Southern Comfort (Southern 2)

“Thank you,” I say, walking in and seeing the high ceiling with a crystal chandelier. “This is beautiful,” I say, taking in all the old Victorian touches everywhere. The spiral staircase on the side of the room, and the pictures of the family all along them. “Do they really live here?”

“If you are mayor, you live here,” Casey says from beside me. “So he has no choice but to move in here, no matter how much he bitches.”

“But doesn’t his father live here?” I look over at him and spot servers walking around with champagne on trays. I take a glass and look back at Casey. “Awkward giving your father the pink slip to move out.”

“It’s about time,” Casey says, and then we walk past the room on the right that has the mayor’s office on the closed door. “We need new blood.”

I don’t have a chance to ask him what he means when we come into the big open room that leads out to the huge backyard. Where over a hundred people all stand mingling with each other. I spot Beau standing next to his father and then look next to him and see someone else. “Who is that?” I ask Casey, pointing.

“That’s Liam, Beau’s brother,” he says, leaning in. “He’s also a fucking tool.” I shake my head as we walk out onto the back patio, and I spot Kallie and Jacob with Ethan standing on one side.

“Look at how pretty the willow tree is,” I say, pointing at the tree and then turning to smile at Kallie, who is dressed in a pencil skirt with a button-down shirt. “Hello, everyone.”

“Hello, yourself,” Kallie says. “What took you so long?”

I shrug my shoulder and take a sip of the champagne, not getting into the real reason we are late. I’m sure she doesn’t want to know it was because her brother tore off another pair of panties and had his way with me. “I didn’t know what to wear.”

“This is something, right?” Jacob says, shaking his head. “I bet you Beau fucking hates this.”

We all look over at him and see that he’s pulling the shirt from around his neck. “Can I go to the swing?” Ethan asks. Jacob nods his head, and we watch him run away.

“How long do we have to stay?” Casey asks, and I groan and then the chatter around us stops and we all look toward the door where Savannah stands. “Jesus, even eight years later, people still fucking point.” I watch her as she looks around, and you can see she’s not happy to be here. She is wearing a tight red dress that goes all the way to her neck and is tight all the way down to her knees, and then it ruffles off. It’s a stunning dress she’s paired with black heels. Her eyes find Beau’s, and she smiles huge. You can see how much she loves him, but the only one who doesn’t know is him.

I follow her eyes to Beau’s, who smiles just as big, and when he sees her, he finally walks away from his brother and his father, who both glare at her. He weaves his way to her, and when she finally comes down the steps, he hugs her and kisses her cheek. They make their way over to us, and we all smile at him.

“There he is, Mr. Mayor,” Kallie says, joking with him, and he shakes his head. “Do you curtsey to a mayor?”

“There is no fucking way in hell I’ll ever curtsey to him,” Jacob says. “He keeps eating all the fucking food in my fridge.”

“It’s not my fault,” Beau says. “You always invite me over.”

“I never invite you over,” Jacob says.

“Who wants to see the major’s office?” Beau says, and the guys all nod. Jacob kisses Kallie, and Casey leans over to kiss me, and the three of them leave.

“Am I missing something?” I ask as the men walk up the steps and enter the house.

“The guys used to sneak into the office when they were younger and take some of Mr. Beaumont’s whiskey,” Kallie says, and I laugh and so does Savannah.

“Where is Ethan?” Savannah asks, and Kallie points at the swing. I don’t know how Kallie does this. Stands there with Savannah after everything they went through. But Kallie is the bigger person, and in the end, if she was bitter, it would fall onto Ethan, and she loves that kid like he’s her own. “I think I’m going to vomit,” she says and puts her hand to her stomach, and Kallie walks over to her and rubs her arm. “If it was for anyone else, there was no way I would come here.”

“We all feel that way,” Kallie says, and then I look down.

“What do you guys say we join the boys?” I smile, and the girls nod.