Chapter 35
BECK
“Do you smell it?”
Spence and I stood at the back door of the bar in the alley. From here, the smell was unmistakable.
“I do. Head back in and tell Jenn to stop taking food orders. I’m calling the fire department.”
“Got it, boss.”
He was a good kid. I called it in, talked to the cook and prepared the staff for a possible night off.
We weren’t messing around with a gas leak, if that’s what it was.
Just as I headed out front, the fire truck arrived.
Already people were gathering, the sight of the big truck on the small street the most exciting thing that would happen today in Cedar Falls.
Mae asked:
Everything ok?
Yep. Maybe gas leak at the bar. Fire dept. here.
I hadn’t wanted to burden her. She’d dealt with plenty of headaches throughout the years because of O’Malley’s Pub, and it was my problem now.
Of course customers stared as I walked through the place with two guys I’d known my whole life, one I’d played football with in high school. Waiting for them to check it out, I thought back to before we were interrupted at the lake.
It was good we got cut short.
Spilling my guts to Mae would only put pressure on her, and as much as I wanted our story to end here, hers wasn’t written yet. It was selfish of me to think otherwise.
“Beck?” My old teammate snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Sorry. What’s up?”
“Thankfully you don’t have a leak. It’s a faulty pilot line.”
“Meaning?” I had no clue about this shit.
“There’s no imminent danger, but it’s gonna require a shut off. Unfortunately we have to tag the system until it’s fixed.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, glad it wasn’t a leak, but the outcome would be the same. “Alright, thanks for coming out so quick.”
“No problem. So I hear this place is yours now?”
“It is. Come back with your buddies, meal on me as a thank you.”
“We’ll take you up on that. Give Nate Coops a call. He should be able to get out pretty quick.”
“Will do.” I shook his hand and got to work. Unfortunately, Nate couldn’t get out until tomorrow morning since he was out of town for the night. I called around but Cedar Falls wasn’t exactly crawling with licensed gas techs.
I texted Mae back, told her we were shutting down and then took care of the staff and customers. By the time the place was empty, it was well into the afternoon. But since Mae and I were both supposed to be working tonight, I had an idea.
Plans tonight?
Nope. Not anymore.
She texted back right away.
Perfect.
Though part of me wanted to get out of here for the night, O’Malley’s was actually perfect. I just needed some help.
Come up around six.
To the bar?
Yep.
She sent back a confused face, which I laughed at but otherwise didn’t say anything. Then, closing down, I headed back to the inn where I found Pia arranging flowers at the check-in counter. Perfect.
“Can I have those?”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “Excuse me?”
“I know you always have fresh flowers around. I also need some candles. Any idea where I can get a bunch of them?”
Pia crossed her arms. “Can you please start from the beginning? You’re making no sense.”
I explained about O’Malley’s and told Pia my plan. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not. The last thing I want is to pressure Mae into staying to have her end up bored or regretting staying in Cedar Falls. On the other hand, I can’t let her go. Not without a fight. What do you think?”
Pia and I had bonded since she’d come to Heritage Hill. Mason’s wife was warm and funny, fitting right in with us from the start. It had taken a bit to crack the hardheaded ex-army guy she called her husband, but she did it. And now I needed her help.
“First of all, let Mae make her own decisions. If she wants to stay in Cedar Falls, she will. If she wants to move to Manhattan or France or wherever else, no one knows what’s best for Mae more than she does, even if she’s a little confused at the moment.
You know I love you, Beck, but there’s nothing worse than a guy trying to ‘save’ a woman from a life she hasn’t even asked to be saved from. Let her choose. Got it?”
I’d expected Pia not to pull any punches, but… shit. I swallowed.
“Got it.”
“Second of all, as you’re so fond of saying, I’ve been hearing about how much you adore Mae since I got here last year.
From you. From Mason. The guys. There’s a friggin’ rule just for you.
She’s back. Sans a fiancé. And feels”—she cleared her throat—“more than just friendly feelings for you too. Obviously there’s chemistry between you two. Stop overthinking it.”
“I’m not,” I insisted. “I’m trying to think of her.”
“And you’re doing it in the best way possible. By being the best version of yourself. You want her to choose Cedar Falls for herself, which is great. But you need to choose yourself because it’s who you want to be. Not just for Mae.”
“How the hell did you become so wise?”
Pia shrugged. “Therapy. Listening to people who know more than me. Which is why you need to listen to me now.”
I laughed. “And so humble too.”
She handed the just-finished flower arrangement to me. “Third of all, yes, you can have the flowers. We have a stash of candles in the second-floor storage room. Take as many as you need. But one thing… if you have to close down, is it safe for you to be in there?”
“It’s safe. The line’s shut off completely and tagged. No gas flowing in until the guy comes tomorrow.”
“What guy?”
Mason walked in, and for a second, it was as if Papa Bennett had come back to life.
His stride. His stance. I would tell him later.
No doubt, his father would be proud to see what he’d done with the inn.
If Mason could go from NYPD to an attentive husband and innkeeper extraordinaire, anything was possible.
“Bar was shut down, fire department had to come out after Spence smelled gas. Was just a faulty valve but we’re shuttered until tomorrow morning when Nate Coops can come out.”
“That sucks. Welcome to our world.” He addressed Pia. “I was just in the Madeline room. You’re right, there’s a leak that’ll need to be looked at.”
“Parker around?” I asked, knowing he’d do it.
“I think he and Delaney went out to dinner. Speaking of, what are we doing?” he asked us both.
Pia looked at me.
“Not sure what you two are doing,” I said, “but I’m off to Bella Luna’s to grab some takeout after I raid your candle stash. Pia will explain.”
I heard Mason ask, “What the hell was that all about?” as I walked off. He would think I’d lost my mind, but I didn’t care. If I needed to buy every candle in Cedar Falls to make tonight special, that’s what I would do.
Pia was right.
Mae could decide for herself what she wanted for her future, but I wasn’t leaving anything off the table. I’d been pussyfooting around long enough. Tonight, I would tell Mae exactly how I felt about her, how I’d always felt about her, and then it would be up to her to decide.
For better or worse, after tonight, we would be in Mae’s hands.