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We talked a little more about my financial situation. Then a text came in from Todd.
Thanks for helping us get them back to the nursing home, bro. Appreciate it.
“You cheeky little shit,” I grumbled, then I showed Brent when he raised an eyebrow. “He got on my last nerve today.”
I texted back.
I told you I was leaving. You could have said something if you could pry the phone away from your ear for two seconds.
Brent and I started talking again until a text came back from Todd.
We should do this again in a week or two.
Watch him alternately ignore Lana and then hang all over her? I didn’t fucking think so.
We’ll see.
And I left it at that.
As long as they were dating, I thought I was probably going to have to stay away from them. An outing with one of them and our grandpas would be okay, as long as they didn’t talk about each other the whole time.
But I wasn’t sure I could trust myself alone with Lana. It had been hard enough not to confess my feelings at the damn food truck when she noticed my missing ring.
“God, I’m going to miss this place,” Brent said suddenly, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean, it’ll still be here, but it won’t be the same if it’s not in your family. Are you going to tell Dave?”
“I already did. He understands.” When I’d inherited the bar from my grandpa, he’d insisted that I keep him up to date on what was happening all the time. It had been his pride and joy, a business he’d built from the ground up. But the older he got, the less interest he had in knowing the details. It had gone from his main purpose in life to something from his past. “He agreed it was a shame, but that you had to do what you had to do.”
“I’m glad he’s taking it that well.” Brent raised his glass. “To The Cliffside Bar. I hope whoever the new owners are, they keep the place classy.”
I toasted to that and hoped the same.
“Hey, when it sells, we should have a party. A big send-off, you know? The regulars would love that.”
I agreed. And as much as I knew I needed to stay away from Lana, I’d love to have her there. To see the bar that Grandpa and I had worked so hard on and really turned into something great.
Damn it, she’s not yours.
My short happiness about the party soured as I imagined Todd there too, drinking more than he should and kissing the girl that should have been mine.
7
LANA
I checkedmy phone for the tenth time. Todd should have been there to pick me up thirty minutes earlier, when I ended my shift and closed up the diner for the night. I tried his number again, but it went to voicemail after several rings.
A gust of wind blew rain into my face.
“Damn it!” I moved to stand closer against the building, but the small awning didn’t help when the wind seemed to blow in every direction.
If the weather got much worse, I was going to unlock the diner and go inside to wait.
I called and got his voicemail again. “If this is your way of punishing me, Todd, it’s childish. You shouldn’t offer to pick me up if you’re not going to be here.”
With a huff, I hung up. We had a fight the other day over him partying too much lately. I thought we were ok after making up but maybe I was wrong.
The wind picked up even more, and the rain beat down harder. I dialed Todd one more time. If it went to voicemail again, I’d have to call an Uber.
“Lana?” The deep, gruff voice made my breath catch.
