Page 94 of Vodka and Violets (The Hamiltons)

“Right,” said Tori. “Although, I do like the idea of having someone to take some of the load off us.”

“Mind if I ask who it is?” Kenzie asked.

“Her name’s Jade. We don’t even know her,” said Tori.

“Damon said that she’s been helping out in Taryn’s restaurant,” Xander added.

Kenzie grinned. “Yeah. Jade might well be just what you need. She’s good people. She works hard, she knows what she’s doing, and I don’t think she’s necessarily looking for anything full-time or permanent.”

Tori tilted her head to the side. “What’s her story?”

Kenzie laughed. “Damned if I know. I guess you’d call her a free spirit. She and her sister, Amber, moved here to look after their grandma, Lenny, who owns the post office. Amber ended up running the post office, and Jade’s been working all kinds of different jobs. Like I said, she’s good behind the bar, I’d vouch for her any day. But I doubt she’ll be looking for anything full-time or permanent. She’s a jack of all trades.”

Xander nodded. “That sounds like it should work well for all of us.”

“Do you have her number?” Tori asked Kenzie.

“I do. I’ll text it to you.” She jerked her head toward the bar. “I’d better get in there. Are you guys sticking around?”

“No,” said Tori. “We came for an early dinner so that we can go home and crash.”

“I don’t blame you. You’ve been working your asses off; you deserve a break. Oh, and speaking of… When’s your big grand opening night? I deserve a break, too. I want to make sure that I get a night off so that I can be there.”

Tori grinned. “It’s Saturday the twenty-sixth. It’ll be awesome if you can come.”

Kenzie nodded. “I’ll be there.”

~ ~ ~

It turned out that Jade was out of town for the weekend, but they managed to set up a meeting with her on Monday. From what Tori said, she was excited about the prospect of coming to work for them. Xander was a little apprehensive. He was hoping that she’d turn out to be a good fit. From everything he’d heard, it sounded as though Jade was a strong personality – he was hoping that she wouldn’t come across too strong. It didn’t bother him – he was more concerned about Tori.

They’d arranged to meet her at the bar at lunchtime. He’d spent the morning doing a walk-through with Logan. All the work was complete – well, everything except the name outside. They’d talked about all kinds of options, but neither he nor Tori had been able to come up with anything that they loved. She’d even joked this morning that since they kept referring to the place as simply the bar, perhaps that was what they should name it.

Xander wasn’t completely against that idea, but he was hoping that they would come up with something better. So far, they’d been able to work around the absence of a name in all the paperwork, but the day was coming when they would have to commit to something.

He smiled when the door opened, and Tori came rushing in. “Hey, I’m not late, am I?”

“You’re right on time. She isn’t here yet.” He greeted her with a kiss. “How did it go with your mom?”

“It was great. I’m loving hanging out with her.”

Xander smiled. “I love it for you. What’s going on with her?”

Tori laughed. “She’s kind of mad that we’re moving ahead with buying the house.”

He frowned. “She doesn’t like the idea? Why not?”

Tori laughed again. “It’s not that she doesn’t like it, she’s mad that she didn’t get to buy it for us.”

“She doesn’t need to do anything like that.”

“I know! But she wanted to. You know how Slade’s dad gave Slade and Willow the cottage?”

Xander grinned. “I do, I love that.”

“So do I, but Mom felt kind of outdone. Apparently, she always planned to buy a home for Willow when she was ready, and to buy one for me. Of course, Bentley is the one who gets the estate – since he’s the oldest, and neither of us would want it anyway.”

Xander shrugged. “I can see why your mom would want to do that, but…”

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