The Hard Way

by Jill Sanders

  Whatever or whoever Mel was running from, he figured she could use a break. He’d told her the truth—the McGowans had given him and Dylan a break when they’d first arrived. Thanks to them, they’d both had a shot at happiness.

  Even now, he had enough money to fix up this hellhole and make it into something he could be proud of. Turning the old inn into a bar and grill hadn’t really been his idea—he had Dylan to thank for that—but still, it was one he could get behind.

  Since he hadn’t spent a dime on buying the property, other than paying to get some legal papers notarized and filed, he had all of his savings to spend on fixing the place up.

  Until he’d run into Mel, he hadn’t thought about the business side of running a bar and grill. He knew he’d need to hire employees at some point, but outside of that… He really hoped that Mel had all of that knowledge. He had gotten his business and liquor licenses already, something his sister had helped him apply for. But he didn’t want to tax Dylan too much, not when she was getting ready for the baby to come soon.

  He glanced up at the ceiling and wondered what Mel was doing up there.

  As he sanded the large chunk of walnut he’d purchased for the top of the bar, he thought about Mel. When he’d spotted the brunette being harassed by Jimmy, he’d rushed over there to help out, since he knew how the man could get. He hadn’t expected to see her kick the man’s ass. Figuratively and physically. The move she’d pulled on the man, who was easily three times her size, had been impressive and sexy as hell.

  The next thing he’d noticed about her was that she could hold her own verbally as well. She had guts as well as spit and fire.

  Her long dark hair had blonde on its tips, as if she used to dye it and was growing it out to its natural darker color. She’d been wearing cut-off shorts and a tank top with a pair of Chucks. He’d noticed she had a few tattoos on her wrists and ankles. He had a few on his own skin, including a large one across his left pec in honor of the day his life had changed.

  He glanced around. He still had several tables to resurface, the floors to seal, and the new kitchen equipment to install. The way he figured it, he could very easily open the doors within the month, if he worked hard enough.

  He was having the sign out front repaired. Since nothing else had come to him, he’d decided to keep the name so he could use most of the old letters. He was adding a fancy cursive The above the words Hard Way and then a straight white bar with black letters underneath it that said Bar and Grill.

  The Hard Way Bar and Grill would be all his. He’d never expected that he would someday be his own boss. Hell, he’d never expected he’d have enough money saved up to pay for anything.

  The first time he’d moved to Haven, he’d screwed things up pretty bad with his sister. Thankfully, over the past couple of years, things had been mended and now their relationship was better than it had ever been.

  That included his relationship with the rest of the McGowans. Tyler, Trent, and Trey all thought of him as a brother now and treated him as such. Which meant that when they weren’t busy at work or at home with their own families, they were down there helping him fix up the place.

  It was thanks to them that he had all that new furniture upstairs. Well, at least new to him. Gail, McGowan, the three brothers’ mother, had recently purchased all new furniture for her home and had given him a really good deal on everything.

  She’d also helped him find all the furniture for in the main dining room and bar, as well as the new kitchen equipment. The equipment he still had to set up. He knew there would have to be some electric work done to allow for the high voltage equipment. He’d already done plenty of work behind the bar to allow for the refrigerators and blenders.

  Since he knew everything there was to know about electric rewiring, he hadn’t questioned flipping the breakers and doing the wiring himself.

  Right now, he busied himself with sanding and cutting the large chunks of wood that would become the top of the long wide bar.

  “You’re doing that all by yourself?” He heard a warm sexy voice behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Mel standing behind him at the base of the stairs. Her long hair was damp, as if she’d just stepped out of a shower.

  “Why not?” He shifted the large chunk of wood back to the top of the bar.

  She rushed over and lifted the other end and helped him set it down.

  “That’s why not.” She frowned over at him. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  “I lifted it half a dozen times before you came down.” He shifted the piece and was thankful that he’d cut the end of the wood correctly this time as it slid into place. “There.” He dusted his hands off. “How does it look?” He stepped back. He could squint his eyes and see how nice the bar would be with the other two pieces in place and all of it covered with the thick layer of epoxy that he planned on using to seal it and make it all shine.

  “It looks unfinished,” Mel replied.

  He glanced over at her and smiled. “A realist.” He nodded and watched her glance over at him.

  “What are you? An optimist?” she asked.

  He chuckled. “Hell no, I’m a dreamer.” He smiled bigger. “I’m dreaming I won’t have to finish the last two pieces on my own.” He motioned to the other two large pieces of walnut that would finish off the bar.

  “What needs to be done to these?” Mel asked.

  “Sanding mostly, then I’ll have to cut them to the right size.” He walked over and pulled out a tape measure and doubled checked the next section. “This one will be next.” He toed the wider chunk of the two pieces.

  “If you show me what to do, I’ll try and help,” she offered.

  He shook his head. “It looks like you just showered. I can’t ask you to get sawdust all over yourself.”

  “You don’t have to ask. I’m offering.”

  “I can finish these if you want to tackle cleaning the windows.” He motioned to a bottle of glass cleaner and a few cleaning rags. “There’s a razor blade for scraping the paint off the glass, if you need it.” He nodded to the table where a stack of straight blades sat.

  For the next hour, he sanded and cut until all three pieces of walnut were in place while Mel scrubbed, scraped, and buffed until the front glass was completely cleaned, letting in more of the late spring evening sun.

  “Now what?” she asked when she came back inside.

  “Now, it’s dinnertime,” he said after his stomach growled. She followed him back into the kitchen.

  “You’re going to cook in all this mess?” she asked looking around.

  “No, I have a grill I’ve been using on the back deck.” He grabbed the hamburgers from the large stand-up fridge and walked out back.

  Again, she followed him. “This is nice,” she said as he started the gas grill.

  “I’m hoping to extend the deck to the side door area for the warmer months, so people can sit around a firepit or toss a few horseshoes or play cornhole.”

  “You could do a sand volleyball court right there,” she suggested.

  “Not a bad idea,” he said. “Want a drink?”

  “Sure, whatever you’re having.” She sat when he motioned for her to take a seat at the picnic table that he’d built a few weeks before.

  He walked back inside, grabbed two of the cold beers he’d purchased earlier, popped the tops, then grabbed buns, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles before heading back outside, balancing everything on a large tray.

  “Oh.” She started to get up, but he stopped her with a wave of his hand and set it all down on the table. “I could have helped you.”

  “I would have asked if I needed it,” he said easily as he handed her a beer.

  “Thanks.” She paused to meet his eyes. “I… thanks for everything.” She sighed and glanced out at the scenery. The bar sat on one of the side roads on the very edge of town, and a large grassy field sat directly behind the inn.

  “Apparently, there used to be two rows of
smaller buildings that that held all the rooms for the inn out there,” he told her. “But now they are nothing more than cement foundations with wires and pipes buried in them.”

  Beyond the field of tall grass was a view of the Northern Rockies. Their high peaks stretched up to the clouds, some still with snow on their tips. A wayward cold breeze sometimes blew down the hills and cooled the town. But as he sat down across from Mel, the breeze was warm and smelled of cut grass.

  They remained in silence for a few moments, listening to the sounds of the small town—a dog barking somewhere in the distance, a lawnmower, the call of a bird, and the sizzling of the meat on the grill.

  “It’s nice here.” She took another sip of her beer.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “You never did mention where you were heading to,” he said, watching her eyes scan the mountainside before she turned to him.

  “Helena,” she answered.

  “Did you have a job lined up?”

  “No, but I figured there’d be plenty to choose from.” She shrugged.

  “Where are you coming from?” He saw her tense, and she averted her eyes from his.

  “California,” she answered before taking another sip of her beer.

  “L.A.?” he asked, and she nodded. Something told him that she would have agreed to whatever he’d suggested. He didn’t want to let on, but he could hear a little of north Washington State in her voice. Not much but enough that he understood she’d been there at some point in her life. He’d lived there long enough to recognize one of his own.

  “I suspect that it’s a lot nicer here than in the city.” He knew that he wouldn’t get much about her past out of her. Not when they’d only just met.

  “Where have you been?” she asked him.

  “I was in North Dakota for a while. I transferred there from here. Then when I won this place—”

  “Won?” she jumped in. “You won this place?”

  He smiled. “Lucky hand with a pair of ladies.”

  “Do you gamble much?”

  “No, I was filling in for a buddy who was sick the night of a poker game.” He shrugged.

  “So, what? You dropped everything, came back, and decided to open a bar?”

  He chuckled. “I thought it was an inn. I’d forgotten that the place had burned down. Haven could have used a good inn. I was going to do the whole B and B thing.” He shrugged. “But since it’s just this building, a bar and grill will do nicely.”

  “Do you have any experience running a business?”

  “Nope.” He stood up and walked over to flip the burgers. “You?”

  She tilted her head before shaking it. “I took enough business classes to understand the basics of it, though.”

  “Back in L.A.?” he asked, sitting back down.

  She glanced over at him but didn’t answer. “Is your sister older or younger?”

  “Dylan’s a few years younger.” He looked out over the mountains. “Do you have family?”

  “No,” she said quickly and, once again, he got the hint that she didn’t want to talk about it with him.

  “What made you pick business?” he asked, hoping for a light subject.

  She shrugged. “It’s easy and I figured no matter where I went, there would be jobs.”

  “Well, what do you think about this place? What can you do to help get money through the doors?”

  She was silent for a moment as she thought. A small crease formed between her eyes, and she sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth.

  “For starters, I’d finish all the work,” she said, causing him to chuckle.

  “I should be done in a week or so,” he agreed.

  “Then I’d hire the best chef around. Someone with a reputation. You’ll want to spend most of your income on them. Food makes the place. Beer and liquor are cheap. Environment is important, so you’ll want the inside decorated in a way that is unique and comfortable. A place people can enjoy coming back to. From the looks of it, you’re halfway there.”

  “Okay,” he nodded, wanting her to continue.

  “Once all that’s in motion, we’ll create a big buzz for opening day.” She leaned forward slightly.

  “How do we do that?”

  “What about prizes.”

  “Prizes?”

  “Sure. Each hour, someone will win something grand.”

  “Such as?” he asked.

  “Am I correct in assuming you made this table?” she asked, knocking on the wood.

  “Yes,” he said, frowning down at the thing.

  “I suppose you can make other things, like this and the bar top?” she asked. He nodded again. “People around here probably like this sort of thing. Rocking chairs, picnic tables, maybe even a few bird houses or feeders.”

  He nodded again. “I suppose I could make a few things like that.”

  “We could also do gift cards.” She glanced around as she thought. “You know, to bring them back. The gift cards will be good on their next visit.” She pulled out her cell phone and started punching the screen, taking down notes.

  He got up and checked the burgers. Already, she had thought more about it than he had. He doubted he would have come up with the idea of gift cards or prizes, no matter how long and hard he’d thought about it.

  “How will they win?” he asked.

  She glanced up at him. “Door prizes. Raffles.” She narrowed her eyes. “We can have fun events each hour. Maybe a type of bingo game?” She tilted her head again. “I saw an old chalkboard in the hallway upstairs. Any chance you’ll hang it downstairs somewhere?”

  He nodded. He had planned to put it over by the dartboard he was going to purchase.

  She glanced down at her phone again and was quiet for a while. “I’ll make up a few options,” she said after a moment. “I might need a few things. Paper, pens.”

  “I have an account at the local market. We can go tomorrow and get you set up on the account.”

  She looked at him for a second. “I can make a list,” she suggested. “For your approval.”

  He placed the buns down on the top rack to toast them and walked back inside to grab some plates and two more beers.

  He pulled the toasted buns and cooked burgers off the heat, and they sat and ate as they continued to talk about the possibilities for the business. She suggested he create a stage area inside and hire a band for opening week. He thought about it and figured there was enough space for a small stage in the far corner of the main room, where he’d planned on having a jukebox.

  He had to admit, she had a lot better ideas than he’d had since he’d been working on fixing the place up. He supposed it was because he’d been focused on making sure the building didn’t fall in on itself.

  The more she talked and plotted, the more he realized that he just didn’t have the talent and foresight to think about all the possibilities.

  Even though the conversation was one hundred percent focused on the business, he picked up a few of Mel’s personal habits. Little things like when she was deep in thought, she tended to tilt her head to one side.

  If she liked an idea he had, a small dimple appeared to the right of her mouth. If she didn’t like an idea he had, a crease formed between her eyebrows.

  She tended to fidget with her fingers as she talked, and her eyes never really stayed in one place. She was always scanning the horizon, as if looking for something or someone.

  It wasn’t so much that look that concerned him. It was the look of fear and the fact that she jumped at shadows. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but when they headed back inside to discuss their ideas, he watched her very closely and saw the fear building.

  Chapter 4

  It was the night. Her fear always spiked just as the sun started setting. She had never been afraid of the darkness when she was a kid. But then Ethan had come along, and everything had changed.

  Now, the moment the sun started to sink, she jumped at shadows. Even after a full year, she felt her skin crawl
at the thought of being alone in the dark.

  “Are you okay?” Brent had asked her when he was showing her where he planned on building a small stage.

  “Yes,” she said, trying to fend off the shakes. “I suppose I’m just chilled.” She wrapped her arms around herself. In truth, if anything, it was overly warm in the building. She doubted he had the air conditioning on, if there was any at all.

  He surprised her by walking over and grabbing an old sweatshirt from behind the bar and handing it to her.

  “The moment the sun goes down behind the mountains, it can get chilly. Even in the middle of summer,” he said easily.

  She wrapped the hoodie around herself and forced her body to stop shaking.

  “Thank you,” she said after a moment.

  “You’re probably tired.” He glanced at the clock. “I’m going to finish up a few things down here. Maybe we can pick this conversation up in the morning.”

  “Yes,” she said, feeling relieved that he didn’t push her any further. She wasn’t tired, not really, but she did want to be alone. The hot shower earlier had been the first she’d taken in days. It had relaxed her enough that she figured she could close her eyes for a few hours. “Thank you, again.”

  He nodded. “Mel?” he said as she turned to go. “Tomorrow, there’s no more need for all the thank-yous. I hired you and after the conversation we just had, it appears it was one of the smartest ideas I’ve had in years.” She smiled. “So, thank you for that. Now, we’ve both said it enough. Let’s get to work tomorrow. Deal?”

  “Deal,” she said easily. “Night.”

  “Night.” He turned and picked up a block of sandpaper and got back to work. She could hear him sanding the other bar tops as she climbed the stairs. The moment she walked through the hallway door, every sound from below was cut off.

  It was obvious the upstairs was highly soundproofed, shielded from the space below. It would help when there were patrons downstairs, she thought as she let herself into her room. Her room.

  She stopped just inside the doorway and looked around.