36. Lila
CHAPTER 36
Lila
It had been weeks since I last saw or heard from Irene.
No one in the bar mentioned seeing her around either, and Saul said he’d heard from someone at the bus station that she’d bought a ticket out of town. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see my mother again, but I was weirdly okay with it this time.
After Travis and I went to pick River up from Desi’s, I told her what happened at my apartment. She then proceeded to come over to help me clean the mess up. We talked about Irene, what the Adlers had done for me, and how Travis told me he loved me. We laughed, we cried, and talked for a long time about the steps I needed to take to work through all my trauma.
“I knew it would work out,” she’d said with that bright smile of hers before she pulled me into a bone crushing hug. It was thanks to my plotting, mischievous best friend that I reunited with Travis, albeit reluctantly, in the first place. I owed her, because I not only had him now but an entire family to call my own.
That night when we went to Silver Hill, I spoke to Desmond and Amelia out on the porch while the others were inside. Tears were shed—by me and Desmond—and some tough love was doled out when I mentioned paying them back the money they’d given Irene. They’d never know how grateful I was for what they did, even if my mother almost ran off with the money for herself.
After that, we all hugged for a long time, and they told me how much they loved me.
I couldn’t help but think that while I didn’t have parents to call my own, I always had Desmond and Amelia. It just took me a long time to realize it.
Over the past few weeks, we’d all grown more concerned for Wren. We had hoped her mood would eventually go back to the Wren we were used to—light, carefree, affectionate. Only now, it seemed like this new version of her was here to stay for a little while longer. She kept to herself most days, and during dinner the only person she seemed to like having a conversation with was River. He was also probably the only person who could bring out a smile from her.
Finn took her change the hardest. He knew her better than any of us, and he suffered because she did. When they both came back from the hospital after one of her MRI appointments one day, Wren looked completely drained. She locked herself in her room for the rest of the day, and not even Finn talked about what had happened during her scan.
I was lost in thought thinking about all the events over the last few weeks that I didn’t hear Desi join me behind the counter until she was placing her empty tray down on the bar top.
“Are you going to tell him tonight?” she asked me as she leaned her elbows on the counter to eye the patrons around the bar.
I served Saul his second beer of the night before answering, “Not yet. I’m waiting for the right moment. ”
“Why? Don’t you think he’ll be happy by the news?”
“That’s not it?—"
The band started playing on the stage, cutting me off, and one of them motioned Desi over with a hand, signaling that they were ready.
“Oh, gotta go. Tell me later!” she said before she untied her apron and tossed it under the counter. The regulars in attendance clapped for her as soon as they spotted her red hair and wide smile.
Everyone went wild over her incredible voice as soon as she started singing. It didn’t matter if the bar was empty on the weekdays or packed on the weekends; whenever Desi got her hands on that microphone and sang her heart out, shining as bright as a star and happier than I’d ever seen her, there wasn’t a living soul who dared miss out on it. Sometimes, people even gathered around the windows to watch if we were too full inside.
Like tonight, for example, there wasn’t an empty chair or booth in sight. I wouldn’t have been surprised if all of Willow Vale came to see her. I smiled as she sang a new country song I’d never heard before. She and one of the band members sang together, and the crowd was loving it when the tempo picked up.
Two arms wrapped around my waist, and I smiled when I caught a spicy scent that could only belong to one man. Travis rested his chin on my shoulder as we watched the band.
I leaned into his chest, taking in all the familiar faces in the bar. Finn was nursing a beer as he watched the band while he waited for his turn at the pool table with some of his friends, Logan Ward included. I’d take Logan over his brother any day, though apparently the latter skipped town a while ago. Saul was talking animatedly to his band of gossips and a few of the ranch hands from Silver Hill had also snagged a booth.
The crowd gave Desi a big round of applause when she finished the first song, leaving the band to continue playing without her. She ran over to us with a huge smile.
“Hey boss man, get tired of brooding in your cave already?” she asked as she reached over the bar to snag a glass. Travis waved her hand away like she was a fly and served her a drink himself, not wanting any of his patrons here to think they could just serve themselves.
“I thought I heard a dying cat out here, I had to check and make sure. Turns out it was just you,” he quipped and frowned at me when I shoved an elbow into his ribs.
“You should be thanking me; I’m bringing in more business than ever lately.” She winked, and he grunted. I knew he secretly loved her singing just as much as I did.
A handsome man with dark hair that was perfectly coiffed entered the bar just then, earning curious glances. He wasn’t from around here, that was for sure. If his outfit wasn’t indication enough that he was a city boy—a collared shirt underneath a knit sweater and black slacks—then the expensive looking gold watch on his wrist was a dead giveaway. The men in this town weren’t much for showy outfits and accessories.
Travis frowned at the man as he approached the bar with a cocky grin on his lips. But he wasn’t looking at us; his eyes were on Desi.
“Hey, hot stuff,” he said, sounding as full of himself as he looked—it might seem like a judgmental thing to say, but he was staring at my best friend’s ass for way longer than should be deemed appropriate in a public setting.
Hearing him, Desi perked up and turned to spot him right away. With a happy giggle she ran over and launched herself into his waiting arms. Travis and I glanced at each other with equal levels of surprise and skepticism. I knew she was seeing a city boy, but she hadn’t described him as…pretentious? Maybe that was a tad bit harsh. I could admit I was overprotective of my best friend, and it wasn’t fair that I was judging the man after I’d barely seen him for a few seconds.
When the city boy finally set her down on her feet, she pulled him back to the bar and I was keenly aware of several eyes on us. Logan and Finn seemed to forget all about their game as they stared at the newcomer curiously from the pool tables.
“Lila, Travis, this is Toby! He came into town a while ago, and he was so in love with The Pint that he’s been coming back ever since.”
“Tobias,” City Boy corrected with a pearly white toothed smile. Tobias draped his arm across Desi’s shoulders, and she sidled up to him with a doting look on her face. She’d mentioned that she met him here, but she never mentioned he’d become a regular at the bar, had she? “I have to say this little bar is quite impressive. I didn’t expect it to be as popular as it is.”
Little bar?
I risked a look at Travis and, sure enough, he was regarding Tobias with a scowl that made it seem as if he just stepped in a pile of horse shit on the ranch. My guess is that he was smelling it too when Tobias said, “I’m taken with this town. It’s cute, in an outdated sort of way. Lots of room for improvement, wouldn’t you say?”
“And what is it you do exactly?” I asked, not liking the way he was talking about our town as if it was beneath him. It may not have been glamorous or fancy in any way, but this was home. Our home.
Desi didn’t seem bothered by all the things I was noticing, and she was either ignoring the flat stare Travis was aiming at her new boyfriend or she really was that oblivious. If anything, she was looking at Toby— Tobias —through rose-colored glasses. That, and she seemed really happy. As much as I loved my best friend, the few times Desi had boyfriends in high school and college, they were almost always jerks. They had to mess up terribly for Desi to see they weren’t as good as she built them up to be.
It made me worry this was one of those situations again.
Toby went on and on about his job in finance and dabbling in entrepreneurship until Travis couldn’t take it anymore—he never was good at feigning interest if his heart wasn’t in a conversation—and he walked away to help customers trickling to the bar. To be fair, I wasn’t listening to him either. I was focused on Desi the whole time.
When her shift ended an hour later, she and Tobias left The Pint with her arm wrapped around his waist and his still draped over her shoulders.
She was so happy; it should make me happy for her.
I just hoped over time we’d see what she saw in this guy because I had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.