Page 13 of Last Call For Love

I said hi to a few people I knew as I made my way toward the bar to check on Jules and Wes before heading up to Grant’s place. Keely had already texted me asking where the hell I was. I was supposed to bring some wine tonight like usual.

“Jules, you gotta tilt the glass toward the tap when you pour. You’re holding it straight now and that’s why the beer has so much head.” I glanced at Wes, who was busy with the crowd while Jules was struggling a bit.

“I got it, Pete.”

“I’m just saying—”

“Hey, isn’t that the girl Frankie was talking about? The one who came here a year ago and you practically drooling on yourself?”

“Jules, what the hell are you talking about…” My heart shifted in my chest as I followed Jules’s gaze to the entrance of the bar.

“Shit,” I said, and it was the only thing I could think to say at that moment.

Sierra stood in the entrance of the bar hugging herself with her arms. She looked…rough. An uneasy feeling tightened my chest as she took a step forward and stopped, her lips parting. Dark circles lined her eyes and she was… she was thin. Much thinner than she had been when I saw her last. That had only been amonth ago. That light in her eyes was gone, replaced by… by something I couldn’t name.

But whatever it was made my stomach curl into a knot.

“Sierra,” I mouthed.

She sucked in a breath, her eyes going glassy, and for a second it looked like she was going to turn and bolt. But she held her ground and blinked once, then twice.

“I need to talk to you for a moment,” she said breathlessly.

A group of people passed through the door, having to split to walk around her. I stepped forward and took her gently by the forearm. Fury ripped through me as I noticed as tightly wound she was. Her entire body was rigid under my touch.

“It’s quieter back here,” I said without a shred of emotion, then led her back to my office.

Keely would have to wait for that wine.

Chapter Six

Sierra

Pete leaned on the bar as he talked to the female bartender. She saw me before he did, and her mouth curved into a somewhat shocked smile as the door shut behind me. Pete turned, following her gaze. He looked just as good as I remembered, but his wary stance as he noticed me standing there in the doorway to his bar was new.

A tremor ran down my spine as his eyes locked on mine, and cruel feeling of guilt and regret settled in my stomach when he smiled at me. He looked… happy to see me. Relieved, even. But there was an underlying look of apprehension in his eyes that gave me pause.

It gutted me to think that what I had to say to him, what it would mean for both of our lives, would wipe that smile off his handsome face in an instant.

He must have seen something in my expression because he didn’t come forward right away. He lingered at the bar for a moment just watching me, his brow furrowing in concern.

“I—I need to talk to you for a moment,” I said hastily as I stepped forward. Pete nodded, extending his hand to me and pulling me forward when another group entered the bar behind me.

“It’s quieter back here.” He walked me down a narrow hallway and into what I assumed was an office, his office.

He closed the door behind us while I looked around at the pictures hung on the wood-paneled walls. I sniffed and must have wrinkled my nose at the muted smoky smell that clung to room, because Pete chuckled nervously and said, “My dad was a smoker. He smoked in here. I haven’t been able to get the smell out.”

“Oh,” I replied, unable to grasp the words I so desperately needed to say to him.

“You uh, you in town for long?”

“I—” I swallowed, fighting back the tears I hadn’t let myself cry as my eyes grazed the family pictures that lined the walls. He had his arm around a small blonde woman in one of them. It was a newer picture, and on her finger sat a ring. I opened my mouth but then closed it again as a question I didn’t want to ask nearly spilled off my tongue.

“That’s Keely,” he said softly, sitting down behind his desk. “My sister.”

“Oh,” I choked, relief washing over me. “She’s beautiful.”

“Uh, sure.” He chuckled. “She’s all right. She’s getting married in a few months to my best friend.”

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