26. Oliver
Oliver
The delivery guy had almost finished unloading our shipment by the time I met him outside.
I took a quick inventory, signed for it, and began the long process of moving everything in, restocking the cooler and switching out the empty kegs.
On my last trip out to the alley, another truck pulled up.
The driver got out and appeared to be searching for an address.
He caught sight of me and headed my way.
“Excuse me.”
“Yeah? What can I help you with?” I let the keg I’d been rolling toward the door rest against my leg.
“Is this the back entrance to a place called No Limits?” The driver checked his tablet. “I don’t see a sign back here.”
“What have you got?” I asked. Trinity said she was expecting a delivery the next day. Maybe it had shown up early.
“I don’t know, but there’s a ton of it. Is this the right building?” He gestured to the dock next door.
Before I had a chance to think about what I was doing, I shook my head. “You must have bad information. There’s nothing in the building next door.”
The guy frowned and checked his tablet again. “There’s not a business called No Limits? But there’s a sign out front.”
“Yeah, that’s old. They aren’t open anymore. Sorry I can’t help you. I’d suggest you send it back.”
“You’re sure?” The driver let out a huff as he glanced back and forth from the tablet to the building. “You’d think they would have required a phone number for this. Do you know how to reach anyone there? Maybe the old manager or someone who used to work for them?”
I ignored the tightness radiating out from my chest. What the hell was I doing?
I wanted to stop, tell the guy I’d sign for the delivery or even use the key Trinity had entrusted me with to unlock the loading dock door and let him in.
But the business card Wyatt had handed me made me reconsider my plans.
I needed time to think, to figure out what I truly wanted.
It was becoming more and more obvious I couldn’t have it all.
I shook my head. “Sorry. I just started here. My manager’s out of the country so there’s no one else to ask.”
The lie burned on its way out of my mouth and I tried to swallow the bile rising in my throat. A sour taste filled my mouth.
“Yeah, thanks anyway.” The guy shut down the tablet and climbed back in the truck.
I waited by the door while the truck rumbled away.
My gut wrenched, sending a wave of nausea through my stomach.
I hated being in this position, and I hated even more that I had no one else to blame for my decisions but myself.
Wyatt might be a total douche, but it’s not like he was holding a gun to my head and making me choose my own needs over Trinity’s.
I scrubbed a palm over my face, trying to wipe away the guilt.
It didn’t help. Heading inside, the keg tossed up onto my shoulder, I promised myself I’d stop.
What good would it do to stick around if Trinity found out I was the one responsible for her business failing before it even opened?
But the need to succeed fought with my intention to do the right thing.
Years ago, when I’d secured a visa to study in the States, I’d finally felt like I’d achieved something.
My friends figured I wouldn’t last, that I wouldn’t make it longer than a month.
Everyone expected me to return home and take over for my father.
But I’d surprised them all, myself included, when I started to get good marks.
I finally felt like I’d found something I wanted to throw myself into.
I’d even gone so far as to tell my old pals that I wouldn’t be coming back.
Of course they didn’t believe me. At the time I felt like I had years ahead of me—plenty of time to find a permanent position and establish myself.
But now time was running out. I wasn’t such a pussy that I wouldn’t be able to handle the good-natured ribbing of my mates if I had no choice but to return home.
But I’d tasted success. I’d watched Wyatt build Tapped from a hole-in-the-wall beer joint into a respectable establishment that could support a franchise.
That’s what I wanted for myself…the opportunity to be involved in something fresh, new and exciting.
My dad’s family had lived on their land for generations.
Making any sort of change at home would be virtually impossible.
Every time I made a decision to support Trinity, I was reminded of how much I had at stake.
She was a smart woman with a huge support system whether she welcomed it or not.
If she was forced out, she’d land on her feet, I was sure of it.
But what about me?
* * *
Trinity
“You’re doing it wrong.” I snatched the knitting needles out of Macy’s hands and fixed the mess she’d made. “I don’t think you’re going to get your mom’s gift done in time. Are you sure you don’t have two left thumbs?”
Macy leaned forward and refilled both of our glasses from the pitcher of frozen margaritas she’d whipped up. “Well, if I’m a total lost cause, maybe you could offer to make it for me, and then we could skip this painful process and go out for sushi instead.”
“You bitch.” I let out a laugh as I dropped the knitting and twisted to face her. “That was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”
She bit her lip and raised her brows.
“Why didn’t you just ask me to make something for you? You know I’d say yes.”
“I know. But you’ve been so busy lately, we haven’t spent any time together. If I’d asked you to whip up a gift for my mom, you would have dropped it off and I’d still be waiting for a girls’ night.” She winced, like she was bracing herself for a good verbal lashing. “Are you mad?”
“Yes.” I reached for my glass. “Why didn’t you just tell me you wanted to grab sushi? You didn’t have to come up with an elaborate plan to trick me into spending time with you.”
Macy wrapped her arms around a throw pillow and pulled it close to her chest. “Didn’t I? You’ve been spending every waking moment at the co-op.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she flipped her palm out, making me stop.
“Don’t even try to pretend that you haven’t. And you’ve been spending all of your nights with the cute Kiwi bartender. Where does that leave me?” She pushed her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout.
“You’re so damn needy. How does Mitchie-poo put up with you?” I eyed her over the salted rim of my cocktail.
“I give really good head.” Macy winked and clinked her glass against mine.
“Well that’s definitely not something you can use to woo me with. But since we’re already here and you obviously aren’t going to be picking up any knitting skills, let’s hit the sushi bar. Sushi Dragon or Dynamite Sushi? Your choice.”
“Yay.” Macy set her drink back on the coffee table and stood. “And while we’re snacking on sashimi you can fill me in on how things are going with Oliver.”
“There’s not much to share. He’s awesome, he’s uber talented in the bedroom, and…”
“And what?”
I took in a deep breath, trying to stop the swell of emotion from rising. “And he’s leaving soon. That’s all there is to say.”
“He still hasn’t found a job?” Macy carried our glasses to the kitchen and set them in the sink.
I followed. “Nope. His professor said he might have a lead on something but so far nothing has panned out. It’s okay though. I knew he wasn’t going to be here forever.”
“I could make some calls, you know. Mitch could reach out to some of his fraternity brothers, and?—”
“That’s okay. I already offered access to your extensive network, and he said he’s more of a small to medium sized business kind of guy. How’s that possible though? If his family has a huge vineyard, you’d think he’d be used to a bigger business.”
“Not necessarily. Maybe they only bottle a certain variety of grape. Have you talked to him much about it? I’d love to find out the name of their vineyard so we can try it. You said they don't export, but I've got friends who know people in the business. Maybe we could get a bootleg bottle.”
I shook my head. “We don’t do a whole lot of talking when we’re together, if you know what I mean.”
“You dirty girl. I knew you’d have more info to share. Come on, let’s head out. Sushi Dragon has happy hour on their rolls for another half hour.” She spun me around to face the direction of the front door.
As I followed Macy out to her SUV, I couldn’t help but think about what she said.
Why hadn’t I pressed Oliver for more information?
I’d tried to talk to him about his home and his past, but he always seemed to change the subject or silence me by getting physical.
I didn’t mind, in fact, talking was often highly overrated.
But maybe there was something more I could do to help him find a way to stay.
I preferred to avoid any kind of interaction with my siblings if I could help it, but they were all incredibly well connected.
And my dad still belonged to his downtown club.
If I put a few feelers out, maybe something would come up that might be a good fit or snag Oliver’s attention.
When we first got involved, I didn’t mind the thought of him leaving.
It was a foregone conclusion that what we had between us wouldn’t last. His departure date was like the period at the end of a sentence.
Something that was coming that would signal the end.
But now I didn’t know if I wanted things with Oliver to come to a close. I’d gotten used to having him around. For the first time in my life, I could picture myself functioning within the confines of a relationship.
“You okay over there?” Macy stopped at a red light and glanced over at me.
“Yeah. I think that margarita may have gone to my head.” I put a hand to my temple.
“You didn’t even drink half of it. Something’s bothering you, now fess up.”
Sometimes it sucked to have someone in my life who knew me so well. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I want Oliver to leave.”
“What?” The light turned green, but Macy didn’t press on the gas. “You can’t be considering the ‘R’ word.”
The car behind us honked. I immediately regretted opening my mouth. “Cut it out. Would you just go?”
Macy eased on the gas and faked a sniffle. “My little girl. Look at you, you’re growing up.”
I rolled my eyes. “Forget I said anything.”
“I absolutely will not. First, you start a business that’s going to keep you in one place for a while and now you’re talking about the big ‘R’. I’m so proud.”
“Whatever.”
“Say it with me. Re…lay…shun…ship. It’s a big word, go slow.” Macy glanced over, a sassy grin on her face.
“I don’t know why I put up with you.”
“Oh, but I do. Because I’m the best, if not only, friend you’ve got and I’m going to make sure you have the biggest grand opening this town has ever seen.”
It was hard not to give in to Macy’s humor.
I let go of my reservations and vowed to enjoy the time I’d carved out with my friend.
Macy was right, we hadn’t seen enough of each other.
But that would change now that we’d be living in the same town again.
And I was growing up. Growing up enough that I’d reach out to one or two of my brothers the next day.
Oliver might not want help looking for a job that would enable him to stay, but it wouldn’t hurt to do a little investigating of my own.
I could do a little research on his family’s name and see if I could find out exactly what kind of vineyard they were running.
What harm could come from that?