Page 62 of Wish You Would

“You good?”

I blinked and refocused on Dante. “Yeah, sorry, I’m good.” Drumming my pen on the clipboard, I exhaled a cleansing breath. Work now, I told myself. Parker later. “So. What do you say? You in?”

Dante studied me for a moment longer before nodding slowly. “If you got faith, I got faith.”

Grinning, I tucked my pen behind my ear. “I’ve got faith,” I said as I whirled around him. “Now, get to work.”

I left him at the bar to finish his opening tasks and ducked into the kitchen for a quick check-in. Kai and Artie were diligently prepping for the evening and looked to be right on track. Smiling to myself, I popped my head into the office where Vaughn was finishing up payroll before heading out for his night class.

“How’s it looking?” I asked, peering over his shoulder.

“Good.” He put his pencil down and spun the chair to face me. “Compared to this time last year, goddamn miraculous.” He grinned, brown eyes crinkling at the corners. Damn, did he look more like Dad every day.

A warm glow filled me. I leaned a shoulder on the doorway. A year ago, I was somewhere in the middle of the ocean, a hole in my chest where my heart used to be. A year ago, I was so wracked with guilt and shame that I’d convinced myself I could never come home.

Then, I broke.

I thanked whatever deity that resided in the sky every day for that breaking. Because it led me home.

Tucking those thoughts aside, I smiled at my brother. “I’m so glad,” I said, fighting off the sting behind my eyes.

Vaughn smiled back. “Me, too.”

We stayed there for a moment, letting everything that brought us here sit between us. Then I pushed away from the doorway and squeezed his shoulder. He rested his hand on mine, squeezing back. With one last smile, I left him to his work.

Out front, Patti Mayonnaise was finished setting up and had started sound check. Halle looked up and caught my eye. Smiling, she jogged across the bar.

Shit. I glanced around for something to do, some excuse to escape. I adored Halle, but recent circumstances made her the very last person I wanted to talk to right now. Recent circumstances being, you know, that we’d kissed the same girl on the same day.

I hadn’t checked in, re: Parker. I should have. A better friend would have. But I…wanted to be selfish. Just for a moment.

Or a few days.

God, I sucked.

“Hey.” Halle leaned her elbows on the bar top, dimple flashing. “How’s it going?”

“Good, good.” I retrieved my pen from where I’d tucked it behind my ear and clicked it, focusing my gaze on the to-do list in front of me and not on the pretty woman who also knew the soft of Parker’s lips. Something hot twisted in my gut. I gripped my pen tighter. “You?”

“Not great, I won’t lie.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, crinkling her nose. “Just Ryan on vocals tonight.”

“I saw that.” I rested my chin in my palm, doing an impression of casual. A bad one, at that. “No luck, huh?”

“Nope.” Halle rolled her eyes. “It’s been fucking impossible to find a replacement for Jas. We’ve got that big show at The Ledge in a few weeks. The time crunch is unreal.”

“Damn.” I glanced toward the stage, stomach fluttering. The big show at The Ledge was the kick-off event of the summer. I knew from previous conversations with the band that this was their first time being asked to perform. It was a big deal. Halle was underplaying it. “That’s too bad.”

“Truly.” She drummed her fingers on the bar, glancing over my shoulder to where Dante was busy prepping for open. I could see her thoughts shifting and swirling, but as I opened my mouth to discourage her next words, she tossed them between us. “You up for it?”

Yes.

A tremor of excitement followed the thought, and I had to clutch the clipboard so hard my fingers ached. I could almost feel the stage lights heating my skin. Nope, I thought. You have a job, and it doesn’t involve a mic in your hand . “I don’t know,” I started, the excitement wrapping itself around my refusal, intent on smothering it. “I have a lot—”

“I’m heading out,” Vaughn interrupted, popping his head in from back of house. “You all have a good night.”

I waved him off and Dante called goodbye over his shoulder, then turned back to his current task. Once Vaughn had disappeared, I faced Halle again. “Going on,” I finished, sending a silent Thank you to my brother for providing me with a moment to rescue my refusal from excitement’s clutches. “There’s a lot going on tonight.”

Her eyes were shrewd as she assessed the tableau behind me. Every position, every job, was being performed by someone who was not me. “I can see that,” she said dryly.

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