Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green Read Free Book Online Page B

areas?”
    “No.” Ethan laughs. “But it’s fun to fantasize, and even more fun to look.”
    “Maybe I’ll get a huge commission this year to do the interior design of a giant hotel, and they’ll pay me a fortune, and they’ll bring you in to do the landscaping, and we’ll suddenly have a few million dollars spare. Whaddya think?”
    “I hope the money gods are listening.” Ethan shakes his head as he turns onto an old, narrow dirt road, slowing to avoid the potholes and peering out the window. “Where the hell are we?”
    Andi looks down. “This is right. Just keep going for four miles, then it’s on the right.”
    *   *   *
    A split-rail fence appears, marking a driveway, at the end of which are several people milling about. As Ethan pulls in, they turn and wave.
    “Oh look! There’s Greg!” Andi presses the window down. “Hello, groom!” she calls, as Greg comes to the car. “How are you feeling?”
    “Great.” He smiles. “Excited. Drew and Topher aren’t with you?”
    “No.” Ethan leans over to explain. “Drew hadn’t finished making the wedding cake so he was in a panic. He said he’d be here by three.”
    “That’s good,” Greg says, spying dishes on the backseat. “What did Isabel have you guys make?”
    “Greek chicken kebabs and tzatziki dip. I have slaved !” she jokes. “Honestly, do you know how many hours it takes to skewer chicken? I am now an expert chicken-skewerer. I’m thinking of starting a new business.”
    “I’m happy we could help.” Greg laughs. “Seriously? You’re amazing. Thank you. It’s so mind-blowing how all our friends are helping us with this wedding. It makes it real, you know? Intimate and warm, and wonderful. Thank you. We’re parking in a field over there.” He gestures to a bumpy field in the distance. “Can I help you bring the food over?”
    “Absolutely not,” Andi says. “You go and concentrate on your wedding. Don’t worry about us.”
    *   *   *
    In the field adjacent to the parking area are huge metal sculptures that spin lazily in the sun, changing as the light hits different parts. Guests are wandering through, standing beneath giant sculptures, fantastical half-man, half-beast goliaths, gazing in awe.
    “This is awesome, ” Ethan murmurs, looking around him in wonderment. “What is this place?”
    “See that barn?” Andi points out a large barn in the distance, with old broken-down tractors outside, piles of scrap metal, large aluminum bins. “Isabel says there’s an artist who leases the barn, and this is his work. He makes stuff for Burning Man.”
    “Cool.” Ethan whistles. “It’s beautiful. I thought you didn’t even know what Burning Man was.” He is teasing, reminding her of when she first moved here and had never heard of the biggest arts festival on the West Coast. “Want to go sometime?”
    Andi gives him a hard look. “Do you know me? I love you, mister, but a camper I am not.”
    “What about if we rented a luxury RV? Then you’d be comfortable. It’s amazing.”
    “If you’d asked me twenty years ago I might have jumped at the chance,” Andi says. “But I’m just too damned old.”
    “Bullshit. It’s all ageing baby boomers and Generation X-ers like us.”
    “Speak for yourself, my love.”
    “I know, I know. You can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take New York out of the girl.”
    “Now you’re learning!” she says, patting him on the butt. “Let’s go and put the food down.”
    *   *   *
    They find Isabel helping to string lanterns from the branches of a huge old apple tree, under the leaves of which she and Greg will be getting married.
    Other friends are stringing Japanese paper lanterns from tall posts in the field—lanterns Drew found for next to nothing in Chinatown—zigzagging over long trestle tables, benches on either side, with simple burlap runners down the middle, jelly jars of cottage flowers, zinnias, and stock, and phlox and