Page 171 of Summers at the Saint
“And a club soda for Mrs. Whelan, when you get a minute.”
“Is your mom coming tonight?” Traci asked Livvy. “I left a pass at the gate for her.”
“We called when the plane landed in Savannah, and she said she wasn’t sure. You know how she is about this place. Still thinks there’s a bogeyman hiding behind every oak tree.”
The waiter was back with their drinks. Whelan handed the club soda to Traci and took a sip of his bourbon. “We?” he said, quirking an eyebrow. “Who’s ‘we’?”
“Whelan!” Livvy and Traci groaned in unison.
“She’s told you all about Nick,” Traci said. “Multiple times.”
“You actually met him when we were here over Christmas,” Livvy added. “You took him out fishing on theLittle Miss Magic.”
“Oh yeah. Now I remember. He’s the character who can’t tell a flounder from a redfish.”
“Stop,” Traci said, elbowing him. “You told me you liked Nick a lot.”
“I believe what I said was that he’s okay. For a Yankee.”
“He isnota Yankee. He’s from Baltimore,” Livvy said.
“An Orioles fan? Surely you can do better than that,” Whelan said.
“Could you just be nice to him? Please? I really like him, and I think he likes me. His family is great. I invited them down for Beach Bash next weekend, but they already had plans. They want me to come stay at their cabin in Maine later this summer.”
“Sounds like it’s getting kind of serious,” Traci said. “What’s Shannon say about that?”
“Weirdly, I think she’s okay with it. Anyway, she’s much too busy having her own little fling to worry about my love life. I call him Dr. BoyToy just to mess with her,” Livvy confessed. “But I think it’s awesome that she’s finally allowing herself to cut loose and have some fun. I was kind of worried she’d be all weird and lonely with me away at school at Georgetown.”
“Shannon is doing just fine. We saw her out with the doctor last month, at the Community Chest fundraiser. She looked fabulous…”
“Heyyyyy, y’all.” Felice approached with an enormous silver platter of appetizers. She slung an arm around Livvy’s shoulder. “When did you get in? I didn’t see your car over at Gardenia.”
“Felice!” Livvy hugged her former roommate, who was dressed in head-to-toe pink, from her pink-and-white houndstooth-check pants to her monogrammed chef’s coat to the towering pink toque. Livvy looked her up and down. “Gurl! Where’s the rest of you?”
“I’m thirty pounds lighter,” Felice said, beaming. “I took up running.”
“And Pilates,” Traci added. “She’s a beast.”
Livvy helped herself to a tiny canapé. “Ohmygawd! It’s divine. What is this?”
“Shrimp Louis bites in puff pastry. I just added them to the summer menu. You like?”
“Looovve,” Livvy said. “How’s the new apartment?”
“Haven’t moved in yet,” Felice said. “The kitchen countertops are back-ordered.”
“She’s still camping out in Whelan’s old place in the village,” Traci said. “But Javi swears the first six staff housing units will be done by Memorial Day.”
“Sweetheart?” Whelan said, nudging her. “Hate to interrupt, but I think it’s almost go time.” He pointed out at the lowering sky, which had turned a deep purple, shot through with streaks of gold and orange.
“I better get back to my kitchen,” Felice said. “Training a new sous-chef.”
“You’re coming by the cottage later, right?” Livvy asked.
Felice ducked her head. “I would, but I’ve kinda got a date.”
“Bring him over tonight,” Livvy begged. “Nick and I want to meet him.”
