Jordan nodded, his body relaxing, and I nodded back, then turned to look at the bar again. This was going to be a long, hard day.
4
Amanda
I had just lathered up the pool of liquid soap in my palm and was rinsing my hands when my phone rang. Drying them hastily, I reached in my pocket and pulled it out. I assumed it was going to be Tom, and I realized my stomach had a nervous knot in it. I was worried about him and what he was going through.
Instead, I saw my best friend’s name on the screen. It was unusual for her to call me in the middle of the day, but not completely unheard of. Emily was a touch of a free spirit. Sometimes she was levelheaded and logical enough to talk through any problem or situation with her. And other times she completely flitted off into nothingness and needed to be reeled back into reality.
“What are you doing right this second?” she asked, sounding slightly breathless.
“I’m washing my hands in the bathroom at work,” I said.
The call immediately dropped. I shook my head and put my phone back and my pocket.
I dried my hands carefully, then walked out of the bathroom. I was a few seconds down the hall back toward my desk when my phone rang again. I fished it out of my pocket and saw Emily’s name on the screen.
“Hello?” I asked.
“What are you doing right at this exact second?” she asked.
I laughed. “Did you just give yourself a conversation do-over?”
“I wasn’t aware I was calling you while you were in the bathroom,” Emily said.
“I was washing my hands,” I said.
“Doesn’t matter. Not the appropriate venue. But speaking of venues, guess where we’re going tonight?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “I was planning on going to the corner of my couch and finishing the paperback I’ve been reading before eating a plate of spaghetti and going to bed.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for long enough that I thought she might have hung up on me again.
“No,” she finally said. “And if you ever tell me that type of plan again, I’m hosting an intervention. You are far too young to be acting like an old lady.”
“I’m not acting like an old lady,” I said.
“You definitely are, but that’s not why I’m calling. I got us reservations at Frosting,” she said.
My nose wrinkled up as I tried to place the name. “Is that the new place up where the little hat shop used to be?”
“Yep,” Emily said. “Now it’s a dessert bar.”
“Like at weddings?” I asked.
“No,” Emily said. “That’s a dessert buffet. This is a dessert bar. Meaning it has alcohol.”
“Well, baked goods, chocolate, ice cream, and booze sound like a pretty good business model to me,” I said.
“Apparently, it does to a lot of people. The place is completely packed all the time. It’s only been open for a couple of weeks, but reservations are just about impossible to get. I managed to snag us one at eight-thirty. I’ll meet you at your place. See you then.”
She didn’t even give me a chance to accept the invitation or decline it. I wasn’t totally sold on the premise, but I was looking forward to seeing her.
Later that night, we got to the bar and a dark-haired waiter brought us over to our table. Emily looked at him like she wanted to see him on the menu. We sat down, and I looked around.
“I have to admit, it’s a pretty adorable little place. I wasn’t sure how they would combine the themes, but they definitely pulled it off,” I said.
The waiter came back with menus and handed them to us. Each of us ordered a glass of wine. He was only gone for a short time before coming back to the table with our wine, but Emily and I had already chosen our first desserts. I ordered a selection of mini cheesecakes, and Emily ordered blintzes with fresh ricotta cheese, honey, and nuts.
“You look kind of tired,” she said after the waiter walked away. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “It was just a really long day.”
“Why?” she asked, taking a sip from her glass.
“My boss called me at about three this morning and woke me up. He had to tell me he was flying to Oregon to check on his family. The bar his brothers own and operate burned down last night,” I said. “It completely threw off my routine for the day, and I’m just really tired. But I couldn’t tell him I wouldn’t help when he was going through that.”
She cringed. “That’s awful.”
“It is,” I said. “That bar means a lot to him. And he had kind of a rough go of it the last few months. His father just died of cancer six months ago, and his mother, who is also sick, has been struggling with it.”
“I can’t even imagine,” Emily said. “I’m so lucky my parents are healthy.”
“You really are,” I said.
“Have they figured anything out about the fire?” Emily asked. “What started it or anything?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t gotten any updates since he left. He was frantic to get out of town and get on a plane to Oregon as fast as he possibly could. He basically put the company in Landon’s hands until he’s able to come back.”
“I can completely understand him wanting to get there,” Emily said. “That’s terrifying.”
“I think he feels bad because he’s the only one of his brothers who doesn’t live in Oregon. His brother Jordan is a bit of an exception. He was serving in the military for the last few years, but even he is back now. Anyway, I hope everything is working out okay,” I said.
The waiter showed up at the side of the table again and only put down my plate of cheesecakes. He looked at Emily. “It should be here in just a minute.”
She nodded and he walked away. I looked at her and gestured at my cheesecakes.
“Do you want me to wait?” I asked.
“Of course not. Go ahead.”
I took a bite of the raspberry-swirl cheesecake closest to me and let out a sigh. “You’ve got to try this.”
Emily took a bite and nodded. “That is delicious. So, have you hit on him yet?”
I nearly choked on my fork. The waiter walked by again but didn’t stop at our table. Emily watched him longingly. I didn’t know which one she was lusting after more at that moment, the waiter or the blintzes she hadn’t gotten yet.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
She slid her eyes over to me, giving me an incredulous, withering look. “Come on, Amanda. You know what I’m talking about. Have you hit on him yet?” The waiter walked by again, and her hopeful eyes swung along to watch him. “Someday. Someday my blintz will come.”
I laughed.
“I haven’t hit on him, and I have absolutely no intention to,” I said.
She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Why do you say it like that?” she asked.
“Because he’s my boss?” I asked. “Isn’t that reason enough? He’s also way older than me.”
“And?” Emily asked. “It’s not like he’s creepy older than you. He’s dignified and established older than you. And also, gorgeous and successful. And I know the two of you have a thing for each other.”
I shook my head as I reached for my wineglass and tipped back another sip. “Tom so does not have a thing for me. And I don’t for him, either.”
“Oh, it’s Tom, is it?” she said with a distinct teasing note in her voice. I let out a sigh, and she reached across the table to steal a bite of the chocolate cheesecake in the corner of my plate. “Oh, that’s good. Really smooth and sweet. Much like Tom Anderson when he’s around you.”
“Nice transition,” I said. “But all your eloquence aside, he doesn’t think of me like that. I’m his secretary.”
“He has obviously flirted with you at company parties and outings. Keep in mind, I’m your date most of the time. I get to watch what happened between you, and I have seen every single time he stares at you. Or smiles like there’s nobody else in t
he room.”
I shook my head, looking down at my plate of gradually diminishing cheesecake. “Those are all company things. They didn’t mean anything at all. He’s the boss—he’s nice to everybody.”
“You know what’s also nice?” Emily asked.
“Your transition earlier?”
“The river in Egypt. You know it. Denial,” she said.
Finally, the waiter got to the table with her dessert.
“Thank goodness,” I said. “Any longer without food and you might have completely lost your mind.”
Emily and I drank another glass of wine each and nibbled our way through two more courses of dessert before calling it a night. After making plans for our next get-together, I headed home. My phone rang just as I was walking into my apartment. Pulling it out, I saw that it was Tom.
“How is everything?” I asked.
“We’re still waiting for the official investigation report,” he said. “They don’t know much yet, but the fire chief has been hounding all of us.”
“I hope you get things figured out,” I said, kicking off my heels and reaching down to pick them up before carrying them into my bedroom.
Those first few moments of the day without my high heels were some of the most glorious and relaxing. My feet sank down into the deep pile of the carpet, and I wriggled my toes in it.
“So do I,” Tom said. “It’s so frustrating and upsetting here. How about you? How was your day? You have no idea how much I appreciate how hard you’re working.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But there’s nothing really important to report. You need to focus on the stuff going on at home and your family. I’ll call you if there’s something you absolutely need to know.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes. Promise. Landon and I have got this. You don’t need to worry.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I know I can trust the two of you. Thank you, again, for being so amazing and dedicated to your job.”
“Of course,” I said. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”
“I will,” he said.
We got off the phone, and I headed into the bathroom for a shower, feeling just a little bit tingly. It was a reaction I was used to from talking to Tom, but it wasn’t one I liked to acknowledge.
5
Tom
Morning dawned and I groaned at the sunlight. I had barely slept, and what sleep I did get was fitful. The tiny run-down motel I was in was the only place with a vacancy at the last minute, and I had grabbed the only room they had available. It had been a while since I’d slept in a twin bed, and it was not an experience I planned on repeating. I already planned on finding something outside of town if need be that was a little more comfortable.
I knew my brothers would all be collected at Mason’s house, and I stretched as I tried to decide what time I should head that way. All of them had offered for me to stay with them, but I declined. I didn’t want to impose on anyone, and frankly, the privacy was something I needed. Not just for the ability to process what had happened, but also for when I had work calls, and because I had gotten rather used to being alone.
I told myself I liked it that way.
I almost believed it.
Looking at the ancient digital clock on the nightstand, I saw it was only six, but I couldn’t lie there in discomfort any longer. Sitting up, I stretched and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Maybe a run and a shower would chase the memory of my bad night’s sleep away.
Tossing on a pair of shorts and socks and shoes, I took off for the neighborhood streets. I tried to clear my mind and let myself think about work. It was weirdly less stressful to think about how frustrated I was to not be running my company than it was to deal with the heartbreak of the bar.
A couple of miles later, I made my way back to the motel and stripped down in the cold room to step into a hot shower. If nothing else, the motel had a great showerhead. It came out like a cannon and massaged the muscles in my shoulders and back harder and more effectively than the incredibly expensive one I had at home. I made a note to look into whatever brand that was.
When I was dressed and ready, I packed my things up and checked out of the hotel, grabbing a rideshare to my brother’s house and stepping out onto his lawn at nearly ten. There were multiple cars in the driveway, and I assumed that meant that either my brothers had huddled together for a sleepover, or they all had the same trouble I did with getting shut-eye.
“Hey, Tom,” Mason said as he opened the door.
“Mason,” I said, then turned to see Ava behind him. “Ava, good to see you both.”
Mason smiled and turned to the side to let me in and in doing so revealed the little boy in the highchair behind him. Little Robert was happily bouncing and flailing his arms as his mother sat beside him, a spoon in one hand and a washcloth in the other. Robert was covered from nose to chest in what looked like pureed pumpkin.
“Hi, Tom,” Ava said smiling up at me. “I would come hug you, but I think Robert got as much on me as he did himself.”
I laughed, shaking my head and kneeling down in front of him.
“Say, that’s okay, Mama. I’m messy like my daddy was,” I said in a teasing voice.
“Oh really?” Ava asked looking up at Mason, who stood behind me.
“Oh yes,” I said, “Mason was the messiest eater I had ever seen when he was little. I thought Mom was going to lose her mind when he would end up with food everywhere. One time it ended up on the ceiling fan.”
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Mason said, laughing.
“It’s true,” Tyler’s voice piped up from the living room. “Nothing has changed. Check his collar.”
I looked up at Mason, who grimaced and hung his head. Sure enough, his collar had a light brown stain on it I didn’t notice before.
“It was a coffee accident. Perfectly normal for an adult,” he said.
“Uh-huh,” Ava said and expertly landed the spoon in little Robert’s mouth. He giggled happily, and some of it spilled down his chin to join the mound growing on his chest.
“Why don’t you join us in the living room,” Mason said. It was less of a question and more of a guidance. If I knew my brothers, they were plotting in there, and Mason knew I would make sense of it.
“Stop being so messy,” I said to Robert, poking him lightly on the nose. He squealed with a laugh of such pure joy that I couldn’t help but smile wide in spite of everything.
When I got into the living room, I saw my brothers predictably sitting on couches and chairs around the coffee table in the middle. Mason sat down in a recliner, and I took a chair adjacent to him. Tyler and Matt had plates of food in front of them, but Jordan didn’t. Instead he just had a single mug of what looked like mud-black coffee that he picked up to take a bitter sip from.
“Anybody get any rest?” I asked the group of bleary-eyed men.
“The baby probably got better sleep than any of us, and he wakes up every couple hours,” Mason said half-heartedly.
“Yeah, neither did I,” I said sighing. “I take it no one else heard anything? No news?”
A room full of silent shaking heads, and I looked down at my hands. They were clenched in fists. How long had they been clenched like that? How often was I grinding my teeth? I needed to relax. But I also needed answers.
“I think,” I began, “that I want to go down to the bar and see if anything looks odd. I know they have investigators out combing over it, but you never know what they might miss. Maybe someone suspicious-looking?”
“I’m telling you guys, it’s that damn Danny Jefferies,” Jordan said. I expected pushback from the others, but only Mason seemed to stiffen. Tyler and Matt just stared straight ahead into the distance, chewing their food slowly.
“Seriously, Jordan, that’s enough. We don’t have any evidence to support that other than you don’t like him.” I said.
“I also don’t trust him, how about that?” Jorda
n said.
“Me either,” Tyler mumbled.
“You?” I asked. “When did this happen?”
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I just can’t rule him out, you know?”
“Well, I’m going to go down there and have a look around. You guys got to do that already. Let me know if you hear anything,” I said, standing.
“Going so soon?” Ava called as I made it to the door. I turned back to her and Robert, covered in food.
“Just going down to the bar. I’ll be around,” I said and turned to walk out.
I made it to the bar with my body crying out for a coffee. Normally by now I would have had a couple of cups in me, so I walked past the smoldering wreckage to the coffee shop on the opposite corner. There was outdoor seating there where I could look out over the bar anyway. I mean I might as well be putting some caffeine in me while I did.
When I settled into the chair, I prepared myself for a while of just people-watching. I figured I could sit there all afternoon, watching for anyone who seemed too interested in the fire. Anyone who seemed too disinterested, too. It was as suspicious to gawk and pry around the wreckage as it was for someone to completely avoid their eyes and walk away whistling.
I had been sitting there long enough for my cup to have been empty for at least ten minutes when the chairs on either side of me slid out.
“Tyler, Matt, what are you doing here?” I asked as my brothers sat on the sides of me.
“Same thing as you,” Matt said. “People-watching.”
“Person-watching,” Tyler piped in. “Just one.”
“So, you bought fully in on this conspiracy theory, didn’t you?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say that. We don’t have any iota of who is behind it yet, but you have to admit, what Jordan is saying makes sense, Tom. Danny Jefferies has been known to disparage us to his clientele, and some of our regulars said they saw him ripping ads for theme nights off windows and telephone poles around town. He hates us,” Tyler explained.
Taboo Boss: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance Page 3