Chapter 29
29
J ace left the title company, with Margo and Carley close behind.
As they stepped outside, he said, "You ladies have a nice day. I'm having a little celebration at the Sandbar tonight, and Quinn, Hanna, Sid, and Grace will be there. Come and join us, please."
Margo grinned. "We'll be there, won't we Carley?"
She worried that Carley wouldn't want to come after her comment this morning about being the seventh wheel.
"Yeah," she said. "That'll be fun."
He pulled Margo into his body, wrapped her in a hug, and kissed her. She smiled beautifully. Then he held her car door open. He winked as he closed her door, then jumped in his truck. He got back to the Sandbar eager for the day. It was a new day for him. Now he just had to wait till Monday night's town hall meeting. In the meantime, they had the weekend to get through with live music every day and big crowds.
He had an interview with a potential server this afternoon, and he thought maybe he would expand that to two more servers. He was going to be busy with the expansion even if the town hall wouldn't allow him to expand upward. He was going to expand outward now that he had the thrift shop taken care of. And maybe he was gonna need another bartender too. He'd take a look at that quickly, set up his ads, and go from there.
He hustled throughout the lunch hour, took care of his interviews, and felt he had a strong candidate, but he wanted to think on it a little bit. He set up the table for his friends for later tonight. He'd ordered a bigger table and had that set up over in the corner closest to the water, where the ladies liked to sit near the front row but far enough away that the music wasn't too loud. He couldn't wait for the evening to come. Actually, he couldn't wait to see Margo again. He was excited about finding her. Quinn and Hanna entered the bar earlier than everyone else.
He grinned. "Our table's all set up over in the corner."
"Good to hear." Hanna looked at Quinn and winked. "I'll go on out and sit down. You guys maybe haven't had a chance to talk much lately."
Quinn watched her walk away, then glanced at him. Quinn grinned. "Are you okay?"
"Man, I've never been better."
Quinn chuckled. "Good, good to hear. How are things going with Margo? She seems very friendly toward you."
"Well, if you must know, I'm very friendly toward her as well."
Quinn chuckled. "All right, that’s wonderful to hear. Glad things are working out for you, man."
"They are. Things are working out great. I'm happy. She's amazing. We're all amazing."
"Excellent. Happy to hear it."
Jace grabbed their drinks, he knew what they all drank, as any restauranteur should. They walked out to the table together. He dropped their drinks at the table and hustled inside for napkins. Grabbing a handful, he turned to step back outside when he saw Margo and Carley enter the bar.
He stopped and waited for them. He kissed Margo's lips, which felt like it had been a long time.
She smiled up at him. "Hi," she husked.
"Hi. You're a sight, as always."
"Is that good?"
"Even better."
She chuckled, and he turned his attention to Carley. "Hey, Carley. Will you be drinking the Sandbar Punch?"
Carley smiled. "Hi. I sure will. Thank you."
He nodded. "Quinn and Hanna are outside at the table. Go on out and I'll get your drinks. Margo, will you be drinking wine?"
She smiled sweetly, and he found himself unable to look away. "Yes. Thank you."
He winked at her. "I'll be right out."
He watched Margo as she stepped out of the door. He liked watching her walk. Actually, he liked everything about her.
He turned to Mason and saw him watching Margo and Carley walk outside. He raised his eyebrows, and Mason's cheeks turned pink. "Sorry." He muttered.
Jace watched him for a moment. "Margo's mine."
Mason shook his head quickly as if to catch up on the conversation. "I wasn't looking at Margo."
Jace nodded. "Got it."
Mason took a deep breath and shook his head. "Already got the drinks, boss."
Jace grinned. Things were working out pretty well here. Mason poured the drinks and set them on a tray. He carried them out to the table, sat down next to Margo, put his arm around her chair, and relaxed back in his. He felt good. His heart felt whole. His stomach wasn't knotted up over worries; he just knew somehow, deep in his gut, things were gonna work out with the town council one way or the other. Whichever way it went, he'd deal with it.
For the first time in a long time, he felt settled. He wondered about that and made a mental note to chat about it in their next Legion meeting.
Sid and Grace joined them. They'd already gotten their drinks at the bar, and they spent a few moments greeting and congratulating Jace on his new purchase.
The band began playing, and the women got up to dance. That left him sitting at the table with Sid and Quinn.
Sid leaned forward. "You look happy, Jace."
He grinned at his friend, remembering that not long ago, Sid was in the same place with Grace. "I am happy. Happier than I think I've ever been."
His friend Sid grinned. "It shows."