Page 109 of Wilde Abandon

“But still not right.”

“An Irish pub is nice and all, but I’m a country girl at heart, who’s going to be living in the city.I want a little of both worlds.”

He took a step backward and tugged her to follow him toward the door about ten feet down the block.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Someplace that could be the right place.”

“Wait up,” Max called from the lobby doors.

Dean walked out behind him.

“What are you guys doing out here?”Fox asked both his friends, wondering what they were up to.

Max did the talking for both of them.“We heard what you were doing and we figured out why, and we want in on it.”

Melody eyed all of them.“Someone want to fill me in?”

Fox didn’t answer her, but looked at Dean.“Do you know everything?”

“Nothing goes on in this building that I don’t know about.And I for one think this is a genius idea.”

“Maybe,” Fox admitted.“If it feels right to her.”

Melody looked at each of them, then narrowed her eyes.“I don’t like being the odd man out here.What is this about?”

Fox pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and turned to the locked double doors behind him.“What do you think of the front?”

“Of what?I can’t even see through the windows.”

They’d been sprayed with something white so no one could see inside.It was temporary.

Above the doors was a discolored space where the sign for the restaurant used to be.

“It needs to be painted to differentiate it from the office building it’s attached to,” Melody suggested.“Bright white to offset the gray next door.I’d change out the windows and doors to black-trimmed ones.More contemporary and clean.It would make this place stand out from the neighboring buildings.”

“That’s easy enough,” Max said.

“I like that idea,” Dean added.

Fox unlocked the doors.

“Are we allowed in here?”Melody refused to move when he tried to get her to come inside.

“I got the keys from management next door.Come in.”

Melody, Max, and Dean walked in.They all stood in the area that used to be the hostess station and seating for waiting customers.

“What do you think?”Fox asked.

She didn’t say anything, just zeroed in on the massive bar and headed straight for it.Mirrors at the back with shelves for booze, lights to highlight the selection.That light would glow off the mirrors like a beacon for customers to come on up, sit a spell, and order a drink.The bar itself was polished wood.Not just squared-off boards, but thick slabs cut from a tree with the edges rounded like the curve of the trunk.The thick slabs were interlaced with dark green see-through acrylic.She smoothed her hand over the surface.Rustic but classy.She loved it.The front of the bar was black to match the barstools and the banquet seating breaking up the bar area from the front eating space.Black tables with additional black bar stools filled the area between the half wall that divided the kitchen on the left side of the building and the additional tables at the back.She turned from the bar and walked across the room to the kitchen.A full grill, huge ovens, gas stove, a massive walk-in refrigerator, lots of prep space.Perfect.

She turned to the tables up front and started counting them.Eight window tables.An additional eight tables down the center, then the banquette tables that could easily seat six, possibly eight if you wanted to get cozy.Along the wall right next to the kitchen, there were cozy booths that sat up to four.At the back, she counted eight more booths and sets of tables.

“What’re you going to name this place?”Fox stood behind her as she stared across the huge expanse of the building.

“The Dark Horse.Not a dive bar, but a classy place with down-home roots.”

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