Page 99 of Challenged by the Single Dad

“Yeah, fucking ferry,” another guy hollered. “What the hell? Now we’re trapped here on this hippy rock with our bikes and no where to sleep.”

Called it. The were cyclists.

Hmm.

“Hang on,” Dom said, pulling out his phone. He turned to Logan. “They can have one drink each, then they’re cut off. I’m going to see if Hawke has room at the hostel.”

Logan nodded. “That’s a good idea. I was going to suggest the cabins but—”

Dom shook his head, his eyes wide as he found Hawke’s number.

“Yeah, no. I wouldn’t want those hooligans in my cabins either.”

That made Dom snort. “Hooligans? How old are you, Grandpa? I’m surprised you didn’t call themhoodlums.”

Logan huffed a laugh. “They’re not wearing hoods. They can’t be hoodlums.” Then he went to work filling up pitchers of beer as Dom put his phone to his ear and stepped into the kitchen.

“Hello?” came the deep, familiar rumble of Hawke Taylor.

“Hawke, it’s Dom. You got room at the inn?”

“More than I’d like,” Hawke said glumly. “Why? What’s up?”

Dom quickly explained the situation, and Hawke was even faster to agree. He even offered to come with his shuttle bus and pick everyone up, since none of them seemed in any condition to drive, and probably shouldn’t have driven to the pub from the distillery. Dom would be calling the guys at Hardwood tomorrow to let them know his opinion on things and the fact that they let these men leaveanddrive when they clearly were in no condition to do so.

He ended the call with Hawke, then re-entered the bar to give the bachelor party the good news.

“Wow, what service,” the man who had since identified himself as the best man and guy in charge, said. “Thank you.” He shook Dom’s hand. “Just for that, we’ll have another round.” He hollered at Logan to get his attention. “Ahoy, young man! Another round of your finest ale, please and thank you.”

Logan’s gaze shifted to Dom. Dom shook his head slightly, then turned back to the best man. “Actually, your ride will be here shortly. But we appreciate your appreciation. So, just finish the round you all have now, and Hawke will be here to pick you up and take you to the hostel.”

Thankfully, the best man didn’t seem put out by having his libations effectively cut off. They all just appeared happy that they wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor at the ferry terminal.

Within fifteen minutes, Hawke lumbered his broad, burly frame through the pub doors.

“Jesus, Mary, and Santa Claus,” the best man said, “you’re fucking massive. Do you know you’re fucking massive?”

“Wait, you mean, I’m not a five foot two ballerina?” Hawke asked with a shit-eating grin.

The best man lobbed a big, obnoxious laugh at Hawke, but stood up. “Men! Move out. Our ride is here.”

Like well-trained soldiers, the bachelor party stood up and filed out. The best man was the last to leave since he had to pay the tab—and holy shit, the tip he left was nothing short of generous.

For as sideways as that could have gone, it went surprisingly well.

Dom saw them out and into the shuttle. “Thanks, Hawke.”

Hawke gave a two-finger salute. “No, thankyou. We’re suffering because of what happened to Chloe—and Ginny. So this helps.”

Dom nodded and watched the red taillights disappear down the laneway, then vanish when the shuttle turned onto the main road. Two big Chevy Suburbans were parked in the parking lot, each decked out with enormous bike racks andverypricey mountain bikes. He counted twelve bikes altogether. The bikes would be safe here. But just to be doubly sure, he went back into the pub to make sure all the security cameras were working properly.

“Well, that could have been a shit show,” Renée said, placing all the empty beer glasses on her round tray. “When I saw them all come in, and realized they’d already been drinking, my stomach dropped.”

Dom’s head bobbed as he started helping her and Logan push apart tables and tuck in chairs. “Mine too. But it just goes to show that appearances can be deceiving and—”

“Kindness goes a long way?”

“I was going to say, you need to handle drunks with a firm hand, but yeah, that too.”

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