Page 20 of Make it a Double

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” I said, pushing to my feet. The moment I did, a wave of nausea almost sent me to my knees. I braced my hands on the bartop and let out a shaky breath. “Okay, maybe I spoke too soon.”

Duke muttered a curse as Olivia rounded the bar. She placed her hand on my back, rubbing comforting circles as I closed my eyes and tried to focus on not throwing up all over her feet.

Guilt washed over me at their concern. Duke and Olivia had enough on their plates to worry about without adding me to the mix. I was twenty-four years old. I should’ve been able to take care of myself, right? And eating definitely fell into the category of basic needs. If I couldn’t do that, what right did they have to put so much trust in me when it comes to their bar?

Lately, I felt like all I’d done was make mistakes. I’d been late to work twice in the past few weeks because I’d overslept, which never happened to me. I’d forgotten multiple customer orders and received a well-deserved dressing down from some prissy tourist about her watered-down vodka cranberry. And last week, I’d forgotten to lock the back door as I was leaving. Thankfully, nothing happened, but Duke’s worry felt a hell of a lot more like disappointment. A knife to the chest would’ve hurt less.

The sound of a wrapper crinkling had me prying open one of my eyes just in time to see Duke sliding a protein bar my way. “Eat,” he said, dipping his chin.

I shook my head. “I’m fine. This place is almost cleaned up anyway. I’ll be out of here in an hour. Two, tops.” Even when Duke closed with me, I usually took it upon myself to stay late and batch our receipts for the evening. He had a wife and two kids at home, while my grandmother slept most of her day away.

“Actually, you’re done for the night,” he said. “I’m sending you home.”

“What?” My head shot up as I stared at the man in question. “You can’t be serious. I’m fine. It was just a head rush. You know how it gets this time of year. The season change always brings on a new wave of people.”

Olivia’s brows furrowed, but Duke didn’t budge. “You said it yourself. Most of the shit that needs to be done is already done. Olivia and I can finish the rest.”

“But the girls⁠—”

“Are with Grady and Cleo tonight,” Olivia said, offering a smile. She placed her arms around my shoulders and squeezed. “They’re fine. We’ve got this.”

If that was true, why did I feel like the world’s biggest disappointment as I grabbed the meager protein bar from between us and slipped off the stool? “Are you sure? I promise, I’m better now. I can help.”

Duke’s response was to march to the back door, grab my purse and keys from the cubby there, and set them in front of me. “Text one of us when you make it home. I want to know you made it there safely.”

As I gathered my things, I realized how lucky I was that my bosses actually gave a damn about me. Others had it far worse than I did. This was a gift, and my grandma always said I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

But that never made much sense to me. Try telling that to the people of Troy. I bet they wish they’d looked a little bit closer.

There was no point in arguing with either of them. Duke and Olivia were a match made in heaven. Both stubborn as hell and unyielding when it came to their decisions. “Come on. I’ll walk you out,” Olivia said, gesturing toward the back.

“Okay,” I said, refusing to meet either one’s gaze.

I followed, mumbling my thanks to Duke as he finished cleaning, and Olivia held the door open as we walked into the night. The seasons were starting to change. The green of summer was slipping away, leaving the burning red and orange foliage of fall in its place. This was my favorite time of year. The air was crisp, smelling like freshly baked apple pie from the last local bakery off of Main Street. In just a few months, we’d see the first snowfall of winter.

It was all magical. Like something out of a movie.

“I’m glad it’s not so hot anymore,” I said, adjusting my purse strap.

“Yeah,” Olivia said, slowing her steps. “It’s been a rough few months, huh?”

She didn’t know the half of it. “August was the worst. Thank god most of the tourists are gone, huh? Things can finally get back to normal.”

Pinecrest had its fair share of foot traffic when the seasons changed, but there was a blessed few months of peace after summer before they came in droves to see the white winterland they couldn’t get in California.

Olivia stopped near the front of my car as I made my way to the driver’s side door and opened it. “Thanks for this,” I said, holding up the bar. It didn’t look appetizing, and the flavor was some generic berry combination that made my stomach turn. There was no way in hell it was going anywhere near my mouth, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Of course.” I’d just turned over the ignition when Olivia stepped up to my window and knocked. “Sawyer, I know it may not be my place, but…” She looked nervous all of a sudden, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I could barely keep anything down during my first trimester with Charlie. The little brat didn’t like anything. It made the first few months of my pregnancy pretty rough.”

We both stared at one another, unblinking. Why was she telling me this? She didn’t think that was what was happening, did she? “Oh, I’m not pregnant,” I chuckled nervously. The last thing I needed was everyone believing that the town charity case was knocked up. That’d spread like wildfire. “Grams hasn’t been feeling well lately. Between her doctor appointments and my work schedule, things have just been more stressful than I’m used to.”

And that was the truth of it. My grandma, Maeve, had been struggling after a minor procedure, and I’d been forced to take every available shift I could get my hands on. Our raised rent prices went into effect next month, and I’d worked my ass off to save up enough to accommodate the increase. My budget was going to be a hell of a lot tighter until I could get some of our debt paid down, but what other option did I have?

Olivia’s smile faltered. “Right. Of course. Don’t mind me, then! Get home safe, Sawyer.”

“You, too,” I mumbled.

My car was silent as I pulled out of the parking lot and drove home. There was no way I was pregnant. I’d only had sex with one person, and we’d used a condom. My luck wasn’t that terrible.