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“Well, then, we simply need to find out what that is.” Nash buckled up his seat belt. “What’s the plan now?”
Heaviness sank in Chase’s body as he started the ignition. “I have absolutely no idea.”
* * *
Most times Harper loved country music, but today, the sadness coming from the man’s voice through the speaker above the bar only made her shoulders sink lower as she sat on the stool. Kinky Spurs’ lunchtime rush had come and gone. Lunch was a perfect distraction so Harper helped get Megan and Bethany through the busy time. Now as she stared at her scotch on the rocks, her racing thoughts returned. Before she felt strangled by a single choice. Now she felt suspended in time.
Both sucked.
Megan returned from serving an older gentleman sitting at the end of the bar. She leaned against the back table with the cash register on top and liquor bottles above. “So, as you were saying, you’ve decided to stay?”
Harper had dropped that bit of news the second before the lunch crowd rushed in. “Yup, it’s official. I’m staying. I made the call to Jack before I came here.”
Megan grabbed a cloth from beneath the bar and began wiping down the reclaimed wood slab. “Was he okay about it all?”
“I could tell he was disappointed.” Harper swirled her glass, the ice clanging. “But of course, he understood when I explained everything to him.” She sipped her scotch, relishing the oak taste against her tongue before swallowing the shot back. “He also told me if I ever get anything up and running here in River Rock, he’ll spread the word for me. Maybe even come out for a little publicity to help get me started.”
“Wow,” said Megan, rinsing out the cloth in the sink. “Good guy.”
“He truly is.” Jack had been that way all through the television show, and even when she’d seen him again in school. Sometimes she thought he just felt bad for her because of how things turned out. The other part of her knew he believed in her talent, and that he was a good, kind man.
Megan turned off the faucet, hanging the cloth to dry. “I guess the next question is: Do you want your job back?”
Harper nearly parted her lips to accept, but she stopped herself. She couldn’t take the easy road anymore. “While I would say yes in a second, I can’t put off the restaurant dream either. If I’m staying here in River Rock, then I need to put down some roots and make something mine here.”
Megan smiled. “You’ve got good ideas, girl. You’ll hit this right out of the park.”
“I hope so.” Harper sipped her scotch, thinking through the list of things to do now that she had made the decision to stay. “First thing first, I need to find somewhere to live. Do you know anyone renting out a room?”
“You’re not going to stay with Chase?”
That had been something else she realized while sitting with Brody at the lake. “With Chase, things went from zero to hyperspeed in a week,” she said. “I think stepping back a little might not be such a bad thing. Do you know what I mean?”
Megan nodded. “There’s nothing wrong with taking some time to breathe.” She grabbed a cutting board and a handful of limes.
“Here, pass me a knife, I’ll help.” Harper accepted the knife from Megan and began cutting the lime into wedges. “And yes, that’s exactly it. It’s no secret I’ve been interested in him for a long time, but there’s the guest ranch, Brody, and just so much happening that I don’t want to get lost in all the complications.”
Megan sliced through a lime sideways and gave a small smile. “It’s very easy to get lost in those Blackshaw boys.”
Harper returned the smile then focused back on the lime, finishing cutting. That was as far as Megan ever went with sharing her obvious feelings for Nash. She would throw tiny little hints every once in a while, and Harper knew Megan only showed them to her. But she supposed she understood. Where Chase and Harper were complicated, Nash and Megan were even more so because Megan seemed to hate that she had feelings for him. And Nash, well, Nash was typical Nash, and loved every minute of driving her insane.
“Then again,” added Megan, dumping all the cut-up limes into the plastic container, “they can also be total chest-beating alphas, so that tends to level the playing field a little.”
“That’s true,” Harper agreed. Though she happened to like that side of Chase when it came out every so often, even if Megan hated it about Nash.
Megan reached for another lime and tossed one to Harper. As she began to cut, she asked, “Back to your living situation, can you not go home with Brody?”
Harper held onto the lime, cutting down the middle. “I c
an, yeah, but Brody and Faith are married now. I’m a twenty-seven-year-old woman. It feels weird staying there.”
Megan paused. “Come stay with me until you get everything figured out.”
Harper held the knife in her hand, the tip resting against the cutting board. “Really?”
“Yeah, why not?” Megan focused back on the lime. “I’ve got an extra bedroom at my place. It’s not a problem at all.”
Harper dropped the knife and rose, keeping her feet on the railings of the stool, then threw her arms around Megan. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.” She needed time to figure out next steps, and not having to worry about paying the bills would help. “It won’t be for long. Just until I figure all this out and see where I land.”
