out the room, and we were still in the clear. “So what do you think?”

“About what?”

“About us having another weekend?”

She laughed and slapped my hand. “That’s right. I tell you what, I don’t remember ten minutes ago so the odds of me remembering this conversation tomorrow are slim to none.”

“So we just need something to remind you of this promise. Correct?”

“What?” She giggled. “What promise?”

“Oh, good Lord, Fern Ethel Novotny, what am I going to do with you?”

She slugged my arm. “Just find a way to make me remember this tomorrow. Duh.”

“How to make you remember? How to make you remember?” I looked at the woman to my left, and it hit me so I tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me.” I looked hard and could see her fingers.

She was in her twenties and blonde. “Yes?”

“Hello, I see you have rings on your fingers. I’ll pay you five hundred dollars for one of them.”

“Excuse me?” She looked as surprised at the question as I was.

“I want to buy any one of your rings for five hundred dollars.”

She waved her hand in the air. “Uh, this is costume jewelry. Worth nothing really?—”

“Five hundred twenty-five!” I looked over at Fern who had confusion written across her forehead.

The blonde lady laughed with the girl next to her before leaning closer. “What I mean is my jewelry isn’t real jewels or anything, it’s just cheap?—”

“Five hundred-fifty!”

The gal laughed. “Dude, it’s not worth any?—”

“Five seventy-five! Final offer!”

My new friend threw her hands in the air. “Sold to the man wearing the Bat Shit Crazy shirt!”

She let me pick, and I chose the silver scroll band that, under the dim lights of Bangin’ Beers Bar, twinkled like one million glorious stars.

I tossed her the cash, checked to find the entire wedding party on the stage singing Garth Brook’s Low Places so I grabbed Fern’s hand and headed out the front door. The brisk air hit me, and I stopped and turned to her.

“Okay, Fern, now we have a way for you to remember the promise we have agreed to this evening.” I put the ring on her right-hand ring finger and felt satisfaction when it fit perfectly.

“This is a promise. By wearing this ring, Dory will see it and remember this moment tomorrow. Do you agree to this promise?”

She bit her lip and smiled while my brain did a back flip with a twist.