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“Well, he has no idea I’m here; he thinks I’m coming next month.”
“What?” Mila squeals. “You didn’t tell him? Why not?”
I shrug and give her a small smile. “I wanted to surprise him. He doesn’t know about the Westport job, either. He thinks I’m just coming for some in-person interviews.” Tugging my lower lip between my teeth, I finally give voice to the niggling worry inside of me. “Do you think he’s going to be happy I’m here? Like, really happy?”
“Trust me. When Dean Hastings sees you, he’s going to think he died and went to heaven.” We both giggle, then Mila lifts her wine glass. “To making Dean’s dreams come true.”
I sure hope she’s right.
CHAPTER4
Dean
“Seriously? This shit tastes like cat piss.” Ethan Monroe, Mila’s older brother and another one of my good friends, grimaces as he pushes the glass back to me. “You serve beer like that and you’ll scare people away, dude.”
“Glad it’s not just me. I’m all about supporting local breweries, but I don’t think anyone is gonna like that.” I dump the rest of the bottle out. The meeting this morning was a disappointment from start to finish. And not only because it was so goddamn early that I don’t know if my brain was fully functional.
I put two clean glasses under the only tap I have filled right now with a different lager Ethan and I both like. Sliding the glass over the top of the bar to him, I take a long sip before broaching the real reason he’s here.
“Are you ever going to tell me about my permits?”
Ethan rolls his eyes. “Did you really think they’d be declined? Come on, you went over the paperwork how many times? Five? Six?”
“It was only three,” I mutter, and he just laughs.
“Everything is in order, you’re good to open next weekend.”
I slam my fist down on the bar with a whoop, and Ethan raises his glass of beer in a salute before drinking deeply.
“That’s fucking amazing.”
I take a drink myself as the only thing that would possibly make this weekend even better crosses my mind for the hundredth time.
I wish Riley was here for the opening.
She’s been with me, over text and phone calls long into the night, through all the last-minute pieces of opening, for weeks. Her advice and help, courtesy of her MBA, has been so fucking valuable, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay her.
That girl’s gotten under my skin in ways I never expected, especially for someone I’ve only seen in person once. But she’s real, open, and authentic. She hasn’t held back, and we’ve had some of the most honest conversations I think I’ve ever had with someone. Maybe it’s the distance, maybe it’s the ease of talking only through phone calls and text messages. Whatever it is, I can’t stop thinking about her, wanting to see her again, and wanting to tell her how much our friendship means to me.
And how much I want it to be more than just a friendship.
Ethan leaves the bar, promising to email me all the documents I need by the end of the day so I can file them and check that task off my list. I wander around the empty space that will hopefully be full of people in just over a week.
Hastings Bar is finally opening for business.
I just wish I wasn’t doing it alone.
* * *
It’s late afternoon by the time I lock up the bar, ready to head home and shut my brain off for a few hours in front of a Nashville Fury football game. As I turn to head around the side of the building where I parked my truck, a familiar-looking car parked down the street catches my eye.
A small red hatchback. There are tons of those around. But not so many with a woman sitting in the front seat whose wild hair I would recognize anywhere. My heart doesn’t want to believe what my eyes are clearly seeing.
Riley Novak is in Dogwood Cove.
I walk slowly over to her car, and yup, it’s really her. Her head shoots up from whatever she was looking at, and her eyes widen when she sees me standing there. I lift my hand in an awkward half wave when what I really want to do is open her car door, lift her into my arms, and just hold her.
She rolls down her window with a half smile. “Dean! Hi!” Her voice sounds nervous, and I want to ease whatever has her feeling that way, but I think I’m still in shock that she’s really here.
