Chapter 2
Two
Scott
I'm always a grumpy ass.
"You look like shit."
I had the very best of friends. "Thanks?"
Travis Montgomery rolled his eyes. "No seriously, what is going on with you, Scottie?"
I looked around the offices of Outdoor Experiences of Lost Creek, or ODX for short. Travis spent two days a week in the offices helping with the business side of the operation and the rest of his life outdoors. Lucky for me, ODX was right next door to my bar and I could bother him all I wanted to on office days.
"I haven't been sleeping well."
"No shit. You should come on my hike tomorrow. Get out and away from work for a day."
Usually I had no problem taking Travis up on his outdoor adventure offers. We grew up hiking, rafting, and climbing together with our friends Digger and Huk. Travis and Huk made it their lives to be outdoors at all times, while Digger went to work for his dad, and I went to work at the saloon after a short detour through culinary school. When Huk moved away we kept up our routine, eventually adding poker nights to our rotations of activities. It wasn't the same without Huk, but there was nothing we could do to bring him home, so we made the most of our slightly off-kilter friendships. Lately I hadn't been in the mood for much of anything except cooking, and even that was proving frustrating.
"I'll think about it." It wasn't a terrible idea. I needed to do something to get me out of this funk and pushing my body to the limit was guaranteed to earn me a good night of sleep.
But all I really wanted to do was walk into the Lost Creek Cabin offices and ask Mackenzie why she was avoiding me like the plague.
"Was I a dick in high school?"
Travis balked. "No. Where the fuck did that come from?"
I shrugged. There had to be a reason Mackenzie hated me. She wouldn't make eye contact. If she saw me in the distance she changed her course. It was so fucking obvious it had to be intentional. Considering we hadn't really spoken since the day she left for college, whatever I'd done had to have taken place back then. "I dunno. Been contemplating life or some shit."
Travis grunted. "You know, I've noticed something."
Well that couldn't be good. "Okay?"
He shuffled a stack of release forms into a folder and set it aside. "You became a grumpy ass around the time Mack moved back."
I looked to the ceiling for patience. "I'm always a grumpy ass."
"True. But your mood has been decidedly awful for approximately six and a half months."
"Approximately?"
He leaned back in his chair and set his boots on the corner of the desk before threading his fingers behind his head. "Let me lay this out for you, buddy. In October you learned Mack was moving back and that her dad was dying. You were both sad and excited. You got a haircut, you fucking shaved ." For some reason he cocked an eyebrow at me. "You started dressing nicer."
"Is there a point to this?" I already knew all of this. I'd just been hoping no one noticed.
"And then she was here and your mood went south fast and has stayed there ever since."
A man didn't walk around with a spring in his step when the only woman he'd ever wanted was ignoring him. It was just a scientific fact.
"And you're a good dude. Her dad was dying. You gave her space. You let her mourn. But man, something has to give. You're a pain in the ass and Joanne won't shut up about how she has to get Mack a social life."
It was tricky being in love with a woman who didn't know you were in love with her. Even trickier when she worked with your best friend's sister.
"I also happened to notice the frequency of your visits to these fine offices escalated exponentially when Joanne started working with Mack. Me thinks someone is hoping for information."
"Me thinks?" But yes, dammit, I was hoping for information. Every little morsel he dropped I ate up and asked for more.
How is the new job going? Does Joanne like working with her best friend? Tell them to drop by the saloon after work. Drinks on me.
I was a fool. Of course Travis noticed. It wasn't like he wasn't well fucking aware of my crush on her in high school. She was two years younger than us and I treated our friendship with caution. Mostly because losing her friendship would have gutted me, but also because the age difference felt insurmountable at the time. She'd lost her mom and with it some of her core teenage experiences. She was playing catchup and the last thing she needed was an upperclassman drooling all over her while she did it.
"If you want the inside scoop, just ask." Travis spread his arms out wide, a stupid smirk on his stupid face.
Fuck it. "How is she?"
His grin widened. "She's doing okay, considering the shitty reason she moved home. The business is thriving and aside from the fact she lives like a hermit, she seems happy."
My chest ached. Mackenzie shouldn't be hiding away at work and home. She should be with all of us, the people who cared about her. Again, it gnawed at me that this was somehow my fault. I'd done something that made it hard for her to come to town.
Travis sat up. "Okay, what is that face? This news should have made you feel better, not worse."
I scratched my neck. I wasn't sure why this was hard. Travis knew pretty much everything about me from all the shit we pulled as kids to my crush on Mackenzie to the mess that was cleaning up the bar and saving the family legacy.
"I think she hates me."
Travis stared at me for several beats. He stared so long I wondered if he’d turned to stone. Then he burst out laughing so hard he slapped his thigh. "Oh my god," he wiped away tears, "this has to be the funniest shit I've heard in a long, long time."
I waited while he laughed at my expense, crossing my arms and debating revenge. Tuna fish in his favorite boots sounded like an appropriate amount of payback.
He took a breath and let it out. "My good dude, she's crazy about you."
That...wasn't true.
He rolled his eyes. "She was crazy about you in high school. You just couldn't believe it. All your honor and code of conduct shit. She's always been into you. Joanne has been losing it trying to get her to talk to you. They even concocted a scheme to get her to book club today just to put you two in the same room."
The TBCIMAs. My murderous little book nerds. When Willow kicked them out of the bookstore, I took them in. It was a combination of curiosity—because how do you get kicked out of a bookstore —and compassion for Sharon. That woman had a huge heart and an even bigger mouth.
And she was Mackenzie's aunt. The only family she had left. I couldn't reach Mackenzie, I couldn't change the shit hand she got dealt, but I could give her wacky aunt and her book club a place to meet. For months I'd been hoping she'd walk through the door on the second Tuesday of the month, ready to talk about murder.
Today, apparently, was that day.
My world jumbled as everything I thought I knew shifted and rearranged itself.
"But...why is she avoiding me if she doesn't hate me?"
Travis stood up and clapped his big paw of a hand on my shoulder. "That's a question for Mack. Even Joanne can't figure it out. But I do know for a fact she doesn't hate you."
"Did Joanne come right out and ask, 'Do you hate Scottie? ' Because unless she did, I'm sticking to my theory." I did something or she overheard something. Hopefully it was a misunderstanding. Something we could laugh about and put behind us.
Travis shook his head. "Women know when their friends hate a man. It's like ESP or something. You didn't do anything nefarious."
Once upon a time—it felt like another life—we were friends. We liked the same music, had the same juvenile sense of humor. We'd share earbuds and listen to new songs and she'd fall asleep on my shoulder at basketball games because they were boring.
Mackenzie took a lot of naps those days. She had trouble sleeping and took all the hardest classes, so she had tons of homework, but she never wanted to miss anything. She didn't like basketball, but we had to go to the games. She didn't care for awkward school dances, but she bought the ticket and put on the dress, and even though I never took the chance and asked her to be my date, I was always there to keep her company and make sure she got on the dance floor at least once.
I didn't go to culinary school right after high school. I worked at ODX with Travis and Red, the owner, when I wasn't helping my Uncle Jerry at the saloon. So I was always available to pick Mackenzie up from school and take her home and to whatever school events she insisted on attending even after I graduated. She fell asleep in my car more times than I could count, and I would just sit there listening to music while she napped in her own driveway, curled up in the front seat like it was the most comfortable bed in the world.
For four years she was my world.
And then she was gone.
In the six and a half months she'd been back, she avoided me, and I let her because whatever she needed I would give it to her, even if it was space from me. But now I saw the error of my ways. Something was wrong and instead of addressing it head on and clearing it away, it festered.
No more. Today she was coming to murder book club at my saloon. It didn't matter to me if it was by force or not, it put us in the same room, and I would take it from there. I wasn't letting another day go by where Mackenzie thought I was a villain. I wanted my friend back, even if she didn't want me as anything more. "Then it seems I need to have a long overdue conversation with Mackenzie."
"That's the spirit." Travis clicked the computer mouse and got back to work. "What goes on at these book club meetings anyway?"
"Shenanigans." Anything that involved Sharon and Maeve ended in shenanigans. "They talk about murder. So much murder. I don't blame Willow for kicking them out of her shop." I shuddered at the memory of them trying to reenact a murder scene last month. It was hilarious and macabre. "They gossip about everyone. And then I feed them to get them to stop talking." They were my test group. Whatever new menu idea I came up with, they ate it first and gave me surprisingly helpful feedback. Especially if it involved cheese.
Travis grunted. "Sounds...awful."
It was and it wasn't. There was something about it I enjoyed. Maybe it was the change of pace. My days had gotten pretty fucking boring. Aside from meeting up with my friends, all I did was work. I had my regulars who more often than not came in to unload their shitty days. Then I had my Friday and Saturday night crowds which were busy as all hell, but there was music and dancing and my special menu of food. I lived for those nights. To be honest it was probably the only thing that kept me from being bored out of my mind.
Except the second Tuesday of every month the strangest group of book nerds invaded my bar to talk about murder. They laughed and gave each other a hard time while I watched from just outside their circle.
Even though I never once let on, I read every book they picked and was listening along to their babbling while I worked. I liked knowing what they were talking about—even if it was gruesome shit.
"Thanks for the pep talk." We traded our usual handshake.
"Travis's Love Line is available from eight to eight every weekday, Monday to Friday. Any love emergencies on the weekend are to be directed to Huk's Heart Rehab, preferably at an ungodly hour as retribution for being long distance at all fucking times."
"You think he'll come back for Karis?" Huk's little sister was suddenly a single mom after her cheating husband skipped town without a backward glance.
A pencil snapped in Travis's hand. "Yeah, I do. I still can't believe that sniveling little shit disappeared before any of us could beat his ass."
We were all best friends, but we all knew there was a special bond between Travis and Huk. They watched over each other's siblings like protective bears. Travis took it hard that he'd been on a mountain when the news hit the gossip airwaves and he couldn't personally escort Julien out of town. Gossip either started in my bar or ended there. Unfortunately this was one of the time's I heard about it last. Julien had packed two bags and roared out of town by the time any of us knew what happened.
"I'm sorry for Karis but I won't be upset if we get Huk back for a few days." I missed his grouchy ass. It sucked having to carry the grouchy load all alone. We all had our roles in our group. Travis was the ex-football player who charmed tourists and kept our energy up. He was our happy. Digger on the other hand the quieter version of Travis. He had zero intention of ever having a traditional relationship and liked his sex life spicy. He was our intellectual schemer. Huk kept us on the straight and narrow, even from a distance. He was the voice of reason, hated large groups and loud noise, and kept to himself unless he was with us. I was the grouch behind the bar, providing the beer, and pining for a woman who would never love me.
"You and me both," Travis agreed. "We could all use a good head smacking."
"You just filled in pretty well."
"And I didn't particularly like it. I don't mind that shit with Joanne and Lucy but talking you through heart troubles gives me the ick."
"You shouldn't have opened up Travis's Love Line then." I opened the door and stepped outside.
"I take it back. The Love Line is closed. Only annoy Huk!"
The door swung shut and I took a cleansing breath as I stared at Still Standing Saloon. I loved my Uncle Jerry but a businessman he was not. He would have had to sell it if I hadn't plucked it out of his hands when I did. It was a shit ton of work, but worth it. Between giving it a facelift and finding some side streams of income, I was now turning a tidy profit.
Lost Creek was a tiny little postage stamp of a town nestled onto a strip of land deep inside the gorge carved out by the river. My bar marked the north end of town and the Tbr Pile marked the south end. Between them lay only ODX and the Green Door on one side of the road, and our little store and the town's only administration building on the other, beside the river. That was the entirety of downtown Lost Creek. The schools and public works buildings were all on a road a quarter of a mile away and our residents lived up and down the surrounding mountains. It was a small town, but it had everything we needed. And what it didn't have could be found in the bigger cities just over an hour away.
Instead of going straight to the saloon, I walked across the parking lot to the Tbr Pile. There was an unusually large crowd on the sidewalk in front of the Green Door, but that was nothing new for Lost Creek. There was probably a juicy new piece of gossip everyone was babbling over. The town hadn't stopped buzzing about Karis Finn and most likely it had something to do with that.
The Tbr Pile was a cozy and surprisingly large bookstore that leaned into the exposed wood beams, wooden bookcases and floors, and mixed it with plush couches, soft displays of the season—flowers for spring—and pale blue walls. Tourists wandered in thinking it would be a cute little shop to browse for a few minutes and got lost inside it instead.
I quickly grabbed a copy of next month's book selection off the display by the counter and paid. "Another serial killer? Can't they read books about crimes of passion or even accidental murder?"
Willow shook her head and shrugged. "That's why they're banned from meeting here, my friend. Good luck to you. I can't believe you're actually reading along."
I pointed the book at her. "That's our little secret."
She pursed her lips and slid a paper bag my way so I could disguise my book. "Your secrets are safe with me, my friend."
I could purchase the e-book instead and then no one would ever know what I was doing, but I preferred to shop in town as much as possible. It was hard enough keeping a bar up and running in a small town. I couldn't imagine how Willow kept a whole assed bookstore profitable.
"Until next month." I slipped the covered book into my back pocket and opened the door just as a very frenzied Mackenzie Howard blasted through and into my arms.
Well, not quite the way I wanted her to, but her body was flush against mine and falling so I caught her as best I could without mauling her. She was soft and vibrating. The scent of chocolate and vanilla hit me a beat before syrup and pancakes and coffee. I wanted to haul her up against me and kiss her until I tasted every one of those scents.
Instead I steadied her on her feet and smiled. It's go time. "Hey Mackenzie."