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“He’s a good man, Dad. So sweet. Encouraging about my career. He’s even seen me on stage. He owns a bar and it’s doing well. Mom doesn’t like him because he’s not who she picked out. Bottom line. He’s not Bradley, and I won’t be forced to be with someone I don’t want to be with. I might’ve married him on a rash decision to upset her, and I realize now that was the wrong thing to do.”
Her father looked pensive as they stared at each other.
“But I don’t regret it. I love him.”
“I’d like to meet him.”
She swallowed, worried her dad meant right this minute. He stared at her, waiting for her to say something. She took another sip of her drink. It turned into a large gulp, nearly draining the entire thing.
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now. I had hoped he’d come along.”
That surprised her. She wasn’t sure why. She figured her dad would want to hear everything without some guy in the mix.
Now she felt even worse for not letting Brick come when he offered.
“Okay. He’s at the bar.”
Her father stood up, letting her know he meant business. Right now meant this very minute.
He paid for their drinks and they were out the door a few minutes later. When they pulled up to the bar, her nerves jangled forth like a stampede of elephants were charging straight at her and she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t outrun this. She couldn’t escape what was about to happen.
She looked at her dad and smiled encouragingly as if that would change the turmoil going on inside her. He returned her smile, yet his held more gentleness, more understanding than she could offer. Her father always managed to make serious issues seem less than what they were. It was as if they were going to meet a new friend instead of the man she had married on a whim.
She let out a silent breath and then pulled open the door and stepped inside. Her father trailed behind her. She made eye contact with Tamara, who nudged Brick in the side.
He turned her way. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he made eye contact with her, then glanced at her father standing behind her. His expression was blank, his gaze soft, yet his lips didn’t widen into a smile or anything.
They approached the bar while he ventured to their side.
Brick held out his hand before she or her father could say anything.
“I’m Brick, sir. It’s nice to meet you. Welcome to The Corner Bar. I love your daughter and I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy.”
Her father stared for a moment, then finally shook his hand. “You can call me Stan. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Jezebelle let out another slow, quiet breath. Her father didn’t let just anyone call him Stan. Only close friends and family. To everyone else, they had to call him Stanley. She sat down on a stool when her father chose to sit.
“What’s good here, Brick?” her father asked as he looked around the place, his gaze showing approval at what he saw.
Brick’s love for baseball was displayed on the walls along with other sports memorabilia. She wouldn’t classify this as a sports bar, but it did tend to have that feel by the things hanging around. He also had a few celebrities drop in from time to time. Brick wasn’t one to pass on an opportunity. He had taken a picture with them and hung those up as well. The bottles behind the bar were sparkling clean and everything was in order. He kept everything in tip-top shape.
He had the logo to the bar up on the wall in the center of the room. A full-circle with the words ‘The Corner Bar’ centered in the middle. The circle itself was shaped like a small cylinder, thin on one end and getting larger on the other end. Some parts of the circle were blank where the words overlapped. The ‘o’ in the word corner was the same kind of cylinder-like shape. Simple, yet stylish logo. Jezebelle smiled as she remembered Brick’s response when she asked why they used a circle instead of a square. There were no corners in a circle. He had grinned mischievously and said, ‘Ironic, right? Makes things more interesting.’
“Best breakfast burritos in the city,” Brick replied, glancing at her before bringing his attention back to her father. “You haven’t eaten yet?”
“No, we had a quick drink and decided to come here. I’d love a burrito. Pumpkin, would you like one?”
She nodded, although she wasn’t positive she’d be able to eat one bite. Brick stepped away for a moment to put in the order.
“I like his confidence. It’s a nice looking bar, too.”
Jezebelle had a hard time suppressing her smile. Oh, boy, that sounded like the stamp of approval from her dad. More than she had hoped for.
“I swear he’s a good man, Dad.”
Her father looked at her and placed his hand over hers as he had done at the restaurant. “I don’t doubt it. You might do things differently than everyone else in the family, but you don’t do stupid things. I trust you know what you’re doing. If you married him, then it was because you wanted to.” The crafty grin that appeared had her wanting to laugh, but she held it in. “I know how difficult your mother can be. Getting married as you did was the best decision you could’ve made.”
