Page 35 of Tattered and Torn

“Thanks,” he says. He glances at the paper in his hand. “Man, horses eat a lot.” After planting a kiss on the side of Hannah’s head, he returns to the office.

“So,” Hannah says once we’re alone again. “How’d it go with Burke?”

Immediately, my mood takes a nosedive. I shrug. “Fine, why?”

“Just asking.”

“Everything was perfectly fine. And it wasn’t a date, in case you were wondering.” I can’t help the bitterness in my tone. “He made sure I knew that.”

Hannah looks surprised. “What are you talking about?”

“I tried to pay for lunch—to thank him for driving me—and apparently that hurt his masculine feelings.” I lower my voice to mimic his. “The man pays.”

“Oh.” Hannah looks as confused as I feel. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, so am I. I was just trying to be nice to the guy, and he got all bent out of shape over it.” I blow out a frustrated breath and shake my head. “Men. I’ll never understand them.”

“Well, forget about that. Hey, I wanted to ask you—do you want to come to girls’ night out tonight? It’ll be me, Maggie, Jennie, Ruth, and Maya. You should join us. We’ll have some drinks—well, except for Maggie, who’s nursing—and maybe play some pool.”

A girls’ night out sounds like the perfect antidote to the frustration I’m feeling after how my afternoon with John ended. “I’d love to. Thanks for the invite.”

“Let’s plan to leave after the dinner clean-up. Around nine?”

“Sounds perfect.”

I leave Hannah and head to the restaurant. On my way, I spot Maya relaxing in the lounge, staring at her phone. I think she’s reading. “Hey,” I say, waving. She must have recently returned from an outing because she’s still wearing her hiking boots.

She waves back. “Hey, girl. How’d it go in Denver? I heard you bought a new kitchen.”

“I did. And it went well, for the most part.”

“What does that mean?” she asks.

“Nothing. Never mind. It’s not important.”

“Are you coming to GNO tonight?” Maya asks.

“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.” I gesture toward the restaurant. “Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. I’m waiting on Hicks. We just got in from a hike, and he’s still getting dolled up.”

Speak of the devil, Travis appears. His dark brown hair is damp, so I presume he recently got out of the shower.

Maya gets to her feet and motions for Travis to follow her. “Come on, pal. I’m starving.”

“You didn’t have to wait for me, Maya,” he says as he falls into step behind her.

“I know,” Maya says. The rest of her reply is muffled as they’ve turned the corner to the hallway that leads to the restaurant.

I follow after them and take over manning the host podium from Tammy. It looks like she’s helping out in the restaurant this evening, which explains why Hannah was manning the check-in desk. “Thanks, Tammy. I’ll take it from here.”

“Great. I’ll be at the front desk if you need me.” And then she practically skips out of the restaurant on her way back to the lobby.

A group of three women walk into the restaurant, dressed in jeans and tight T-shirts with very low necklines, all looking a bit disheveled. They’re laughing about something, practically giggling like school girls even though it’s been years since they were in anything resembling a school. I’d put them in their mid-thirties.

“How many?” I ask. “Three of you?”

The one in front, a tall striking blonde, nods. “Yes, thanks.”

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