Chapter 13 #2
“And now I can slowly take over, keep the tradition going.”
“My Boyce has been a godsend for me in this family business. Dean and Deanna must view you likewise.”
He grinned, and his phone buzzed again.
“You go answer that. And have fun at that place of ill repute.”
“Wouldn’t be Bilbee’s without being a little bit vulgar.”
She sniffed. “You and I differ on our definition of a little bit.”
“Come on, Miss Lucinda. You know you love Rider’s new Greek salad with those lemon potatoes.”
“How did you know that?”
His turn to wink. “Small town, remember? Everyone knows everyone else’s business.”
And with that, he left her laughing, which was quite the achievement.
The walk to Bilbee’s wasn’t as quiet as normal, as throngs of tourists filled the town. When he was very young, the annual Valentine’s Day energy revved him up, the town becoming an altar at which lovesick people worshipped.
Now though, in truth, it was painful. Loneliness was hard enough when he worked in the field, but at least there he had his team, and the belief that he wouldn’t be lonely when he finally retired and settled down.
And then there was Ana.
So much for that.
It had been more than a month since he’d texted her. Still no reply. As much as he wanted to text again, pride stopped him.
Decency, too. He knew when to respect a boundary.
At the same time, he knew their chemistry was off the charts. Right?
Self-doubt like this wasn’t typical of him, but when it came to her…
Unable to stop himself, he reached for his phone and looked at the selfie he’d snapped of the two of them. Spur of the moment, it wasn’t the best shot, but it was all he had.
That, and her handwritten note she’d left in the hotel room. It was in his wallet, getting worn from too much handling.
He had to move on. His mom was right. Being stuck sucked.
A squeal, happy and light, came from a small crowd in front of Love You Jewelers, Moore Mottin’s family business. Now that Moore and Colleen were a thing, Dennis viewed the store differently. Little Moore had grown up, for sure. He had a teenager now and, more importantly, he had Colleen’s heart.
Never in a million years would he have predicted that Luke’s lifelong best friend and his little sister would get together, but hearts didn’t care what people thought.
They just chose.
As he got closer, he saw the reason for the ruckus.
A man on one knee, looking up at a crying woman, her hand on his shoulder, a black velvet box opened, the diamond ring glittering in the streetlights.
Sidestepping the small crowd sniffling and laughing around them, he reached inside his hoodie to secure Magic.
No need to ruin a perfect romantic moment with a flying squirrel attaching itself to the fiancée’s head.
An unseasonably warm stretch last week had melted the piles of snow, the sidewalks clear and dry.
A thin layer of the white stuff was ever present this far north in winter, but there wasn’t as much as usual.
Rachel had been thrilled about this turn of events, chattering happily this morning over coffee about how it made everything in town more accessible.
Dennis was still getting used to her.
Head down, he walked the rest of the way to Bilbee’s, hoping not to run into someone who wanted to “catch up.” While he appreciated the care and attention, he just didn’t like being an object of curiosity.
Then again, maybe he shouldn’t wear a sugar glider if he wanted fewer eyeballs on him.
“Dennis!” An arm waved wildly across the street, attached to his sister, who was bundled up in a calf-length black coat that could double as a sleeping bag. “Here!”
“I know where Bilbee’s is!” he shouted back as he checked the street and walked safely along the crosswalk.
“I meant, here we are!” Colleen laughed, threading her arm through Moore’s.
As Dennis approached, his memory banks fast-forwarded through time. It always happened when he came home for a visit, but now that he lived here, it was a never-ending process when he encountered people.
Even his own family, sometimes.
Reaching the two of them, he followed as they entered the old tavern, which smelled exactly the same as when he was a kid, and yet so different.
Sour beer, woodsmoke, and–garlic?
Thyme? Cumin?
The low wooden beams of the ceiling extended all the way back to the kitchen pass-through, giving the room a cozy quality.
“DENNIS!” his cousin Rider shouted from behind the bar. “Look who the dog dragged in.”
Colleen took in a breath, looking angry, before Moore patted her arm.
“Let’s just assume I’m the dog so you don’t have to argue with him.”
Wow. Moore really did know his sister well.
“Hey, Rider.” Dennis looked around. “Nice and busy.”
Rider’s grin made his eye patch lift a little, the scars close to his missing eye deeper and twisted in contrast to the lighter lines along his cheek and brow.
“Week before V-Day always is, but you’ve got a big table in the back. If you came to play darts or pool, though, you’re screwed.”
“I came to hang out, man.”
“And drink, I assume. What’s your poison?”
He thought of Ana.
“Can you make a caipirinha?” he asked. Colleen overheard, snapping around to give Dennis a shocked look.
“A what?” she asked.
Rider grinned, the smile transforming his gruff, hard exterior into something joyful. “Now there’s a man who knows how to explore the world. Hell, yeah, I do. Nice to use up some of my cachaca.”
“You are speaking in a foreign language,” Colleen said, giving him a bemused look.
“Portuguese. Brazilian, specifically,” he replied. “Cachaca is a liquor made from sugar cane. And a caipirinha is like a mojito, minus the mint. Kind of like a lime mojito.”
“When did you get all fancy? You normally like beer.”
“I’m retired. I can do whatever I damn well want.”
That got a laugh out of Moore, who had ordered two beers for himself and Colleen. Rider went off to the bottles and taps to fill their order.
“I cannot imagine being retired.”
“He’s not retired like old people retire. He’s retired from the Army. Gets that nice pension. Now he’ll spend the rest of his life doing tree work. Living like a mountain man. Grunt grunt.” She literally grunted the words, making Moore laugh.
Dennis, too.
“You’ve got me figured out, sis.”
“Not really. You have loads of surprises in you. Did you start drinking these lime mojito things–what’s it called?”
“Caipirinha.”
“Cai-peer-een-ya?”
“Close enough.”
“You started drinking them in Brazil?”
“No.” He couldn’t stop the smile. “Someone introduced me to them.”
“Someone, as in, the lady in red?” Colleen asked as Rider brought their drinks over.
Moore gave him a nod that Dennis wasn’t going to allow. Reaching into his back pocket, he opened his wallet and slid a credit card across the bar.
“Here, Rider. Start me an account. This one’s on me.”
Moore’s dark eyebrows shot up.
“Not talking about it,” Dennis emphasized to his sister, who stuck her tongue out as Moore opened his mouth to say something.
“But–”
Dennis cut Moore off before he could say a word.
“On me.” He looked at Rider. “Our whole table is.”
Rider let out a low, impressed whistle.
“Being a retired colonel pays.”
“Just this once,” Dennis said with a wink, but Rider’s face had turned to an astonished scrunch, eyes dropping to Dennis’s midsection.
“Is your hoodie… wiggling?”
Colleen let out a groan.
“You brought that thing here?”
“I bring it everywhere!”
“It’s so annoying.”
“Please tell me we’re not talking about Dennis’s joystick,” Rider said as he lowered the tray the drinks had been on, each holding their respective order.
“I’m helping Mel out,” Dennis started to explain.
“That does not make this sound better.”
Slowly, Dennis reached into his pouch and pulled Magic out for public viewing.
Rider’s mouth went tight. “You cannot have that thing in here. Health codes.”
“Shhh,” Dennis said. Magic’s sweet eyes looked at Rider with what appeared to be love. “No one needs to know.”
“Then put it back where it belongs! And so help me, if it gets loose and takes over the kitchen, I will charge you for the extermination bill and the health department fines, Dennis.”
“I won’t let him loose.”
“Mel said the same thing about her capybara and let me tell you, those things are lightning fast. Took two days to get it out of the wall after it found a loose vent.” If the eyepatch lifted when Rider smiled, it dug into his cheeks when his face scrunched up in disgust.
“I swear, man. Magic won’t get loose.”
“What’ll you swear on?” Rider’s eyebrow arched over his eye patch. It had two big scars in it where no hair grew anymore.
“I took a solemn oath to defend our country, Rider. That’s not good enough?”
“So did Lyle Morgenstern.”
Bringing up the town troublemaker and comparing the two of them didn’t sit right with Dennis.
“Low blow.”
Rider waved him off with a bar towel.
“Just don’t let me have to call an exterminator.”
Wandering to the back, Dennis pivoted as he made his way through the crowd, Colleen behind him, Moore at the end. The big, scarred wood table where their group was located had assorted appetizer plates all over it, and four very familiar faces grinning at them.
Kell and Rachel sat to the left, Kylie and Luke to the right, and Colleen and Moore took seats facing the back, giving Dennis nowhere to sit.
Because he always sat facing the exit.
Luke leaned close to Kylie, so Dennis grabbed a seat next to him, his left side more angled than he’d like, but that would have to do. He told himself this was Luview, Maine, for goodness sake. Nothing bad ever happened here.
Not that it mattered. His mind manufactured plenty of reasons to stay vigilant, regardless of where he was.