Page 11 of Loathe at First Sight

She turns around with wide eyes. “Well, there’s a blast from the past.”

“You know her?”

“Of course. Everyone knows her. Why are you asking?”

“Had to give her a tow today. She mentioned something about moving back.”

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Wow, I heard whispers of her maybe coming home, but I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Why do you say that?”

When she starts talking again, she lowers her voice as if telling me a secret. “Liz and I went to high school together. She was homecoming queen, valedictorian, and everything else you can imagine. Everyone loved her. When we graduated, she got into some fancy college down in California. After college, she got an even fancier job and stayed away. She would come home for holidays for a while, but even that stopped. It’s been years since she’s been home.”

“So, why now?”

Why the hell do I care?

“From what I hear, something happened to her and her business. Something bad. I’m not sure exactly what, though. I’ve heard everything from her owing a bunch of money to the mob to her running nothing more than a shell corporation so she could steal people’s money. But who knows? The whole family has been super tight-lipped about the whole thing.”

“Hm,” is all I say in response because quite frankly, I have no idea what else to say. I thought that talking to Misty would give me some answers about Liz, but really, it’s left me even more confused.

She adds, “Besides the family, I doubt anyone is pulling out the welcome wagon for the oldest child of the Lawson clan.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because ever since she left, she has acted like she’s too good for this place. Even when she would come home, she always walked around with her nose up in the air. People around here don’t like feeling like they aren’t good enough. I hope she isn’t expecting a warm welcome.”

I bite my tongue from telling Misty that I doubt Liz is going to be nice to anyone either. If how she acted toward Gina and I is any indication, I think people around here are right to think that she’s a snob. Apparently, I’m not the only one who has issues with her.

Just another reason to stay the fuck away from her.

four

A Not-So-Warm Welcome

Liz

Taking a deep breath, I walk toward the door of Andre’s Tavern. Before I even walk inside, I can hear the loud country music playing over the speakers. This place is more honkytonk than anything else.

When I step in, I see that not much has changed. The same animal heads hang on the walls. The same neon signs light up, advertising different beers on tap. Hell, even some of the same patrons sit at the stools around the lacquered oak bar top.

A few people turn around to look at me, and I swear I hear some whispers. Maybe it’s the fact that I look like I’ve just been through a tsunami. Or maybe it’s that people are wondering what the fuck I’m doing back here. I have no idea what my parents have or haven’t told people about why I had to move home. I don’t know which of those scenarios would be harder—if everyone knew my business or if people just guessed at what that business might be.

Thankfully, people’s attention turns away from me pretty quickly.

Growing up, this place was always our second home. Despite the fact that it was a bar, that never stopped my parents from having us around. When we were little, and they had just bought it, we would hang out in the office, playing make-believe games with a disconnected phone and keyboard. As we got older and hit our teenage years, Mom and Dad would let us come in and work for some extra cash. They didn’t let us serve drinks or anything, but we all were well-versed in washing dishes and mopping floors before Andre’s opened for the day.

I spot my mother at the bar. She’s talking on the phone and scribbling something on the small notepad in front of her.

Suzanne Lawson.

A woman who I have idolized my whole life—no matter how different she and I may be. She made raising five kids look easy while still managing to help my father run his dream business.

The woman thrives in chaos and does her best work under pressure. My insane work ethic is definitely a trait that I inherited from her.

She may be short in stature, but everyone in this town knows better than to mess with Suzanne. She takes no shit from anyone—including us kids.

There was no question that our mom loved us. She was our biggest cheerleader in everything we did. But she was also tough. She always pushed us to what she knew we were capable of. She’d go to war for us without question, but she wasn’t overly affectionate. Our dad took on more of that role.

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