Page 95 of Voyeur Café

“Huh?” Looking up to see who he’s talking about, I find Sadie standing in the doorway. Her hair is indeed pink, at least at the ends and it’s a good eight inches shorter than it was last time I saw her.

“Holy shit!” I yell when I see the giant roller bags in her hands. I push out from behind the bar and run to her at the door, unconcerned with the bar full of people whose attention I’m gathering. Pulling her in for a tight hug, I ask, “Is that a fucking break-up haircut, Sadie Winslow? Did you finally leave that motherfucker?”

She laughs against my hair because I still haven’t released her from the hug. “Yeah. I left that motherfucker.”

I squeal, picking her up and spinning her around. “Are you moving in with us, too?”

“I am. Worked it out with Devon, but we thought it’d be fun to surprise you.” She’s smiling brighter than I’ve seen in years. “Plus, I heard you may be moving in with the bartender over there who won’t stop looking at your ass.”

Turning around confirms that Luke is standing behind the bar, staring at my ass. I blush and blow him a kiss. Sadie and I start making our way back to my office with her suitcases, but Cam intercepts us. “I got these. You two grab a drink. I heard the Cookie Explosion is top-notch.”

“Cam, don’t you fucking dare,” I try to scold him, but he’s gone with the suitcases before I finish my sentence.

I get Sadie settled in on a barstool right next to Bea.

When I cross back behind the bar to get back to work, I hear Bea saying to Sadie, “Look at these angels. Aren’t you glad you they worked it out?”

“I like to think I helped. If I hadn’t encouraged her to text him while we were at the pool that day—”

“Sadie!” I gasp. “You remember that part? I thought we were both blacked out.”

“Oh no, just you,” she laughs, brightly. “I thought you should apologize, and Devon didn’t, so I waited until she went to bathroom and brought it up again.”

Luke places a tiki drink, that’s definitely not on the menu, in front of Sadie. “She told me these were what caused it. Now I know I have you to thank.”

Putting my hands on my hips, my mouth drops open in offense, “You pretended you hadn’t seen the texts when I showed you!”

“Oh, I didn’t realize what you’d actually written,” Sadie laughs.

“What did she write?” Bea asks, hazel eyes sparking with excitement.

Luke scrolls immediately to a screenshot of the text conversation that only recently stopped making my stomach clench with embarrassment and passes his phone to Bea.

I can’t help the exasperated expression I give Luke. “You just have a screenshot ready to go?”

“It was the first time you told me you loved me. Of course, I saved it.”

“I said I loved Betty.”

“Sure, sure.” He pats me patronizingly on top of the head.

“Well, those were magnificent,” Bea says, passing Luke’s phone back to him. “I sent myself the photo, so we can blow it up. There’s a spot on the wall right over—”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I laugh, unable to tell if she’s serious, since it would actually be hilarious.

Before I’m able to find out, another familiar voice calls my name. Skye and her mom are standing by the front door, spitting images of brown-eyed, dark-ringleted beauty.

Darlene’s eyes are wide, scanning every inch of the bar with an awed smile on her face. She’s completely recovered from the accident, not a bruise or scar in sight. I wave at Luke to grab his attention and we weave our way over to his family.

“Lucas,” his mom’s voice comes out in an impressed breath. “Honey, this is amazing.”

“Thanks, Mom. It’s really Allie’s doing.”

“No, it’s not.” I draw his mom into a tight hug. “He’s done so much.”

“It’s the two of you together,” she says, moving to wrap her son in a maternal hug.

“Yeah, Luke wouldn’t have pulled this off alone,” Skye laughs.

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