Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
M illie locked the door to Jacks after the last customer left. It was Sunday night. Technically it was Monday morning now since it was past midnight. Normally Jacks stayed open until two, but on Sundays they closed early.
“That was a wild night,” Brad, tonight’s barback, said as he finished sweeping, scooping all the fallen napkins and popcorn bits into the dustpan. “Great idea starting up Sunday Night Trivia, Millie. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten a crowd like that on a Sunday before.”
She smiled at Brad. He was a nice guy. According to Trisha’s gossip he had a steady boyfriend who was currently in California getting his Masters in Biochemistry from Berkeley. Brad was taking every shift he could to save up for a vacation to France for the two of them when his boyfriend graduated so he could propose. It was so sweet Millie wanted to give him all her tips too. Until she remembered that his need for cash gave him a motive to be the thief.
Damnit! She hated all this cloak and dagger stuff. She didn’t want to think badly of Brad or anyone who worked here. Everyone had a reason for needing more money, but that didn’t make them thieves.
But someone is stealing money from Jacks.
A fact. One she needed to find out no matter how icky it made her feel.
“Thanks, Brad,” she said, grabbing the trash bag out of the can once he finished dumping the contents of the pan in. “How’s Leo doing with classes?”
Brad beamed, pride and love shining from the depths of his bright green eyes. “He’s acing it. It’s not easy, but he’s working so hard. I’m so proud of him. I can’t wait until his next break.”
“I bet.”
She’d been in a few long-distance relationships before. They were always difficult. But when she’d been a full-time performer, she’d been on the road a lot. Her last girlfriend broke up with her for that exact reason. Said it was too hard to maintain a connection with someone who was never there. It hurt at the time, but Millie knew if she and Allie had been right for each other they would have found a way to work it out. Love always found a way.
Tying off the top of the trash bag she went to haul it over her shoulder, but Brad grabbed it before she could.
“Let me,” he said.
“Oh no, you swept. I can take the trash out.”
He gave her a stern look. “Millie, it’s after midnight. I know Kismet is pretty safe, but it’s dark and I’m on my way out anyway.”
He made a good point. She still had some prep work to do for tomorrow.
“Okay, thank you.” She relinquished the bag to him.
Brad tossed it over his shoulder with a grin and headed toward the door that separated the bar from the distillery. Just before he reached it, Kelley came through with a stack of fresh, white towels.
“Oops, sorry, Brad. Didn’t see you.” She pivoted around, holding the door open for him. “You out?”
“Yup.” He nodded. “See y’all next shift. I’m on Tomorrow.”
“Same,” Kelley said.
“I’m off Tomorrow, but I’ll be here Tuesday,” Millie said, waving as Brad headed out with a smile, the door swinging behind him.
Kelley moved behind the bar, bending down, and tucking the towels in their spot for tomorrow. Once she stood back up, she let out a heavy sigh. “The soda delivery got delayed. It should be here tomorrow morning so we can’t change out the bags tonight.”
A blessing and a curse. She hated changing out the soda bag. They were awkward and heavy. She could never keep her grip on the wobbly things. Changing them was the worst, but it was part of the job. As much as it thrilled her that they didn’t have to do it tonight, it meant whoever worked the day shift tomorrow had to. Her luck was someone else’s chore.
She moved around the bar, grabbing the laminated closing sheet and going down the list of tasks. They didn’t have to physically mark any of them off. The list was there more as a reminder for the staff. According to Kelley, she’d been here longer than the list, so she never referred to it. Millie, however, liked to be thorough, even if the words sometimes moved on her a bit. It was why she was working her hardest to memorize the thing. Damn dyslexia.
Her gaze scanned the list, mentally checking off everything they’d accomplished. Trisha had helped with the early closing duties but left when her boyfriend came to pick her up. Millie did not care for the guy. He’d been in a time or two when Trisha was working and something about him just rubbed her the wrong way. She supposed if Trisha liked him that was all that mattered, but in her opinion the woman could do a lot better.
“Ace, BJ, Del, where are you? Are you hiding because you know I’m going to kick your asses tonight?” A voice called from the back.
Millie smiled as Charlie’s teasing shout came from behind the distillery door. Looked like it wasn’t just her and Kelley here. Apparently, the Jackson siblings were about. All four of them.
Charlie came bursting through the swinging door, heading straight for the bar and grabbing a bottle of vodka off the back shelf.
“Hey Millie, Kelley. You two wanna stick around for poker night?”
“Poker night?”
“The Jacksons have a monthly poker night,” Kelley answered. “And I don’t recommend joining. They’re awful to play with.”
“Kelley!” Charlie clutched her chest, mouth dropping open with an exaggerated gasp. “I’m hurt that you would say that.”
Kelley snorted. “No, you’re not. You know that Del cheats, you are hyper competitive, BJ tries to make awful puns to lighten the mood, and Ace ends up winning every time because the man has no tell.”
Really? Millie knew Ace could be hard to read underneath all that ice, but if you looked in his eyes, they held all the secrets he tried to hold back. Perhaps he was better at hiding them during poker.
“I’m going home,” Kelley continued. “Jessa made lasagna and I’m ready for a midnight snack.”
“Fine, party pooper, go home to be with your wonderful girlfriend.” Charlie waved her away before turning to Millie. “You in?”
“Sure.” She wasn’t a big poker player, but it sounded like fun. Plus, she didn’t have anyone to go home to. Except Franklin, but he was probably asleep dreaming of fields of crickets. And speaking of people to go home to, “Is Luc coming too?”
Charlie shook her head. “He’s got the night shift this week. Penny is home with Tilly, and Cassie is out of town at a jeweler’s convention so it’s the OG Jackson crew.”
“Oh, then I don’t want to horn in on your sibling time. I can—”
Charlie waved her off. “It’s fine. We love it when people join. More fun.”
“Ha!” Kelley laughed as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “More people you can bleed dry you mean.”
“We play for pennies, Kelley.” Charlie rolled her eyes.
Kelley walked past Millie and Charlie, kissing the other woman’s cheek as she moved by.
“Sweetie, you play for bragging rights and the more people you beat the bigger the brag.”
An insatiable grin curled Charlie’s lip. “You got me there.”
Kelley laughed again, waiving to them both as she left through the swinging door.
“Now where are those jackass brothers of mine?”
No sooner had the words left Charlie’s mouth than the muffled sounds of people greeting Kelley came from behind the closed door. A few seconds later Del, BJ, and Ace came through the door into the bar.
“There you are Jackassons!” Charlie said with glee. “Millie is going to join us for tonight’s game.”
“Cool,” Del said with a warm smile.
BJ made his way over to a large round top table, a deck of cards in his hand. “I didn’t know you play poker, Millie.”
“Not a lot, but I’m up for a game.”
Ace said nothing. He just stared at her with a sour expression—what else was new—and took his seat at the table.
“It’s a dollar buy in, Millie,” Charlie said, grabbing a set of poker chips from the small cabinet underneath the liquor bottles. “And grab some glasses and cranberry juice for the vodka.”
“I’ll help,” Del said, rushing behind the bar.
Once they’d poured the drinks and passed out the chips, BJ shuffled and dealt. Millie was not the best at poker. In fact, she sucked at it. Which was why an hour later she was on her second vodka cranberry and had exactly two chips left to her name.
She looked up from her cards as the table silently waited for her. Two sevens, an ace, and two jacks. She still wasn’t sure if that was a good hand or not, but she’d seen Del’s raise, so she had to face the music now.
“Um…two pair”
“Wow,” Charlie said with a shake of her head. “You really aren’t good at this.”
“Three Kings,” Del said, mouthing a sorry as he grabbed the pile of chips and scooped them toward him.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I’m much better at Tarot than poker.”
“That’s true,” Charlie said grinning. “Millie gave me a reading the other day that said to pause before moving forward and I shit you not, yesterday I was in the grocery store something told me to stop before turning the aisle, so I did and BAM! A kid ran into a tower of stacked toilet paper, knocking the whole thing down right in front of me.”
Ace grunted. “That doesn’t mean anything, Charlie. It’s just a coincidence.”
“Ace, rude!” Del admonished his brother.
Millie didn’t mind. Lots of people thought Tarot was silly. She didn’t care. The people who came to her for readings got comfort out of it and that was all that mattered.
“So, Millie,” BJ said, deflecting the tension in the room. “Is reading Tarot what you want to do full time one day?”
“No,” she shook her head as BJ gathered the cards and shuffled. “I enjoy it, but my dream is to open a circus arts studio.”
“What’s that?” Charlie asked, leaning in with fascination.
“It’s a place where I can teach people things like aerial skills, sling, silks, hoop. Also juggling and bottle-walking. There’s a ton of circus art skills that are not only fun, but great exercise.”
“Sounds a lot better than going to the gym and walking a treadmill to nowhere,” Charlie agreed.
“Right.” Millie smiled, her excitement growing as she shared her passion. “And the skills can be tailored to a person’s body capability. That’s why I love circus arts so much. There’s always something fun and creative you can do no matter what your ability is.”
“That sounds really cool, Millie,” BJ said. “Are you planning on opening your studio here in Kismet?”
“Yup.” She nodded. “I even found the perfect place, I’m just working on getting all the funds necessary to install proper rigging and stuff.”
The Jackson siblings all smiled, telling her how amazing that sounded. Well, all but Ace. As she glanced his way, she saw the glint in his eyes as he finally figured out what she needed that five thousand for. Unease filled her chest. Whatever. Not like she was trying to hide why she needed the money. She simply didn’t tell him. Why, she didn’t really know. It was scary sharing your dream with other people, scarier still sharing the fact that you didn’t have the funds for that dream. She’d never been good at accepting gifts or favors from people—they always came with strings. She liked to work for what she wanted.
Maybe that was why she didn’t tell Ace her reasoning for needing the money. She knew behind his gruff exterior, he only wanted to help people. It was one of the reasons he hadn’t called the cops about the thief. He was worried it was someone in need, someone desperate.
“Y’all up for another round?” Del asked.
“I’m tapped,” she laughed pointing to her last two chips which were currently in a pile in front of Del. “I think I should stick to Tarot.”
“Oooo, I have an idea.” Charlie bounced up and down in her chair. “Millie, you should give Ace a reading.”
“What?”
“No,” Ace said at the same time as her.
“Come on, Ace.” Charlie frowned. “Let her make a believer out of you. Unless you’re too scared to know the truth?”
“Oooooooo.” Del joined in the teasing, waving his fingers at Ace in a spooky manner.
“Yeah, come on, Ace,” BJ said, following in his sibling’s ribbing. “It’s just a bunch of cards. What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of anything.” Ace scowled, glaring at each of his siblings before his gaze settled on her. “Fine. One reading.”
Millie swallowed, excitement and dread swirling within her. She reached into her bag on the floor and grabbed the deck she always carried with her. She had to admit, she’d been dying to give Ace a reading, but she never thought the guy would go for it. Skeptics were often the hardest and most fun to read for. They also held the most shocking revelations too.
“I’m going to do a one-card reading, pretty basic and good for first timers, but we can pull more clarifying cards after if you’d like.”
Ace grunted.
“Now, I want you to think of a question to ask the deck.”
He stared at her, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. Fine. She’d worked with stubborn people before.
“Okay, scratch that, I’m going to do a generalized reading. We’ll just ask the deck what it wants to tell you.”
She focused on Ace and shuffled the deck three times. Once she was satisfied, she placed the deck on the table and pushed it toward him.
“Now cut it wherever feels right to you.”
Ace let out a heavy sigh but grabbed the cards and cut it.
“Good.” She grabbed the two piles and stacked them on top of each other. “Now let’s see what you’ve got.”
Millie lifted the top card of the deck and turned it over. A gasp left her as she placed the card on the table.
“Ace of Cups,” she said softly.
“What’s that mean,” Del asked, leaning in closer. “Does it have something to do with the bar?”
No, but she could see how someone not versed in Tarot would come to that conclusion with the cup and all.
“No. The Ace of Cups indicates a new relationship.”
A hush fell over the room. Millie glanced around the table to see Charlie, Del and BJ sharing a knowing glance. Ace simply stared at the card with a furrowed brow.
“Another,” his deep voice muttered out.
Shocked that he was seeking clarification when he clearly didn’t believe in any of this, Millie pulled another card and turned it over. Surprise held her silent as the image on the card filled her vision.
“The Lovers!” Charlie threw her head back laughing.
BJ and Del joined in, but all Millie could do was stare at the card on the table. Two people, hands entwined, red and pink flowers blooming behind them. She’d gotten this deck from an artist friend who made it specifically for her. The artwork was simple, but stunning.
With Ace of Cups the reading could have been up for interpretation. A new relationship wasn’t always romantic. But followed by The Lovers…it was clear what the cards were telling Ace. And judging by the distressed look on his face, he didn’t like it. Odd since most people loved getting these cards together. She had to admit it hurt. She wasn’t a fool—though she had pulled that card a time or two—she knew exactly who the cards were talking about. The fact that Ace knew too and didn’t seem happy about it, stung.
“Bullshit,” Ace grumbled, pushing away from the table and heading out of the bar into the backroom.
“And the mood is dead,” Charlie said with a sigh. “Killed by Mr. Fun Party. Sorry, Millie.”
She waved away the other woman’s apology. “It’s fine. A lot of people get upset with readings.”
Most of them when the reading is bad, not good.
“We should clean up,” Del said.
“Don’t worry, I got it.” She waved them away.
BJ frowned. “We couldn’t let you do that. You worked all night.”
The man was so sweet. How the hell was he Ace’s twin? “It’s fine. There’re just a few glasses. Besides you all have someone to get home to.”
“And you have someone to talk to,” Charlie whispered with a knowing glance. “Right?”
She nodded. Waving goodbye as the Jackson siblings left. Once she’d locked the bar door again, she turned and headed toward the back. Frustration boiling her blood, she decided, boss or not, it was about time she and Ace had a little heart to heart.