Page 84 of Vodka and Violets (The Hamiltons)

“Right. I can see that. At least, I can see why a wine bar. Do you honestly mean to tell me that bringing people together motivates you? It’s something that you enjoy?”

Tori laughed. “It is. I know it might not seem that way. But that’s only because I don’t need to be directly involved.”

“Nope, you lost me,” said Willow. “You’re going to have to spell it out for me because I’m not understanding this.”

“That’s why the singing was important to me. It wasn’t that I wanted to be the center of attention. I wouldn’t have enjoyed that. But singing backup, I got to have the best of all worlds. I was part of the show – part of what people came together for. And no one was particularly interested in me. They weren’t watching me, but I got to see them – I got to see them enjoy themselves and know that I was part of creating that.”

“Damn! I had no idea.”

Tori chuckled. “That’s okay. I’m not sure that I understood it myself for the longest time. It’s only since Callie moved to Montana and I’ve had to think about what I want that I’ve had to examine what I enjoy. And hopefully, now that you know that, you can understand why a sports bar.”

“Enlighten me. Because that has me baffled. The only thing I could come up with was that it’s for Xander.”

“No. He’d do anything that I wanted to.” She couldn’t help smiling as she said that. “If I wanted to open a tea room, he’d go along with it.”

Willow laughed out loud. “True. But go on, I’m still not convinced – I don’t get it.”

“Okay, I admit that it’s not something that had ever occurred to me before I moved here. But it wasn’t Xander who put the idea in my head. Strange as it may seem, it was actually Mom. Well, Mom and Smoke and Laura.”

“Explain.”

“I will but let me get on the road first. We just bought this big new truck, and I had to figure out how to answer the phone. I’m supposed to be meeting Xander for lunch on the other side of the lake.”

“Sure. Do you want to call me back?”

She laughed. “No. Stay with me. Calling you back would defeat the whole purpose. I’d have to stop again to figure out how to do it.”

Willow laughed. “Okay, I’ll just wait. Talk to me again when you’re comfortable.”

Tori backed out of the parking spot and out onto East Shore Drive before she spoke again.

“Hi. Are you still there?”

“I am. And you were about to tell me how on earth Mom, Smoke, and Laura inspired you to want a sports bar.”

“Oh yeah, right. Well, there was one morning when we first arrived, we went over to Russ’s place to see them, and Mom wasn’t there. She’d gone out for breakfast with the girls. And just as an aside, I have to tell you, Willow, she was driving his truck – it was awesome!”

Willow laughed. “I know, right? She drove it last time we were there, too. Isn’t it great? It’s like we stepped into this parallel universe – one where Mom drives a truck and laughs a lot.”

Tori laughed with her. “I absolutely love it. But anyway, I guess my little brain stored away the fact that she likes to go out with the girls sometimes – and they all leave the guys at home. Then, we were over at Smoke and Laura’s, and there was a football game on TV. Of course, Xander and Smoke wanted to watch it, so Laura and I went out to her workshop to hang out there. They wanted to watch the game without interruption, and we wanted to be able to catch up.

“I knew that if we took it over, we couldn’t keep the place as a wine bar – nor did I want to – and I guess all those little snippets of information had just rolled around in my brain until they combined together and popped out as a sports bar.”

“I love it!” said Willow. “Now that you’ve explained it like that, it makes perfect sense.”

“I think so.”

“And how long do you think it will be before you open the doors?”

“Maybe a month. Everything seems to be coming together way faster than we expected. I thought it would take months and months, but the crew has already started work on the renovations.”

“I’m excited for you, Sis.”

“Thanks, and you’d better be here for our grand opening.”

“I wouldn’t miss it. Neither would Slade – he and Xander are just as close as you and I are.”

“I know, I love that. When we were kids, I wouldn’t have believed that the two of us would end up with the two of them. It’s like it’s too good to be true.”

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