Into the Tide (Cottonwood Cove #1)(8)

So, I kept my attachments light and drama free. Dinner with a gorgeous woman, followed by a round of good sex—that was more my style. Looking at Lila as anything more than a friend would be an asshole move. She was innocent and sweet and far too smart for my dumb ass. It was just an attraction, nothing more. I prided myself on self-control, so I’d rein it in.

Starting right now.

“Well, you’re here on a Sunday. I told you to take the day off.” I moved inside and sat in the chair across from her.

“I just wanted to finish going through this month’s expenses and get you all caught up. Dad had a church meeting and a dinner afterward, so he’s busy today.” She turned away from the large monitor on my desk and set the calculator aside before leaning back in my desk chair.

I internally called bullshit on Tate James.

The man was definitely not at church today. He had a massive drinking and prescription drug problem, and everyone here knew it. Travis had all but cut ties with the man, but Lila was a different story. A bleeding heart who’d always seen the best in people.

I admired it, but I didn’t agree with it.

I wasn’t as cut and dry as Travis was, but I also knew when to walk away from people. Tate was a train wreck and always had been. He’d fucked up more times than any man should be allowed to. He’d always pull his shit together for a short time and then go off the rails again. It was a pattern that repeated itself over and over for as long as I’d known them, which had been most of my life.

Things had gotten worse when Lila left for college. Travis tried to protect her and keep her away, but Tate had recently been hospitalized twice for liver disease amongst other health issues, likely due to his lifestyle, and he’d said what he needed to say to get Lila back here for the summer.

“Yeah? How’s he doing? You’ve been staying there for a week. Is everything okay?” I asked. I’d offered her my casita, but she’d wanted to be close to her father, and she’d also said something about not needing any handouts. She was too proud for her own damn good.

“He’s doing well, Bear. I know no one thinks he is, but I haven’t seen him take a sip of alcohol since I’ve been home, and I went through all his meds, and he’s only taking the medication that he was prescribed from the hospital.” Tate’s drug of choice had always been prescriptions since he’d hurt his back years ago when his kids were young, so she was clearly worried that he’d have a slipup now. Lila wasn’t willing to admit that he’d never really stayed clean long enough to even call it a slipup. “I think getting sick so much and finding out his liver isn’t in great shape really scared him. It was the wake-up call he needed.” She smiled like she couldn’t contain her pride, and my chest squeezed.

His wake-up call should have been leaving his young kids in a car while he was bar hopping all those years ago, or the fact that he’d neglected his young daughter so badly that she’d ended up hospitalized for two weeks with pneumonia when she was only seven years old. Tate had been too far gone to spend his days with her in the hospital, but her brother had been there every day. CPS had been notified by the hospital that there were signs of neglect, which was the reason Travis and Lila had been put into the system and were separated from one another for a brief time. Lila just never wanted to see any of it, while Travis couldn’t forget a single detail.

I grazed my hand over the scruff peppering my chin. I wouldn’t take this moment from her, even if I knew it wasn’t what she hoped it was. “Well, that’s great that he’s taking care of himself. So how about you come with me to Sunday dinner with the family? I’m heading over there, and everyone’s home, which doesn’t happen often, and they’d love to see you.”

She bit down on her plump bottom lip and thought it over. “Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“Are you kidding? They all watched you race at nationals. You were blowing up the family group chat. They’d love to see you. My mom keeps asking when you’re going to come by. Come on. You’ll eat a good dinner, and everyone will fawn all over you. Let’s go.”

“I always did love your mama’s cooking. Remember when she spent an entire Saturday teaching me how to cook when I was maybe fifteen years old, and I’d complained about eating mac and cheese every day?” She laughed, but I didn’t find it funny. The lack of care that she and Travis received from their father most of their lives wasn’t something I could pretend didn’t happen. The way my best friend had been forced to grow up so quickly, doing everything he could to protect Lila. She pushed to her feet and came around the desk, and I followed her toward the door.

“I do remember that, because Trav and I got to sample all the dishes you guys made. It was not a bad deal for us,” I said, as my hand found her lower back. We made our way through the restaurant, and I guided her toward the exit. The place was going off, per usual, but between Danielle, who’d been waitressing for me since we opened the doors here, and Kline, who was my lead bartender, they had it handled. They’d agreed to close up on Sundays for me. I still came in for a few hours, but it would be nice to go to dinner and not have to come back here and close up at least one night a week.

I held up my hand to Kline to let him know I was leaving as we walked by the bar.

“Have a good night, boss. You taking Lila with you?” he said as he leaned over the bar to speak to us.