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Garrett Hughes had done what no other man had managed to do.Make me want more.Make me want a future.He’d become more than another adventure.
For a moment, I’d thought he would be my greatest and last adventure.
Twenty-Five
Fawn
I was no longer Garrett’s exclusive server at work.I wasn’t even in the Winchester Parlor.I had been moved to the Monte Cristo Lounge.Silas had given me a pitying look when he informed me of the change.I wanted to tell him I’d been the one to walk away and end things.It had been my decision.But I would be lying.I had been hurt and frustrated because I wanted Garrett to listen to me.
Garrett had chosen to toss me aside.He had done it so easily too.Leaving me to face the fact that I was the only one catching feelings.The irony was not lost on me.How many times had I walked away from a man who claimed to love me or be falling in love with me?This must be fate balancing things out.Letting me see how it felt.
Well, fate, it sucked.It more than sucked.
I was barely managing to hold it together.Smile for Gypsi, smile at work, keep my chin up when all I wanted to do was curl into a ball and wail from the pain of it all.The one thing I held on to was that I had done right by Gypsi.
A few more weeks at this place, and we’d move north.I was thinking as far as Charleston.If I was careful with money, we might be able to afford to stay there for a while.Maybe through the fall.Focusing on the future and the adventure to come was the only way I managed to get through a shift.
When I heard Garrett’s name spoken by anyone, I would catch myself clambering to listen and had to run from it.Shut it out.I needed to kill whatever this was inside of me that wanted him.Keeping up with his life wasn’t going to do that for me.
The derby was this coming weekend, and his name was on many lips, making it hard to avoid.Apparently, he had the horse that they all believed would win.Actually, he had several horses they believed would win the races that day, but the name Cohiba kept being dropped among the members as the one they were betting to win the Kentucky Derby.
I wanted him to win.The thought of him being there, watching as his horse took the title, made me feel warm inside.He’d be happy.That smile of his that could bring any female to her knees would break out across his handsome face.Whatever woman was with him would be lavished with it.I placed a hand on my chest.I had to stop that.The slicing pain when I let my imagination go to him and his date wasn’t getting easier.It might possibly be getting stronger.
“Fawn?Are you okay?”Silas asked, and I spun around to see him studying me.
I faked a smile.“Yes.Of course.”
He didn’t seem convinced.“You’re pale.Are you feeling unwell?”
I shook my head.“I’m fine.Bit of a migraine, but I took something.”
Silas appeared somewhat appeased by that.“If it doesn’t ease, let me know.I can get a fill-in for you if you need to leave early.”
Leaving early sounded like a relief.Anything to give me distance from Garrett.I nodded.“Okay, I will.”I shouldn’t.I needed the money.But tonight, with all the talk of the derby, I might just leave.
The next hour was smoother.I blocked out all conversation by singing Nickelback’s “Rockstar” in my head.The song was one Gypsi had loved to dance to and sing loudly into our makeshift wooden spoon microphone when we had dance parties in the camper.She’d outgrown that, but my memories of it would always be there.They gave me some peace while I worked.
It wasn’t until an hour before my shift ended that Mack Barley walked into the lounge with another man I didn’t recognize.He’d never been in the Winchester Parlor, and I was finding many new faces while working in the lounge.I hadn’t realized just how exclusive the Winchester Parlor was until I got so much time elsewhere.
Mack sat in my section, but didn’t notice me until I approached their booth.It was a circular brown leather sofa with a sturdy coffee table in front of it.We called them booths, but they weren’t really booths.His friendly green eyes lifted to meet mine, and they widened slightly as he recognized me.
Yep.Here I am, Mr.Barley.The working girl Garrett dressed up fancy and took out like I was something else.
“Fawn,” he said with a warm smile I remembered from the gala.
“Good evening, Mr.Barley,” I replied, flashing my brightest smile, hoping it didn’t look as fake as it felt.
“It’s Mack, please,” he replied, straightening in his seat.“I wasn’t aware you worked here.”
Surprise!I thought it, but didn’t dare say it.
“Yes, sir,” I quipped.“What can I get for you gentlemen this evening?”
He glanced at the man beside him briefly, then back at me.“Have you met Justin?”he asked.
I managed to hold my smile while I shifted my gaze to the other man.“No, I haven’t.”
The man was in his early thirties at best with brown eyes and dark blond hair.His short beard was neatly kept, and he was attractive.Although the gleam in his eyes was a red flag.
