Chapter 12 #3
“Guilty as charged. It was an accident. There was a cat, I swerved, then aquaplaned, but yeah, I’m the one who trashed the place.”
“So that’s why he’s being so… I was going to say blunt but, now I think about it, he’s always been a man of few words—they’re just normally not so growly.”
I snort. “Hopefully he’ll forget about me once the garden’s fixed up.”
“And that’s all there is to the story?”
My left eyebrow arches. “Isn’t that enough?”
She tilts her head from side to side, her long bob swaying with the movement.
The light catches the sleek strands, making me realise her hair is actually a blue-black instead of what, given her inky brows, I’m assuming would be naturally black hair.
“The accident explains why he’s grumpier than usual.
It doesn’t explain why he can barely take his eyes off you. ”
“Yeah, right.”
She holds up her palms. “I’m serious.”
“Don’t confuse glaring with whatever’s going through your head right now.
That man hates me and honestly, he’s not my favourite person today either.
” It might be my fault for lying—turns out Bailey and Liam were right to be worried—but I’m still embarrassed Austin called me out in front of everyone for being crap.
“Fine, fine.” She takes a sip of water, then asks, “Wait, if you’re working here, does that mean the Pine Grove gossip train got it wrong and you’re not a tourist? Have you moved here?”
“I’m a tourist, but I’ll be in town for a while.” My shoulders slump. “Longer now that I have car repairs to pay for.”
“Ouch. Did you take it to Gem’s?”
“Yeah. She’s going to tow it over to The Dragonfly for me until I can um, afford to get it fixed. What about you? You said you worked here before—does that mean you’re a local?”
“Yep, Pine Grove born and raised. It’s a great town and I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else. I don’t see myself working here forever, but it’s good for now. Believe it or not, I used to want to be a sound engineer.”
“Really?” I can’t imagine there’s much of a need for one in a town this size unless they have a theatre.
“Yeah. Not too many opportunities for that here…” she trails off with a shrug. “Austin said I can supervise the setup for any musicians who come and do gigs here, so that’s pretty cool.”
“It’s very cool. Esther mentioned something about a local country music festival in the summer, any chance you’ll get to work that too?”
“Oh, no. I don’t have the connections for that. The best I’ve managed is working as a steward a couple of times so I could see some of the shows for free, but I didn’t apply this year.”
Sensing she’s not entirely comfortable talking about that side of her work life, I steer the conversation in a different direction. Unfortunately the first thing that comes to my mind is a topic I’m uncomfortable with. “You’re a fan of country music, then?”
She bobs her head in a so-so gesture. “I’m a fan of live music. The festival just happens to be for country. Molly’s the die-hard fan. She’s been obsessed with that tiny blonde singer, Melody Night, since we were in school.” I choke on my water, and Mei frowns. “Are you OK?”
“Wrong pipe,” I wheeze.
Holy shit. I glance over at Molly, who’s now leaning against the wall near the pool table.
She catches me looking and glares. If there’s one thing this trip is teaching me, it’s that the universe has a twisted sense of humour.
Of all the places I could have ended up working why did it have to be alongside a Melody Night superfan? Thank God she doesn’t recognise me.
Mei keeps talking, telling me about some of her favourite bands and songs that she could listen to on repeat.
She has interesting and eclectic taste—under normal circumstances I’d dive into the conversation with equal enthusiasm but I’m too busy wondering how I’m going to keep Molly from figuring out who I really am.
Austin interrupts briefly to drop off my uniform but quickly moves away to chat with the kitchen team.
I overhear him thanking them for a wonderful meal and begrudgingly admit that he really does seem to be a good boss—to everyone but me at least. Uncomfortable being the only one eating, I pick at the rest of the food on my plate, eventually giving up when people start working together to clear the table.
Molly ‘accidentally’ shoulder-checks me on her way past before sidling up next to Austin to help gather plates from that side of the table.
Her attitude is uncalled for and annoying, but maybe it will work in my favour.
If her pettiness means she files me as ‘unimportant’ in her brain, she’ll be less likely to figure out I’m her favourite singer.
Of course, I’d rather she didn’t think of me at all.
I was already planning to avoid Austin as much as possible during my first week of shifts.
If I succeed, maybe she’ll drop her territorial nonsense and forget about me entirely.
If not, I might need the escape plan I came up with after yesterday’s close call sooner rather than later.