Chapter 11 Duke
DUKE
“Duke, would it be okay if I leave a little early tonight?”
I turned to see Sawyer standing behind the bar, twisting her hands in front of her. We’d been doing inventory all morning, but she seemed quieter than usual.
“You good? What’s wrong?” I asked, wiping my hands along my jeans.
“Everything’s fine!” she said, rushing to assure me. “It’s just that my grandma’s car is ready to be picked up from Jim’s shop, and he closes at six on the dot. I can come back afterward!”
Yesterday morning, Sawyer told me her grandma’s car had broken down on the way to the grocery store.
Thankfully, I was still in town after dropping Harper off at school, so I swung by and picked both of them up before calling Jim, the local mechanic, to haul the car in and take a look.
It cost me a month’s worth of free drinks to convince him to move it to the front of the line, but it was worth every penny.
“Take the night off,” I said, turning back to survey the contents of our fridge. “You deserve it.”
“What about Harper? Ryan called in, so I was supposed to watch her so you could cover his shift.”
Shit. I’d forgotten about that. But I couldn’t very well go back on my word now.
Sawyer deserved a night off more than anyone else I knew.
I just needed to rearrange some things. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been forced to bring my daughter to work with me.
I could stick her in one of the back booths so she could do her homework.
The bar would just have to close early when I put her to bed.
“I’ll take care of it, Sawyer. You have more than enough on your plate right now.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I stopped her. “Do you wanna argue, or do you wanna get out of here and enjoy an early evening?”
Sawyer smiled tentatively. “You know, you’re a pretty great boss.”
“God, that makes me feel old,” I muttered.
“Well, you are in your forties…”
I pointed toward the back exit. “Get out.”
She raised her hands in defense, holding back laughter. “Sorry, I had to.”
“Can’t believe this is the thanks I get for letting you leave early,” I said, turning back to the bottles of liquor on the shelves.
When I first took over this place, I had to start from scratch.
The previous bartender and owner had run off to Texas, leaving behind a whole lot of nothing for me to go by.
In a strange turn of events, that same owner ended up marrying Olivia’s ex-husband’s sister-in-law—which gave me a headache if I thought about it too long.
When Sawyer came looking for a job, I’d been hesitant to hire her. She was young and had no previous bartending experience. Her resume was sparse, but I knew her grandmother and wanted to give the girl a shot. It was one of the best business decisions I ever made.
Now, being around Sawyer was like being around family. As an only sibling, I sometimes envied the relationship Lukas and Olivia shared. They bickered and bantered but had each other to lean on when shit got tough. Sawyer was as close as I had to a little sister, and I was grateful for her.
I couldn’t view Olivia that way anymore.
I wasn’t sure what the hell was happening between us, and I didn’t know if I’d ever figure it out. Going there with her would be a colossal mistake for so many reasons.
Then again… I knew without a shadow of a fucking doubt that not at least considering taking a chance would haunt me for the rest of our lives.
Over the past couple of weeks, we had settled into a routine.
Since I was usually stuck at the bar during the day, Olivia had been picking up Charlie and Harper from school most afternoons.
She’d take the girls to Harper’s practice every Tuesday and Thursday, occasionally taking them to the diner for supper before bringing Harper home.
When I could, I’d do the same for her. Sometimes she’d get stuck in a work meeting, or need to stay late with John. I figured the least I could do was return the favor so she could take care of whatever shit she needed to.
Thankfully, tonight was her night. I didn’t have to worry about juggling the bar and dad duties until after seven, which would be fine. I could spend the night catching up on paperwork instead.
What I thought was going to be a chill Tuesday night turned into a goddamn fiasco.
After Sawyer left and I flipped the neon open sign on, nearly the entire town descended onto my little bar.
I didn’t know what kind of fucking memo I missed about the goings-on of this town, but clearly, everyone was finding a reason to raise a glass tonight.
Thankfully, everyone knew I ran a bare-minimum crew as it was. It didn’t come as a surprise to find me behind the bar alone, and most customers were patient. If they weren’t, they usually caught the side eye of old Gerald, or even Too Drunk Johnny on occasion.
It was enough to make whoever was about to kick up a fuss shut their damn mouth and wait for me to pass back by.
However, because I’d been so busy, I hadn’t been able to check my phone all afternoon. I didn’t realize what time it was until I saw Olivia, Charlie, and Harper walking through my door.
Olivia looked around, brows furrowed at the busy tables. She ushered the girls up to the bar, waiving hello to the old men sitting across from me. “Busy night?”
I checked my watch, dropping my head back and groaning when I saw it was half past seven. “Shit. I’m so sorry. Sawyer needed the night off, and Ryan wasn’t scheduled. It’s been a little busy tonight.”
“You’re working all of this alone?” she asked. Across the room, someone started singing a very off-key version of a George Strait song, causing all of us to cringe.
“Don’t have a choice,” I said, filling three cocktail glasses with ice and pouring a double shot in each one. “It was either this or shut down for the night.” And that wasn’t an option. Especially not now.
Olivia’s hand landed on Harper’s shoulder. “What about Harper?”
I scanned the room, hoping there was still an empty table nearby, but every single one was full. There wasn’t even a seat at the bar. Fuck. I should’ve marked one as reserved when I had the chance, but it had happened so fast that the thought never crossed my mind.
“Give me your keys,” Olivia said, holding out her hand.
I stared down at her waiting palm. “What?”
“The keys for your cabin. Give them to me,” she said, not moving a muscle.
“Olivia, it’ll be fine. I’ll clear out a table in just a minute, and Harper can hang out there until I close down early.”
It wasn’t ideal. Honestly, I hated the idea of Harper hanging out here while it was so rowdy, but with no one else to watch her, I didn’t have another choice.
“You have ten seconds to fish those keys out of your pocket and put them in the palm of my hand before I break a window and climb in.” Olivia leveled me with a stare that was a warning not to fuck with her. I imagined it was the same one she used in meetings to get her way. “Ten. Nine. Eight—”
“Fine, okay. Here,” I said, sticking my hand in my jeans and producing the simple ring. “What are you—”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of the girls while you handle this. What time do you normally close?”
“One, but—”
“Dammit, Duke. Just shut up and let someone help you for once. I’m not asking for a kidney,” she snapped.
Gerald chuckled next to her. “Stubborn ass might be more inclined to give one of those suckers up than accept an ounce of help.”
Olivia turned to the old man and smiled. “He is a stubborn ass, isn’t he?”
“You’re not helping,” I muttered beneath my breath, unsure of who I was really talking to.
Grabbing the drinks and placing them on a tray, I turned to say something else to Olivia and the girls, but they were already gone.
By the time I turned off the lights and trudged back over to the cabin, it was nearly two in the morning. I had to stay later than usual to tidy up, or Sawyer would’ve walked into a nightmare come morning.
Olivia’s car was parked next to my truck. Through the curtains, I could tell that the lamp was on inside the living room, but Harper’s room was mercifully dark. Guilt gnawed at me, knowing Olivia had Charlie in tow.
The thought of them driving home so late was out of the question. It was dangerous on these roads at night. They wound up and down through the pitch-black mountains, and she’d have to take the backroads to get over to Lukas’ ranch.
It was all-too-common for folks to hit an animal or swerve off the road and crash trying not to.
Sometimes they ended up with nothing more than a few stitches or bruises, but others weren’t so lucky.
Casualties happened every year. I’d never forgive myself if Charlie or Olivia ended up as one of them.
The first thing I noticed when I entered the house was the lingering smell of fresh pine cleaner.
Even in the dim lighting, I could tell the difference.
My kitchen was a mess when I went to work this morning.
I never had the chance to clean. And there had been paperwork spread over the coffee table, too.
Olivia was curled up on the couch, an open book splayed out in her lap. Her neck was bent at an odd angle, lips softly parted. She’d done all of this without me asking. Done it all out of the goodness of her heart just because she wanted to.
I walked over, crouching to place my hand on her shoulder and shake her awake gently. “Olivia,” I whispered.
She grunted in response, burrowing herself further into the cushions and tugging the blanket up around her shoulders.
She was always like this when Luke or I had to wake her up after football games.
Sometimes, she woke up ready to fight. Others, she’d sulk until we unloaded all our gear from the truck, and she was able to climb into her own bed.
Mumbling a curse, I decided to leave her be and check on my daughter instead. The sound of soft snores met my ears, and I smiled as I looked in to see Charlie and Harper fast asleep together.