Chapter 8 Callum
EIGHT
Callum
Trivia night at Hearthstone was always a good time. Especially on those rare occasions when the entire Lonely Harts club was present and accounted for.
I had every reason to be having a fantastic night.
My only problem? The gorgeous brunette behind the bar who kept glaring daggers at me.
“What’s with the frown?” My brother Ashford plopped into the seat beside me. “Something to do with your coworker hating on you?”
“Who told you that?”
“Teller.”
I shrugged. Couldn’t believe Teller had narced on me. See if I had a heart-to-heart with the man again. “You know how it is,” I said, taking a long pull from my beer. At least Teller had ordered a pitcher. “Some people just can’t appreciate true charm and devastating good looks.”
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
My brother eyed me skeptically.
Aside from Zandra’s frequent glares from the bar, we’d had a great night so far.
I’d already had a chance to catch up with Teller, who I hadn’t seen in at least a month and a half.
The bastard was living the good life as the significant other of Ayla Maxwell, chart-topping singer extraordinaire.
I’d jokingly called him Mr. Maxwell, and you should’ve seen the smug smile on the man’s face.
Their bodyguard hovered nearby, making sure nobody uninvited got too close, but the other guests of Hearthstone had been well-behaved tonight. Just like me.
I’d stayed close to our table, relaxing with a few pints. Our team had dominated at trivia before Dane and Grace went over to the pool tables to face off against Emma and Piper. Ayla and her man were whispering lovingly into each other’s ears.
Which left Ashford to harass me. Leave it to my big brother to pick at exactly what was bothering me.
“Zandra was in my high school class,” I said, “and she hated me. You’d think she would’ve gotten over it in the last sixteen years, but no. The feelings are still fresh, apparently.”
“And you’re sure you didn’t do anything to deserve it?”
“I…don’t think so.” Though God knew I’d tried to figure out what her problem was with me.
I’d racked my brain for the last week, going over every interaction we’d ever had. What I could remember, anyway. Sure, there was that time I’d stopped her from going to the first bonfire party our senior year. Same night Jessa Mackenzie died. I’d felt plenty guilty about that afterward.
But I’d already mentioned the bonfire party to Z, and she’d said that wasn’t the issue. What else could I have done?
My brother leaned back in his chair, scrubbing a hand over his beard. “You can be pretty insufferable.” This, from one of the grumpiest men in Hart County.
“Thanks for taking my side.”
“You can’t keep your mouth shut. Can’t mind your own business either.”
“I feel so supported, big brother. Really feeling the love.”
“Like you need me to coddle you. Most people end up liking you, anyway, even if I’ve never understood it. Do you really care that much if this woman doesn’t?”
“Yes.” I slumped further into my chair. “The bigger issue is that we work together now, and she could take the general manager job right out from under me. She’s Manny’s granddaughter. She has a business degree and experience from living in Chicago.”
“Easy solution.” Ashford blew out a breath. “You just have to get rid of her.”
Beer shot up into my nose, and I started coughing. “The hell, bro? Get rid of her?”
“I mean, just make sure she doesn’t want to stick around in Silver Ridge. Remind her of all the reasons that this town sucks. She should go back to Chicago.”
I sat back and laughed. “This town sucks? You love Silver Ridge so much, I remember the time you nearly decked some tourist for saying Vail has better skiing. Which it does, by the way.”
Ashford scowled. “I take pride in my hometown. But there are plenty of reasons it can be miserable sometimes. You know it as well as I do.”
“Such as?”
He held up his fingers to count the ways. “The small-town gossip mill is a pain in the ass. Cell reception is terrible, and the internet is so unreliable you might as well be living in the stone age. You can’t get decent gelato to save your life.”
“Gelato,” I muttered, shaking my head as I took another sip of beer. “What do you know about gelato?”
“They’ve got a place now in Hartley. Tried it when we went to see Emma’s family.” Ashford chewed his lip. “No wait, bingo night. Make the city girl call bingo numbers at the community center for an hour and she’ll run screaming. Or just stick her in a room with Dixie Haines.”
Ashford’s wife Emma appeared at our table, looking concerned. “What are you two saying about Dixie?”
“Ideas for how Cal can get rid of his work competition. City girl is gunning for the same manager position he wants.”
Emma bent to peck her husband on the lips. “Reminds me of how you tried to get rid of me when I first moved here.”
“Not like I tried very hard.”
“I’m so glad you lacked commitment.” She tugged on his arm to get him to stand. “Enough alcohol. We’re going home now before you give Callum any more brilliant ideas.”
“Good,” my brother said in a low tone. “I have some brilliant ideas about you in our bed.” Ashford kissed her again, more thoroughly this time. I glanced away, smiling at their happiness. I’d been rooting for my brother to wind up with Emma from minute one.
But his advice for me was terrible. I preferred to take a more direct approach.
Exactly what, I didn’t know.
But somehow, someway, I was going to win that woman over. Even if it killed me. ’Cause she very well might.
A few hours later, the brewery had mostly cleared out. My baby sister Grace and her man had already taken off, and Teller and Ayla were saying their goodbyes to everyone. They’d been in their own little love bubble all night.
“See you soon, man,” Teller said, pulling me into a hug.
“I can’t keep up with where in the world you’re jetting off to next.”
“Just a quick trip to Nashville, then LA, then we’re back here for at least a month.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it, Mr. Maxwell.”
After they left, all my friends had scattered except for Piper, Teller’s younger sister. The only other Lonely Hart who was committed to singlehood like me.
“Just you and me, kid,” I said to her.
“Not for long.” Piper grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair. “Ollie will be up at the crack of dawn wanting pancakes. Almost makes me look forward to him being a teenager. At least then he’ll sleep in.”
“Come on, one more drink.”
“Nope.” She gave me a quick kiss goodbye, purely platonic. Piper and I had never felt anything for each other romantically, but we were tight. “Besides, looks like you’ve got your hands full with that brunette you’ve been trading glares with all night.”
With a groan, I glanced toward the bar where Zandra was drying glasses with more force than necessary. “Yeah, those aren’t the good kind of looks.”
“Maybe not, but there’s definitely something there. Night, Cal.”
After Piper left, I sat there nursing my beer and brooding. I could head home. Put my drama with Zandra behind me for the night. There were plenty of other bars in this county, filled with pretty tourists looking for a fun night.
Yet I didn’t leave my seat.
What the hell was Zandra’s problem with me, really?
Since the day she’d started, she’d been avoiding me and making no secret about it. When I walked into a room, she suddenly realized she had other places to be. She’d refused altogether to shadow me for a shift at the bar, acting like any knowledge I could offer was beneath her.
Instead, she’d been holed up in Manny’s office studying his contracts and vendor lists without including me.
It was pissing me off.
Zandra claimed she wouldn’t sabotage my application for the manager job. I wasn’t so sure I believed her. But even if she changed her mind and went back to Chicago, she could leave a poison pill behind by telling her grandfather what a tool she thought I was.
But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why it bothered me that much that she didn’t like me. Was it really just about the job?
No, it felt like more than that.
When she avoided me, it made me feel…crazy.
What had she meant the other day about me being cruel? I could be insensitive without meaning to, but cruel just wasn’t me. The whole situation was itching at me from the inside out. Like some kind of mental poison ivy I couldn’t stop scratching.
Enough was enough.
I waited until after closing. “I thought you weren’t working tonight,” one of the expos said as he perched chairs upside down on the tables. Nearby, another staff member swept up.
“Can’t pull myself away.” I helped with closing tasks, pretty sure Zandra hadn’t noticed I was still here.
A little while later, I heard Winnie call out, “Night, Zandra,” as she grabbed her purse from behind the bar. “See you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night,” Zandra replied from the kitchen, her voice carrying that warm tone she used with everyone but me.
Then Winnie’s footsteps faded and the back door clicked shut. I said goodbye to the last stragglers in the kitchen.
It was just me and Zandra left now.
Showtime.
I found her in the back storage room. Which couldn’t have been more perfect. An idea popped into my head. I stepped inside, swiped the key ring from its hook on the wall, and slammed the door shut behind me.
Zandra jumped and looked up from the clipboard she was holding.
“We need to talk,” I said.
The storage room was cramped, filled with bathroom supplies and stuff we had no other place for. Even in the harsh overhead light, my brain stuttered for a brief moment over how ridiculously gorgeous she was. The eyes and that long hair…
She set the clipboard on a shelf. “Talk about what, Callum?”
“About why you don’t like me. Real truth this time.”
“I just don’t. Can I get by, please? I’m finishing up.”
She tried to go past me, but I blocked her way. “Everyone likes me. Unless they have a specific reason not to.”
“Maybe I have a specific reason.”
“Such as?”