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“Can I call you Archie?” My cheeks are starting to hurt from how much I keep smiling.
“As long as I can call you Miriam,” he says with a wink and I scowl, but it quickly morphs into a grin. The back-and-forth banter, the easy sort of acceptance, feels… nice.
“Why didn’t you change the name of the bar when you bought it?” I swing my gaze back to Rhys as he pours a couple of beers for Archer and me. Those arms of his flexing with the movement. Do arm muscles normally do that or is he flexing on purpose?
“I thought about it,” He replies, tossing a napkin down in front of me before placing my beer on it. “But I knew everyone was still going to call it Paul’s, so it didn’t seem worth the effort. Plus, all the glasses say Paul’s. No sense in wasting.”
I take a sip of my beer and look at the writing on the glass, confirming what Rhys just said. Archer and Rhys take turns telling me stories about the island’s inhabitants, and I learn Rhys is right, Archer does enjoy gossiping. But he’s a master storyteller, and his bright and cheerful demeanor along with Rhys’s sharp, witty humor has me enjoying myself more than anytime I can recall in recent history.
I’m halfway through beer number two when a woman comes rushing in from the back, moving like a quickly and efficiently behind the bar.
“Sorry I’m late, Rhys. I got caught up.”
“Book emergency, Lena?” Rhys jabs good naturedly at the woman who must be his employee.
She rolls her eyes as she stuffs her coat and bag beneath the bar and straightens. I’m starting to feel inadequate, because so far everyone I’ve met in this town is stupidly gorgeous, and this woman is no exception. She’s tall and slender, with ebony hair thrown up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She’s wearing black-framed glasses that aren’t nerdy in the least but give her a sexy librarian vibe. If I had to guess, I’d say she was close to my age, around twenty-five or twenty-six.
“Oh my God, Miri, right?” She smiles at me, a perfect row of teeth beaming behind red lips. Oh hell, she’s nice too.
My surprise gets the better of me, and I stare at her dumbly, trying to figure out if we’ve met before. Archer leans in next to me and whispers, “Small town.” and I nod as the ah-ha moment hits me. Lena’s eyes dart to Archer and her cheeks flush with warmth. Well, that’s interesting. Is there a little something going on there?
“Miri, this is my younger sister, Magdalena,” Rhys says from behind the bar. Now that he says it, I can sort of see the resemblance between them.
“By three minutes, Rhys. We’re twins and it’s Lena. No one except this jerk and people who hate me call me Magdalena.” She punches Rhys in his side, and he grunts and pushes her shoulder playfully.
Her smile is so genuine that I can’t help but return it with a tentative one of my own. “Nice to meet you. You work here with your brother?”
She shoves Rhys out of the way so she can get closer to me. Rhys just shrugs, but then he winks at me as he moves down a step to talk to Archer.
“Actually, I’m a librarian, but I help Rhys out sometimes.”
“Yes! I can totally see that you’re a librarian. Can you take your glasses off and put your hair down, maybe shake it out behind you?” I swear I hear Archer groan like he’s in pain next to me, but Lena doesn’t appear to hear him.
So, the attraction is a two-way street. Or maybe there’s history there. Shit, less than twenty-four hours in town and I’m already turning into a gossip. It must be contagious.
“I only do that on special occasions.” she whispers conspiratorially, and both of the guys make pained noises, obviously hearing her. Lena laughs, and Rhys scowls at her.
“Not cool, sis. I do not need that visual.” He shudders and throws a towel at his sister.
Sitting in the cozy bar, surrounded by friendly people welcoming me into town, there’s a little spark of panic that flares deep in my chest. When my day kicked off, I’d been excited about my house and starting this new phase of my life, but it hadn’t really occurred to me that settling down meant inviting friends into my circle. I’m not sure I’m fully equipped to handle being close to people.
Jesus, I need to chill out. All I’m doing is having a beer with a few townies. It’s not like we’re buying a puppy together and planning our group wedding. It’s time to calm my tits, relax, and enjoy the company.
There isn’t much traffic in the bar, so Rhys and Lena chat with us as they stock the fridges and clean up behind the bar. Lena slides a bowl of pretzels my way and leans toward me. “Are you going to be living in the old Wilds Cottage?”
I don’t bother asking how she knows—Archer—and nod, grabbing a few pretzels. “Yeah. I haven’t been inside yet. That’s the plan for tomorrow. The yard is a disaster but from what I could see the house looks like it’s in good shape. Although, I’m sure it’ll need a good clean.”
Lena snorts and rolls her eyes. “Oh, they probably spelled the place to keep it from falling apart.”
Whatever conversation Rhys and Archer are having stalls as they stare at Lena. An embarrassed flush creeps up her neck and quickly engulfs her cheeks. She pushes up her glasses and shoves a handful of pretzels in her mouth, backing up to wipe down the perfectly clean bar a few seats away. That’s not unusual at all.
“You need any help with the yard?” Rhys interjects, as if that’s going to make me forget what his sister just said. “There’s a few people in town who do that kind of thing. If you’re interested.”
I consider calling them all out on what Lena just said but decide to let it go for the moment. I’ve only just arrived in town. There’ll be other opportunities to dig into that little slip of the tongue later.
“Archer mentioned that, too. I might need some help. I’m not sure yet. The house has a greenhouse and I’ll probably work on that first before I get to the outside. I’m not even sure I have the equipment to cut the yard back. I want to get some things planted in the greenhouse and get the garden as ready as I can for planting but that won’t happen for a while yet, so there’s not a huge rush.”
“Are you a gardener?” Archer asks, picking up his beer and taking a sip as he looks at me. There’s relief clear in his eyes that I’ve dropped the spell comment, but also genuine interest. He ditched his suit coat at some point, but he’s still all buttoned up, all the way down to his wrists. It should be stuffy and make him look uptight, but it works for him. For all his sunshine there’s something simmering just beyond the surface of Archer.
“Well, that’s actually something else I wanted to talk to you about. I’d like to open up a store here in town. I went to school for botany, and I make my own soaps, shampoos, beauty products. That sort of thing. Most of my sales are online but I want to set up a home base that’s not just my house. Ultimately, I’d really love to have a storefront here in town. So, I’ll be in the market for some more real estate.”
“Good thing you know a guy.” He grins at me. “I’ll see what we’ve got available and send you the listings later tonight.”
“Thanks.” The word comes out as a whisper.
As much as I just spoke confidently about what I want, about opening my own store, I can’t believe that it might really happen. That first day at Dani’s house I never would have imagined that I’d find so much joy in tending her garden and then using what I’d grown to create my own products. It became an outlet for me, a place where I could lose myself and calm my mind when nothing else seemed to help. Knowing that I could take something I love doing and turn it into a career, more so than the already thriving internet sales, is a little overwhelming. There’s been a shit ton of change in one day. I don’t know if I can handle anything else landing in my lap.
The door to the bar swinging open pulls me from my dreamy thoughts. Light from the streetlamps outside pours in. It’s such a contrast to the dim interior of the bar that my eyes squint. I throw up a hand as a shield, like I’ve been locked in serial killer Paul’s basement for the past twenty years. All I can see is the frame of a man’s body in the doorway, his face blocked out by the light behind him. I blink to regain my sight as an unfamiliar emotion slips down my spine that I can’t name. Anticipation, fear, destiny. Christ, my hands are shaking.
“Jesus, Davis, in or out?” Rhys calls from behind the bar, and every organ in my body clenches up.
