Eliza
Within a few hours, Lake Ridge roared to life on a Friday night.
Classic rock played over the speakers—Wes’s choice, no doubt—and nearly every table, booth, and seat at the bar was filled.
Wes had considered the summer setup tonight, with the garage doors open and extra tables, but ultimately decided against it. While the days were in the forties and fifties, the temperature at night cooled down to the thirties. Plus, the extra tables would strain the servers.
It seemed like people didn’t mind waiting, though. Most ordered a drink and played darts or pool until a table opened up.
The whole town had come out tonight. As much as Wes was going to downplay it, a large part of it was because they were proud of what he was doing for the bar and the town. The other part was everyone wanted to meet the new chef and taste his food.
Gabe and Lily were at a table with Gabe’s grandfather Hal.
Next to them were Lily’s parents Mark and Laura with Jules and Cooper.
Gran and the knitting club ladies were sitting around a circle table, sneaking glances at Leo whenever he came out of the kitchen to run food.
Word had gotten around that he was very good-looking and a complete gentleman.
Gran’s words—not mine.
When Leo delivered a table’s food, he spent a few minutes with them, introducing himself and getting their thoughts. From what I’d heard, no one had anything bad to say. If anything, they were already making plans to come back to ensure they tried everything before the menu switched.
Even though patrons had plates of hot, delicious food in front of them, Leo had their undivided attention. I didn’t miss the double takes or glances he’d get from people while walking past their table, or people stopping him to introduce themselves or pay their compliments to the chef.
“Good thing you had some help getting these limes and lemons cut up earlier,” Louise said with a wink. “We’re gonna need ’em.”
We were both working tonight, and these were some of my favorite shifts.
I didn’t mind tending to the bar alone, but having Louise made it more interesting.
Plus, I loved to watch how she crafted each drink or added her own spin to it if a customer was looking for something different or wasn’t sure what they wanted.
Oh, baby, there’s nothing average about me.
Leo’s words replayed in my head. The rasp of baby. His throaty chuckle.
A flush crept up my neck, and suddenly it felt like a million degrees in the bar. With all the people, it likely was.
“Eliza? Eliza!” What I thought was my name in the distance actually came from my best friend standing right in front of me.
I shook my head, meeting Lily’s eyes. “Oh, hey! Didn’t realize you were right there.”
“Figured.” Her smile widened into a grin, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. “I was just saying I think that glass is plenty full.”
The soda glass I’d been filling was overflowing and likely had been for who knew how long. I wiped the sides of the glass with a clean rag to ensure the glass wouldn’t be sticky from the sugar.
Lily leaned in. “What were you thinking about that had you in such a daze?” She blinked innocently. “The new chef? Louise said there’s been delicious tension in the bar recently.”
I gave Lily a look and then turned to look at Louise over my shoulder, who shrugged.
“I’m not in a daze. I’m just in the zone working.
” I grabbed a compostable coaster and crossed the distance of the bar to drop off the drink before returning to Lily.
With how she had her hands on her hips, I knew she had questions for me.
She was all sunshine and baked goods until she meant business.
“Okay, I’ve let you avoid this long enough.”
“Avoid what?” I asked, playing dumb.
“You know what, and I’m not leaving until you tell me more about this tension and what’s going on between you and Leo. Well, that or whenever the food gets to our table.” She nodded toward the booth with Gabe and Hal. “But if that’s the case, then I’m coming right back after dinner.”
Due to Gabe’s asshole father, Gabe hadn’t had much of a relationship with Hal up until recently.
Hal had kept up with Gabe’s life and accomplishments as much as he could and even had his photos all over his house and hardware store.
It wasn’t until Gabe visited Golden Falls last winter for the building sale that the two reconnected.
Now, they were inseparable and making up for lost time.
“Okay, but how adorable do they look together?” I asked Lily, genuinely meaning it, but if it distracted her from our current conversation…I’d take the win.
She beamed. “I truly can’t get enough of it. We’ve been having dinner with Hal at least once most weeks, and then Gabe stops by the hardware store over lunch whenever he can.”
I knew Gabe was the right guy for Lily after witnessing how he was always thinking about what she needed, and that was only further confirmed when I saw how he was with Hal. Hal deserved the goddamn world. I would do anything for him—everyone in this town would.
Hal had lived in town his whole life. Another person who was a steady constant in my life. So had his late wife Vera.
More love. More loss.
“Gabe’s been spending time with Wes and Cooper, too,” Lily added. “Oh! Weren’t they here with Leo last week?”
I hummed in response. “When Leo cock blocked me. The curse lives on.”
Lily tipped her head back with amusement. “I heard about that. Although, he might’ve done you a favor with how quickly that guy ran out.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“You need someone who can hold his own,” Lily added.
“That’s true,” I agreed. As Lily and I talked, I refilled drinks and kept an eye on the people around us to see if they needed something.
“Someone who happens to live across the hall from you and can cook you delicious meals.”
I stopped what I was doing and stared at Lily, unamused. I should’ve seen where she was going with this from a mile away. “Very subtle.”
“It’s one of my specialties.” She then leaned in, quickly glancing over both shoulders to make sure no one was listening. You never knew when someone was. How else do you think the knitting ladies got all their gossip?
“Have you talked about the ki—” Lily stopped herself. Earlier this month, I’d told Lily and Jules—and Gabe, who happened to be there—about the near-kiss between Leo and me three years ago. “The thing that almost happened but didn’t?”
Subtle. Again.
“We haven’t, and I don’t plan on bringing it up. Doubt that he does, either. We’re both moving on like things are normal, which they are.”
A little too normal, even. Things were easy and natural with Leo. They always had been. During the year I’d dated Colin, I’d seen Leo a handful of times, and we’d usually ended up lost in some conversation. When we talked, it felt like we’d known each other for years.
I hadn’t felt that with any man I’d been with. Granted, I hadn’t tried, but it wasn’t like I was trying with Leo, either.
It just happened. For one reason or another, we clicked.
“But don’t you want to know if he regrets not doing it? Or if he’s thought about it for the last three years? Or if now that he’s here things could be different?”
Of course, I’d thought about her questions. How could I not? But I’d meant what I said about not revisiting the past, even if in the moment I’d meant it about Colin. It was true about Leo, too.
Yes, something had almost happened between us, but it didn’t. I believed there was a reason that it didn’t happen. I also wasn’t looking for anything, so I wasn’t sure how different things could be between us. They were fine now.
“Lil,” I sighed. “This isn’t some romantic comedy. Leo came here for a job, and there’s no need to make things complicated when they don’t have to be. We’re friendly, and I think that’s a good place to be.”
“That feels safe. You’ve never played it safe.”
“Maybe that’s what I need right now.”
Lily shook her head, and I’d never seen her so determined. “No, what you need is someone who allows you to take risks but is a safe landing place.”
My chest pinched, as if my heart was pounding on the walls of my chest screaming listen to her. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Maybe that sounded nice in theory, but I wasn’t going to find that.
I looked past Lily’s shoulder to see one of the servers carrying three plates and heading toward Gabe and Hal’s table. “I think your food just got delivered. You should go eat, Lil.”
“Eliza,” she said gently, her eyes softening. “I didn’t mean to push—”
“I know,” I assured her, willing the ache in my chest to go away. “I, uh, I should get back to work.”
A frown tugged at the corner of Lily’s mouth. “Are you okay?”
Not wanting Lily to worry, I said, “Yeah, everything’s good. I’m just not looking for that.” I let out a sigh. “Don’t worry about me and go enjoy your dinner.”
“Okay.” She hesitated but ultimately took a step back from the bar. “Stop by the café on Monday?”
I nodded. I usually visited her Monday afternoons after I wrapped up yoga for the day. “You know it. I’ll see you then.”
My shoulders relaxed as Lily walked away. While she liked to talk things out immediately, I preferred to let things settle. I was glad she didn’t push further.
Lily had said things like that before and had asked me if I’d want to pursue a relationship over keeping things casual. None of this was new.
So, why was it so much harder to shake off this time?
Maybe because this time I hadn’t focused on how I’d feel if I did find that feeling with someone. Instead, I thought about the pain and the heartache that would come with losing it.
I didn’t want to go through that.
For once, I wanted to play it safe. It didn’t seem worth the risk.