Something to Prove (16 page)

“Okay. See you later.”

He wasn’t needed here. He never had been. How could he not feel resentment toward
Ryan because of that? Ryan had made sure of it. For a year Colin had been trying to
prove himself worthy while hoping for Ryan’s forgiveness.

It looked like that would never happen. Maybe it was time to move on. If Ryan wanted
to keep doing it all alone, Colin would let him. The rest of the family had welcomed
Colin back with open arms. He was tired of trying to please Ryan.

Ryan wasn’t Dad. Colin didn’t need his approval. He’d build Brannigan’s into something
to be proud of. Then he’d move on to have his own place.

He’d be a success in spite of Ryan’s disbelief.

Elizabeth stared at the list of bowling alleys in her hand. This was all too much.
Keith’s betrayal was reminiscent of their past. She couldn’t believe he’d done this
to her again.

Was winning that important to him?

Of course it was. It was important to her too. The difference was that she didn’t
cheat to win.

A bowling alley.

What would have possessed Keith to buy a bowling alley?

Interest stirred in her blood. The memories of that long-ago birthday party danced
in her head. She wondered if anything was operational next door. She hadn’t played
the game since she was a kid, and she had a whole alley all to herself.

Why not? The worst that would happen was that she’d go over there and find out that
nothing worked.

She pushed away from her desk before she lost her nerve. She stopped in the front
and was surprised to see another crowd. Still not quite as big as the night before,
but steady enough to suggest success. She smiled and waved at Mike. He seemed to be
handling everything. The bar looked clean and the customers satisfied.

“I’ll be next door if you need me. Call my cell. I’ll be back in a while.”

He looked a little confused about her going next door, but nodded. Inside the bowling
alley, she turned on every light switch she could find. The place was a mess. Inches
of dust and dirt coated every surface.

She yanked a tarp from a rack. The cloud of dust made her cough, but once she regained
her ability to breathe normally, she saw that the rack was still filled with bowling
balls. She ran her hand along a shiny, smooth ball. The cool surface made her fingers
itch to pick it up. She spun the ball until the three holes were faceup.

Sliding two fingers and her thumb in, she hefted the ball. It was too heavy for her
to use, but she liked the feel of it. Setting the ball back in its spot, she shook
her head. She was being childish. She didn’t have time for games.

Behind the shoe counter, she found some more switches and flipped them. Fortunately,
there were no shoes. She didn’t think she could bear the stench of shoes that had
been sitting for a decade. The shelves held a few cans of spray, probably for the
shoes. If she wanted to make this work, they would need to order all new shoes. The
balls seemed to be in good shape. She picked up a mini-pencil from the shelf and sifted
around for a sheet of paper.

Making a list was something she was good at. Just looking around, she was able to
see many things they’d have to order. Little pencils, scorecards . . . unless they
upgraded to all electronic scoring. That would probably be the way to go.

She’d never imagined that being the first one to take on a business would be so hard.
She always came in after Dad or Keith had things in place. She was expected to run
the staff and make sure they’d hired the right people, but Dad and Keith were the
idea people. Maybe that’s why they thought she couldn’t handle being in charge.

They never trusted her to come up with the ideas. In fact, they’d never even asked
for her input. Sure, she was good enough to maintain the books and follow their plans,
but they’d never thought to invite her into the development phase.

Well, she would show them. She would take this alley and turn it around, just as she
had the bar.

Upgrades of this nature would be more expensive than anything else she’d done. If
she wanted access to company funds of this proportion, she’d have to explain to her
father. No, for this, she’d use her own money to keep flying under the radar.

First, before ordering anything, she needed to find a repairman to make sure the equipment
was operational. She didn’t know if she could afford to replace the pin setters. It
was too late in the day to make calls now. Tomorrow would come soon enough.

In the meantime, she’d start the cleaning process all over. She wondered if Moira
was free. She could use the company. Unfortunately, she didn’t have Moira’s number.
She dialed Colin again, but it went to voice mail.

“Hi, Colin. It’s Elizabeth. I’m in the bowling alley, and I figured I’d get a jump
start on cleaning and was wondering if you’d give Moira a call and see if she’d be
interested in helping. Just a thought. See you later.”

She disconnected and went back to her office to change into jeans and a T-shirt and
get cleaning supplies. She bet her father and Keith never got this hands-on during
a takeover. It was definitely a new experience.

The Brannigan’s T-shirt she put on was the one Colin had given her that revealed too
much skin. She wore it because she hadn’t gotten an extra one from him and she wouldn’t
be with customers. In the mirror, she caught sight of the red marks just above the
neckline of the shirt.

Colin’s whiskers had done that. The skin was a little raw, but the memory flooded
her with pleasure. She filled a bucket with soap and hot water and trudged out the
back door and swung into the alley. She hoped to find the water still connected on
that side or this was going to be a real pain in the ass.

She worked in silence, scraping away layers of dirt and scum, beginning the next phase
in the project that was truly hers.

The bleep of a voice mail woke Colin from sleep. He jolted awake, more well rested
than he’d felt in days, maybe even weeks. He listened to the message from Elizabeth.
Where did that woman get her energy? She’d already been at the bar all night last
night, found out about the bowling alley, fought with him, had sex, and now she was
back at work, attempting to tackle the cleaning of the bowling alley. He rolled out
of bed, knowing he needed to go help.

He checked the time. He could call Moira, but part of him preferred to have Elizabeth
to himself. If Mike was handling the bar without a problem, there was no reason they
couldn’t work together to put a dent in the cleaning of the alley.

And maybe if he was really lucky, he could talk Elizabeth into coming back home with
him.

He took a quick shower, checked in with Mary down at O’Leary’s, and headed out. He
began to question exactly how Ryan had managed to run both bars for so long by himself.
Sure, he had Mary, but he still put time in at both places on a daily basis. He guessed
Ryan hadn’t had much of a personal life over the past few years.

Ryan had almost lost Quinn because he was so used to doing everything alone. Colin
had convinced Ryan that he wasn’t alone, that they’d work together to take care of
their family. Now Colin felt the pressure of that commitment.

He pulled up behind the bar and parked in a spot on the bowling alley side. The back
door was propped open. He walked in and saw Elizabeth scrubbing a long counter. The
noise from the bar next door seeped through the wall. Before announcing his presence,
he took a look around with fresh eyes.

The room was a mess, but it wasn’t destroyed. Elizabeth had pulled tarps off the racks
to reveal rows of bowling balls. The hardwood flooring of the alleys appeared to be
in good shape.

Maybe this wasn’t as bad as he’d originally thought. The place had been closed for
a decade. That meant that it hadn’t suffered the wear and tear the bar had been through.
This was just neglected space.

“Hey,” he called out to get Elizabeth’s attention.

She jumped a little at the sound of his voice. “Hi. I guess you got my message.”

She turned and tossed a rag into a bucket of water. She wore the T-shirt he had given
her, the one that showed a nice bit of cleavage. Her soft skin was still red where
his jaw had rubbed against it.

“I’m here to help. Mike will be fine at the bar.” He moved closer. He stroked the
sensitive skin below her collarbone. “Sorry about this.”

She swatted his hand away. “It’s fine. Collateral damage. Usually I’m the one inflicting
the pain.”

“I should consider myself lucky that I got away unscathed, huh?”

“Definitely.” She reached back into the bucket and wrung out the rag. “This place
is disgusting. I’m on my third bucket of water just to clean this counter.”

“Where do you want me to start?”

She shook her head and looked around. “Pick a spot. At this rate, we’ll be here all
night.”

He went to the backroom of the bar to grab more cleaning supplies, and while he was
there, he snagged a bottle of wine. He rarely drank anymore, but if he had to suffer
through more cleaning, he might as well enjoy himself. It also had to help loosen
Elizabeth up.

They worked for hours scrubbing and listening to some classic rock station on a battered
radio. Colin made a mental note to get the stereo hooked up in here as well. Elizabeth
sipped at the first glass he’d poured for her.

“Do you know if both businesses ran together?”

“Huh?” she asked, clearly caught up in her own thoughts.

“Is there a way for the bar and bowling alley to connect up here?”

“I have no idea. I just know that Keith said they closed down the alley because it
was too much work.”

“Keith?”

Her face froze like she’d said something she shouldn’t have. “My brother.”

“Oh.” Why would she be worried about talking about her brother? “I’m starving. Aren’t
you hungry?”

She shrugged.

“It would be nice if we had a real kitchen here like we do at O’Leary’s. Then we could
just yell out an order and eat.” He planted the seed in her mind. Having a fully functioning
kitchen would increase the value of the business. “I’m going to order pizza. What
do you like on it?”

He prayed she wouldn’t say something weird like fruit. Fruit did not belong on a pizza.

“I’m fine with whatever you get.”

She seemed distant. He wanted to get her to interact. Respond. Something. He whipped
out his phone and ordered a pizza with everything and had it delivered to the bar.
He propped the front door open so he could keep an eye out for the delivery guy.

By the time the pizza arrived, the counter area was practically sparkling. He’d managed
to get the tables at each alley clean. The floors were a different matter altogether.
He wasn’t sure if the ratty carpet was worth salvaging.

Colin reentered the bowling alley carrying the pizza. “Do you want to eat here or
go next door and eat in your office?”

Elizabeth tossed the dirty rag back in the bucket. “We might as well eat here. My
office is a little cramped.”

He set the pizza on the counter and pulled over a couple of stools. He brushed the
worst of the dirt off them and offered one to Elizabeth. She looked exhausted. Too
bad she hadn’t taken a nap like he had.

She took the smallest piece of pizza from the box and nibbled at it.

“Please don’t tell me you’re one of
those
women.”

“
Those
women?”

“The kind that pretends not to eat.”

“No. I love to eat. You’ve seen me eat.”

“Yeah. A salad and fries.”

“I’m just really tired and I still have an upset stomach.”

“Your stomach is upset a lot. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”