Page 5 of The Wayward Son

He studied her for a moment. “Is that what you’ve been doing?”

She drank some beer. “No. I actually went to college. I waited tables until I was twenty-one, then tended bar to pay for what financial aid didn’t cover. I’m actually a hell of a bartender.”

“What did you study?”

“Hotel management and hospitality at UW.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You can get a degree in that?”

“Yes. It’s part of a business degree.”

He leaned back in his chair. “So, your dream job is to manage a hotel?”

“Not just any hotel. I’m holding out for a job someplace cool.”

“Ahh… Like?” He got up to check the soup.

“Hawaii or Tahiti. New Orleans, Miami.”

“Okay. Someplace warm. You’re tired of the snow.”

“I’m tired of everything in Montana. Spokane may as well be Montana. The weather’s the same.” She smiled. “Except you. I’ll never get tired of you.”

“Is that why I haven’t heard from you in seven and a half years? Six months after you moved to Spokane, you stopped communicating with me.”

She drank some more beer. “I was going through a rough time. And leaving you behind kind of devastated me. It was easier to make a clean break. Or at least that’s what I thought at the time. Seeing you now, I realize that was dumb. If we had stayed in touch, you probably would’ve been able to talk me out of marrying stupid Seth.” She took a breath. “I wouldn’t be sittinghere drinking beer with you after fleeing my wedding. And I certainly wouldn’t be thinking that I could be on a plane right now headed for Las Vegas.

He missed her rants. “Vegas?”

“That’s where we were going for our honeymoon.” She studied the label on her beer bottle. “Do you think he went without me?”

“Do you really care?”

“I guess not.”

“So stop thinking about it. How long have you been out of school?”

“I graduated last spring.”

“And what have you been doing since?”

“Tending bar.” She cocked her head. “Didn’t we start this conversation with you telling me everything?”

Sawyer stirred the soup and turned the burner off. “Not much to tell on my end. I spend my time between here and home.”

“And your dad’s married. When did that happen?”

“They got married a year and a couple of weeks ago. February second.”

“Wow. And when is the baby due?”

He thought for a moment. “March sixteenth. Or there abouts. After the fight, I’m going back. I don’t’ want to miss it.”

“So they didn’t waste any time.”

He smiled. “No, they didn’t.”

“That’s really cute. And what about J.T.?”

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