It was easy to settle back into a routine with Ty. He’d come and gone practically her whole life, so finding spaces for him was old hat.
Lara didn’t remember him being quite soshirtlessbefore, always coming out of the bathroom after having taken a shower—a little damp and only half dressed—usually when she was just stumbling awake.
She hadn’t quite stopped jolting atthat, but everything else was normal. He was making noise about finding a different job, finding a more permanent place to stay, but he hadn’t done it yet.
“I’ve got an interview at the post office,” he said at dinner, a week into his stay. “I could do some ride share driving too, at least enough to scratch up some rent. Someone said something about the marine research center needing a janitor, so I’ll apply for that too.”
Lara shared a look with her grandmother, seeing the same disapproval she felt. These were fine enough jobs, but a man with his experience should put it to use. Grandma had talked to the principal of the high school herself, and they needed afreshman baseball coach for spring. It was the perfect thing for Ty.
Neither of them could seem to figure out how to convince him without being too pushy. And Lara didn’t want topushTy. He was a grown man who could make his own decisions.
But couldn’t he see what an asset he’d be? How much coaching might give him that playing never could. He was a bornhelper. Working with kids would be good for him. In fact, she thought it’d be healing for him.
“Weneed a janitor,” Grandma said. “I’d be pretty offended if you took a job at the marine center instead of with us.”
“Come on, Mary Lou. What I do for you guys is just…volunteer work.”
“Itcouldbe a job,” Lara insisted. Andtheycould give him hours to work around a baseball coaching schedule if he needed it. “It only hasn’t been before because you’re usually only home for a few weeks at a time.”
“I’m staying here, eating your food. I’m not taking a wage on top of it.” He got up and began to clear the dishes.End of conversationnot spoken verbally, but there all the same. “I told Keane I’d meat him at Seaglass tonight,” he said, rinsing off the dishes while Lara got up to help load the dishwasher. “If we’re out too late, I’ll just crash with him. So don’t you two go worrying over me.”
He didn’t seem too happy about it, even if he did smile. Lara could see behind that fake front. So could Grandma—as evidenced by the fact that when Lara looked her way, Grandma jerked her chin toward Ty’s back. A silentfix it.
“I can come with, if you want,” Lara said, her own fake smile in place. On more than one occasion over the last few years she’d tagged along on an outing to Seaglass with Keane as a kind of…emotional support.
Because of his dad, Ty had a complicated relationship with alcohol and people drinking too much—which had become more and more of a Keane specialty since his fiancée had left him at the altar. Hard to live down in a small town.
But Keane was kind of her friend too. They’d all grown up together. It was just she didn’t have a lot in common with him, so they didn’t really hang out unless Ty was home.Tywas their thing in common.
“You don’t have to do that,” Ty told her.
No, she didn’thaveto, but she wasgoingto. Once they finished the dishes, Lara went to her room to change. Seaglass called for something a little more casual than the fall-themed dress she’d worn to work today, so she put on jeans and a form-fitting black t-shirt. She grabbed a chunky cardigan for the walk over and slid her feet into some boots with a sturdy enough heel to walk on.
In a nod to vanity—who knew who they’d run into—she went to the bathroom to check the state of her hair and freshen up her makeup. When she stepped into the living room, she could see Ty was just about ready to go himself.
When he glanced over at her, something passed through his expression, something she couldn’t read, which was weird and confusing. She could always read Ty.
“What are you doing?” he asked her a little gruffly.
“I’m coming with.” She glanced into the kitchen to make sure Grandma wasn’t around. “No, hitting the saloon is not my favorite thing to do, but Grandma worries about me being too much of a homebody, so this serves me too. She’ll lay off for a few weeks.”
She crossed to him, looking up at him,daringhim to argue with that.
He tapped his knuckle to her chin. His eyes were a little sad. “You don’t fool me, Townsend.” An old physical gesture, on old saying.
So why did it feel so damn different?
They decided to walk despite the cold—which was good, because she’d put a sweater over that distracting t-shirt. Not skin-tight, but damn close enough, and then worse, enough of a V-neck to show offcleavage.
It would have been fine, he told himself, if she hadn’t been wearing a gold pendant that nestled all too comfortably right…there.
He shook his head and sucked in a breath of cold air. All in all, he was glad she was coming. It gave him an excuse not to crash at Keane’s, and if Keane was planning on getting drunk, as he likely was, Ty just…hated being around it.
Maybe that made him a bad friend. At least he wasn’t thinking aboutKeane’schoice of clothes and what they did tohisbody. That wasn’t exactly the hallmark of a good friend either, was it?
He opened the heavy door of the Seaglass Saloon for Lara, then followed her inside. He immediately found Keane, because Keane had aregulartable he liked to commandeer. The man in question waved them over.
Ty hadn’t texted ahead of time that Lara was coming, but it was clearly no surprise as Keane had already ordered drinks and there were three stools at the table. Keane was one of his few friends who’d never given him a hard time about having a female for a best friend. He’d always easily included Lara like she was one of the guys.
