Page 7 of Hope in his Darkness
“Hey sugar, I see you got the job.” Cole walks over as I’m wiping the bar down, giving me a megawatt smile. He’s cute, but he’s no Brody, and for some reason that makes me sad.
“Yeah, no thanks to your asshole brother,” I grumble back. Cole rubs his hand along the back of his neck, looking sheepish.
“Wait, did you know he was going to be an asshole to me? You set me up, didn’t you?” I glare at him, and he puts his hands up in surrender.
“No way, him being an asshole is completely on him. He’s usually the nice one out of us; he’s just...going through some stuff right now.” Cole looks at me apologetically.
“Ain’t we all.” I huff out, shaking my head.
“Oh yeah, what’s your story, sugar?” Cole smiles at me with what looks like genuine concern in his eyes. Nope, not going to unload my baggage on him, no matter how tempting.
“Oh, you know the usual,” I say flippantly as I move down the bar away from him, hoping he’ll get the hint. No such luck. He follows me.
“I’m just an old country boy from the sticks. I don’t know what the usual is. You'll need to be more specific than that for my slow mind.” He tilts his head to the side and grins with his tongue hanging out. I can’t help but laugh at his antics.
“Stop flirting with the help and get busy cleaning!” Clay’s voice resonates from the back of the bar. Cole jumps, up smiling at me, before saluting towards his father’s voice.
“Best get to cleaning or the old man will have me stuffed and mounted above the bar. We’ll talk again though.” Cole winks as he shuffles around the room, wiping down tables and picking up glasses. I return to wiping down the bar and cleaning up the prep area.
“Hope, once you’re done wiping down the bar, I’ll walk you out to your car.” Clay calls from the other side of the bar.
“Does that mean I got the job?” I ask, scrunching up my nose and smiling.
“Hell yes, it means you got the job. You handled that bar better than my own daughter, Georgia. She’s who we’ve been trying to replace.” I hear the notes of sadness in his voice.
“Oh, I just thought since Brody didn’t want me to stay that maybe you wouldn’t...” I shrug my shoulders, not knowing what else to say.
“I’ll speak to Brody, he’s going through...” I interrupt him.
“Stuff. Yeah, I heard that.” It still doesn’t excuse his attitude earlier, but maybe something happened to his sister, and I need to give him a break.
“Yeah, he’s missing Georgia since she left with her mate.” Did he just say, mate? My confusion must show on my face because Clay shakes his head and hands at me.
“I meant fiancée, her fiancée. Yeah, Georgia left with her fiancée.” Clay mutters as he walks away, leaving me to stare at his back in confusion.
The weird choice of words aside, working at the bar was actually kind of nice. Clay ran a tight ship. He didn’t allow anyone to get handsy with me or give me a hard time. There were a few guys who tried to flirt with me, asked me for my number. Clay shut them down almost immediately. I was shocked he even heard the guy from all the way down the bar, but he must be a good at reading body language. Probably came with the territory of owning the bar for so many years, reading people.
As Cole and I continue cleaning up, my mind drifts back to Brody. Why had he run off like his tail was on fire? What was it about me that rubbed him the wrong way? I shouldn’t feel as rejected as I do, but there's just something about him that pulls at me. Almost like an invisible string yanking me to him, but he obviously wasn’t feeling the same thing. I’m just finishing up when Clay comes back into the room.
“Here you go Hope; this is your share of the tips tonight. I’ll walk you out to your car, make sure you get in safe. We don’t usually have any problems, but I like to be safe.” Clay hands me a wad of cash and my eyes bug out. Maybe working at a bar was a better job than the factory; it looked like it sure as hell was going to pay more.
“Thank you, Clay, for giving me a chance.” I don’t know why my voice cracks like I’m about to cry, but Clay doesn’t mention it and neither do I.
“Now tomorrow we’ll get all your paperwork squared away so you can get paid and the pesky government gets their cut.” I smile as he leads me out to my car. Clay eyes my car like it’s a disease-ridden rodent; I can’t help but feel my cheeks burn with embarrassment.
“She ain’t pretty, but she runs.” I squeak out as I slide into the driver's seat and roll down the window.
“If you say so. If we ain’t scared you off completely and you come back tomorrow about the same time, I’ll have a schedule for you.” Clay says as he closes my door, his hands resting on the windowsill.
“I don’t scare that easy. Brody will have to do better than giving me dirty looks to get me to quit.” I wink at Clay and he guffaws out a laugh.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into that boy, he’s usually really nice to folks, but since Georgia left he hasn’t been the same,” Clay says sadly.
“They must have been very close. I’m sure he just misses her.” I hate giving him an excuse for his behavior, but both Cole and Clay claim he isn’t normally like that with people. Maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Still doesn’t give him the right to be rude to you. I’ll have a talk with him tomorrow. You be safe going home now, Hope, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.” Clay moves away from my car and I roll my window up and start the engine. As soon as he is back inside the bar, I pull around behind the bar and park. No way was I going home to Dad after the way he acted. I had blankets and pillows stashed in my trunk from previous experiences with my dad. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was better than going home.
Getting out, I pop my trunk grabbing the blankets and pillows out. Opening the backdoor, I place the pillows in a line along the backseat, so I don’t get any seatbelts digging into my back while I sleep. Next, I put a blanket over the top of the pillows and tuck it around the pillows to help keep them in place. Stepping back, I take in the little nest I’ve created and give it a sad smile.
