Page 172 of Mountain Daddy
She huffs. “Everything is fine. Why do you sound so… stressed out?”
Jessie snorts. “Because heisstressed out.”
I narrow my eyes at her.How good is her damn hearing?
“Hi, Aunt Jessie,” Ashley half shouts into the phone.
“Hey. Ash.”
I sigh and put the phone on speaker as I circle around the bar and sit on one of the stools.
It’ll start getting busy soon, but we’re in that late-afternoon lull, so there’s no one but Jessie close enough to hear our conversation.
“What’re you up to?” I ask.
“Just driving home from work. We’re going out to dinner tonight to celebrate my new raise,” Ashley says excitedly.
“A raise? That’s awesome,” I say as Jessie lets out a whoop. “Just for being your usual amazing self?”
“I mean, yes.” She snickers. “But also, because…” I hear her drumroll her hands on her steering wheel. “I got a promotion.”
Jessie whoops again, and my first real smile in days pulls across my lips. “That’s great, Ash. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. My boss told me she’d give me a gift for graduating from college. I figured it would be some bonus money or maybe a day of PTO or something. But she made me assistant manager.”
“Damn.” Jessie drags the word out.
I point at the pair of glasses. “Pour us a celebratory shot.”
Ashley laughs over the phone as Jessie complies.
Jessie and I clink glasses.
“Who are you going to dinner with? Your new subordinates?” I tip my shot back.
“Uh, my boyfriend, actually.”
I swallow wrong, choking on the booze as it burns my throat. “Excuse me?”
Jessie grins.
I point a finger at my sister. “Why are you smiling? Did you know about this?” Ashley laughs. “And you—” I point at the phone, the three shots starting to hit me. “Since when do you have a boyfriend?”
Ashley hums. “Since… a little while ago.”
“Was it one of the boys who spent the night at my house? You said?—”
“It wasn’t one of them. Calm down before you hurt yourself. Kurt was out of town that weekend.”
“Kurt? What sort of name is Kurt?” Both of the women in my family continue to laugh at me, but I ignore them. “And where was he? What was more important than his girlfriend’s graduation party?”
“He was in Oregon helping his mom move into a retirement place.”
“Oh.” That takes the wind out of my sails. “Well, if you’re serious about this guy, bring him by sometime.”
“Thanks, Dad.” She pauses for a beat. “Maybe we could double date.”
I blink at the phone. “Double date?”
