“Ava who dated Mason way back , Ava?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said with a chuckle. “She moved back home, and she and Mason realized they were still madly in love with each other. We hired her to help us bartend, and I don’t think it was a week before they were all lovey-dovey again.”
“How lucky,” she said, and I suddenly felt bad. Talking about people falling for each other to a woman who was literally just stood up at the altar. Also, I felt bad for how eager I was to have her come to the bar and visit me, for much the same reasons, and with a heaping pile of guilt that she was my best friend’s sister.
Still, I couldn’t help myself. “Hey, why don’t you come down on the next theme night. We do them every Saturday, and I think you’d have a blast.”
“I might just do that,” she said, a grin stretching across one side of her face.
“Awesome. I’ll look for you,” I said, offering my arms for another hug. She fell into my chest willingly, and I savored the second and a half I had of holding her body close to mine, all while chiding myself in my mind for enjoying it.
“See you around,” she said.
“You too,” I said and moved my cart down the next aisle. I didn’t need anything down the spice aisle, but I had to get away from her beguiling eyes and sexy smile or else I would have followed her around the grocery store all day.
I didn’t see her again as I checked out and piled the groceries into my truck. All I could think about as I got inside and started it up was that I simply couldn’t understand it. What would possess a man to ditch her? She was gorgeous, and curvy, and funny, and smart. It just didn’t make sense.
I pulled out of the grocery parking lot and headed back to my place to drop off the groceries. My hoarding of all things delicious and terrible for me, added to the conversation with Becca, had put me well beyond my normal twenty-minute shopping window, and now I had to rush to get to the bar on time for work.
When I got to the bar, Ava was at the helm, and I learned that Mom had begun doing daycare duty. It was a good choice since it gave her something to focus on now that Dad was gone. It still hurt to think about him not being around anymore, but I could throw myself into work at the bar. Mom had nothing, except for the time she spent with us for dinners and when she got to take care of little Robert. As much as I missed Dad, I knew she missed him far more, and having something for her to do was good for her.
The new cook came in just after me, and I took them into the kitchen to get acclimated. I knew I was going to be spending a lot of my time bouncing between the kitchen to put out figurative fires there and possible literal ones should the need arise, and the floor of the bar, where I would be running food out and refilling drinks.
The night wore on, and I was surprised that my mood never wore down. As busy as we stayed, I was peppy and on top of things the entire time. It was a good night; when the last customer was out of the door, I didn’t even want a drink to top the night off. I was in a good enough mood as it was.
4
Becca
“What are you doing tonight?” Melissa asked when I answered my phone Saturday afternoon.
“Um… nothing,” I said. “Kind of why I’m here. I did have plans for a moonlight dinner on the beach tonight, but that sort of fell through.”
She hesitated for a few seconds. “Yeah, I realized that while I was asking the question, but I was already committed and couldn’t stop.”
“Why do you ask?” I asked.
“Because we’re going out,” she said. There was a more cheerful note in her voice, and she seemed to have swept the awkward beginning of the conversation away.
“Out?” I asked.
“Yes. Out. As in, we’re emerging from our homes and going to do something for the purposes of having fun,” she said.
“I’m familiar,” I said. “I mean, I am in theory. It’s been a long time since I went out to do something just for fun. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, it’s Saturday night. I thought it might be fun to go up to the Anderson’s bar. You haven’t seen it, and it would be a good chance to visit and maybe catch up with some people.”
“Oh, that’s right. Saturdays are their theme nights,” I said.
“Exactly,” Melissa said. “No better time to get our neon blazing.”