“That was the idea,” Eric told him. “But I got a surprise lined up for later.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” William said, leading them into the living room, where
his father sat in the recliner.
“It will be,” Eric said. “Mr. F!”
Eric crossed the room and shook Daniel’s hand. William assumed Eric had started the
party early, like his going-away party almost seven years ago.
David opened the case and handed out beers.
“William, can you put the rest in the garage fridge to keep them cold?” his father
asked.
“Sure,” William said, grabbing the case and heading to the garage.
When he returned, Eric’s bottle was nearly empty. William had only been gone thirty
seconds. If Eric kept his pace, he’d finish off the case himself.
David and Daniel waited for William before opening their drinks.
“I guess we’ll start off with a toast to William,” David said.
“Wait, let me grab another one,” Eric said, running to the kitchen to get to the
garage door.
The three men waited, bottles in hand. Eric returned with a beer in each hand.
“My boy is only going to get married once.” Eric said to himself, laughing.
“Well, back to the toast,” David said, raising his bottle. Both Eric and Daniel
followed.
“William,” David began, “I’ve known you since kindergarten. We’ve been friends ever
since. We learned to drive together—”
“I was there too,” Eric interjected, laughing.
“You were there too,” David replied. “I know that all three of us had drifted apart
since high school, but we’ll always be friends. Nothing can ever change that.”