by K. N. Banet
“What?” Dirk frowned at me, his expression as severe as normal.
“You heard me. I want my bar for a night. Tonight is the night Heath normally comes in for a drink, and I want my normal Saturday. You two dropped in on me a week ago today, and you’ve been amazing, but I want tonight.”
“But Saturday is the best night for tips at most bars,” Dirk said, sounding really annoyed. A quick sniff in the air and I realized he wasn’t annoyed. He was getting pissed off.
“No one tips at Kick Shot,” I said, confused. He pointed across the room, and I turned to see a new jar on my bar, ‘TIPS’ written on it, and I sighed. “How long has that been there?”
“Three days,” he answered. “When I realized no one here tips. They should always tip their bartender, or he waters down their drinks. I made two hundred in tips just last night,” he said with an evil smile. “You were too nice to them.”
“Funny, because I’m pretty sure they all think I’m a bitch for not hiring a waitress,” I mumbled, shaking my head. “Well…how important are tips?”
“Very.”
“I would think Niko would make sure you’re paid very well,” I pointed out with care, hoping he understood my meaning.
He did. Oh, he really did. His face turned red, and his annoyed expression turned into a full glare.
“Niko doesn’t treat me special because I don’t want him to,” he snapped. “Did he—”
“He didn’t. Someone else did. Big family, not many secrets,” I answered. “You should have.”
“Whatever.”
“Miss Jacky, you could always build that patio outside and have a bar placed out there to give a second bartender option,” Oliver pointed out, clearly oblivious to the conversation or pointedly ignoring it, which was the smartest thing he could do. He seemed to be a very smart young man, so I went with the latter option. “Did you talk to your contact about it yet?”
“I have, and he’ll send someone out soon to look over what he can and can’t do with the building,” I answered. “You can ask Heath about it when he gets in.”
Both of them gave me a stunned expression.
“What?” I demanded.
“You would use a werewolf’s company to do work on Kick Shot?” Dirk asked.
“Yes. Heath is an ally and a friend, and if you repeat those words to anyone, I’ll send you back to my siblings without any sort of recommendation,” I snapped. “He owns a construction company and has worked in a lot of real estate. He knows people, humans, not just werewolves. He also lives in the territory. Why would I go out and find someone else when I have someone I know right here?”
“It’s just…a bit unusual,” Oliver pointed out softly.
“If neither of you has noticed, everything about this is unusual.” I looked between them, wondering how they had missed it. “Believe me when I say you’re going to see things happening here no other werecat would put up with. Two werewolves live in my territory. If that didn’t clue you in, we need to have a long discussion.”
Neither of them said anything, looking at each other then getting up.
“We’ll get to work,” Oliver said. “And if Mister Everson is going to be doing the work, please send him up to the office. I’ve already sketched up a design he might want to see.”
“Am I ever going to see it?” I had no idea he was playing around with design ideas already.
“Certainly, I just wanted to see if it was plausible first before handing it over to you.”
“I’ll come up and see it when Heath arrives, then.” I was out of the loop about my own bar. Dirk had set up a tip jar, something I had never considered, and Oliver was probably making plans to knock down walls.
“You seem frazzled,” Oliver said gently. “I’m sorry this has disrupted your life. We’re just trying to do our jobs and make everything easier for you.”
“It’s fine. My family thinks they know best, and I’m not going to toss you out into the cold. Still adjusting, that’s all.” I took a deep breath. “I’m not mad. I’m just used to the world moving slowly. This has all been very fast.”
“I might be stepping out of bounds, but have you considered a hobby?”
I nearly laughed as I walked out of the bar to my house. I would come back when Heath was due to come in.
Once I got home, I played on my phone and made something to eat. I had been so excited to go to work when I had woken up, that I had forgotten to get in breakfast and just ran out the door. Of course, it didn’t help that I had woken up late.
I thought as I cooked and decided to call the sibling I was surprisingly closest to, thanks to nearly dying with him.
“Hello, Jacky,” Jabari answered, seeming a little distracted.
“Hey, Jabari. How are you?”
“I’ve been well. Busy with a new project,” he answered.
“What are you working on?”
“I’m helping with an investigation at a local wildlife park and training new patrolmen for the park. You know me.”
“I do.” It was the one thing I discovered he was passionate about while he was staying. He loved his local wildlife and had been helping them for hundreds of years as humanity expanded. It was a hard fight, but I knew he loved it. I also knew he wanted to help more, but it was hard being a secret species. “Are you still funding them?”
“I am. So, what do you need? You aren’t the sibling I expect to call out of nowhere.”
“Ah, well, funnily enough, I wanted to ask if you would help me find a new hobby.”
“This has something to do with Father’s meddling, doesn’t it?”
“They’ve taken over my bar, and now I have nothing to do. It’s terrible, Jabari. Yell at him for me. I’ve been avoiding it since I found out it was him. This is way over the line.”
“I told him you would think so. He decided it was time. You know how he gets.”
“Jabari.”
“I can’t help you with him, but I can help you brainstorm some ideas,” he said, chuckling.
“You can’t or you won’t?”
“Both, but then, you know how I felt about your little bar while I was there. I thought it took up too much of your time. You need more than two days and a night to work on other things. Plus, you own it, and it’s good to have employees. It helps the economy.”
“Wow. I thought you told him I wouldn’t like it, but it sounds like you agree with his decision.”
“I never said I disagreed with him. Who else have you talked to about this?”
“Heath and Landon.”
Jabari growled a little.
“Really, big brother? You nearly died with Heath, who helped me protect you while you choked on your own blood.”
“I was even beginning to like him. Then I met his son,” my brother snapped.
“Ah.” Landon had been incredibly distrusting of Jabari. He followed his father around during the trip my brother had made through my territory, watching his father’s back to make sure Jabari didn’t attack. He also never let Jabari be with Carey alone. I had noticed it but never brought it up. Landon just thought he was protecting his family, and I had no problem with him doing it. It wasn’t like he’d attacked anyone, but Jabari had been massively offended.
“Moving back to the topic. Have you considered doing anything with that nice piece of land up north?”
“No,” I answered, not wanting to think about the place where a nest of vampires had tried to kill me. As far as I knew, there still wasn’t a new nest in Washington after the previous nest was decimated. The entire thing had been messy, convoluted, and incredibly brutal. A lot of people had died because one nest master had decided to try to hide his crimes instead of cleaning up his mistakes. It shouldn’t have even been a werecat problem, but two werecats ended up dead and became one. “I don’t want to go back there yet. Not after what happened. Maybe I’ll be more comfortable in another year or so.”
“What about something local?”
“Heat
h brought up volunteering. I don’t know what I would volunteer for, though.”
“You don’t need to really volunteer. Go to the city government and ask if you can fund a project for them, like a new park or something. Or you can go further up and work with the state,” he said casually.
“Is there anything that doesn’t require more people? I came out here and opened Kick Shot for a quiet life, Jabari.”
“Expand Kick Shot. With those two working there, you can focus on different areas.”
“That would make my new manager very happy,” I muttered. “It’ll keep me here, and it would be nice to see my little dive bar get bigger.”
“I know change is terrible,” he said with compassion. “I have yet to meet a werecat who enjoys it. I know I don’t. Father is better than most, but he’s always ready for it, almost looking forward to it. The rest of us would be just fine if nothing changed ever again. As it is, it’s getting harder and harder to hide from humanity. The wolves didn’t make it any easier by going public. The fae being sloppy makes humans look over their shoulders for more and the witches are slowly getting outed. It’s only a matter of time before we’re revealed.”
“I know, and you met Joey. He’s…”
“Sensitive to supernaturals. He must have a drop of witch blood in him. That’s what most people think about humans who are sensitive to us. He might even have enough strength to do a few spells if he ever wanted to try. I didn’t like him much.”
“I like him less every passing day. He’s nosy and watchful. He used to be friendlier, but he’s always suspected I’m something, werewolf being his best guess.”
“Only because he doesn’t know werecats are real.”
“Exactly.” I sighed. “Well, thanks for talking to me. My food is almost done, then I’m going to head back to the bar. I think I’m going to build this patio Oliver keeps mentioning.”
“Oliver? Zuri sent Oliver?”
“Yes. Why?”
“No reason. He’s a good kid. I know she’s been wanting to use him but felt he needed more training away from home. It’s good she sent him down there. Who else did they send you?”
“Dirk.”
“Ah…I don’t want to gossip about our brother, so I’ll let you go.”
“Good idea. Zuri gossiped a lot, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the information.”
Jabari laughed and said goodbye, and I hung up once I said it in return. I grabbed my food from the microwave- Chinese takeout leftovers- and went to eat at my dining table.
I’m going to build a fucking patio. I can’t believe this.
9
Chapter Nine
I was waiting at the bar when Heath arrived. He strolled in like it was a normal Saturday, this time unsurprised by the presence of my new employees, looked at me with a small smile, then stopped at the bar.
“Whiskey on the rocks, please.”
“Yes, sir,” Dirk answered. Heath, before even getting his drink, pulled out his wallet, took out a large bill, and dropped it in the jar. The wallet was put away right before the drink was placed in front of him. He gave Dirk a friendly nod and brought the drink toward me.
“Good evening.”
“Hello, Heath. We’re going to work tonight,” I said, smiling at him.
“Are we?” He seemed only a little surprised.
“Yup. We’re going to expand Kick Shot.”
“And this is because…?”
“I need something to do,” I reminded him, making him laugh. “So, we’re going to expand Kick Shot. I know Oliver already has some sketch ideas upstairs, and I told these two you’re the man I want to hire. If you’re willing, this is what we’re going to do tonight.”
“Let’s get started. We can chat while we work.”
“Is there anything to chat about?”
“I haven’t failed to think of something yet,” he said, leaning over to say it in my ear as he passed.
You know, ignoring what’s going on between us would be a lot fucking easier if he didn’t do that.
I followed him up the back staircase and let him open the office door to reveal Oliver flipping through papers. I stepped around Heath before Oliver even realized we were there. I tapped the desk and spooked the young man, who sent papers flying. Grabbing a few as they fluttered around, I tried not to chuckle.
“Miss Jacky, Mister Everson. Are you here to look over my sketch ideas?”
“We are,” I said, smiling at him. “Tonight, we’re going to really look at this and see if it’s plausible. Expanding Kick Shot is going to happen one way or another.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, ma’am. I have all sorts of ideas we can try. The building has such potential, and the location—”
“Let’s stick to the patio for tonight,” I said, holding up a hand. “And please, it’s Jacky.”
“Of course, Miss Jacky.”
Heath looked at me and mouthed it, grinning wildly. Miss Jacky. It wasn’t the worst thing to be called, but it still killed me a little inside.
“Let’s see those sketches,” Heath said, his grin matching the one his daughter often gave me.
Oliver pulled out a sketchbook and began flipping through it. I went around the back of the desk and sat in my chair, letting them claim the other half of the desk for their discussion. I kept my eyes on them, though, and listened in, ready to stop them from knocking down too many walls.
“We could wrap the patio around like so,” Oliver pointed out.
“That is a strange ratio of patio to indoor bar. I would say expand the bar out by several hundred square feet, then do the patio,” Heath said, grabbing a pen to make the revisions.
“We’re not knocking down entire walls,” I said before that went any further. I knew one of them would think about it.
“Hear me out,” Heath said, shifting the sketch for me to see. “If you don’t do it now, you’ll have to demolish the patio we build to do it later. If you do it now, we can fold all the construction into one event. If it still needs to grow, you can build out from other directions after.”
“We can build out the other sides without building out this side,” I pointed out, grabbing the pen and making my own notes.
“But we could use that space later for a kitchen behind the main bar,” Oliver said in a small voice, frowning. “We could also repurpose the upstairs—”
“Absolutely not. I don’t want to deal with multiple levels. This isn’t a club. It’s a bar. There is a difference.” I eyed him. “Plus, you would be homeless, and we would need to find a new place for this office.”
“Good point. That would require even more major construction.”
They continued to ramble on. In the end, I convinced them we didn’t need to expand the bar right now, and all the patio needed was space for a wet bar and a few tables. It didn’t need to be anything special.
“Are you okay with this?” Heath asked as we walked out of the office together.
“I need something to do. Jabari asked me if I wanted to do anything with that piece of land I have in Washington. I said no, not yet. I don’t know what I would volunteer for, and I don’t have much for hobbies except video games and the occasional book I always read too fast. Might as well expand Kick Shot.”
“None of that answered the question,” he pointed out as we went out the back door. I chuckled to see a table and two chairs placed behind the building. They hadn’t been there when I came in to meet Heath, meaning Dirk had brought them out while we were upstairs. I sat down and waved a hand to let him know he could sit down. A moment later, Dirk came out with another whiskey for Heath and a water for me.
“You aren’t manning the bar if you’re running drinks, Dirk,” I said softly. “But thank you for them.”
“Hire more staff,” he said before turning to go inside.
I sighed heavily as Heath started to laugh.
“Oh, these two are going to change everything, and you won’t be able to bring your
self to say no,” he teased.
“Why not? I’m very good at saying no.”
“No, you really aren’t. Carey—”
“I couldn’t legally tell Carey no when she showed up,” I reminded him. “And who is so heartless to turn away a child in need?” I pointed at the back door. “Right there. That’s where I met your daughter for the first time.”
“What about Washington?”
“I thought it was my fault,” I pointed out.
“And this patio?”
“I’m bored.”
“You had already brought it up and given it consideration.”
“Oliver.” I groaned. “He’s smart and willing to do anything to please. I just wanted him to think I was going to take what he said as professional advice. To give him the feeling of being useful, in charge. You know how that is.”
“I do. Wolf packs are like that. Now, you’re making the patio because you have the expendable cash and nothing to do with it. It also makes Oliver think he’s done something good for your business. He needs a confidence boost.”
“You noticed?”
“He’s too much of a people pleaser to not have a self-confidence issue. He’s willing to do whatever is necessary to earn respect, including agreeing with bad ideas,” Heath said with a smirk. “I wasn’t going to knock down any of your walls.”
“I thought you made a reasonable point…” Frowning, I tried to figure out what he was thinking.
“I would rather build out, so the staircase is in the center of the building, not on the far end. It would also keep the building’s center of mass toward the center.”
“So, it doesn’t seem lopsided…That’s very smart, but you were testing my new manager by giving him an option you didn’t even like. He’s not your employee, Heath.”
“They aren’t just invading your space,” he reminded me with a small smile. “I’m still uncomfortable with the idea that your siblings have sent their own people here to work for you or spy. Do you think anyone in your family would be okay with these long Saturday night talks?”