Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
EDEN
In the months I’d been in town, this was my first trip to the Tap Room, and as Nona and I pushed through the heavy doors and stepped inside, I was pleasantly surprised at the ambiance.
It wasn’t some seedy, small-town dive bar with sticky floors and tattered stools and chairs. The place was actually pretty cool.
As soon as you stepped in, there was a huge open area filled with tables and tons of seating.
The whole place was one massive, cavernous room.
To the right were big picture windows that went from waist to ceiling and extended the entire length of the building, giving the patrons beautiful views of the old-timey main strip that ran through the middle of town and the tree-covered mountains beyond.
A long bar stretched the entire length of the wall to the left, with a big section of glass shelves against a mirrored background in the very middle where all the liquor and wine bottles were kept, and countless beer taps along either side of the shelves—hence the name the Tap Room.
Against the back was a raised platform area for bands with a small dance floor in front of it.
There was even a vintage jukebox beside the stage area that was playing music while the band set up.
And to the right of that and a little further back was an alcove one step up that was filled with pool tables, all of them occupied.
“Wow,” I said, drawing Nona’s attention. “This place is great.”
“Yeah. Sure, we don’t have a lot of options if you’re not willin’ to drive out of town, but this is pretty nice. Owner’s work hard to keep it up so everyone has a nice place to hang out.”
We moved through the room, winding through the tables and chairs that were mostly full, until we came to one not too far from the dance floor and stage. As soon as my behind hit the chair, I heard, “Hey there, what can I get you?”
Looking up and over, I spotted a woman in jeans and a formfitting black tee with white lettering that stated “Welcome to The Tap Room. We’ll tap that good and hard.”
I was too busy wondering where I could get one of those shirts to pay attention to her question, until Nona lightly kicked me in the shin under the table. “You getting a drink, or what?”
“Sorry. Yeah. You have IPA?”
The waitress looked at me with a big smile. “Girl, you must be new in town. We got about a million different kinds of IPA. Which one do you want?”
I shook my head with a tiny laugh. “You’re the second one to say that in two days. Yeah, I’m new. How about you make the call. Just pour me whichever’s your favorite.”
“Will do. And trust me, you’ll love it. I’m Rory. Nice to meet you.”
Lifting my hand to grab her outstretched one, I gave it a shake and replied, “Eden. Nice to meet you too.”
“Eden,” she dragged out, like she was testing the word. “Love the name. And love the hair! That top is super cute too.”
Nona gave me a knowing smirk and mouthed, “Told you so.”
Rolling my eyes, I twisted back around to Rory. Biting my lips against shying away from the compliment, I said, “Thank you. I like yours too. A lot. Do you guys sell those? I’d love to have one.”
Rory cocked her hip and tucked the round tray she’d been holding beneath her arm. “I think I can work that out for you. What are you, a medium?”
Oh, I like this girl. “Uh, large. But I really appreciate that.”
She giggled and straightened. “Let me go get your drinks. Be back in a jiff.”
As soon as she left, I leaned in to Nona and lowered my voice. “Is the service around here always that good? This place is packed, but we barely had our asses in our chairs before Rory popped up outta nowhere.”
“Rory’s just that good,” Nona answered with a grin. “She’s been workin’ these tables since before she was legally old enough. This is her parents’ place, and their parents’ before that. The Tap Room is a Hope Valley institution.”
Just as quickly as she appeared the first time, Rory was back with our beers. “Here you go,” she said in a chipper voice. “Take a sip, Eden. I wanna know what you think.”
Bringing the draft glass to my lips, I took a drink. Some beers were too harsh and bitter, but this one was absolutely perfect, nice and smooth.
“It’s fantastic,” I answered. “You have a gift.”
“Awesome. Now I gotta go spread that gift to more tables. Holler if you need anything.” Rory spun around and took off once again.
I was watching her go, thinking I’d really lucked out by picking a town with so many awesome women in it, when the door of The Tap Room opened and that vile bitch from the night before came waltzing in, swaying her hips and flipping her hair like she owned the freaking world as she looked down her nose at everyone around her.
My back went rigid and the air around me dropped a few degrees. As if reading my mind, Nona spoke and pulled my gaze back her way.
“Well that’s just great,” she grumbled sullenly. “Gird your loins, doll. When Harley Madison walks into a building, things have a tendency to turn upside down fast. That is not a woman you want to get to know.”
“I already met her,” I informed Nona. “And it wasn’t pleasant in the slightest.”
Nona’s eyes went big, and she leaned in like she was eager for me to spill something juicy. “Really? What happened?”
“Nothing of any importance,” I said with a shrug. “She was in the checkout at the grocery store last night, and she was being unbelievably rude to the girl behind the register.”
Nona’s top lip curled up in a sneer. “She’s unbelievably rude to pretty much everyone. Only friend she has is Sue Ellen Mayfield, and that’s only because the fool woman’s a doormat who does whatever Harley says no matter how badly she treats her.”
I was struggling to keep up with all the names I was coming to learn. “Wait, Sue Ellen? That gossipy woman who spread the news about the robberies?”
“One and the same,” Nona confirmed. “Sue Ellen’s only slightly less disliked than Harley because she can’t keep her trap shut. When gossip spreads through Hope Valley, which is damn near daily, you can usually trace it all the way back to her as the source.”
“Oh great,” I said in a flat tone. “So the town bitch is besties with the town gossip. That’s a toxic combination.”
Nona lifted her beer and took a sip before replying, “You’ve got no idea. Those two are poison. Believe me when I say you don’t want to square off with either of them.”
I turned back and noticed Harley’s cruel blue gaze had landed on me, and she and the meek-looking woman trailing after her—who I assumed was the notorious Sue Ellen—were coming our way.
“A little late for that,” I confessed with a cringe, looking back at Nona. “I might have waded into the mess at the market. And from the looks of her right now, she’s geared up for a repeat.”
Nona hissed a muffled, “Shit,” just as Harley and her lackey hit our table.
“Well, look what we have here. Not surprised to see you with the new girl, Wynona. You always had a knack for pickin’ up strays.”
I didn’t think I’d ever seen Nona so angry before. She looked downright vicious as she propped her forearms on the table casually and returned, “Speaking of strays, how’s my ex-husband? Sloppy seconds still working out for you?”
I sucked in a surprised gasp as Harley’s face pinched into an unhappy sneer. “I prefer to think of it as him trading up.”
“That so? Well if you’re supposed to be an upgrade, why’s he blowing up my phone, begging me to take him back?”
Oh damn.
Sue Ellen let out a little giggle and Harley whipped her head around to pin her in place with a glare that instantly shut her up.
“You can pretend you guys are living in domestic bliss all you want, Harley,” my friend continued, “but the whole town knows he scraped your ass off after only a week of shacking up with you.”
“I broke up with him,” Harley snapped in return, and my attempt to swallow down a laugh at her pathetic comeback resulted in an indelicate snort.
“What are you laughin’ at, fat ass?” she bit out, aiming her venom at me.
Usually a blow like that would have me cowering back, but I actually felt pretty for the first time in a really long time.
Nona had worked wonders tonight in helping me build up the self-esteem my family had spent years beating down, and I wasn’t going to let some bitter shrew cause me to backslide.
The childish name-calling did nothing but prove Harley Madison was a pitiful excuse for a human being.
“Wow, good one,” I deadpanned before cutting my eyes at Nona. “I can totally get why your ex would get sick of her. Even worthless pieces of crap like him have standards.”
Nona’s head fell back and she burst into laughter so loud it drew the attention of the people around us.
Before Harley was able to get her bearings and form a reply, a familiar voice that set my body on fire spoke up, interrupting us. “There a problem here?”
My back shot straight at the sound of it, and I slowly shifted in my chair to turn and face Lincoln as my cheeks blushed a furious red at his sudden appearance.
God, he looked good. Unbelievably good. His cheeks and chiseled jaw were covered in several days’ worth of sandy blond stubble.
His long-sleeve thermal was a deep forest-green color that complemented his tanned skin and gemstone eyes, hugging his muscled form like it was made just for him.
Amazingly worn-in jeans hugged his thick thighs—and undoubtedly his incredible ass—and led down to dusty, scuffed black boots that looked like they came from a Harley Davidson store.
The whole package was incredible, and all of a sudden I couldn’t string together a single coherent thought.
“Hey, Linc,” Sue Ellen said on a breathy sigh that immediately caught my attention. But it didn’t seem to register to him at all. In fact, it appeared the only one he was paying a lick of attention to was me. And that made me blush even deeper.
“You okay, buttercup?”
Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe? Oh hell, I was going to pass out. “Uh….”