Happy Ending (Fisher Brothers 4)

I went to work making the drink that I’d created with my brothers and me in mind. It was supposed to represent the love that we’d found and the happiness we had in our lives. But I was starting to worry that maybe I’d inadvertently made a drink that represented the end of our bar and our life as we knew it.

A Happy Ending indeed. Maybe I should have named it Happy Days instead.

One Last Surprise

Ryan

I taped the laser-printed sign to the front door of Sam’s that said we were closed for a private event and would reopen to the public at eight p.m. Hoping it wouldn’t blow away with the ocean breeze, I slapped on one more piece of adhesive, just to be sure.

In less than twenty-four hours, we would potentially lose the bar and everything we’d worked so hard to create. I knew the three of us were thinking the exact same thing, but we did our best to hide it.

Today was a celebration, and Nick had been right. If we were going to walk away from this place, we might as well have one last amazing memory made inside these walls.

Nick had invited all of our families and a handful of our friends here for Jess’s birthday celebration. He left out the majority of her coworkers, telling us that there was a difference between Jess’s friends in the office and her real-life ones. It made perfect sense to me, but as usual, Frank complained. I think he just wanted something to take his frustrations out on because his argument had been less than logical.

“Door locked?” Frank asked a few moments later as he joined me behind the bar.

“Yep.” I looked over and watched as Nick wrapped an arm around Jess and pulled her in for a kiss.

I’d never seen them fight, which was saying a lot because of their age. Younger couples tended to argue over stupid shit, petty jealousy and whatnot, but not those two. It seemed like what they went through in their past was enough for both of them to stay appreciative and respectful of one another. They were so completely comfortable in each other’s presence, it put everyone else at ease. That’s how solid they were.

“We have a lot of family now,” Frank said, giving me a meaningful look.

I surveyed the room again, this time paying more attention. It was filled with mostly extended family . . . from Sofia and Claudia’s parents to Grant and Mariana. Our small Fisher clan had grown exponentially once we added the girls to it. It felt good. Right.

“I like it.”

“Me too.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder.

I searched for Sofia, spotting her off to the side in a yellow sundress that hugged her perfect curves, holding Hope. Matson, as usual, was practically glued to Jess’s side. You had to hand it to the kid; he was loyal. He had drawn Jess a birthday picture earlier that he was excited to give her. I couldn’t wait to see Nick’s face when he realized that the prince in the picture was Matson, and the dragon had Nick’s features. I laughed softly just thinking about it.

“Why do you have to ruin every moment by turning into such a girl?” Frank groaned. “What are you even laughing at, anyway?”

I rolled my eyes, which I knew would only irritate him more. “You’ll see later. Go annoy your wife, and let me make everyone some drinks.”

When he begrudgingly left me alone, I went to work making a tray full of Happy Endings and a few No Bad Days. Slipping out from behind the bar, I made my way through the crowd to distribute the drinks.

Claudia’s best friend, Britney, stopped me first. “What’s the purple one?”

“It’s gin, soda, and lime. You’ll like it.”

“What’s it called?” She grinned at me as she reached for a glass.

“Happy Ending.”

“Well, isn’t that just fitting,” she teased.

I played dumb. “How do you mean?”

“I never thought you’d top Adios Pantalones, but then you go and name your next creation Happy Ending? You little perv.”

“It’s not my fault your mind’s always in the gutter, Brit.”

“I bet I’m not the only one.” She smirked and took a sip. “Crap. This is good.”

Grinning, I moved through our family and friends, tapping them on the shoulder to offer up drinks. I reached Rachel, Jess’s best friend, with only one cocktail left on my tray.

“I wanted one of the purple ones,” she said with a whine.