Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Griffin
A few days have passed since my mom was here but with how much she texts me you’d think it’s been months. I shake my head, smirking at her message and tell her I have to go; I'm working at the bar. She means well but I really do have to work, and she keeps asking me about Renee.
Fuck. I love my mom but this thing with me and Renee feels delicate, and I just don’t want anyone making it more…I don’t even know.
I stop thinking about it and go back to work instead, glancing up at the clock knowing her shift isn’t for a little while giving me something to look forward to.
I take my time, wiping down the bottles and keeping everything pristine behind the bar—I'm at the bar for most shifts, usually, so it's business as usual. The front doors open and Robert Barnes, newly elected city manager and previous pain in my ass turned friend, walks in.
He pulls off a navy-blue hat and sticks it in his coat pocket, then shrugs off the coat, huffing and puffing the cold air away.
“Hello, Mr. City Manager, good afternoon,” I call to him, smirking and taking a note of how much older he looks with his suit on. He’s around my age and an all right guy, once I got to know him. I’ve been getting to know him recently, especially late at night when the town talks about what happened with his parents.
Robert laughs a loud, deep belly laugh that fills up the whole bar. “No need to be so formal, Griff. How are you?”
“Good. How are you? Stressed out from keeping the town on the straight and narrow?” I keep it easy with him and grab an empty glass, thinking he’s going to want his usual.
“Yeah.” Robert hangs his coat on the back of a bar stool and slides onto it, exhaling deeply. “It's always a near thing in places like this. All kinds of shenanigans going on. The tree lighting ceremony has to be moved up half an hour because of the middle school band concert. Can you believe it?”
“I can't.” I hold up the glass and he nods. “That's a hell of a conundrum,” I joke as if I would have any idea, and I fill his drink up to the rim.
He laughs again and accepts his drink. “I gathered up our best and brightest and figured it out. We can't have anybody missing their kid's first trombone solo.”
I think back to the few band concerts I attended when I was in middle school and make a face, which gets another laugh out of Robert. “I’d be all right if never reminded of my short stint in band.”
We chat about the upcoming holidays and the events the local shops are putting on. I'll make sure the bar's open for the tree lighting. We're pretty much always open, so it won't be a problem, but maybe I could set up a mini tree in the window or on the bar. Hell, maybe we could even raise money in a tip jar for the middle school band.
Might not be a bad idea, all things considered. With the town budget being the way it is, the middle school band can probably use all the help they can get.
We're in mid-conversation after a half-hour when Renee comes in through the front door. The second the door shuts behind her, she turns her head and looks at me, and our eyes just lock. A shiver goes down my spine and the grin slips. Something’s wrong.
I can't look away from her. She normally has a warm smile on when she's working, but today she looks a little worried, or sad, and I almost want to ask her what's going on or give her time off or pour her a drink. Renee probably wouldn't appreciate any of that, since she picks up shifts whenever she can, so instead I just stare at her like a fool not knowing what to say.
Finally she looks away. “Hey, Robert,” she calls, and makes her way to the back to get set up for her shift.
When I turn back to Robert, he's grinning at me the same way my mom did. Damn it, I've been caught again, and this time it's one of the guys who literally knows everyone in town.
I clear my throat. “What's on deck for the new year, then? Big party on Main Street? Has the town invested in a ball we can drop from the second story of the bank?”
Robert huffs. “When are you going to ask her out?”
“What?” My heart beats loud in my ears and I know I've gone red in the face again. What this woman does to me…hell I don’t know why she gets to me like she does.