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“All Angel.” Max confirmed he’d had nothing to do with the decorating.
“Where did she get all this stuff?” he asked Max. He hadn’t noticed any large, unapproved charges on the company credit card he’d given her for ordering supplies and inventory.
“Said she had it all in storage from her move. Apparently, she used to decorate her house in L.A. every year for an annual Halloween party her husband would throw for industry VIPs. Her apartment is too small to use any of it, so she brought it here.”
Angel had recently moved to Blue Moon Bay with her two teenage boys after a messy divorce with some famous director Trent had never heard of. And didn’t want to know. Angel hadn’t exactly opened up about the relationship, but he could read between the lines. Just the fact that the guy had left Angel and the kids high and dry, refusing to pay alimony and child support unless she took him to court, was enough for Trent to know.
But Angel was landing on her feet, and she was the best manager he’d ever had. Made even more obvious by the decor inside the club. Left to him, there might have been a pumpkin or two outside. She definitely deserved a raise.
Trent headed toward the bar and checked the supplies. They opened in an hour, and he suspected the place would be busy. This time of year, as the weather turned cooler along the coast, indoor dining and entertainment schedules resumed. His bar was known for good food and local entertainment. With two locations currently doing well, he hoped to expand even farther along the coast.
Of course, everything was refilled, restocked, and ready to go. He could always count on Angel.
“Hey, aren’t you headed to the Bartenders Convention tomorrow morning in Las Vegas?” Max asked, removing his jacket and hanging it on a hook in the back room. Underneath, he wore the Trent’s Tavern logo T-shirt staff were required to wear, but the logo was barely readable as it was stretched unrecognizable in the too-small, tight-fitting shirt. In Max’s defense, getting one to actually fit the man would be a challenge. Trent would have to place a custom order, like he did for his own shirts.
“I canceled the trip,” he said. “I have a lot going on here…” The last time he was away, just before Christmas the year before, Whitney had had a car accident. It was silly, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous about leaving her alone. That somehow, he could keep her safe if he was there. She worked too much, too hard, and had apparently fallen asleep at the wheel. It was a miracle she’d survived the crash in her tiny two-seater soft-top convertible. Trent shivered just remembering the pictures of the crunched yellow metal at the scene of the accident.
Of course, Whitney would never admit to the stress she was still under, despite doctors’ orders to slow the pace a little, but he could see it in her tired eyes and sudden weight loss from lack of eating. Confronting her about it only made her withdrawn and even more stressed, so he’d learned not to nag her, despite his major concerns. At least when he was there, he could make sure she gotsomesleep at night and force-feed her while she worked if necessary.
Unfortunately, lately, it almost seemed like she preferred when he was away. As though she could breathe easier when he wasn’t around to keep an eye on her. He knew part of it was that she knew he was always on the verge of a relationship chat. He didn’t want to put pressure on her about the wedding she refused to plan, but they’d been engaged for three years, together for seven, and he wanted to move on to other future plans.
That was his main motivation to expand. Maybe if his bar chain was financially lucrative enough, Whitney wouldn’t feel like she had to work so much. He could help take the pressure off her. She worried about finances and being able to take care of her mother in the seniors’ medical facility, but Trent was more than willing to take on that financial responsibility. If she’d stop being so stubborn and let him. Since moving her mother into Rejuvenation, Whitney wouldn’t even entertain the conversation of him helping with those costs.
Seven years together and they still had separate bank accounts.
It was something he’d like to change. Something he’d hoped would change once they were married. Maybe she’d feel more comfortable blending that aspect of their lives then. At least he hoped.
“I could go to the conference,” Max said, surprising him.
“Really?” He hadn’t thought of sending someone in his place. Max had only been working there a few months. He hadn’t thought the guy was actually going to stick around when he’d first approached Trent about the bouncer job. He’d thought Max was just passing through and needed a few shifts for gas money, but it had been two months now, and Max hadn’t expressed any plans to leave just yet.
“Sure. Why not?” he said as he poured a glass of diet soda and took a sip. “I can attend all the seminars and sessions and report back.”
“You’re interested in bartending?”
Max shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m interested in, besides bodybuilding, but you know that lifestyle has a time limit.”
He did. Always athletic from a young age and becoming addicted to working out as a teen, Trent had competed in bodybuilding competitions into his late twenties, but he knew it was too much of a strain on his health to go beyond that. He’d spent his competition money on this first Trent’s Tavern location seven years ago and had worked his butt off to open the other location. The first two years in business had been the hardest. Never one to be book smart, he’d struggled to complete a business management course online, an accounting course after that, and then bartending and bar management courses whenever he could. He could now run every aspect of his business himself, and that gave him peace of mind and confidence.
But having other staff who were also knowledgeable made sense. If he planned to keep expanding, he’d need help and people he could rely on. Angel was a great addition to the team, but if Max was serious about sticking around and becoming a bartender, he’d do his best to encourage and facilitate his buddy’s transition into a different career as well.
Trent nodded. “Yeah, you know, that’s actually a good idea.” The conference tickets he’d bought a year in advance before the popular event sold out were nonrefundable. Now they wouldn’t go to waste.
Max cleared his throat. “Maybe Angel should come, too…”
Ah, so the guydidhave his eye on the single mom. Trent had suspected there was more to Max’s eagerness for extra shifts, and he saw the two of them laughing and flirting sometimes as they worked. But Trent knew Angel was still processing and adjusting to her new life, and she had her hands full with her teens. She didn’t strike him as being quite ready for a new relationship yet, and there had certainly been enough male attention focused her way.
Trent felt a protectiveness over her, as if she were one of his sisters, so he pointed a finger at Max. “Be careful there. She’s not ready for you yet,” he said with a grin but also a warning tone.
Max held his hands up. “Don’t worry about me, man. I’m just saying if she needs a rebound, I’m up for being used.”
Trent laughed. He’d once thought of himself as just the rebound guy, the casual fling guy, the no-strings-attached guy, too. But that was before he’d met Whitney…
…
Then…
Not only had Jess introduced him to the most beautiful, smart, funny, and caring woman Trent had ever met, but she’d also helped him make a valuable business connection. As head of marketing and tourism for Blue Moon Bay, Whitney was the perfect person to ask for help with the promo for the tavern’s grand opening event.
