Page 74 of Sweet Somethings

"Like I said, he was headstrong and stubborn."

As John stepped behind the bar to answer something for the bartender, Roman thought about what he'd just learned. He'd given up on asking his mother for information about his father, because it always made her cry, and when he'd broached the subject with his grandfather, the reaction had been anger. So he'd let it be, figuring he didn't really need to know about a man who'd given him nothing more than a last name.

But knowing that his father liked music…somehow that changed things a little, fleshed out the ghostly figure in his head.

"Roman, you were amazing."

He turned his head to see Juliette's bright smile and dazzling blue eyes. "Thanks. You're being generous as usual."

"I'm really not. I was actually quite impressed. Everyone was. I've been to bars where people just keep talking when the band plays, but you had everyone's attention."

"I think that was Fiona."

"She was good, too."

"Can I buy you a drink or are you still working on that one?" He tipped his head to the quarter-full glass of wine in her hand.

"I'm just going to finish this. I'm afraid if I drink anymore, I'll fall asleep with my head on the bar."

"I'm surprised you're awake at all after your marathon night and morning."

"I wanted to hear you play."

A wave of emotion ran through him at her simple words. He didn't quite know how to handle it. He cleared his throat. "I saw you talking to Doug." He was sorry the instant he brought up the other man's name, but it was too late.

"I figured that's why you didn't come over to say hello." She paused. "You're not going to like this—"

"Then maybe don't say it," he suggested.

"But I think you should consider the fact that maybe you, Doug, and Travis need to hash out the past so you can all move on."

He sighed. "It's over. Forget about it."

"Look, I wasn't going to bring it up again with Doug, but he did it himself."

He drank the rest of his beer in one long swallow. "I don't care what he thinks, Juliette."

"He cares what you think."

"No, he doesn't."

"Yes, he does. He said you think he turned on you, but he didn't."

"He just wants to win an election, Juliette. He'll say whatever he thinks will make him appear like a good guy."

"I'll admit that he's self-serving. He doesn't really pretend not to be. I told him that he's probably the only of you who can actually find out what truly happened, what everyone said, and that if he wants to get to the truth, he might try looking for it. His father was the chief of police. He can speak to him, or he can ask to see the case file. Maybe there are transcripts of the interviews each of you had. There's a truth that I don’t think any of you know. And if Doug wants to prove that his father didn't protect him by going after you, then he's going to need ammunition."

"He doesn't want to prove that. Whatever he said to you was just to make points, get you on his side."

"I told him I was on the side of the truth."

He would have preferred if she'd said she was on his side.

"Oh, and I saw Travis at Donavan's today," she continued. "He looked as bad as he did on Saturday, and he was asking Donavan for a job. He said he was desperate to find work. I think Cameron's well-being is still up in the air."

He didn't really know how to feel about Travis. Because Doug's dad had been the one to press him about confessing his guilt, he'd always blamed Doug more than Travis, but the two of them had always been better friends with each other than with him. He had no doubt that they'd made sure their stories matched up, or their fathers had made sure of it.

But Juliette was right about one thing—Travis's unemployment situation didn't bode well for Cameron. "I'm sure he'll find work. His father was well-liked in the town. Maybe Doug will give him a job. Did you tell him he was looking?"

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