Natalie reached out to backhand him hard in the chest, noting that Reeve was leaving again out of the periphery of her vision. “Steven, what the hell are you up to tonight anyway? Don’t tell me some girl has been stupid enough to listen to you stroke your own ego over there.”
He gave her a startled look, his eyes sluggishly widening before focusing someplace off to the side. “Ah, nah, no. I’m not talking to—I mean I’m not really doing anything.”
Her eyebrows twitched as she hid her disbelief. She’d let it go. She really didn’t want to know if he had finally found someone that could put up with him.
Steven mumbled some indiscernible excuse and stalked off to the side, jerking in the other direction when he realized that Natalie was still watching him.
She shook her head and let her attention wander over to the bar. She was pretty bored, but being out beat wallowing in her room and thinking about Maddie.
Some time passed as she let her eyes roam; new movement behind the bar caught her attention. Just like that, Tiva was there.
She towered a foot over the other bartender, another woman Natalie wasn’t familiar with. Even from her table half the bar away, Natalie could admire Tiva’s high cheekbones. Her straight black hair was up in a twist, leaving her elegant neck exposed. A few of her tattoos were visible, though Natalie’s memory of them was fuzzy.
She watched Tiva move and effortlessly attend to the mostly drunk customers. Tiva smiled only sparingly, but the sharp angles of her face had always made her incredibly appealing to look at. Once, her rare smiles had made her a favorite among the bar patrons. Natalie had no doubts that would happen again.
She’d been one of the crowd fascinated by the nearly unearthly appeal of the lithe woman, once. Natalie found herself standing, fresh beer in hand, and moving to a recently vacated bar stool.
It took Tiva a few minutes to notice her, but Natalie was fully aware of when she did. Tiva’s smile still held its magic: the man who’d just handed over his money nearly spilled his drink.
As Natalie watched, Tiva filled the next three drink orders with record speed. A moment later she was standing in front of Natalie, palms flat on the wooden surface of the bar as she leaned forward.
“Hey, Nat. Long time no see. How’ve you been?”
Even though their physical relationship had been brief, Natalie found herself straightening under her old friend’s attention. Tiva’s hazel eyes had always been intense.
“Hey, yeah, it’s been a while. I’ve been… a little bit of everything I guess. What about you? How’s your uncle?” The bar wasn’t the ideal place to catch up, but Tiva had deactivated her cell phone before leaving for Arizona.
“My uncle is a stubborn old man. It took a while, but he’s better. Still won’t leave the damn res, of course.” She paused and watched Natalie. “I’d really like to catch up with you after closing if you’re up for it.”
Considering the only reason she’d agreed to come along with the boys had been in hopes of getting reacquainted with Tiva, Natalie’s answer was a no-brainer. “Sure, I’d love to.”
“Great,” Tiva smiled again, and Natalie could almost hear the jealous thoughts sent her way from other people waiting at the bar. Tiva was polite, but not particularly friendly, and didn’t needlessly flirt or engage beyond idle small chat with most of the bar patrons.
As Tiva walked away to attend to another customer, Natalie felt her mood pick up. It would be nice to lose herself for a few hours in Tiva’s company.
Her gaze drifted lazily through the crowded bar as she opted to people watch for a bit. It was on her third sweep that she saw her. Natalie frowned.
Brittney had apparently scored a fake ID, and if the glare being sent her way was any indication, had probably had a few to drink already. She and Brittney had been getting along alright, but she’d had to gently decline an invite to ‘hang out’ earlier in the day—right around the time Maddie had asked Natalie to leave Sage Falls.
“I can’t do anything right with these damn Garrets,” she grumbled as she turned back to watch Tiva work.
Frustration ignited into anger, and she swore that she wouldn’t think about any Garret for the rest of the night. She needed a break.
*****
Maddie ended the call with a sigh, one hand coming up to rub at her temples as she stared down at the screen of her phone. It had been a week since Valentine’s Day, and talking to Adam hadn’t gotten any less difficult.
They’d had a few heart-to-hearts over the phone, but he was still avoiding Sage Falls as much as possible.
The one time he’d been by the house to visit they’d both slipped into old habits. They’d been together for so long that they didn’t know how to act around each other. She’d tried talking to him about remaining together, but he’d only given her tight-lipped looks and small headshakes.
Adam had clearly made up his mind. What they had wasn’t enough.
“I feel guilty, being away at work so much. And I don’t want to, Maddie. I love my work. I love getting to see the world. I want to be able to enjoy that.”
She’d woken up alone plenty of times in her life, but now mornings were greeted with a serious realization; Adam wasn’t planning to ever lie next to her again. Every morning that thought made her freeze.
What had been so wrong with what they’d had?
For a while, she thought they might still figure things out. Then Adam had shown up with the divorce papers.
Staying at the house was the worst, and so she’d resolved to take a few days away. She couldn’t breathe there anymore, choked by failure and the realization that her life would never be the same.
As she loaded a few bags into her car, it was impossible to ignore the looming structure of the garage. Though Adam had returned for brief trips, Natalie hadn’t been back at all, no doubt because Maddie hadn’t returned her texts or calls. They’d stopped after the first several days.
Maddie hated that she was as upset about Natalie’s absence as she was about the breakdown of her marriage—an absence she had all but orchestrated, herself. Maybe she really wasn’t, and her mind was fixating on Natalie just because it was safer.
A few days away from the house and, her eyes flicked to the garage, everything else would be good for her.
She settled into her seat and dialed a number that she’d only discovered a few days before. A smile grew on her face when a familiar voice answered. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know I’m about to leave.”
There was a pause as the voice on the other end of the line responded enthusiastically.
“Yeah, I’m excited too. It’s been a long time. I can’t thank you enough for inviting me.” She paused and laughed at something. “Alright, alright. I’m hanging up. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
They exchanged goodbyes, and then Maddie sighed as she started her car up. It took her a few moments longer to change gears and stop looking at her home, but she finally managed to back out of the driveway to begin the hour and a half drive.
*****
“Come on, my mom will be grumpy if we’re late from our break.” Tiva smirked at Natalie, amused at how uncomfortable she was in pressed slacks, a white long-sleeved button-up shirt, and a black tie.
Natalie pulled at her collar, not liking how tight it was with the tie around her neck. “This is so unfair, we’re doing her a favor.”
A brow rose to accompany Tiva’s smirk. “No, I’m doing both of you a favor. She needed some last minute help and you needed some cash. Now suck it up and let’s go.”
Natalie grinned at her, not really minding anything but the stranglehold of the tie around her neck.
Seeing Tiva’s mom again had been a bonus. Ankti owned the bar Tiva worked at, as well as several other establishments around the city. Unfortunately, one of Ankti’s catering service crews had been hit hard with the flu, so Tiva hadn’t hesitated to pitch in and find other help.
Tiva nodded toward the side door, and Natalie wa
s quick to follow her back through it so they could resume their duties. Victoria grinned over at Natalie once she moved to pick up another tray. “Look at my brother, he’s unbelievable.”
Natalie followed Victoria’s gaze, snickering when she saw Reeve being fawned over by a few well-dressed older women. “Oh man, he must be in heaven. He has a bigger thing for older women than I do.”
Reeve was grinning as a blonde woman rubbed a hand over his bicep, another auburn-haired woman with high cheekbones doing her best to maintain eye contact with him as long as possible.
Victoria angled her head and glanced back to Natalie. “I didn’t know you were into older chicks.”
Natalie coughed into her fist and raised a tray of full wine glasses. “Ah well, ya know I don’t get a chance to really—oh, look some people over there look super thirsty, I gotta go.”
She hastily retreated, relieved to have gotten away from Victoria before she’d said something incriminating.
The party was for a charity that seemed admirable, even if its attendees were in dresses and tuxedos worth what could easily feed a family of four for a few months. The people seemed nicer than she’d anticipated. It probably helped that the fundraiser assisted local parents whose children had financially stressful health issues.
There had been a few jerks in the crowd, but overall Natalie had been pleasantly surprised.
A dark-haired woman in a red, sequin-trimmed evening gown on the left caught her attention and she had to suppress a grin. It didn’t hurt that there were a lot of beautiful women at the party, either. She had no plans of engaging anyone beyond what her temp work entailed, but the visuals were soothing to her young gay heart.
She smiled as a couple retrieved some wine from her tray, her eyes returning to follow the woman in red from under her eyelashes.
The woman seemed to have met up with some friends as hugs and kisses were exchanged. Natalie became further intrigued when the kisses to both women seemed to linger longer than was considered polite, prompting her to hide a grin.
As much as she was enjoying the distant view, she needed to move so she could keep the wine circulating. By the time her tray was nearly completely empty, she was surprised to find that she was only a few strides away from the dark-haired woman.
The woman laughed and tossed her head back, her straight, slinky black hair making Natalie a little envious. She was close enough now to get a better look at the woman’s friends, and she did so with interest.
Both were brunettes, though she could only clearly see the face of one with wavy black hair and deep bronze skin. She was clad in a white and gold gown, and Natalie felt unbelievably happy when the woman in red’s hand lingered on the her lower back. Natalie wholly approved.
They shifted and Natalie could finally see the other woman with them. The third woman was wearing a black dress, the deep v of it dipping so low that Natalie was certain she’d see the side of a bare breast if she looked long enough. Instead, her eyes dipped to the slit up one side of the dress. A single, bare leg was mostly visible.
She’d seen legs like those before on dancers, though the most recent time had been…
Natalie frowned and took a few steps to the right, freezing in place once her eyes landed on the woman’s face.
“Maddie?” she blurted out loud without thinking.
Unfortunately, she was close enough that the single word was easily heard. Maddie’s professionally curled hair fluttered as she turned with a smile, the smile freezing as she focused on Natalie.
Natalie made a sharp turn and withdrew back in the direction of the bar, pausing only briefly when an elderly woman reached for her tray. She struggled to focus as she made her way back, pleased when she reached the safety of Tiva’s domain.
Tiva studiously finished pouring the glass of Glenfiddich and handed it off to Victoria.
Natalie waited impatiently for Victoria to finish joking around, pasting a smile on her face until the younger girl was out of earshot.
“She’s here,” Natalie said in a tight voice.
Tiva’s face remained neutral. “You’ll have to be more specific than that.” The glare Tiva received was promptly ignored.
Natalie blew out a breath to calm herself down. “Maddie,” she admitted quietly.
Tiva’s calm remained. She wiped at a spot on the bar top. “So?”
“So? So… I don’t know.” Natalie placed her tray down and nervously glanced around. Over the last few weeks she’d been spending a lot of time with Tiva and, after a night of drinks, had confessed everything about her feelings for Maddie.
A small group of people came up to the open bar, and Tiva politely and efficiently handled them while Natalie was lost in thought.
When they departed, Tiva went back to neatening her station. “You can’t stay here forever,” she said, not looking up from checking her stock of vermouth.
“What should I do?” Natalie asked, knowing Tiva was right.
“Whatever you want to do,” Tiva supplied unhelpfully as she turned to listen to another drink order.
Natalie frowned at her. Tiva could be infuriating in her approach to life, but Natalie had always appreciated her lack of bullshit. Tiva didn’t allow her to wallow, but she also didn’t push Natalie to do things she didn’t want to.
She sighed and turned to refill her tray, determined to finish her shift and then get the hell out of Dodge.
*****
Kaili frowned as she watched the server stalk off, not sure whom the young woman had been addressing.
Maddie tried to stop staring after Natalie and return her attention to her friend. She hadn’t been expecting—
“Maddie?” Satya asked to her right.
If Satya, who had been less than impressed with Maddie’s return to Kaili’s life, sounded concerned, Maddie was doing a bad job of acting normal.
Maddie remained silent, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “That was her. That was her, Kaili.”
Satya and Kaili shared a look.
Maddie’s cheeks flushed. She’d been talking too much about Natalie, even more than she had been her failed marriage. It didn’t make any sense, even to her.
“I thought she was a mechanic?” Kaili asked to fill the silence.
“She is,” Maddie murmured and nervously swiped some hair behind her ear. “I don’t know why she’s here.”
Logically Maddie knew why Natalie was at the party; Natalie’s attire made it clear she was working.
Kaili stared at her for a moment. “You should go talk to her.”
Maddie’s mouth opened and closed. One of the things she’d realized during her time with Kaili was that she should at least apologize for only obliquely rejecting Natalie. She’d never had the courage to confront the younger woman, and the ubiquitous exile hadn’t saved her marriage anyway.
Despite Maddie’s intent, it had been a cruel thing to do.
She licked her lips. “I will. In a bit. After I’ve worked up some courage.”
Satya’s lips pursed, not speaking her mind like she so obviously wanted to. She turned to her partner with a hand up, palm out. “Come, darling, let’s have a dance.”
Kaili shot Maddie a worried glance but agreed when Maddie made a shooing motion with her hands. Maddie maintained a small smile until they were out of sight, then her face dropped as she searched through the crowd for Natalie. It took her some time, but she finally did.
She watched Natalie for a while, unable to believe the coincidence of their mutual attendance to this particular party.
Natalie looked amazing in the simple uniform, and the pang of guilt Maddie felt in recognizing that was much more manageable than it had been before.
In the end, she took too long to work up her courage. Satya had sent subtle barbs her way the entire evening, and just when Maddie had finally decided to give in out of annoyance, Natalie was nowhere to be found.
It was a bitter moment of realization, and she was angry with herself. Kaili’s conce
rn and Satya’s disdain were more than she could handle, so she broke away from them with a mumbled declaration about finding the bathroom.
She didn’t head for the bathroom, instead wandering down a vacant hallway. Someone had graciously volunteered an old, distinguished venue for the party. The hallway, in all its late 19th century neoclassical glory, was probably off-limits. She couldn’t find it within herself to care.
The hallway was dark and quiet, and a few tears of frustration slipped from her eyes once she was alone.
A door creaked down the hallway, and Maddie hurriedly turned and swiped at her face, taking a few steps back toward the party.
“Maddie?” came the soft question.
This time when Maddie froze, she managed to shake it off quickly enough. “Natalie, I thought you’d left.”
She peered closely at Natalie, noting the familiar red jacket thrown over the uniform.
“I was just about to,” Natalie replied in a subdued voice. Her dark eyes studied Maddie. “Were you crying?”
Maddie’s hand had reflexively moved up to her cheeks. She was tired of lying, even for the sake of politeness. “A little,” she admitted with a wry smile.
Natalie seemed to be internally debating with herself, her shifting expressions moving too quickly for Maddie to follow. “Why?” Natalie finally asked.
The question was loaded, a simple answer beyond Maddie as she drank in just how lovely Natalie looked, even then. There was just so much Natalie didn’t know.
Her silence mistaken for rejection, again, Natalie sighed and tucked her hands into her pockets. Just as she was about to walk past, Maddie reached out.
Natalie immediately stopped. She stared down at her elbow in surprise, the pulse in her throat visibly jumping as Maddie’s hand remained on the smooth fabric of her jacket.
She looked up, a silent question in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Maddie said thickly.
Natalie turned to face her fully. “For what?”
Maddie swallowed, her hand drifting down to lightly grip Natalie’s bare wrist. Why was speaking to her so difficult? It had always been easy. That had been the problem.
Meeting Mrs Garret Page 24