It would be wrong to punch him…
“If that’s what she wanted to do, I’m sure she’d make it work. And there shouldn’t be anything wrong with that. It’s not a Fortune 500 company or a snooty psych practice, but when I go home at the end of the day, I feel good about the work I’ve done and the people I’ve met.”
“By helping them feed their alcohol addiction?”
Okay, now the gloves were going to have to come off.
“Are you addicted to alcohol?” Levi challenged.
“Excuse me?”
He nodded toward the glass of wine in Paul’s hand. “That’s your third, right? Now, according to your logic, the bartender here is doing nothing more than holding a lowly position and assisting you in your over-indulgence of alcohol.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he added, “Maybe it’s time to put you under the microscope, Paul. Or maybe there’s someone in your practice you can talk to.”
With narrowed eyes, Paul sneered, “I do not have a drinking problem.”
“And bartenders aren’t responsible for people’s addiction.” He paused. “Granted, I’m sure there’s a small percentage of patrons who come in to drink that shouldn’t, but I keep an eye on all of them while I’m behind the bar and if I think they’ve had enough, I cut them off. I wonder if the guy serving drinks tonight will offer the same service to you?”
Walk away! Walk away before things get even more heated!
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d love to see about dancing with my girl. It was nice talking with you.” There was no way he was going to shake this guy’s hand again, but he couldn’t resist one last zinger. “Oh, and maybe switch over to water for a bit. You know, to stay hydrated.” And with a small wave, he walked away.
Willow was dancing with Donald, and Levi had absolutely zero qualms about cutting in. “May I?” he asked, knowing his smile was a wee-bit forced.
“Absolutely,” Donald said, taking a step back. “See you two at dessert.”
The band was playing a slow ballad and as soon as Levi had Willow in his arms, he rested his cheek against hers. “Mango.”
“Hmm?”
“Mango.”
She pulled back slightly and looked at him like he was crazy. And then…the lightbulb when on. “Oh, no. What happened?”
Levi repeated the conversation he just had with her father. “I’m really sorry, Willow. I know I should have held my cool a little longer, but…”
“Dad knows how to push people’s buttons. Trust me, it’s like his gift.”
“I should probably go and apologize.”
Shaking her head, she pressed in closer. “Nope. No way. He’ll be expecting that. I say we enjoy the rest of the party–the Romeos have our backs and will keep us away from my parents when we sit down for cake–and then we just have to get through breakfast.”
“Yeah…about that…” He explained the advice he had gotten earlier. “I’d totally understand if you don’t want to–you know, if you want more time with Gammy before we get on the road.”
“Levi?”
“Hmm?”
“We’re not leaving until Monday, so…”
Oh, shit. He had completely forgotten about that!
His nervous laugh was out before he could stop it. “Well, then I’ve really gone and made things awkward, huh?”
Luckily, she laughed with him. “Are you kidding? If anything, you made it more interesting.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.”
“And Levi?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Now it was his turn to look at her like she was crazy. “For what?”
“For sticking up for me. Gammy tries, and I know all her friends are always praising me when my folks are around, but…this was the first time someone really stood up for me, so…thank you.” She placed a soft kiss on his cheek and he wished like hell that he had punched the old guy in the face. It just about gutted him that he had done so little and yet it meant so much to Willow.
“I’ll always stick up for you. And trust me, after that conversation, I won’t let you be alone with them. Not while I’m here.”
The music died down and it was announced that it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Gammy. Willow took him by the hand and led him across the floor and over to where the massive cake had been wheeled out. The closer they got, Levi realized it wasn’t a cake at all. It was a tower of cupcakes.
“Oooh…cupcakes,” Willow said with awe. “How fun and totally Gammy.”
“She…likes cupcakes?”
“Loves them! Goes back to her days of teaching. Whenever there was a birthday for one of her students, there were always cupcakes. She hates a regular cake.”
“What? How is that possible? They’re essentially the same thing.”
Looking at him sympathetically, she said, “Are they? Because a cake is usually one flavor, a filling, and the icing. But a cupcake tower like this offers a bunch of possibilities.” They stepped closer. “See? There’s yellow cake with chocolate icing, yellow cake with vanilla icing–which, to me, is a little boring, but…whatever–chocolate cake with vanilla icing, chocolate cake with chocolate icing…”
“You’re beginning to go a little Forrest Gump on me, Willow. I can see the different varieties.”
“There are literally a dozen different varieties on here and way more than twenty people can eat–unless we each have two or three. And I am totally on board with that.”
Before he could respond, Gammy stepped up beside them as the bandleader cued the guests to start singing. A small portion of the cupcake tower had candles, and once the song was over, she blew them out and grabbed the microphone to make a speech.
“I cannot thank all of you enough for coming to celebrate with me today. It means the world to me.” She smiled out at her guests. “Some of you traveled a long way to get here, and I just want
