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“Am I going to be corralled into a gunfight outside?” she whispered.
She’d stepped through the door, and everyone in the pub stopped talking to look at her.
“What?” Nate came in behind her with the others.
“Y’know, like in the westerns? The cowboy walks into the saloon and everyone stops to look at him.”
“It’s ‘cause you’re a stranger. You’re with us, you’ll be fine,” Nate said.
“And if I wasn’t with you? Pitchforks at dawn?”
“Listen up!” The bartender clapped his hands once. “It’s the young lady’s birthday. Happy birthday, lassie!”
Happy birthday cheers rang out with clapping and whistling. Her cheeks heated as she waved shyly, smiling.
The twins led her to the bar, and she grinned at the tall man behind it. He had a shock of black hair and bright blue, friendly eyes.
“Lily, this is Uncle Jimmy. Uncle, this is Lily,” Josh introduced her.
“You’re a brave one to make friends with my boys.” He held his hand to her, and she took it to shake, but he lifted her hand to his lips. His eyes twinkled as he winked at her.
“Stop flirting, Uncle.” Josh pulled her into his side. “We’re starving.”
“You’re always starving. Go on, sit yourselves down. I’ll send Annie over to get your orders in a minute.”
She looked around her as they led her to the left side of the bar. Overhead, black beams had horseshoe brasses nailed into them. A wooden shelf, holding ornate Toby jugs and plates with patterns that looked as old as the pub, ran around the plastered stone walls just below the uneven ceiling. One side of the pub held round tables with chairs, a dartboard, and a snooker table. The other side was a dining area with high backed wooden bench seats and tables.
Sepia Victorian photographs of the pub hung on the walls. Someone’s enormous prized pig had been immortalised forever in paint. A painting of a hunt with a pack of dogs jumping a hedge into the trees hung near the bar. The scarlet of the rider’s coats like drops of blood on an otherwise dreary picture.
Matt sat down at a window table, and she slid in after him. Nate sat on her other side and the twins sat opposite.
Nate handed her a menu. “Pick what you want.”
“Thanks.” She read down the prices and was relieved to see it wasn’t too expensive.
Matt leant behind her to poke Nate’s shoulder. “They’ve got stargazy pie.”
Jake laughed. “Hey, Lil, fancy the stargazy pie?”
“Stargazy? That sounds fun.” She found it on the menu. “What is it? It doesn’t say.”
Matt took his phone out, tapped on it, then slid it across the table in front of her.
“Are those heads?” She grabbed the phone and peered in horror at the picture of fish heads poking through the crust, complete with eyes.
“Yep, Pilchards, they’re gazing skywards, hence the name,” Josh said. “You’re in Cornwall now, Lily, ’tis a Cornish dish.” His accent thickened, and he nudged Jake beside him. “Vegetable lasagne.”
“I’ll have the stargazy pie,” Nate said and closed his menu.
“You mean you’re actually going to eat it?” Lily pushed the phone back towards Matt.
“Not the heads. The fish is skinned and boned, just the heads and tails are poking out,” Nate explained.
“There’s tails in there too?” Her stomach roiled with nausea.
“So, you don’t fancy it then?” Jake winked at her.
“No, not even if I was starving and there was nothing else.” She pulled a face at him.
“What do you want?” Matt asked.
“Can I have the steak and ale pie, please?” she asked.
“Lily Pad, your choice in food—”
“Shut it!” Nate barked. “She can eat what she bloody well wants to. Don’t start on that shit.”
“It’s not shit. And if you were us, you’d be feeling the same,” Jake pointed out.
“Yeah? Well, let’s thank the higher powers I’m not you, either of you. So, it’s a moot point.” Nate folded his arms on the table.
“What are you talking about?” Lily asked.
“They’re on a crusade, a losing one,” Matt drawled, still looking at his menu. “Knickerbocker glory. Lord, I love Uncle Steve.”
“What crusade?” She looked over at the twins.
“We just wanted to point out that meat doesn’t need to be consumed at every meal. In fact, it needn’t be consumed at all.”
“You’re vegetarian?” Thinking about it, she’d never seen them eat anything with meat in it, it just hadn’t clicked before.
“We would be, wouldn’t we?” Josh said.
“That is a load of shit, and you know it. Aunt April took you off it when you were three, I don’t think that was a conscious decision.” Nate sneered at them.
“Besides, we’ve told you—bless it, thank it for sustaining you, and bingo, burgers are a go.” Matt slid his arm around her waist.
“We don’t live in the bronze age when man had to hunt to survive.” Jake lifted an eyebrow, nodding.
“You’re just embarrassed to say it goes straight through you.” Nate snorted.
They blushed brightly, and she felt bad for them. “That’s ok, I can’t eat eggs unless they’re in a cake. I get horrific stomach ache until they go through me.” She groaned, covering her eyes with her palm. “I can’t believe I just blurted that out.”
“Beans make Nate fart for England.” Josh sent Nate a mocking smile.
Nate flipped him off. “At least I didn’t make an artform of farting the longest, like Matt.”
“That was years ago.” Matt shook his head. “Guys, we’re trying to impress her, bodily functions are probably not the way to go.”
“Hey, do you still need a minute or have you all decided?”
A young, friendly looking woman came up to the table with a pad and pen, smiling at them widely.
“Hi, Annie,” Nate said. “This is Lily, it’s her eighteenth.”
“Happy birthday, Lily.” She smiled at Lily. “What would you like?”
“Thanks.” Lily smiled and gave her order.
The others gave theirs, and she winked at Lily before leaving them.
“Go and pick your poison.” Nate slid a ten-pound note towards her.
“Coke’s fine.” She didn’t pick it up. It was enough they were buying her meal.
“C’mon, this is your eighteenth, a rite of passage. Something to cross off the bucket list of life,” Josh coaxed.
“I’ve drunk alcohol before.”
“You haven’t walked up to the bartender and ordered an alcoholic drink though, have you?” Jake asked her.
“Well, no.”
“Exactly, off you go,” Josh ordered. “Matt, let her out.”
“Bloody hell, who died and made you two Nate?” Matt snapped as he got up. “You’re too bossy. One is enough.”
“I’ve no idea what you’re on about, Matt.” Nate tucked the money into her hand as she passed him. “Don’t argue.”
She smiled at them. “Thank you.” She crossed over to the bar with no idea what she wanted.
“And here’s the birthday girl.” Uncle Jimmy came over to her, slinging a towel over his shoulder. “Pick yer poison, lass, it’s on the house.”
“They’ve given me the money.”
“They can buy the next one.” He winked at her. “Have you drunk before?”
“Wine, champagne, and cider,” she replied. “But that’s all.”
“Well, this is a country pub, lass, so the limit of my cocktails is a Bloody Mary. But I can set you up with spirits, or you can stick to what you know.”
She debated the bottles hanging upside down behind him. “I like coconut, can I try that one, please?” She pointed to the white bottle.
“Coke, lemonade, or peach schnapps with it?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll make the three up and you can choose. It’ll just be a taste, okay?”
“Thanks, sounds good.”
“The boys tell me you’re new to the area. How are you liking it here?” he asked as he setup the shot glasses.
“It’s beautiful. I love it here.”
“It is a lovely part of the country,” he agreed. “And which of my nefarious nephews have made a play for you?”
Heat flooded her cheeks as he set the glasses in front of her.
“All of them?” He laughed, shaking his head. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me? They’re good boys though, you’ll be safe with them.”
“They’re my best friends,” she replied.
He caught her eyes and the easy-going grin changed into a soft smile. “You’ll not do wrong sticking with them.” He tapped the first glass. “This is the bootlegger kicker, Coke in this one. Bootlegger lass with lemonade, and the last is the bootlegger brine with peach schnapps and lemonade.”
She tried them all, pulling a face at the first one that made him laugh. She liked the last one best of all and she gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up.
“We have a winner.” He cleared the glasses away and made up the drink in a proper tumbler. “Drink responsibly. No mixing your drinks, okay? You don’t want alcohol poisoning on your birthday.”
“Thank you so much.” She smiled at him. “Can I also have four Cokes for the boys, please?” She took out her own money to pay for them.
“Of course, you can.” He started filling pint glasses with Coke. He got to the last one and whistled loudly making Lily jump. “Oi! One of you reprobates want to pretend you’re a gentleman and help the lady with your drinks?”
Josh got up and came over. “We’re always gentlemen, Uncle.”
“Is that right?” His uncle lifted an eyebrow, smirking at him.
Josh pulled a face and picked up the tray of drinks.
She took her glass and followed him back to the table, sliding in next to Matt and pushed the money back at Nate.
“No way our drinks were on the house. How did you pay?” Josh passed the glasses around.
“This round is on me,” Lily replied and sipped at her drink. “This is so nice.”
“Next drink use the money,” Nate ordered, and she smiled into her glass.
“Toast!” Matt held up his glass. “Happy birthday to our girl. May this be the first of many we’ll share with you.”
“Aye!” She clinked her glass to theirs. “This is the best birthday I’ve ever had. Thank you.”
Time could stand still, and she’d be happy.
