7 Chapter 7

After Mac paid the tab, Afton raised her cocktail glass. "Now, let's drink to the happy couple. May their arguments be small ones while their love and happiness remain abundant all the years of their lives."

With glasses raised, they all added "here, here!" and then took sips of their drinks. For their next round, Mac suggested, they should have champagne.

"But we're not staying," Regine quickly advised. "We have a big day tomorrow, darling."

Mac continued to smile, his thoughts and gestures in accordance with his happy, carefree mood. "Oh, yes, I haven't forgotten. I guess we'll save the champagne for a later date. So, let's drink up and enjoy the moment."

The French singer had long since left the stage, and now a quartet of musicians set up their equipment and prepared to play the next set.

Afton indicated the young man with the drum sticks in his hand. "Here's my brother, Devlin." She beckoned for him to come over. "He plays the drums and the trumpet."

Devlin walked over to the edge of the stage and then knelt down. He had a charming and roguish look about him with his attractive teal eyes, high cheekbones, and lush sable hair. Like the rest of his fellow musicians, he wore indigo chinos and a royal-blue jersey. "Hiya, Afton, Aunt Winnie. Who's your friends?"

His sister made introductions. "Dev, meet Winnie's and my new upstairs neighbor, Mr. McKenzie Barrett, and his fiancée, Ms. Regine Frazier."

"Regine Harris Frazier," Regine quickly corrected with the stress on Harris.

Afton offered a tight smile. "Yes, Regine Harris Frazier and I were just discussing our college days together at Wellesley. I remember our last semester before graduation. We had an unusual amount of thunder storms that spring. Remember, Regine? If I recall, you were terrified of thunder storms."

"Not really," Regine sniffed. "I learned to live with them."

Grinning, Dev gave a rhythmic tap of his sticks on the edge of the stage. "Nice to meet you both. Any requests?"

"Yes!" Winnie announced with a bubbly smile. "How about Silver Bells, or maybe Winter Wonderland?"

Dev rose and stretched. "We can do both, auntie. I'll come back here on my break. So, enjoy folks."

"They call themselves The Blues in the Night," Winnie explained, her elfin face flushed with alcohol and excitement.

Regine offered a quick snort. "What are they, a cross between the Moody Blues and the Blue Man Group?"

"Oh, no! They have their own unique sound. You'll hear it all right."

"Very definitely," Afton confirmed as her gaze focused on the band members. As she caught her brother's attention, she nodded. "You'll be surprised at what they can do."

"With their brass," Winnie added with a little giggle, "instruments that is."

The Blues in the Night began their first number, Stormy Weather, with an easy, jazzy rhythm. Devlin had switched from drums to his trumpet. Soon, both the tempo and decibel level climbed in intensity as the band members inched across the stage and positioned themselves behind Mac and Regine. Now, bending slightly, Dev intensified his playing to a snappy, full-force crescendo. The stage lights began to flicker like strobes.

Gripping Mac's hand, Regine cringed and then jumped up with a scream of alarm as Dev hit a high note. "Let's get out of here!" she shrieked. Mac quickly grabbed her coat and placed it over her shoulders. "Sorry folks!" he yelled. "It's a little too much for us. Merry Christmas!"

Before Afton and Winnie could reply, the couple fled from the table. Afton managed to catch their fleeting figures as they ran up the stairs and subsequently disappeared down the hall towards the exit. On the last stanza of Stormy Weather, Devlin and his fellow band members lowered the volume considerably.

"Funny,'' Afton remarked to her aunt, "how bugaboos stay with us. Regine, it seems, is still afraid of storms despite her claim to the contrary."

Winnie grinned, ready for another drink. "Yes, it is funny, how a perfectly good song can affect a person so strongly that she has to run away in terror. She didn't even finish her martini." Raising her arm, she made several large sweeps of her hand to gain the attention of their waitress. "Yoo-hoo, Sadé, darling! Two more, please!"