“Everything’s fine!” she said, rushing to assure me. “It’s just that my grandma’s car is ready to be picked up from Jim’s shop, and he closes at six on the dot. I can come back afterward!”
Yesterday morning, Sawyer told me her grandma’s car had broken down on the way to the grocery store. Thankfully, I was still in town after dropping Harper off at school, so I swung by and picked both of them up before calling Jim, the local mechanic, to haul the car in and take a look. It cost me a month’s worth of free drinks to convince him to move it to the front of the line, but it was worth every penny.
“Take the night off,” I said, turning back to survey the contents of our fridge. “You deserve it.”
“What about Harper? Ryan called in, so I was supposed to watch her so you could cover his shift.”
Shit. I’d forgotten about that. But I couldn’t very well go back on my word now. Sawyer deserved a night off more than anyone else I knew. I just needed to rearrange some things. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been forced to bring my daughter to work with me. I could stick her in one of the back booths so she could do her homework.
The bar would just have to close early when I put her to bed.
“I’ll take care of it, Sawyer. You have more than enough on your plate right now.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I stopped her. “Do you wanna argue, or do you wanna get out of here and enjoy an early evening?”
Sawyer smiled tentatively. “You know, you’re a pretty great boss.”
“God, that makes me feel old,” I muttered.
“Well, you are in your forties…”
I pointed toward the back exit. “Get out.”
She raised her hands in defense, holding back laughter. “Sorry, I had to.”
“Can’t believe this is the thanks I get for letting you leave early,” I said, turning back to the bottles of liquor on the shelves.
When I first took over this place, I had to start from scratch. The previous bartender and owner had run off to Texas, leaving behind a whole lot of nothing for me to go by. In a strange turn of events, that same owner ended up marrying Olivia’s ex-husband’s sister-in-law—which gave me a headache if I thought about it too long.
When Sawyer came looking for a job, I’d been hesitant to hire her. She was young and had no previous bartending experience. Her resume was sparse, but I knew her grandmother and wanted to give the girl a shot. It was one of the best business decisions I ever made.
Now, being around Sawyer was like being around family. As an only sibling, I sometimes envied the relationship Lukas and Olivia shared. They bickered and bantered but had each other to lean on when shit got tough. Sawyer was as close as I had to a little sister, and I was grateful for her.
I couldn’t view Olivia that way anymore.
I wasn’t sure what the hell was happening between us, and I didn’t know if I’d ever figure it out. Going there with her would be a colossal mistake for so many reasons.
Then again… I knew without a shadow of a fucking doubt that not at leastconsideringtaking a chance would haunt me for the rest of our lives.
Over the past couple of weeks, we had settled into a routine. Since I was usually stuck at the bar during the day, Olivia had been picking up Charlie and Harper from school most afternoons. She’d take the girls to Harper’s practice every Tuesday and Thursday, occasionally taking them to the diner for supper before bringing Harper home.
When I could, I’d do the same for her. Sometimes she’d get stuck in a work meeting, or need to stay late with John. I figured the least I could do was return the favor so she could take care of whatever shit she needed to.
Thankfully, tonight was her night. I didn’t have to worry about juggling the bar and dad duties until after seven, which would be fine. I could spend the night catching up on paperwork instead.
What I thought was goingto be a chill Tuesday night turned into a goddamn fiasco. After Sawyer left and I flipped the neon open sign on, nearly the entire town descended onto my littlebar. I didn’t know what kind of fucking memo I missed about the goings-on of this town, but clearly, everyone was finding a reason to raise a glass tonight.
Thankfully, everyone knew I ran a bare-minimum crew as it was. It didn’t come as a surprise to find me behind the bar alone, and most customers were patient. If they weren’t, they usually caught the side eye of old Gerald, or even Too Drunk Johnny on occasion.
It was enough to make whoever was about to kick up a fuss shut their damn mouth and wait for me to pass back by.
However, because I’d been so busy, I hadn’t been able to check my phone all afternoon. I didn’t realize what time it was until I saw Olivia, Charlie, and Harper walking through my door.
Olivia looked around, brows furrowed at the busy tables. She ushered the girls up to the bar, waiving hello to the old men sitting across from me. “Busy night?”
I checked my watch, dropping my head back and groaning when I saw it was half past seven. “Shit. I’m so sorry. Sawyer needed the night off, and Ryan wasn’t scheduled. It’s been a little busy tonight.”
“You’re working all of this alone?” she asked. Across the room, someone started singing a very off-key version of a George Strait song, causing all of us to cringe.
“Don’t have a choice,” I said, filling three cocktail glasses with ice and pouring a double shot in each one. “It was either this or shut down for the night.” And that wasn’t an option. Especially not now.