Page 29 of Capturing Hearts

Chapter Twenty-One

Annie

Baby bellies are great for tips, bad for patience.

Barb’s ample, leathery cleavage spills over a gypsy-style blouse as she leans into the bar counter to gleefully whisper, “Ice Queen has left the building! I told you she’d drink white wine! Am I good or am I good?”

I glance over, hoping said Ice Queen didn’t hear that, but the front door of Le Barré has mercifully shut behind that particular female customer and her not so happy date. There’s only one couple left now, plus Barb. But she’ll stay until after we’ve closed, no doubt about that.

Topping off the elegant glass with more Pinot Grigio, I give her an unconvinced look. “Barb, you’re drinking white. Are you an ice queen? And I like white wine. What does that make me?”

Momentarily stuck, she sucks on the insides of her mouth, thinking about how to prove her point. She unsticks as an idea hits her, her penciled-in eyebrows wagging happily. “Yes, but she asked for ice in hers! A-HA! I am never wrong!” She grabs onto the counter so fast that her bracelets jangle as she demands, “Admit it!”

Barb is my favorite regular and she takes great pride in predicting the cocktail a person will drink as soon as they enter my chic little lounge bar on Mission Street. Ever since Le Barré opened, Barb’s been a regular fixture, always sitting on the street-side end of the bar. When I was just getting started and business wasn’t great, she never failed to show up and make me smile. I will always treasure her for that, even if she does wear on my patience on occasion.

I set the bottle down nearby and tighten my heavy ponytail. “Well…she did ask for ice, and it is cold outside tonight.”

A manicured finger stretches toward me with brown eyes dancing behind it. “Exactly! She loves the cold because she is the cold.”

I cock my head to the side. “Okay, let’s have a little Christmas spirit. It didn’t look like her date went very well.” Barb’s eyes lose their sparkle and her smile falls, which kills me. I sigh inwardly and choose my loyalty, leaning forward to whisper, “But really, who wants to date an ice queen?” The sparkle springs back and she whoops loudly, followed by a gregarious laugh.

Glancing to movement in my periphery, I spot the last customers getting up from a booth on the far wall readying to leave. Those two have been sitting very close to each other all night, something I love to see. As he slides on her coat for her, then leans down and kisses her, I turn back to Barb with a different kind of smile, the kind that misses my husband.

Barb takes a generous sip of her wine and points to my ridiculously large stomach. “Your Momma’s one of the good ones, kid.”

I shake my head, holding onto my belly, feeling the taut rim of my pregnancy jeans under my extra large, black t-shirt. “Jacob, don’t listen to her. Your mommy’s a little rough around the edges. Barb, you should have seen how I got our Christmas tree!”

Chuckling, I leave that story hanging in the air as I walk over to ring up the lovebirds, my steps slower than they were earlier tonight. I’m feeling tired this close to closing time. Pushing an argument Brendan and I had about my working this late out of my mind, I smile and meet the couple just as they arrive at the opposite side of the bar’s counter. “Hi there, ready to close out?”

Nodding, the man lays down his credit card. “Yeah, thanks.” I notice dirt underneath his fingernails, and look up to get a good look at his face. He’s around thirty-three with light blonde hair, tanned cheeks and pale forehead, so he definitely works outdoors with a hat. Construction maybe? What I love is the way he’s looking at his brunette girlfriend, a pretty Asian of around my age, twenty-eight. And she’s looking at him the same way, wrapping her orange scarf twice around her neck to prepare for the chilly night, but her eyes are warmly locked on her man. Staring down at her, he cheerfully announces, “Yeah, I’ve got to get this one home for her present.”

I’m so close to making a sexual joke, it’s dangerous. Last thing I need is another Yelp review calling us out for being too liberal with our sexual innuendoes. Laura and I were joking one night about the shape of a certain bottle of tequila and the other uses for it that could come in handy, but apparently there were some among us who didn’t find that too funny. So I bite my tongue and sweetly ask, “Oh, celebrating a couple days early?”

The brunette’s face falls a little. “Carter’s going home to Chicago to celebrate with his family. They do a big thing on Christmas Eve. He leaves first thing tomorrow to get there before dinner.”

I sneak a quick glance to Carter and see him looking way more disappointed than guilty. Turning to run the card, I casually assure her, “Well, don’t worry. I have a feeling you’ll be going with him next year.” Peeking to see her reaction, I’m gratified by the deep blush coloring her face. He takes her chin in hand and kisses her gently.

I hand Carter the receipt to sign with a smile on my face. “You guys are making me miss my husband.” His girlfriend looks down at my belly and I answer the question she’s holding back. “Yes, this is his. And no, he doesn’t want me here working this late. A constant source of debate.”

With a gentleness I don’t possess, she asks, “Is it hard to work when you’re…”

“As big as a house?”

She laughs. “I was going to say pregnant!”

Grinning, I hook my hands over my belly. “I own the place, so it’s like my baby, too. Plus, working keeps me busy. This not-so-little one was due last week, so I’m losing my mind waiting. What’s your name? I know you’re Carter,” I add, looking at the blonde as he struggles to fit the card back into his over-stuffed wallet.

He nods with a smile as she holds out her hand to me. “I’m Violet.”

“Annie. Nice to meet you.” We shake and Carter joins in after, giving my hand a rigorous bounce.

Violet, feeling a bit more brave now that I’ve proven to be so easy-going, offers from behind a knowing smile, “My grandmother always said that babies know exactly when to arrive. It’s just the mothers who do not know.”

I look down at my unborn son, and raise my eyes to give her a skeptical glance from under my eyebrows. “You think he’s got a plan?” She nods. “We’ll see. It was nice meeting you both. Hopefully I’ll see you again soon.”

Carter booms, “Oh, you will. I live only a couple blocks away. Found this place after I read an article online. You were robbed here, huh? What was that like?”

My expression darkens. “You don’t have to worry about him. He’s behind bars now. We’re all safe.”

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