Chapter 5
Belinda walked up to the bar and tapped twice on the freshly polished surface. “I need two pitchers of Abita Purple Haze,” she called.
“Coming up,” Paxton returned. She snatched two plastic beer pitchers from under the bar and filled them with the popular local brew.
As she set both on a tray and pushed it toward Belinda, Paxton couldn’t help but laugh.
“Look at you,” she said, gesturing to her own mouth.
“You think that smile can get any bigger?”
“No,” her mother said. She stuck her tongue out at Paxton before carting the pitchers of beer to one of the crowded tables.
They were all having a hard time containing their smiles tonight.
Gauthier had turned out in droves to support the official grand opening of the River Road Bar and Grill, although, as she predicted, everyone was still referring to it as Harlon’s.
Paxton didn’t care. She couldn’t decide whether to cry tears of joy or break out in her happy dance.
She would likely do both before the end of the night, but right now she was so busy she hardly had a chance to breathe.
Donovan—who, Paxton had to admit, had been a godsend tonight—backed his way out of the kitchen’s swinging door, his arms loaded with baskets of hot wings.
“Jessie needs that flour, Pax,” he called to her.
Dammit. Paxton snapped her fingers. “Tell her I’m on it,” she said.
“On what?” Belinda asked as she squeezed sideways through the tiny opening that led to the back of the bar. The next phase of renovations would include one of those hinged bar flaps.
“I need to run to my car before Jessie has a coronary,” Paxton told her. “The extra flour she asked me to pick up is in there. I didn’t think we’d need it before the game even started.”
“Go on,” Belinda said. “I’ve got this. I don’t want anyone having to wait on wings.”
Paxton concurred. They needed to keep the clientele happy and fed.
Many of the people here could just have easily given their business to the national restaurant chain that had opened in Maplesville several weeks ago.
She’d never admit it out loud, but inwardly Paxton had been nervous as hell that the new place would take business away from her mother’s, making it a failure before it ever got off the ground.
She never should have doubted the people of Gauthier, especially those from Landreaux.
She ran out to her car and, with Donovan there to help, carried in the fifty-pound sack of flour that would be used to coat the chicken wings that were flying out of the kitchen at a record pace.
Once she was sure that everything was under control, both in the kitchen and behind the bar, Paxton went out to clear tables and greet patrons.
As she looked out over the crowd, her chest filled with so much pride that she thought her fitted River Road Tavern T-shirt would burst at the seams. Pride not only for her mother but for her entire community.
She’d always had a love–hate relationship with this town, based mainly on her issues with the way some of the people in Gauthier had looked down on her mother.
Although it wasn’t as taboo anymore, in a small town like Gauthier back in the late 1980s, teenage pregnancy was still a shun-able offense, especially when you pinned the pregnancy on someone many would feel was above your station.
Once Paxton was old enough, Belinda told her about the gossip that had floated around town when she became pregnant, but she was never ashamed of her daughter, and she never held a grudge against the town over the way they’d treated her.
Paxton had not been so generous or forgiving.
Bitterness still lingered when she thought of her mother being ostracized simply because she’d made the mistake of falling for the wrong boy.
Tonight, however, went a long way in soothing the resentment Paxton still clung to. There were some in Gauthier who likely whispered behind both her and Belinda’s backs, but for the most part, these were good people. They stood up for their own and were always eager to show their support.
As she cleared empty glasses and plates from the tables, Paxton thanked those who had come to tonight’s grand opening.
Everyone in the room stood and voices quieted as an ROTC from one of the local colleges performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the eight large-screen televisions that were, of course, all tuned into the much-anticipated Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.
They remained standing through the coin toss and the kickoff.
On the very first play of the game, one of the Saints’ defensive players intercepted the Falcons’ quarterback’s pass. The room went wild, and Paxton said a quick prayer that the place didn’t fall off its pilings as it shook with the cheers and foot stomping.
She looked toward the bar and caught Belinda’s smile. It was so wide that Paxton knew her cheeks were probably hurting.
From the moment she had signed the bill of sale and handed over the deed, Paxton had anticipated seeing the look she saw right now on her mother’s face. It made every cent worth it. Although no amount of money could ever repay her mother for the sacrifices she’d made.
Belinda would argue that Paxton had made her share of sacrifices, as well, with all the nights and weekends she’d given up to work next to her in this bar, but Paxton had never looked at it that way. They were a team. They always had been.
And, finally, the teamwork was paying off.
Paxton returned to her place behind the bar.
It had been well over a year since she’d poured drinks, but it had come back to her with amazing ease.
She topped off several shot glasses, mixed up a frozen strawberry daiquiri in the high-powered blender she’d purchased, and served up two more pitchers of beer.
As she wiped condensation from the bar, she looked up and noticed Sawyer walking toward her.
Her heartbeat tripled as she followed his easy stride toward the bar.
His dark blue jeans gripped his solid, sure thighs, and the black polo shirt molded to his taut chest. Goodness, but he looked delicious.
“What are you doing here?” Paxton asked when he approached, slinging the dish towel over her shoulder.
A slow grin spread across his face as he slid onto a barstool. “You ask that to everybody in here tonight?”
“No, smartass,” she said. “But this is a bit of a drive for you.”
“It was worth the drive to show my support for tonight’s grand opening. I know how hard you and your mom worked to make this happen.”
There went that flutter again. The warm, cozy sensation spread throughout her chest. “Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate the support.”
“My pleasure.”
Paxton could feel the heat climbing up her cheeks as his eyes traced over her face. Was she actually blushing?
Sawyer looked over his shoulder. “Nice crowd in here tonight.”
“I know,” she said, unable to contain her excitement. “I was hoping for a decent turnout, but this is so far beyond my expectations. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am.”
“You don’t have to. Your eyes are sparkling.
So are your mom’s,” Sawyer said, nodding toward Belinda, who was talking to Janice and Melvin Hodges.
Paxton had always thought the couple was too religious to ever set foot in a bar, but apparently they had decided to face damnation so they could support her mother’s new business.
“She is having the time of her life,” she said.
“How about you?” Sawyer asked. “Was it worth all the money and effort?”
She returned her attention to him with a triumphant smile. “Every single penny.”
His eyes dropped to her lips, and the air between them was suddenly saturated with a heavy dose of desire.
“That smile looks so good on you,” he said in a mesmerizingly seductive voice.
“I— Thank you,” Paxton replied.
Thank you? Was that the best she could come up with?
His eyes glittered with amusement as he shook his head. “You’re stubborn as hell, but you won’t be able to fight this much longer.”
No further explanation was needed to spell out what he meant by that. They both knew what he was talking about, but he was right; she was stubborn as hell, and she was not going down without a fight.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said as she wiped down the bar with the towel she’d slung over her shoulder.
Sawyer leaned forward, rising from his barstool. “But why fight it?” he asked. “Just think about it. If you’re going back to Little Rock at the end of this project, what’s the harm in us being together while you’re here?”
She was ashamed to admit how tempted she was at the thought of doing just that.
“Think about it,” he prodded. “We have three weeks left. There’s a lot we can do in that time.”
“Stop tempting me,” she said.
One deliciously sexy brow arched. “So you are tempted?” He leaned in even closer, putting his mouth against her ear. “Now that you’ve admitted it, you do know I’m just going to try harder to convince you, don’t you?”
A shudder coursed through her body at his sexy promise. God, but she wanted him.
So why not take what he was offering?
Things were completely different from three years ago. The guilt that had plagued her over taking advantage of him while he was vulnerable and suffering was a nonfactor this time.
“Pax, any idea where the margarita salt is?”
She jerked away from Sawyer and turned to her mother.
And was caught totally off guard by the look on her face. Her previously smiling eyes were full of caution and mistrust.
What in the world is going on here?
“The salt?” Belinda asked again, her dubious gaze still on Sawyer.
“It’s in the storage room,” Paxton said. “I put it on the top shelf.”
She turned back to Sawyer and hooked a thumb toward where her mother had just stood. “You have any idea what that was about?”
He shrugged. “Maybe she wasn’t expecting to see me here, either. You know, like mother, like daughter.”