Page 74 of Peer & Coco

Chapter 30

The glasses clinkedagainst each other on the tray. Coco moved away from the crowd of people, balancing the load of dishes.

"Coco, order up for Table Four," said Dinah.

She looked behind her and weaved her way through the customers standing around the fire in the center of the room. Meeting Dinah's eyes, she smiled, letting her know she heard.

Back at the counter, she dropped off the dirty glasses, put the order on a clean tray, and went back on the floor. If people kept coming in at the same rate they were going, the hours would fly by.

"If you need anything else, let me know." She left the customers with a smile and almost ran into Lizzy. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I heard you need an extra server." Lizzy tied the short apron over her shorts. "Where do you need me?"

"Let Heather and Monica know you're here and float between the tables." She stepped away, stopped, and said, "Lizzy?"

"Yeah?"

"It's good to have you back, even for the night." She gave a little hop before realizing that in a month, The Fire Ring would be without a server and a bartender.

Would Lizzy come back and work full-time, leaving Hanne with the women at the clubhouse? If Dinah moved up to being the main bartender, they'd have to hire someone to take her place on the floor.

She didn't like the changes. The Fire Ring wouldn't be the same place once she and Peer left.

"Hey." Peer snagged her wrist when she walked to the kitchen window. "What did Lizzy say that upset you?"

She shook her head. "It wasn't Lizzy."

"Talk to me."

Peach turned the order wheel and yelled out her number. She stretched to her toes and kissed his cheek and in his ear, said, "I'll tell you later."

He grunted loud enough; she could hear the displeasure over the noise inside the bar. There was nothing she could say or do right now. She moved away from him to grab the food under the warmer.

She worked non-stop until it was time for her lunch break. By then, some semblance of order had come to the bar with Lizzy's help, and Peer had time to slip outside into the alley with her. She tilted her head back, cooling off. It was warm inside the bar when she constantly had to move and fight the crowd.

"Tell me what was going on earlier when you were talking to Lizzy." Peer lit a cigarette.

"It's nothing, really." She leaned against the wall and sipped the water she'd brought out with her. "It just hit me that when we leave, everything is going to change. Not only our lives, but everyone here will feel the impact. My relationship with Lizzy will change. Roar's going to have to hire two more people to work at the bar, which will change the whole dynamics inside. Right now, we have Holly and Nita watching Tyr in the clubhouse while we're at the bar, and it's so easy to check in on him when we have breaks. What if we can't find someone we trust to watch him in Norway?"

"My parents can—"

"Have you asked them if they would? We don't know if they're able to or want to. You said they were in their seventies." She shrugged. "See? I told you it was nothing. Just worries that keep popping in my head."

"You're overwhelmed. Slow down." He stubbed his smoke out in the can filled with sand by the back door, then hugged her. "Trust me to take care of you."

"I do, honey." She kissed him. "We will have a fantastic life together. You. Me. Tyr."

His arms tightened around her. "I like hearing you say that."

"I believe in us." She kissed him softly. "I've also been thinking about the repercussions of leaving. If Kelli got a lawyer is it possible that you could get arrested for taking Tyr out of the country?"

"He's my kid. We have no legal contract giving her custody of him. Now, if we stay here, she can take me to court and let them decide who he should live with."

"They always pick the mother." She groaned. "I'm just worried that the fight over custody will follow us over there."

"It won't."

She kissed him, wanting to believe him. But having children was a lifetime commitment. She couldn't see Kelli giving up, even if they went into hiding.

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