Page 56 of A Moment In Time

Remy glanced over his shoulder. “Save me some Jameson. I’ll be in after we close.”

“You got it. See you soon, Rand.”

Rand waved a hand over his shoulder as Gage left the kitchen with the two plates. He met Becca coming through the door again. This time, she was on his side.

“Hey. Stay to the right.”

She laughed. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

“See you in a bit.”

“If I survive the next two hours.”

“Just think of all the money you’re going to make.”

“Sometimes, I wonder if it’s worth it.”

Gage spotted a few people he should talk to in the restaurant, but there really wasn’t time. He gave them a nod and a smile and kept walking.

Gage and Paxton ate while they served beer and poured drinks. He would’ve like to sit down and enjoy it, but that wasn’t going to happen. It was delicious though, and he wanted seconds. That wasn’t going to happen either.

By the time Cabe showed up at five-thirty, the bar was full and most of the tables were occupied. The first thing Cabe did was refill the beer cooler and wash some more glasses. The dirty glasses would be a never ending battle tonight.

At nine o’clock, Paxton got a call from Elaina. He went to Gage and Cabe. “Elaina’s in labor.”

Gage put a hand on his shoulder. “Shit. Go. We’ve got this.”

“Okay.” It seemed Paxton couldn’t quite make himself move.

Cabe gave him a light shove. “Go on, man. You’re about to become a father again.”

Paxton nodded. “Shit. I’m about to become a father again.”

Rand came up to them. “We really don’t have time for you boys to chitchat.”

Gage smiled. “You’re about to become a great-uncle for the sixth time. Elaina’s in labor.”

Rand touched Paxton’s arm. “Get out of here, son. We’ve got the bar.”

Paxton nodded. “Right. I’ll call you when I can.”

As Gage watched him go, he was surprised by the tinge of envy he felt. It seemed everyone but him was moving on and starting families. He never thought he wanted that for himself. But it was hard not to be affected by the love his siblings felt for their spouses and their growing families. He shook his head. He had to get back to work. This wasn’t the time or place to reflect on his life choices.

With reports of the weather getting worse outside, the men were all worried about getting home once the bar closed. At eleven, things started slowing down a little and Gage suggested at least two of them should go home. It was decided Rand and Cabe should go. Gage could always sleep in his office if he had to. And Cooper felt he should stay just in case there was any last-minute trouble with the customers. So far, the night hadbeen uneventful. But if trouble happened, it usually occurred at closing time. Some guys just didn’t want to call it a night.

So Rand and Cabe left for the ranch, and Gage and Cooper stayed to close up in an hour. They hadn’t heard anything from Paxton other than the fact they were at the clinic. Their plans to deliver the baby in the hospital in Richfield were thwarted by the storm and the fact the ferry stopped running at eight. They knew it was always a possibility, and Corbyn had been kept updated by Elaina’s doctor. It seemed he’d be delivering his niece or nephew tonight.

There were still ten customers in the bar at eleven-forty-five, so Cooper approached each of them and told them it was last call. Half of them took him up on one more drink. The other five left.

As they started the closing process, Cooper came up to Gage. “So how goes it at the newspaper without your Lois Lane?”

“Not great, actually. Clem’s been helping me a couple of days a week. But she can’t do what Sydney did. Sydney can write and layout the paper. She could run the place herself if she really needed to.”

“Sounds like you need to get her back.”

“Not that easy to do. She won’t come back. She came in today to help me get the paper ready to distribute tomorrow. Otherwise, I’d be going there when I leave here.”

“Well, that’s something anyway.”

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