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“I swear to God, is there a candle on this table?” I said, picking up the votive in its glass holder and promptly putting it down and muttering to myself because it was hot.
“Yeah, they’ve classed up the place,” Layla said, “still get all the crowds for the big game, but this half of the place is more grill than a bar. The menus are even real—not laminated.”
“Then maybe it’s too classy for me,” I joked.
We ordered drinks. Layla talked about parts she located for the classic car she was fixing up, and right after the drinks arrived, I worked up my courage.
“I’m just gonna go say hi to Luke,” I said, seeing him behind the bar.
I took a deep breath and walked up to the bar with a confidence I didn’t feel.
“If it isn’t the All-American,” I said, forcing a casual smile.
I had teased him about being the star football player in high school when we were teenagers, but the nickname wasn’t wrong. He was six feet of wholesome, boy next door sex appeal. Sandy blonde hair, square jaw, blue eyes, and the kind of broad shoulders that used to make me chew on my hair. I had to forcibly remind myself that I was an adult, dressed up to go out, looking good, and not the kind of person who chewed on her hair nervously while crushing on her brother’s friend.
Luke looked up from the glass he was polishing with a clean rag. His eyes took me in from my hair to the shoulder cutouts on my black top and back up to my eyes. It was a cool, appraising look. Not disrespectful, not creepy. Those icy blue eyes always seemed to pierce me, to make me lose my voice.
“Ryan said you were back in town. How’s your dad?” he said.
“He’s holding his own. How have you been?” I said, trying to keep the worry out of my voice.
“Same as I’ve always been,” he said, lifting one shoulder.
“This place looks great. You’ve really fixed the place up.”
“Dad and Mom finally let me bring it into this century,” he said. “I’m pretty proud of it. Ryan helped with it—well, with the loan,” he said.
I nodded, knowing Ryan would help with paperwork, but wouldn’t so much as hand someone a hammer if it looked like manual labor. “That’s good. He said you’re down at the fire station now.”
“Yeah. It’s all I ever wanted to do.”
“That’s great. I’m happy for you.”
“It’s really good of you to leave school and take over the lumberyard. I knew you would,” he said.
“How did you know?”
“Because you’re the most loyal person I’ve ever met. Always were.”
“Yeah, well, someone had to do it, and we both know it wouldn’t be Ryan.”
He chuckled. “Hey, Ryan’s good at what Ryan’s good at. We can’t all be saints like you,” Luke teased.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m hardly a saint. I just couldn’t let Dad worry about the yard or rush his rehab to get back before he’s ready to.”
Luke smiled at me and gave me another appraising look. “Face it Sarah Jo, you’re a do-gooder.”
“Says the guy who runs into burning buildings for a living,” I tossed back.
“Fair enough,” he cocked his head to the side. “Hey, why don’t you order a round for yourself and the girls over there on the house.”
I thanked him and took my leave. I walked back to the table, every part of me feeling sweaty and on alert. Back at the table, I downed half of my drink in one gulp. Maggie nudged me, “So, how’d that go? You looked pretty friendly.”
“We are friendly. He’s Ryan’s best friend since forever. So he’s practically a brother to me.”
“You should go for it with him. I mean, you’re single, you’re back in town… he’s hot…” Layla said.
“Did you not catch the part where he’s basically part of my family?” I protested.
“That is not the way my brother looks at me,” Layla said. “Trust me on this.”
“Look, even if there were the slightest interest on my part or his, Ryan would shit himself,” I said.
“No offense, but Ryan’s a hot mess. I wouldn’t worry about his opinion on anything,” Maggie said.
I dropped my head onto the table in defeat, “Guys,” I said, my voice muffled, “I’m not hooking up with my brother’s best friend. Drop it. I’m here to help my dad.”
2
Luke
Of all the nights to be covering the bar, it had to be the night Sarah Jo decided to go out with her friends. Wasn’t she supposed to be leg-shackled to her dad’s side so Ryan could have a life? I shook my head ruefully. I loved Ryan, but he could be selfish. Letting his little sister quit school to take care of their sick dad was not his best moment, in my opinion. He could’ve taken leave from the bank, or he had enough money he could’ve hired a manager away from the Home Depot in the next town to take the lumber yard over for a while. There were options he could’ve run through to take care of the situation himself rather than leaving it on her shoulders. Things had been going to hell with him and Whitney, so he was preoccupied with that, but still… I knew he could’ve done better by his family. It bothered me.
