Chapter 7 Zandra
SEVEN
Zandra
Growing up, Hearthstone Brewing had been my favorite place in the world. I remembered one afternoon when I was around eleven years old. I’d fallen from my bike and scraped my knee. But I didn’t think of going to Mom or Dad. No, it was Nana Julia I’d wanted.
As soon as I’d appeared in the Hearthstone kitchen, Nana left her staff to their own devices. She sat me down in Grandpa’s office and cleaned up my knee. Wiped my tears. Then taught me to properly chop vegetables in the kitchen.
Somehow, she’d known that putting me to work was the way to make me feel valued. Loved.
Grandpa Manny had never been great with displays of emotion, but later that same day, he’d put my bike in his pickup and took me home, stopping at the local drive-through for fries on the way. Mom got mad at me for being gone all afternoon and spoiling my dinner, but it had been the best day.
Walking into Hearthstone now, a week after I’d started my “two-month trial” with Callum, I didn’t feel any of those warm and fuzzies. More like a mix of dread and anticipation over seeing my nemesis.
Why did Callum O’Neal have to work here and ruin my one comfort zone in Silver Ridge?
“Afternoon.” I nodded hello to Alice, the head chef, as I passed through the kitchen. I’d parked with the other employees in the rear lot, coming in through the back door.
“Hey, Zandra. I emailed you and Callum my thoughts for the specials next week. Manny told me to go through both of you, but also check everything with him. No offense, but three bosses is a lot.”
I laughed. “I was just visiting Grandpa at the hospital this morning. I’ll keep working on him. They should be releasing him to recover at home soon.” The nurses had him up each day using his walker, but he’d also had some complications.
“Maybe that’ll make him less of a pill.”
“One can dream.”
Over the past week, I’d been doing my best to get to know everyone here. I’d been soaking up as much knowledge as I could from shadowing the other managers. Callum had set up a good schedule for me, I had to admit. There was so much to learn.
Just so long as I didn’t have to learn it from him.
A slender blond in a mini skirt and a pink tank top was already behind the bar when I approached. She squealed when she saw me, almost spilling the pint she’d been pouring from the tap.
“Zandra, is that really you?”
“It’s me. Hey, Winnie.”
“You remember me?” She finished the beer and set it in front of a customer.
“Of course. Also, I saw your name on the schedule, so…”
Winnie pointed at me. “Always the smart one. Get over here. I need a hug.”
Winnie Peyton had been a couple years younger than Jessa and me in school. A cheerleader, not the usual person I would’ve spent time with outside of class. We hadn’t been part of the same circles, and I doubted the cheer squad would’ve wanted to hang with me either.
But Winnie had dated Leo, Jessa’s little brother. She’d been one of the few bright spots in my life after Jessa died. As in, she would actually talk to me without judgment and accusations in her eyes.
This was the hard thing about working at Hearthstone. This place was a minefield of memories, and some of them hurt so much more than the others.
Winnie pulled back from the hug, holding my arms. “I’ve been hearing for days about how you came back to town, but I didn’t really believe it until I could see it for myself. You look so good!”
“So do you.”
“Hardly. I look like a lady who got barfed on for three days straight and barely slept a wink the whole time. That’s why I’ve had to keep calling in.
My niece Ally was sick and my sister had nobody to watch her.
She’s already struggling to pay the bills so she couldn’t take off work, you know?
A lot of bosses would’ve told me tough luck because Ally’s not my daughter, but not Callum. ”
My brow wrinkled. “I’m so sorry. Is Ally better? If you needed to take more time—”
“No, she’s all set now. Ally’s with her dad, my sister’s asshole ex. He wouldn’t lift a finger while Ally was throwing up, but at least he’s good for watching her some of the time. He’s sweet to her when it’s convenient.”
“I know a thing or two about asshole exes.”
She nudged my arm sympathetically. “Even the big city girl has love trouble?”
“Former big city girl. Lost my job and my guy. I could write a country song about all the ways my life imploded.”
“Then screw ’em, right? It’s you and me working the bar tonight. We’re going to have a blast.”
I laughed. “Oh, I’m here for it. I’ve been getting an overview of Hearthstone’s operations, but I haven’t worked any shifts at the bar yet.
” Because I’d been avoiding anything that would mean dealing with Callum.
He wasn’t working tonight, though, so that meant I should be safe from his muscles and smirks and those expressive eyes.
Winnie’s gaze moved over me, scrutinizing. “You’ve got comfy shoes. Good. That button-down won’t work though. It gets hot as Hades back here when we’re really moving. Tonight’s trivia night, so it’ll be packed.”
“I have a camisole underneath.” I started unbuttoning my shirt, and Winnie whistled.
“Take it off, girl! Tips will be better this way too.”
Another laugh bubbled out of me. “Perfect. You just tell me what to do.”
We dove straight into serving customers. I already had the beer, cocktail, and food menus memorized and was getting familiar with our computer system for ordering. But I paid close attention to every bit of info Winnie had for me.
I wouldn’t regularly be tending bar as Hearthstone’s general manager. But a good boss had to understand as many aspects of their business as possible. Also, I knew Grandpa was going to be quizzing me about anything and everything later. He didn’t think any detail was too small.
When it came to the bar business, that was Callum’s domain. The man had a major advantage. I had to make sure I knew just as much as he did.
“So, you and Callum, huh?”
“What?” I sputtered, turning to Winnie. “There is no me and Callum.”
“I mean this competition thing Manny has going. Everybody’s been talking about it. It’s kinda wild. He’s making his own granddaughter jump through all these hoops? Most people would want to keep a business like this in the family.”
“Yeah. But that’s my grandpa. Throwing challenges at us is his love language.”
I wasn’t even mad about this competition Grandpa had set up. I hadn’t come to Silver Ridge expecting handouts. And I hadn’t even realized how much I wanted this job until it was dangled in front of me, just out of reach.
Hearthstone wasn’t some consolation prize after losing my way in Chicago. This place was home. I was going to earn it. Didn’t matter who else was up against me.
Just…why did it have to be him?
I’d resisted letting Grandpa know about our feud. Instead, every time Manny asked how Callum and I were doing, I said all was fine. If and when I earned this job, it would be fair and square. Not by talking crap about Callum behind his back.
However. I could still gossip a little with Winnie. That wasn’t crossing too many lines.
When there was a lull, I grabbed some limes and a cutting board to refill our fruit bin. “What’s Callum like to work for?” I asked. “He’s been bar manager for a few months now, right?”
“Looking for the scoop on your competition?”
I wasn’t going to deny it. “Do you blame me?”
She laughed. “Wish I had dirt to spill, but I don’t. He’s a good boss. Understanding. Responsible and keeps his end of things running smoothly. He’s the best.”
My knife paused. “Really?”
“Speaking of.” Winnie elbowed me. “Look who’s here on his night off.”
My head swiveled until my eyes landed on a broad set of shoulders, narrow hips, and a backward ball cap.
Dammit. What was Callum doing here? I’d thought I was free from him tonight.
He was dragging a few tables together, making a bigger seating space. Like he expected a bunch of friends to join him. A couple minutes later, a big guy with a grumpy expression and dirty-blond hair joined him.
Winnie hummed knowingly. “I get it. That’s Teller Landry.”
“I remember him and his sister Piper.”
“Yep. The Lonely Harts club must be getting together for trivia tonight.”
“The what club?”
“Hon, you are so behind. I gotta catch you up.”
Winnie explained that Callum, his siblings, and their friends and significant others often got together at Hearthstone. They called themselves the Lonely Harts club, whatever that meant.
“But the most exciting part,” Winnie continued, blue eyes shining, “is that if Teller Landry’s here, Ayla Maxwell must be in town too.
There was all kinds of drama going on with her not long ago.
She fell in love with Teller, who was the police chief until he quit to be with her.
It’s only the biggest news that’s hit Silver Ridge since… ever.”
“I heard about Ayla Maxwell and Teller Landry.” Also something about a stalker attacking her, though everything had turned out all right.
“But I didn’t know Callum was friends with a mega-famous pop star,” I said, pouring a beer for a customer while keeping an eye on my nemesis in my periphery.
“I guess more has changed around here than I realized.”
“Yes and no.” Winnie hunched over, resting her arms casually on the counter. “Sometimes it feels like we’re all still stuck in high school, you know?”
I huffed a laugh. “Trust me, I know.”
“Callum is one of those guys who grew up a lot. He was in the Army for a while, like his older brothers, but then he came back home. Volunteers for the fire department. Helps out with his niece. Never dates anyone seriously. But he’s always been someone I could count on.”
Isn’t that nice, I thought bitterly. It wasn’t just my grandfather who Callum had charmed. My high school enemy was an upstanding citizen who made everyone’s day brighter.
How was I supposed to square that with how awful he’d been to me after Jessa died?
Winnie leaned in conspiratorially. “Then you’ve got your washed-up types. The guys who’ve never gotten over the fact that their glory days are behind them. Like Tommy Pickering.”
I followed her gaze to a table in a dark corner. “That’s Tommy Pickering?”
Tommy had thought he ruled our campus back in the day, along with Callum. The two of them had sat across from Jessa and me in English class.
Now, his hair was thinning, with the few remaining strands combed over in a failed attempt to hide it. Tommy’s skin was sallow. Heavy pouches lay below his eyes, and his shoulders slumped as he nursed a pint.
“Works at his dad’s used-car dealership,” Winnie murmured. “But from what I hear, Tommy hasn’t made a sale in months. Married with a couple kids at home too. He spends more time in local bars than anywhere else.”
“That’s too bad.” I’d never liked the guy, but I didn’t wish his family ill.
Tommy seemed to sense our eyes on him, because his gaze flicked to us at the bar. He squinted and frowned before returning his attention to his half-empty beer.
Of course, seeing Tommy and Callum in the same room just reminded me of Jessa and the day she died.
“Do you ever talk to Leo Mackenzie?” I asked, my voice carefully casual.
Winnie looked surprised that I’d brought him up. “Leo and I dated a few more years after high school ended, but he was already so distant. After Jessa’s death, he was—” She cut off, grimacing. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to talk about Jessa. Losing her hit you really hard too back then.”
A week ago, the last thing I’d wanted to do was talk about my best friend’s death. I’d frozen up when Russ mentioned her on my first day at Hearthstone. And got pissed at Callum when he did the same.
But of all people, Winnie might understand how I felt. Even if she’d never been as close to Jessa as I had.
Trivia hadn’t started yet, and business was just picking up. The glass washer had finished a load, so Winnie and I started to empty it during a lull in customers. “It’s hard to talk about Jessa,” I said, picking up the conversation. “But it’s also hard not to. You know what I mean?”
“Sort of. You must miss her.”
“I do.” So many times, I’d wondered where Jessa would be now. If we’d still be friends the way we’d promised one another.
I liked to think so.
“Leo was really torn up about his sister,” Winnie said. “Wouldn’t talk to anyone about it, even me. By the time we reached graduation a couple years later, all he wanted to do was leave town.”
All of that sounded painfully familiar.
“I would’ve gone with him, but…” Winnie lifted and lowered one bony shoulder. “He didn’t want that.”
I reached out to rub her arm. “I’m sorry. Must’ve hurt.”
“I haven’t seen Leo in…geez, years.” She sighed, glancing away, sadness written across her features. “We weren’t meant to be.”
Glasses clinked as I set them on the shelf. “I still think about their mom. I would stop by and visit Mrs. Mackenzie after Jessa died, but it was so awkward. For both of us. After I left Silver Ridge, I tried writing to her for a while, but I got distracted. Lost touch. That was shitty of me.”
“Anybody would’ve done the same. You had your new life, you know? I try to visit her when I can, but it’s tough. I can’t imagine what Ms. Mackenzie went through. Losing Jessa and then pretty much losing Leo too.”
My hand went still, poised halfway to the shelf. “Some things are impossible to get over,” I said softly.
The past had a way of reaching out and pulling us back, no matter how much time had gone by. No matter how much we tried to let it go.
For some reason, my eyes sought out Callum again.
Well, maybe I did know the reason. Because I hadn’t forgotten what Callum did to me back then, and I had no plans to forgive.