Page 17 of The Harborer
Shane didn’t see any humor in the joke.
Thank God he was on the clock at the moment because it gave him a legitimate reason to disentangle himself from the knot of friends. While important people spewed speeches on the platform, Shane moved to the edges of the crowd, observing, taking mental notes, and prowling for the dude Micky had been talking to. When Chesterton took the stage, Shane recognized the same tired words in the same stump speech the sheriff had been making these last few months. God, that had to be exhausting! Much as Shane wanted to take the man’s place someday, he wondered if he could avoid this part of the campaign. Could a person hire out politicking?
As he mused, Amy flitted into his line of sight, her smile bright as she handed out her coffee and chatted with folks. How she could rally with a sunshine face on the heels of the scene with Micky baffled Shane, but warmth flooded his chest nonetheless. This was followed by a surge of guilt that spiked it. It wasn’t that he was hot for her. He was simply drawn to her like a planet locked in the sun’s orbit. It was an irresistible pull he had no hope of controlling, even if he wanted to. There wasn’tanything wrong with that, was there? Not when he didn’t initiate anything.
Deep down in his psyche, though, a little voice warned him itwaswrong. Shane was a by-the-book kind of guy who wasn’t much for gray areas. The inner voice sharpened the moment his mind wandered to how he could avoid Estelle at the celebration that would follow, while at the same time hoping he would see Amy there.
He let out a tired sigh.Damn.
The post-Boarding Call celebrationat Miners Tavern had been going on for hours, and no one showed any signs of letting up on the partying anytime soon. The Celtic Knots were taking a break between sets, mingling with some of the revelers. According to Amy’s smart watch, it was a touch past nine o’clock, and she felt the day’s hours to the depths of her bone marrow as she sat on a barstool surveying the clientele. She’d started prepping well before dawn this morning, which wasn’t unusual in itself, but getting ready for the Big Event had added to her usual workload. Then there had been the excitement over the train’s arrival, the roller coaster of emotions throughout the day, and the fact she’d tied on an apron at Miners when customers swelled beyond the servers’ ability to keep up.
Not that she minded jumping in to help Noah and Hailey. They did it for her too. Besides, she enjoyed interacting with her neighbors and customers in a different environment. Apart from giving her a satisfying lift, she felt closer to the tight-knit community she wasn’t born into, and it had nothing to do with her shiny new role on the town council. It was simply part of who she was. Other than the way it filled her well, her volunteer service didn’t hurt her coffee shop’s bottom line either when folks got an extra dose of her working her tail off.
Nonetheless, the day had finally caught up to her. Her back was sore, her feet were swollen, and her calf muscles ached. She couldn’t stop yawning.
A tap on her elbow had her swiveling to face the bar. Hailey slid a full glass of champagne across the bar top. As she often did in the evenings, she was helping Noah behind the bar—even after a full day like today. They were two of the hardest-working people Amy knew.
Amy wrapped her fingers around the glass. “What’s this?”
Hailey’s pale blue eyes twinkled. “Payment for helping us out tonight. Well,partialpayment.”
Noah leaned in, his square shoulder knocking his wife’s much smaller back. The two seemed to touch anytime they were within range of one another, and Amy felt a bittersweet pang of yearning she quickly brushed away. It wasn’t that she wanted a Hunnicutt. She simply wanted the intimacy these two shared.
Noah leveled Amy with a fake glower, pursing his lips inside his beard. Had the glare been real, it would have been formidable. “Since you won’t let us pay you in cash, you’re getting paid in champagne. This is the first installment.” This was also Noah’s way of telling her she was cut off from helping anymore tonight. He didn’t serve his waitstaff alcohol until their shifts were over and they had clocked out. “I can’t tell you how much your jumping in helped us out tonight. It was the difference between customers sticking around and having a good time as opposed to stomping out of here mad as hell because they couldn’t get service.”
“Oh, coffee beans. You’ve done it for me plenty of times. Besides, I enjoyed chipping in tonight.” She held up her flute in a toast to husband and wife before taking a sip of the bubbly—her favorite adult beverage.
“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. You’ve been on your feet all day,” Noah snorted.
“And you haven’t?” she scoffed.
He held up a whiskey glass half full of amber liquid and wiggled his eyebrows. “Why do you think I’m drinking this? If Ihave enough, I won’t be able to feel my feet. Seriously, Aims, I just want to make sure you know how much we appreciate you. This town is lucky to have you, and luckier still that you’re on the council.”
Amy took another sip of the champagne, giving herself a moment to swallow down the quick stab of happy tears that had caught her off guard.
“Well, then,” she croaked, “on behalf of Fall River, Councilwoman Caufield should be buyingyoua drink, Mr. Hunnicutt. How does it feel to see your train finally come in?”
A boyish grin lit his face. “Not gonna lie, it was pretty damn cool.”
Amy laughed. “Says the man who made it all happen.” If it hadn’t been for Noah, the narrow-gauge track, the engine, and the cars would have stayed in mothballs. He had sparked the idea, sold it, then spearheaded the project. Of all the town’s stalwarts, he had worked the hardest to make it happen.
In typical Noah fashion, he downplayed his part. “Nah. A lot of people made this happen. Charlie, for instance.”
Hailey brushed her hand over his shoulder. “That may be true, but without you driving the bus, so to speak, the depot would have continued to sit and rot. Charlie wouldn’t have had a building to fix up.”
“Well, it’s been a long time coming, and I’m glad it finally came.”
“Modest, isn’t he?” Amy snickered.
“That’s my barkeep.” Grinning, Hailey walked to the opposite end of the bar to help a customer while Noah took an order from Dixie.
Scanning the crowd once more, Amy zeroed in on Micky, currently lost in conversation with a bunch of motorheads. She tried waving at him, hoping he’d glance her way so she could flag him down. But she didn’t want to relinquish her barstool, not when she’d only sat down a few minutes ago. Someone else would claim it if she got up. Micky was her ride home, though, and she was ready to submerge her body up to her chin in a tubfilled with steaming water and a lavender bath bomb. After fortifying herself with the soak, she would break her news to him. Or maybe she’d skip the bath and get it over with on the ride home. But as usual, he wasn’t looking her way. To him, she was … an afterthought.
She dreaded that short ride home. Maybe she could walk the four blocks through the ice and snow and wind. Her anger had been simmering ever since he’d embarrassed her earlier today, and she hadn’t had a chance to talk to him during the hours that had followed. The frosty weather might cool her off, but the inkiness beyond the bar’s windows derailed that idea. No, she needed that ride. She also needed to get her frustration off her chest, along with letting him know she was moving out so he wasn’t blindsided when the news lit up the grapevine.
Now her gaze was drawn to a cluster of laughing people, all of whom she recognized. At the center stood Deputy Shane, who had shed his uniform for a spruce-green button-down and faded blue jeans. He was easy to spot because he was taller than the rest. A secret smile curved her lips as she watched him miming a train engineer laying on the horn.
Such a good guy.
