Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
When I’d left for college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing I’d ever been good at was art, so I’d majored in it. I figured I could get a job in one of the local school districts as a teacher when I graduated, but my father’s illness had put all of that on hold.
Searching the bar and the familiar faces scattered about, I realized my desires had changed since I’d left Ennis as a starry-eyed freshman. This bar, and what it represented and meant to this town, now held my heart. It had never occurred to me to follow in my father’s footsteps, but now that I had, you couldn’t pry me from this place. My father was in every inch of this building. And so was Duke. To give her up would be giving up those who had meant the most to me.
Glancing at the stool Duke always sat in, I raised my own glass of beer. “To a man whose heart was too big for this world. I hope he and my father are sitting on a porch somewhere while my mother gives them hell. We’ll miss you forever, Duke.”
Glasses clinked together and a round of murmured agreements filled the air as the front door opened and Logan and Ty walked inside. His gaze pinned mine immediately and he jerked his head to the end of the bar, so I moved to intercept him. His eyes were on alert, his demeanor stiff. Something had happened.
“What is it? Did they find Duke?”
The smallest part of me was still holding out hope that we were wrong about what had transpired. That maybe Duke had somehow survived and we just hadn’t found him. My heart dropped when his eyes softened, shook his head, then cupped the back of my neck and gave it a firm squeeze. “I have to head out. We got a call about a man named Rip Jackson.”
“You mean Old Rip? What happened?”
“Looks like he tripped and fell sometime last night. He never made it inside, Skylar. Was out in the elements all night.”
Air whooshed from my lungs. Another death? “He didn’t make it?”
“No, baby. A kid who brings him meals found him.”
“That makes five in one week.” An ominous feeling began to spread throughout my body. They said death came in threes, and we’d had five. If the old saying were true, would there be another death soon?
“Five?” Ty asked from beside Logan.
“Five deaths in a week, Ty. Do you remember there ever being that many deaths in a year?”
Ty didn’t answer me, but I could tell he was thinking about what I’d said.
“I need to get going,” Logan stated. “I wanted to check in with you before I left. Are you working the late shift?”
I nodded. “Jamie is on with me and so is Jared.” I glanced at Ty. “Are you playing tonight?”
“I’ll be here at seven.”
“Who’s Jared?” His tone was curious but held a stiff edge. If I didn’t know better, I might have missed it, but I could tell Logan’s hackles had just risen. He was uneasy about an unknown male working with me for some reason.
“Jordan’s brother. He works weekends. He should be here any time.” I glanced at the clock and noted it was three minutes after five. “He’s late, in fact.”
Kenzie, Jordan Reay, Lacy Sullivan, Sarah Piechuta, and Elizabeth Burk had all been huddled in my office going over details for the carnival when I arrived. But they emerged from the hallway just as the door opened and Jared and Jamie stepped inside for work. I waved at Jamie as she headed to the back to store her coat and purse, then turned to Jared and looked at him through Logan’s eyes.
Jared, unlike his sister, was tall and broad, with arms and thighs the size of tree trunks. He was a paramedic on the day shift, but for some reason liked to work weekends at the bar. He was six years older than me, so I’d never paid much attention to him because of the age difference. But Logan’s reaction had me taking a good hard look at the man. I knew instantly Logan would stay on edge because Jared was hot. A sexy man with piercing green eyes. Eyes, now I was watching him, that seemed to have landed on Kenzie and narrowed. I turned to watch her reaction and caught her looking away, her face clearly paling even in the low light of the bar. Knowing Jared and Kenzie had dated, before Chance swooped in and got her pregnant, made the interaction interesting. I’d say from both their reactions, there were unresolved feelings.
When I turned back to Logan, he was watching Jared as well. His attention darted over my shoulder toward Kenzie and the girls, and he smiled knowingly. Without another word on the subject of Jared, Logan jerked me into his body for a quick, deeply satisfying kiss that curled my toes and numbed my brain cells. “Gotta run. Be good for me tonight.” This was said against my mouth before he released me and left. He left me feeling dazed and a whole lot turned on, so I followed him with my eyes as he headed for the door, sighing when his great ass disappeared from sight. Then Ty coughed next to me and I froze. I had forgotten he was standing there. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye—to make sure there wasn’t any lingering anger toward Logan and me—and caught him smiling like a loon.