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“Sophie, sweetie, it’s so nice to see you.” Melissa smiles sweetly at her, counterbalancing Cooper’s flat stare. I definitely know I’m missing an update now.
“You too, Mrs. Montgomery.” She gives an uneasy smile.
I reach for the spoon in the mac and cheese, ignoring the tension I’ve created. I’m not worried. Cooper looks like he wants to fuck her more than run away from her anyway.
Melissa speaks again. “Troy, stop making me wait. Tell me more about your girl.”
Cooper dropped me off at Jameson’s on his way to our house since Sophie is with him, and my being there isn’t going to help any problem solving. Although they probably do need a mediator considering how stubborn they both are. When I walk through the glass door, the bar is exactly how it was a year ago. It’s dark and kind of dingy but feels worn and comfortable. The brown leather booths line the wall connected to the front door and a long wooden bar stretches across the back of the room. It’s the orange and dusty red lighting that contributes most to the 70s vibe. Regardless of my uncle’s best friend being the owner, it’s always been my favorite bar. If I was running the place, this carpet would have to go, though. It’s some weird brown and green design and ugly as fuck. How carpet ended up as flooring in a college bar in the first place is beyond me.
I slide onto the black leather stool, and the bartender turns around to greet me.
“Troy! Hey! You’re not who I expected to see today.”
“Hey, Jess. It’s good to see you.” She’s a few years older than me and has been the head bartender here for as long as I can remember. “Just in town for the week. How ya been?”
“Troy.” I spin on my stool to see Tony right as his hand lands on my shoulder. I know he’s the owner, but still, this kind of thing never happens in LA. I love when someone knows you everywhere you go. He seems much less surprised to see me than Jess did. “I was hoping I’d run into you.”
Tony is my uncle’s best friend. They grew up together and are still close even though my uncle moved to California decades ago. They own our family cabin in Sunriver together. I’d probably be as shitty as my real father if it weren’t for the two of them and Cooper’s dad serving as real male role models.
“Hey, Uncle Tony.”
“James said you’d be here this week. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Oh yeah?” I catch a beer being set down in front of me out of my peripheral and turn to thank Jess before giving my attention back to Tony. “What’s up?”
“Your degree is in business, right?”
What a random question. “Yeah.”
“How are you liking California?”
“It’s alright. Different from here, that’s for sure. Are those two things supposed to be connected?” I laugh before taking a sip of my beer, having trouble following his train of thought.
“Surprisingly. As you might know, my daughter’s husband is stationed in Alabama. They moved down there a few months ago, and she recently found out she’s pregnant with our first grandbaby.”
“Congrats, that’s exciting!”
“Yeah, Diane is thrilled. She’s also decided we should move down there to help. We don’t want to miss out on anything important, and there’s nothing keeping us here anymore. Nothing except this bar.”
I’m still not sure where he’s going with this.
“I was talking to James about my options, and he thought maybe you’d be interested.”
“Interested in…”
“Buying this place and taking it off my hands.”
“What, really?” There are so many conflicting thoughts in my head.
“Yeah, I’d love for it to stay in the family, if possible. I know you’d take good care of it.”
“Wow, thank you.” I pause to decide on my next words. “This is a lot to think about. I’d have to talk to my girl. And find a way to come up with the money. But I think it’s something I’d be interested in. Can I get back to you?”
“Absolutely. I’m not in a rush to sell, and we won’t leave for a few more months anyway. I just wanted to mention it since you're here.”
“Thanks, Tony. I appreciate your faith in me to follow in your footsteps. I’ll let you know when I’ve made a decision, so we can discuss it.”
I stand from my stool to give him a hug before he wanders off into the back of the bar. What the fuck just happened? My immediate reaction was to say yes, but the thought of leaving Lexy kept the word in my mouth. This would be a big move, and we aren’t in a place for me to suggest something like this and think she’d be open to following me.
