Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) (12 page)

“Dad, maybe we should
go get lunch. You had a long drive, and I’m sure working isn’t
what you wanted to do the moment you got out of your car.”

“Nonsense, someone
needs to keep you on your toes. If I didn’t come here to check on
you, I doubt this place would look as clean as it does. There would
probably be papers all over the bar top—your signature way of
keeping things organized that no one but you can figure out. There
would probably be boxes lying around the entire space instead of
neatly organized in rows on the wall over there. I know you better
than you think, Sara. Next time I come, maybe I should tell you I’m
going to be working in the office and you’ll finally purchase those
filing cabinets I keep telling you to get.”

“Actually, Dean,
those cabinets have already been ordered.”

“Really?” My father
beams at Liam, as do I.
He
ordered cabinets?

Liam nods. “Yep. And
those boxes have actually been organized for a week now. We took care
of that when we came back from Wind Valley. You’d be impressed at
the steps Sara has taken since I started here. I’ve only suggested
we do it sooner rather than later.”

A smile creeps on my
father’s face as he stares at Liam. It’s a little unsettling.

“I knew there was a
reason we met. You’re exactly the kind of man my daughter needs.”

My face scrunches up at
his comment.
Because he ordered
cabinets?

“She isn’t one to
ask for help, so she needs someone who is going to step up and make
those decisions for her.” My father gives Liam a pat on the
shoulder. “You’re going to fit into this family just fine.”

“Family?” Liam and
I both say, confused.

“Yeah, eh, you know,
the bar business family.”

Liam chuckles
uncomfortably, but I just keep looking at my father. He glances away
and heads for the door.

“Now, what were you
saying about lunch?”

“Good, I’m
starving,” Liam says as the door closes behind my father. He nudges
my shoulder.

“Don’t look so
surprised and ignore his comment. It kind of makes me feel like a
loser.”

“Why?” I ask,
trying to figure out what’s going on because the things he’s
pointed out actually do make it look like I’ve been distracted.

“Because I didn’t
come up with those ideas, ordering the cabinet or telling you we need
to organize the boxes so when the storage room is ready we can unpack
them easier. Logan told me I should do those because he had a feeling
you would overlook them. He said you’re great with the big picture,
but you space out a lot on the little things. He’s also the one who
came up with the suggestion to hire my band friends now because they
could be useful later. He’s a smart guy.”

The small mention of
his name and the thought that Logan is training Liam how to help me
accomplish everything I need to before this place opens warms my
heart. My dad isn’t giving Logan enough credit. I sure wasn’t. I
blink back the tears that sting my eyes.
Great,
I miss him even more now.

Logan

The words on my laptop
computer screen are starting to blur together. I pinch the spot
between my eyes and take breath. Tyler was again able to hack into
the system of the children’s home we went through and get me the
address in Nevada where my sister is still living with her foster
parents. It’s the same damn address I’ve been sending letters to
and the same damn address they keep coming back from, unopened. If
they’re anything like the family I was set with, she isn’t
getting her way at all. She’s nineteen now; she should be moved out
and on her own. Something doesn’t add up.

Groaning, I shut the
computer down and stretch, popping my neck in the process. I need a
break from this. Maybe I need to rethink the entire situation. What
if she doesn’t want to see me? What if I’m trying too hard for
something that isn’t there? She was little when we were split
up—does she even remember having a brother?

“Hey, man,” Conner
says, stepping into the kitchen. “You’ve been sitting at that
table for hours. Don’t you think you should get up at some point?”

He opens the fridge,
twists the cap off the orange juice with his name on it, and drinks.

“Yeah, just trying to
take care of some stuff,” I say, standing.

“It looks like
something important. Want to talk about it?”

“It’s a long
story.”

Conner watches me for a
moment before he nods his head. “Yeah, cool, another time maybe.”

“Yeah,” I say. Then
we just stand there, looking at each other and making an already
awkward conversation even weirder.

“Okay, so I’m going
to head out. Shift starts in an hour. You coming in tonight?”
Conner asks, turning for his room.

“I think so. It’s
either that or sit around here doing nothing.”

“Cool, see you
there.”

* * *

Four hours later, I
pull up a seat at the bar top. Conner nods his greeting, twisting off
the top to a bottle of dark beer and sliding it my way.

“Slow night,” he
says.

I nod, taking a sip.

“You can always
depend on the regulars.”

“We’ve got to
depend on someone.” He chuckles, stepping away to meet Beth, who
joins us with a tray full of empty glasses.

Conner and Beth work
easily together. I schedule them on the same shift a lot because they
are a strong team. Abby works well, too, even if she keeps flirting
with Conner like she’s doing right now. Beth just rolls her eyes
every time Abby speaks. Most days I couldn’t care less, but days
like today, days when I haven’t spoken to Sara but five minutes,
makes me wonder what goes on in the mind of a woman.

“This seat taken?”
His voice booms in the almost empty bar.

“Dean,” I greet
him. “What brings you down here?”

“I just thought I
would see how things are going. Check up on the place. Do you come
here on all your nights off?” he asks, declining a beer and
requesting a water from Conner.

Great. He’s probably
thinking I’m a drunk or something.

“Just on the nights I
feel like it,” I say.
Damn it,
that sounded stupid.

“Well, let’s hope
you don’t feel like it too often.”

With a closed-mouth
smile, I nod and then take a long pull from my drink.

“No, sir.”

An awkward silence
falls between us as I drink my beer and he his water. I set the empty
glass down and Conner signals for another. I shake my head “no”
even when another beer is exactly what I need.

Every subject Sara’s
father likes flashes through my head as I try to think of something
to talk about. I’ve never been in a situation with him where we
didn’t have anything to talk about. Maybe now would be a good time
to ask for his approval to marry his daughter. Not exactly planned
and very early, but I’m confident of her answer. After she opens
The Silver Tap and moves back to Wind Valley, of course.

“So, Sara seems to
enjoy Colorado,” I start. I’d better ease into this conversation.

“Yeah, I think so
too. I actually just got back to town from visiting her.” He nods.
“She’s done a fabulous job. She’s surrounded by good people.
Smart people. People who could take her places.”

I shake what I’m
taking as insult from my head.
Don’t
let him get under your skin.

“Sara brings out that
side of people.” I sip my water. “She did it with me; I have no
doubt she could do it with anyone else.”

I feel his eyes on me,
but I don’t turn to face him.
Keep
it cool, Logan.
He’s probably trying to decide if he
believes me, if he thinks I’ve changed, or how he’s going to
change the subject again to bring me down.

“I suppose that’s
true,” is what he says instead.

I pinch my lips
together to hold back my smile.
I
stumped him.

My immature side wants
to laugh at this stupid conversation. I mean, come on. I can’t hold
a conversation with my girlfriend’s father. How lame does that make
me?

“Liam’s turning out
to be quite the gentleman, and he’s doing a fine job being there
for Sara. I’m happy we found him. She needs someone like him around
to keep her on track.”

And just like that,
it’s a punch to the gut as he insults me, again. I’ve always
known Dean doesn’t like me, but when he says things like this, I
know without a doubt he’s trying to push Sara and me apart. I want
to tell him, “Too bad. You’ll have to find another way to make
Liam part of your family.” But instead, I stand and lay some cash
on the bar.

“She’s sure one
lucky woman,” I say. “Have a great night, Mr. Connelly.” I’ll
have to get his permission another night.

Sara

Sitting alone inside
The Silver Tap, I’m able to absorb the bar’s atmosphere and feel
proud of how far it’s come. The music box arrived last week. Liam
set it up right away because working in silence has been miserable. I
turn the set on random and pull up a seat at the bar. Without Liam
here, I don’t have to be on top of things. He’s a dedicated
worker and I’m proud he’s on the team, but I miss taking a few
minutes to just do nothing.
Nothing
but play on my phone.

I tap the screen to my
Instagram account and the most up-to-date photo is of Clara blowing a
spit bubble. I scroll through a few more and stop when I get to one
of Logan. He’s got his arm wrapped around Ethan, who is holding
Clara. They’re standing outside Kelsey and Ethan’s house. From
the sweat glowing off his face, they were more than likely shooting
hoops.

I stare at the photo. I
miss that smile. Those lips. The way his arms flex when he holds me.
I even miss those times after he and Ethan have played ball for hours
when he wraps his sweaty arms around me and doesn’t let me go until
I’ve kissed him. A smile touches my lips at the memory. That was
another sneaking around moment. I can’t wait to share those moments
in front of people. It’s only been two weeks since I saw him and
I’m going crazy.

“Hey, girl,” Andi’s
voice startles me.

“Hey,” I breathe as
I set my phone down and twist in my chair. She doesn’t need to know
I was ogling Logan’s picture.

She pulls up a seat and
I hand her the keys she came to pick up.

“Thanks,” she says,
watching me with a puzzled look on her face.

“What?” I ask. I’ve
only been around Andi a handful of times, but she’s always been
easy for me to talk to. In a way, I think she is going to be my
Colorado Kelsey.

“The look on your
face is a little depressing,” she says. “Do you have a special
someone back home? You look totally bummed out right now, and
guessing a guy has something to do with it is usually right 98
percent of the time.”

“Is it really that
obvious?”

“Yes, it is. You look
mopey,” she says. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“Two weeks ago.” I
shrug. “I was supposed to go home and see him this weekend, but
Liam went instead.”

She doesn’t miss a
beat. “Why didn’t you go?”

“My father thought it
would be best if Liam went to get more training.”

“But don’t you own
this bar, don’t you get to make the decisions on how he’s
trained?” she points out quickly.
Has
she been planning these questions?
“You should get to
make those decisions, right?”

I should, yes, but not
until I get those papers. I smile, not wanting to get into that
discussion with her.

“Hmm, you have a
pretty good point there, rookie,” I say. “You might just be my
favorite employee right now.”

“I’m basically your
only employee right now.” She laughs. “Besides the other people
you hired and Liam, but I don’t know how much he counts as an
employee of yours since he is always doing what your dad says. How
does that work anyway? Do you guys share this place or what? Why’s
he setting most of the rules, and why is he controlling Liam’s
training?”

I freeze and stare
blankly at her. Now that she mentions it, my father does seem to be
controlling most of what Liam does and something isn’t right about
the ownership papers taking this long. I press my eyelids closed and
drop my chin to my chest. Please do not let this be another one of my
father’s schemes to keep Logan and me apart. I’ve been denying it
since the day I got here, but enough is enough.

“My father’s a
smart man. He has a plan for everything,” I tell her and fake a
smile. I sure hope she believes me because I need to change that
ASAP. “I seek his advice every now and then, and it makes sense to
have Liam train in a fully functioning bar if he’s going to be
managing this place on his own.”

“Okay.” She hops
off the stool and heads for the door. “I won’t pry anymore
because I need to get going, but it’s Friday. Just go home. What
are you going to get done here that you can’t get done there?”

Nothing crosses my
mind.

“I just might do
that,” I tell her, still staring at the door after she’s left.
Why didn’t I think of that?

My ringing phone grabs
my attention. I let the unfamiliar number go to voicemail because I’m
that girl. I screen any call that comes from a number I don’t
recognize. Immediately my phone chirps with a voicemail. I punch in
the password as I gather my purse. If I want to get on the road, I’d
better start packing now.

Resting my phone
between my ear and shoulder, I lock the door just as the voicemail
begins to play.

“Hi, Ms. Connelly.
This is Allen with Feature Your Cable Company. I am calling to
confirm the setup for tomorrow morning. Arrival time should be
anywhere between nine and eleven. If you have any questions, please
don’t hesitate to call me on my cell, (303) 859-1597. Have a great
day.”