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“Well, I gotta get—”
“Sit down,” he hisses.
I drop back onto the bench, already knowing what he’s going to say: take her back to the city, sit with her until she finds someone in town.
Pepper isn’t going to find anyone in town. She left without looking back. Without saying her goodbyes. She followed her big city dreams to New York, somehow ended up in D.C. and got engaged to Troy Mayfield.
Now she’s here shaking in her Adidas like someone is going to burst through that door looking for her.
Glancing at Pepper sitting alone at a corner roundtable, he leans in. “You and I both know she’s not calling anyone.”
“Your point?”
“She needs a place to stay. The only one I know is the cottage you’re not occupying at the moment. There’s a bed. Take her there. Just for a night.”
“Are you fucking joking?”
“Keep your voice down. Look. I need to close in one hour. You’ve got practice. So unless you expect me to throw her out on the street, you need to take her back to Elliot’s place.” He whisper-screams that last part.
“No.”
“What’s it to you? You’re staying in your condo in the city tonight anyway.”
“Dad. Look at her. Yeah, she’s a hot mess right now. But that girl is not sleeping in an old cottage. She’s…”
“She’s desperate,” he says.
I shake my head, because I know how this ends. She’s going to fight me on going anywhere with me. Especially to some little old house with rusty old furniture, squeaky floors and probably plumbing issues.
He taps on the table as if he’s given up on waiting for me to respond. “Beau. Didn’t they used to date or something? He still lives here. I’ll give him a call.” Like he’s serious, he moves back behind the bar and pulls up his box of business cards.
With a growl, I push off the table and meet him across the bar. “What are you doing?”
Dad doesn’t look up. “He runs his dad’s old auto shop not far from here. I’ve got his card somewhere.”
I yank the shoebox away from him. “You don’t just call up someone’s ex and ask them to come pick up their girlfriend from eight years ago.”
“You got any better ideas, Chase? She’s alone. And wherever she came from—which let’s be honest, we all know where that is—she ain’t plannin’ on goin’ back.”
I run my fingers through my hair. I can’t think about this right now.
“I’m late for practice. Besides, I’ve got my bike and I don’t have a sp—”
Dad pulls out a spare helmet from behind the bar. “For just such an occasion.”
Shaking my head, I take the helmet and stride over to Pepper, setting it next to her water. “Put that on.”
Her eyes lift to mine. “You can’t be serious.”
“You’re out of options, Blondie.”
“Penelope.”
“Look, maybe that’s what your politician husband calls you, but here, you’re Pepper or Blondie or Pinky or whatever else I feel like callin’ you. Now unless you plan on getting intimate with the street corner tonight, you’re coming with me. There’s an empty place you can stay tonight.”
She looks up at me, horrified, but then stands with a curt nod, picking up the helmet. “You uh…you get the news here?”
“No. This is just some imaginary small town with no television or cell phones. Can we go now? I’m late.”
