Olivia’s gaze dipped to my waiting palm before flitting away. “No, that’s okay. I think I’ll call someone to get me.” She offered a tight-lipped smile. “Thanks, though.”
For some reason, disappointment hit me hard and square in the chest. I wasn’t sure why I wanted her to stay. It wasn’t like we were friends. Hell, we were barely acquaintances. I should be celebrating her getting out of my hair.
“Just doing my job,” I muttered, dipping my head and heading back to the bar.
As I checked on the other patrons, I found my gaze wandering to her slouched form in the corner. She was on the phone with someone, smiling softly as she spoke. I couldn’t help but wonder who was on the other line. If she were calling Lukas or Cleo or Grady like she said she would, or if this were someone else. Someone who was probably much better company than I was.
Why the fuck does it matter, Duke? Why do you care?
Before I could dig too deeply into that downward spiral, Too Drunk Johnny stood up. His barstool clattered to the ground, sending every head in the room his way. “Damn legs fell out from under me,” he cursed, swaying as he bent forward to set it upright. “Need some better chairs here.”
“Maybe if you weren’t drunk off your ass, it wouldn’t be a problem,” I said, rubbing my temples. “You’re a fucking liability.”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not very nice to fall off my furniture. I’m calling you a ride, and they’re taking you home.” Pulling out my phone, I put in his address and ordered a cab. “They’ll be here in ten minutes. That water better be gone by the time they get here,” I said, pointing toward the still full glass I’d given him earlier.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He waved me off. “Quit your whining or I’ll go to the bar across town.”
Gerald, one of my regulars, shook his head. “Johnny, you’vebeen banned from that shithole since 1997 after you started that bar fight. ‘Member? There was a goddamn town meeting ‘bout it.”
Johnny’s lips tipped up. “Oh yeah. Forgot about that.” He faced me again. “Guess you’re stuck with me then.”
“Lucky me,” I muttered. “G, make sure he finishes that drink for me, yeah? I gotta run to the back.”
Gerald reached down and grabbed his cane, raising it above the bar and shaking it in Johnny’s direction. “I’ll beat him if he doesn’t.”
I turned my back to the men, praying like hell there wouldn’t be a goddamn dead body on the floor by the time I grabbed more napkins. That was the last thing I needed on my plate. Thankfully, the two were still bickering like an old married couple and Johnny’s glass was half-empty when I returned. I listened to them trade barbs as I refilled the dispensers along the bar.
“Oh, Duke,” Gerald said, cutting into my focus. “Blondie wanted us to tell you she was gonna hitchhike home with a random stranger.”
“The fuck?” Instantly, my gaze shifted to the booth Olivia had occupied not even five minutes ago. Had she really snuck out while I wasn’t looking? Surely she got a ride home and wasn’t really going to be that reckless?
Gerald and the guys busted out in laughter at my reaction. “Oh shit, man. I’m sorry. I had to. She said she’d cover my tab if we said it.” He pulled a bill from his wallet and flashed it my way. “Keep the change, loverboy.”
I narrowed my eyes on them. “You just like stirring the fucking pot, don’t you?”
He flashed me a shit eating grin. “An old man’s gotta get his kicks where he can. Not much excitement left in these bones.”
Blowing out a breath, I grabbed the cleaning supplies andheaded over to the booth. To hell with them, and to hell with Olivia. It wasn’t like I was disappointed she skipped out without saying goodbye. In fact, it was better that way. No more awkward small talk necessary. Just the transactional relationship between a bartender and his patron.
It wasn’t until I was laying my head down for sleep that night that I realized I was a fucking liar.
OLIVIA
Nearly a week had passedsince I left Duke’s bar, and each day I wondered if he was as bothered by my sneaking out as I seemed to be. In my slightly drunken stupor, I thought having the old men tell him I was hitchhiking with a stranger would be funny, but now it just felt rude. Given, though, that he hadn’t tried to contact me to verify I was, in fact, still alive, I guessed he was fine with it.
He doesn’t even have your number to contact you, you fucking idiot.
Try as I might, everything about that day still unnerved me. Though Lukas swore he hadn’t invited my mother, he’d clearly let something slip. And while I knew avoiding her entirely wouldn’t be possible forever, I’d hoped I could get away with it for a little while longer.
She had barely nodded a polite hello in my direction before her attention snagged on Charlie. I hated the way they stared at one another. They might as well have been strangers, and for all intents and purposes, they were. The last time I’d seen my mother—the night we’d both traded insults we couldn’t takeback—I’d vowed she would never know my daughter. That she’d have no chance to dig her talons into Charlie’s mind, warping and twisting it until she was as lost as I had been growing up under her care.
Lukas, true to his word, had intercepted before she could say a word to my daughter. I ushered her into John’s house, closing the door on my brother so that he could get rid of her, even if only for that day. I was struggling enough as it was and I wasn’t allowed to break down the way I wanted to. I had to hold it together for Charlie, who’d run right up to the man she loved so much.
The silence in the house had been unnerving, immediately setting my senses on alert. John was the type of man who you could hear from a mile away. He was loud—obnoxiously so. He’d never learned the concept of an inside voice, not even when it came to business. Typically, when I came over, it felt like home, but that day it felt like a tomb. The house was mourning right along with us.
Seeing John in such a frail state, the way his chapped lips cracked as he spoke, the yellow pallor of his skin, had rattled me to my very core. He always seemed infallible growing up. But then again, I’d once thought that about my own father, too. Turned out he was just as mortal as the rest of us.