Dirty (Dive Bar #1)(71)

She just looked at me.

“You’re right about this place, your parents’ house. Past issues bother him, make it hard to be here. I can only say that because I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know.” Unlike the sale of the house. That was his news to share. Oops about the Henning Peters thing.

“I’m sorry,” Nell said.

“It is what it is. We’re friends.” I swallowed hard, doing my best to keep my cool. “Thank you for offering to let me stay, to store my things here.”

“Of course.”

We both tried to smile. I think hers was better than mine.

Screw men and their devil penises. I had a future to plan.

There were bound to be problems with me coming into the business. For instance, Eric treating the place like his woo palace. Though Rosie had confided the other day, he’d cut a lot of that out since Nell’s meltdown at him. He’d barely even bothered hitting on me. Still, I’d be watching. Also, how Eric took the news of his upcoming fatherhood could be vital. If he and Nell were able to continue to maintain a functioning relationship for the business’s sake.

But I had a month to settle in, to listen and learn. To see if I could make a go of this. I wanted to be a part of the Dive Bar, to stay in Coeur d’Alene. I had a lot to contribute and, for whatever reason, being here felt right. If it didn’t work out, however, I could always make a Plan B.

Chris had derailed me. Hurt my heart and shaken my pride. He’d also, however, shown me the error of my ways. The stupidity of me blindly scrambling, trying to make up for my crap childhood by replacing it with a bigger shinier house and family. Those things as I knew them were just props.

It might sound all Oprah, but my happiness needed to come from me. I knew that now.

I could build my own home, make a future for myself. Not rely on someone else to come along and magically make me feel like I had worth, as if I belonged. I could be strong on my own.

As a by-product of their bastardry, Chris and company had made me grow up and taught me some important life lessons. With my payout from the Delaneys for never suing for emotional or other damages, and refraining from ever telling my story to the press (their fear of Brett Chen being of significant worth), I’d be implementing what I’d learned.

Ironic, really. I might even thank my ex-fiancé one of these days.

Doubt it, though.

*

Nell needed the office. I left the bookwork and helped Rosie and Masa finish up for the night. Loading the industrial dishwashers, cleaning the tables, mopping the floor, those sorts of things. Mostly any job allowing me to keep a keen eye on the back hallway. Who knew, the mother-to-be might well need emotional backup. It was a tense, high-drama situation. Given my own recent brush with forgotten prophylactics, I felt for her big-time.

Nell asked Eric to join her in the back office. Not a big deal. No one paid any attention. Yet. The owners (with the exception of Pat) had occasional closed-door meetings. Like his brother earlier, he never reappeared. Given he’d doubtless just received news of his impending fatherhood, I’d have used the back exit too.

Vaughan went in next. Two minutes later, he came storming back out, red of face and furious. “Where is he?”

“Who?” asked Rosie.

“Eric.” He spat out the name as if it were poison. “Where is he? I’m going to f*cking kill him.”

“Dunno.” Rosie scuttled away. Fair enough.

“He’s gone.” I stopped pretending to be deeply engrossed in refilling the condiments. Vaughan’s evil eye turned my way. Shit. The man was beyond enraged, top lip curled and shoulders heaving. You’d have thought I’d knocked up his sister, the way he was glaring daggers. “He left a little while back.”

“Coward.”

Not good. With all of the violence from the four-dude epic battle in his sitting room earlier this week, you’d have figured he’d have had his fill of punch-ups for a while. Guess not, though.

“I’m pretty much finished here,” I said. “Why don’t we go?”

After a moment he jerked his chin. “Yeah. Grab your shit. Let’s go.”

Oh-kay. I went and grabbed my bag from the now curiously vacant office. Maybe it was international Use the Back Door Day. No puns intended. Or perhaps Nell had also decided she needed to escape unseen.

I’d check on her later. Boyd had keys, he could lock up the bar.

Vaughan threw open the door and stomped out onto the sidewalk. I followed more slowly, giving him some space. Hopefully, there’d be no sign of the baby daddy tonight. If Eric had any survival skills at all, he’d be off somewhere lying low.

All of a sudden, Vaughan about-faced and stomped back, coming to an abrupt stop in front of me.

“Do you know?” he demanded.

“Know what?”

“About her being knocked up by Eric.”

“Yes.”

He huffed out a breath. “And you still want to stay here, buy into that bar?”

“Nell told you about that too? Okay.” I didn’t take a step back, just kind of leaned away from him, trying to put a little distance between us. Not that I was afraid of him, but nor was I keen on anyone getting up in my face. “Yes, I do. I’ve enjoyed working there and I think I have a lot to offer them.”

“No. Come on.” He about-faced again and started pacing back and forth outside Inkaho, Pat’s tattoo parlor. Light shined around the edges of the large framed illustrations hanging in the front window, hiding the bulk of the interior from view. I guess if you were getting your ass inked, having people walking past and seeing in would not be desirable.