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CHAPTER 18
Skylar
Getting back in the saddle hadn’t been as difficult as I’d thought it would be. Bartending was sort of like riding a bike, it had come right back to me.
Southern Comfort had a very down-home vibe that made me feel like I belonged, and I definitely wouldn’t be bored. There was a cast of colorful characters who were regulars. Three in particular. Clyde, Earl, and Jed who were all in their eighties and nineties. Billy and Cash referred to them as the three stooges, but they called themselves the three wise men and it was clear only a few hours into my first shift that they would definitely keep me on my toes. The men reminded me of Statler and Waldorf who were the cantankerous old men in the balcony on The Muppet Show that were always heckling everyone, except with the real life version there were three of them instead of two.
Then there was Kevin Bacon, who I’d formally met tonight. It turned out he was Insta-famous. At least a dozen people had come in specifically to take pictures with him. Skittles, the parrot who hung out by the pool table, had an impressive vocabulary and was surprisingly sarcastic. Whenever people who were shooting pool or throwing darts would miss, she’d say, “Nice shot.” And if she heard someone curse she’d say, “Potty mouth.” It was hilarious.
From what I could tell there was a nice mix of regulars and tourists. It was easy to spot the difference because the regulars either already knew who I was or asked me who I was because they hadn’t seen me around before. And the tourists usually had questions about the sites they were planning on seeing or wanted to take pictures with Kevin Bacon.
I still found that the hardest part of the job wasn’t the fast pace, mixing the drinks, or serving drunks, it was now and had always been the math. Keeping a running total of what to charge was by far the most difficult aspect of the job. I’d spent the past couple of days memorizing the prices, but that didn’t help my additions skills.
“You good?” Cash, the manager who was training me, called out from the other end of the bar.
Everyone in my section was served and no one was ready to cash out. I gave him a thumbs-up. Cash gave me a nod and went back to talking to two women who might want to check and see if they had drool on their faces. Not that I blamed them.
Cash was nice, single, and devilishly good-looking. His lean, athletic build reminded me of Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Both of his arms had sleeve tattoos and his ink continued onto his neck, which normally I wasn’t a fan of but on him it worked. It didn’t surprise me with his slow, southern drawl, inky black hair, and piercing blue eyes he’d had women, and a few men, hitting on him all night.
And yet I didn’t feel an ounce of attraction to him. Not one flicker of awareness.
I realized that part of what had made my no-dating rule so easy was that my reaction, or lack thereof, to Cash was how I’d responded to every man after I had Luna. That is, until Hank.
All night, my mind had been wandering to my sexy neighbor. He’d spent the past couple of nights at our house doing repairs and we’d fallen into a routine. I made dinner, he worked, Luna played with Sherlock. Then after dinner, he worked more while I gave Luna a bath. Then he and Sherlock were on bedtime story duty and I got a few moments to catch up on things that I hadn’t been able to get done during the day. He’d come out, say goodnight, and then show up at my door the next evening at five-thirty.
As happy as I was to be working, and more importantly making money, I missed him and couldn’t seem to stop thinking of him.
What was he doing?
When was the next time I would see him?
Was he thinking about me?
If he was, what was he thinking about me?
It was worse than when I’d had a crush on Nick Parson all through high school. And I’d been obsessed over that boy. I’d even used a computer program in my digital art class to create a rendering of what our baby would look like by merging our senior photos. Our baby wasn’t that cute. Not as cute as Luna, that’s for sure.
I’d never told Nick how I felt about him. He’d gone on to star in his own HGTV series Carpentry Craftsman. Richie had always been jealous of Nick, and he probably had reason to be. I had still carried a torch for him. But after meeting Hank, that flame burned out.
About an hour ago, a commercial had run on the flat screens for the new season of his show, and I hadn’t gotten that same flutter, rush of adrenaline, or pang of regret that I always did when I saw him on TV or on social media. I’d watched the entire three-minute promo with no reaction whatsoever, other than the furniture he made looks beautiful.
And I had one person to thank for my newfound immunity. In less than a week, Hank had cured me of the lovesick crush I’d been carrying around for close to fifteen years.
He wasn’t the only person I missed, though. In the short reprieve I had from serving, I checked my phone. It had been more difficult to leave Luna than I’d thought it would be. Not because I didn’t trust Mrs. Birch. I absolutely did. And thankfully, Luna had been just as excited to go see her as she’d been to go to Milly’s. But I was a mom, so I still worried.
Thankfully, technology was on my side. Mrs. Birch had a live stream into the play area that I was able to access at any time. I pulled it up and I saw that Luna was already in her pajamas, and she and Mrs. Birch were having a tea party.
“How ya doin’?” Billy asked as he dumped a bucket of ice into the steel freezer box.
“Good. Sorry.” I put my phone in my back pocket. “I was just checking on Luna.”
“Don’t apologize. You’re doin’ a great job. Besides,” Billy’s head inclined toward the end of the bar. “Cash is on his phone more than a teenager on TikTok.”
I looked over and sure enough, Cash’s head was down and he was typing something.
“You better not be texting my sister,” Billy shouted.
Cash lifted his chin in acknowledgment giving the vibe that it would be ridiculous and had to be a joke. But when Billy looked back at me, I couldn’t help but notice Cash’s expression turn serious as he took a deep breath and let his head fall back. I wasn’t sure what the story behind all of that was, but I was sure something was going on with Billy’s sister.
