Gage

by Tess Oliver

“But you will fix my sink?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, Hollywood, I’m going to fix your sink.”

  chapter 16

  Gage

  I could have taken a hundred cold showers and it wouldn’t have helped. I’d set myself up for it, and I had to live with the consequences. She invaded my thoughts more than ever now, and the only thing that was going to ease the physical ache of wanting her, was having her naked in my arms.

  I had to push away the image of that tattoo, a tattoo that made her perfect ass that much more incredible, or I would be miserable for the rest of the day. I didn’t need this. Summer wasn’t the type of girl you just took to bed and then waved goodbye to in the morning. She was the type that once you let down your guard, you were done for. I was better off with girls who just liked to share a good fuck and then part ways without looking back.

  I ran a comb through my wet hair and pulled on a shirt.

  I walked to the kitchen. My buck naked brother was staring in to the empty refrigerator. He heard me come in but continued to study the completely empty shelves in front of him. “Uh, brother, I’d like to make a comment about the accommodations.”

  “I’ve been in the mountains all week, remember? I’ll be sure to leave a wrapped chocolate on your pillow tonight.” I picked up my boots from beneath the bench in the service porch. “I’ve got to go to the hardware store to get some things for a broken pipe.”

  “The hardware store? Fuck.”

  “Yeah, sorry the brothels aren’t open this early.”

  His eyes widened. “There are brothels?”

  “No, you idiot. What do you think this is, the nineteenth century?”

  “Are they serving breakfast at the hardware store?” He swung shut the refrigerator door and pulled out a chair to sit.

  “Dude, don’t even think about setting your naked ass on my kitchen chair. Get dressed. You’re coming with me and then you can eat. And, no, there’s no food at the hardware store. By the way, Jericho texted me. He’s riding through Idaho. He should be here by tonight. Then you’ll have a playmate.”

  Seth walked over to a cupboard and opened it. He pulled out a box of cereal and plunged his hand inside. “I’ve got a date,” he muttered over a mouthful of corn flakes.

  “With who?”

  “I’m taking Daisy out after she gets off work.”

  “Daisy? She’s eighteen.”

  “Right,” he said, “she’s eighteen. And I got the feeling that she is willing to drop her panties very easily.” He glanced at the box. “This cereal is stale as shit.” He plunged his hand in again and flakes sprinkled over the floor. Ranger got up from the corner and performed his canine vacuum routine. “Didn’t you date her sister?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I said.

  “Damn, you and that insatiable dick of yours sure do get around.”

  “Speaking of dicks, get yours out of my kitchen and put on some pants. We’re leaving in five minutes.”

  Seth put the cereal box on the table. “What pipe are you fixing?”

  “The sink over at the Raven’s Nest. I bargained in a free lunch for you.”

  “Ah, that sweet little singing angel with the magnificent ass has you wrapped around her finger. Or, is it that you want her wrapped around your—”

  My chair scuffed along the floor drowning him out. “I’ll leave without you and then you can fight Rake for his rawhide bone.”

  “Oh my, California cutie is a touchy subject. Shit, if that doesn’t just prove my gobsmacked theory.”

  I stood up, and he backed up a little. I was probably the only person on the planet who could intimidate Seth. “You know, Seth, maybe one day you’ll wake up and not be such an asshole.”

  He tapped his chin in thought. “No, I don’t actually see that happening.” He clucked his tongue like an angry chicken. “For awhile, I thought we Barringers were all immune to gobsmacking. I guess I always knew that Luke and you were the weak links.”

  “Seth,” I said sharply, “go get dressed before I fucking gobsmack you out the back side of Montana and straight through to Canada.”

  chapter 17

  Summer

  What had started as a single leak had quickly grown to four steady streams. The paper towel rolls we’d shoved beneath the sink had lost their battle fifteen minutes earlier. My brilliant idea to use the smaller utility sink had resulted in my apron and shoes being completely soaked. Gage had texted that he was leaving the hardware store about five minutes after the towels had surrendered. Unfortunately, there was a good distance between everything here, so it would be awhile before he arrived.

  “They have to be kidding with this beef. This isn’t beef. Someone must have killed an old moose with their truck and then decided to package it as beef,” Maxwell complained from the kitchen.

  I headed in the direction of his beef rant. “What’s the matter?”

  He pointed to the lump of raw meat on his work counter. “This beef has way too much marbling. Those slider patties are going to shrink into quarter-sized discs.”

  “Well, put extra toppings on them,” I suggested, and he flashed me his haughty chef look, a look I’d seen more than once. “Then mix it in with some of the leaner meat. Marbling makes it more flavorful right?”

  He shook his head and waved away anymore amateur suggestions.

  “I’ll call the distributor right now to let him know that his meat resembles old moose flesh.” I headed to the office and smacked into Rita, whose expression was no brighter than Maxwell’s. Although hers was definitely more contrite.

  She tapped her finger against her chin. “Did I happen to mention that we were out of tequila?”

  I lifted my brow. “If you did mention it, it wasn’t to me.”

  “Oops.”

  My shoulders dropped under the falling crap of the day. It had all started with my mom’s call, and I was blaming the domino effect on her. She had a way of making a bad day worse. “Shit. I’ll have to go to the store and buy some. I’ll put it on the next delivery list.” Rita looked upset. I leaned forward and hugged her. “Don’t worry about it. We’re learning this together, right?”

  She forced a smile. I hadn’t told Rita about my mom’s lawsuit, but she could tell something had me flustered. Of course, I’d decided that the few pulse racing moments with Gage had been more the cause of that than my mom’s inane harpy bitch fest.

  “By the way,” Rita said, “there have been at least a dozen calls asking if the blonde was singing again tonight.”

  “They didn’t realize I was running the place in between sets?”

  “Apparently, they hadn’t noticed that the new owner and the singer were the same person.”

  “Hell of a disguise, that apron.” As I hurried into the office, I heard a significant splat followed by Hector’s curses, coming from the kitchen. I decided to ignore it.

  I went into the office, shut the door and sat down at my desk. “Holy hell,” I said. “What have I gotten myself into?” At least the sink would be fixed before the dinner rush. The lunch hour had been mild, with only half the dining room filled, which was good for the day we were having but bad for the business. There would be no band tonight, which I could only assume meant less people. I was relieved about it, and I wondered just what kind of a restaurant manager that made me. I could see my reflection in the sleeping monitor. My shaggy blonde hair was sticking up all over the place, and I hadn’t had time to put on makeup. Quite the difference from my band days when it seemed we slept until noon and took our sweet time getting ready for the night’s gig, which was rarely longer than two hours and came with free food and drinks. Usually the longest part of our work day was relaxing in the van on the way to wherever it was we were traveling. I mused that everyone I’d left behind in California were throwing bad vibes my way, and that was causing the avalanche of problems. I wondered, once again, if this whole decision had been a huge mistake after all.

  A light knock on the door drew me out of my depres
sing thoughts.

  Rita poked her head into the room. Her earlier expression of worry was nothing compared to the look she gave me now.

  “Shit, what now?”

  “I just wanted to let you know about some customers that just came in. They are a crew of loggers who travel around and take work where they can find it.”

  “Wait, yes, Ralston or something like that? We ran into them in the hardware store. Gage warned me that they would probably stop in to eat. Have they caused any problems?”

  “Let’s just say that our other regular customers sucked down their food in order to leave. One table even took theirs to go.”

  I got up. “I’ll handle them. Is Kristina waiting on the table?”

  “Yes, but after their rude remarks, she’s close to throwing the food in their faces.”

  I’d hoped to intercept Kristina before she had their plates, but by the time I reached the dining room, she was already placing, or for a better word, dropping, the plates in front of them.

  All three men eyed her like a piece of fudge as she handed them their food. Ralston, the one who seemed to be the leader, leered at Kristina and crudely ran his tongue along his lip. His long, unkempt beard looked as if it might be home to a number of small critters. The guy next to him had a belly so big it overflowed onto the table, and the third one looked like one of those creepy guys you never wanted to have a locker near in high school because you were sure he kept dead rats and squirrels inside. Ralston said something to Kristina, but she ignored him and turned to leave. He grabbed her wrist.

  “Let her go,” I ordered, and glowered down at him as I reached the table.

  “Well, if it isn’t Barringer’s little whore from the hardware store. Run along, skank, I’m talking to my waitress.”

  “I’m the owner here, and if you have any questions you direct them to me. If you don’t release her this second, I’m calling the police.”

  He unpeeled his thick, grime covered fingers. Kristina rubbed her wrist.

  “I’ll take over,” I told her. She nodded, but stayed next to me. Rita and Kristina were two of the best reasons to stay in Montana.

  The guy with the massive belly picked up the ketchup and squeezed it, but nothing came out. He slammed it on the table. “Get me another bottle of ketchup.”

  I stared angrily at him and then left to get the ketchup. Kristina followed closely at my heels.

  “And bring some water,” Ralston yelled.

  “Thanks for coming to my rescue, Summer. Those three are such a menace whenever they come in.”

  “This will be their last visit. I’m invoking my right to refuse service privilege. By the way, do you think spitting inside the ketchup bottle would be unprofessional?”

  Her brown eyes rounded and then shrank with a smile. “I wouldn’t call that unprofessional at all.”

  I filled some glasses with water and stuck the ketchup on the tray next to them. My mouth was dry with anger and irritation, so the assholes would be spared my saliva. I walked back toward the table.

  Kristina scurried up next to me. “I’m not letting you go over there alone,” she said.

  The last few diners had left the restaurant. The lunch hour was over, and there would be a lull until four o’clock.

  I placed the ketchup in front of the man, who, much like a pig, was practically wallowing in the food on his plate.

  Ralston had his mouth filled with food, but it didn’t stop him from talking. “How long have you been fucking Barringer?”

  “That’s it,” I said. “All of you are going to have to leave. I won’t even give you a bill. Just get out of my restaurant and never come back. Otherwise, I’m calling the police.”

  He stared up at me with small eyes, and his beard, which was now home to a grilled onion, swung from side to side as he chewed in much the same fashion as a cow chewing cud.

  “We aren’t going anywhere.”

  The creepy, dead squirrel guy shot out of the booth and grabbed Kristina before she could flee. Rita called to the back for Maxwell and Hector. As she dialed her phone, something at the front door caught her attention. “Thank god, you’re here,” she said.

  I was just about to throw the entire tray of waters at Ralston when his leg shot forward and kicked my feet out from under me. I went flying, tray and all, into another table. My back smacked the edge and I slammed to the floor, my hand landing directly on a giant shard of glass. It sliced my palm open. I tucked it quickly beneath my underarm to keep the blood from dripping all over the floor.

  chapter 18

  Gage

  There were just a few cars in the lot as Seth and I pulled in. My glanced flitted toward a truck that looked familiar. By the time I parked, I remembered where I’d seen it last. “Sonavabitch.”

  “What’s wrong?” Seth asked.

  “Hurry up. There might be some trouble inside.” I climbed out and crossed the lot in five longs strides. Seth was right behind. I swung open the front door.

  Rita had a phone to her ear as her gaze shot to the entrance. “Thank god, you’re here.” As the words left her mouth, Summer, holding a tray of waters, flew a good ten feet into a table and chairs. My fingers tightened into fists.

  “But I haven’t had my breakfast,” Seth said.

  I marched toward Ralston.

  “Oh, who am I kidding?” Seth followed. “Knocking teeth out is more fun than eating.”

  Summer looked stunned and slightly sick as she tucked her bloody hand under her arm. Kristina looked equally shocked as Kurt held her arms. He spun her in front of himself as a human shield. His bloodshot eyes bulged with fear as we reached them.

  Ralston tried his hardest not to look scared as he continued to nonchalantly chew a mouthful of food. Before he had a chance to swallow, I grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked him so hard from the booth the table turned sideways. He coughed and some food sprayed out over his beard and shirt, narrowly missing my arm. In one move, I had him turned around, and my arm snaked around his neck for a chokehold. His greasy fingers clawed at my arm as he struggled to catch his breath. I glanced back at Travis who looked loathe to leave his plate. “If you don’t want me to shove that plate of food into your fat face, you’ll get the hell out of here now.”

  Travis looked apologetically at Ralston, whose face was as red as the ketchup, and took a burger in each fist before scurrying out the door.

  Kurt pulled Kristina roughly around trying to keep his eyes on Seth, but Seth slipped behind him and shot a fist into his back. He groaned in pain, and as he fell forward, he lost his grasp on her. Both Rita and Kristina helped Summer out of the pile of glass shards on the floor. Maxwell and Hector stood nearby armed with a frying pan and a rolling pin.

  Kurt was on his knees. He reached back and tried to get hold of Seth’s leg. Seth brought his elbow down hard on the top of Kurt’s head. He fell face first to the floor. Seth rubbed his elbow. “Ouch, my tennis elbow.”

  “You don’t play tennis,” I reminded him.

  He thought about that as he placed his boot on the back of Kurt’s greasy head to keep his face smashed against the tile floor. “Then ouch, my ‘spanking the monkey’ elbow.”

  Hector and Max got a good laugh out of that.

  Ralston squirmed in my hold.

  “Christ, you reek like you’ve been bathing in shit,” I said.

  He grunted something but with much of his air passage blocked it was hard to understand him.

  Flashing lights flickered outside. Rita raced to the window. “The police are here.”

  Seth stomped a bit on Kurt’s head. “Good, because I’m hungry.”

  Maxwell lifted his rolling pin in salute. “Lunch, coming right up.”

  chapter 19

  Gage

  After some thought, and a lot of coaxing from the rest of us, Summer decided to close the Raven’s Nest for the rest of the day. Rita talked the Rambling Rustlers into playing the next night, and she printed up a sign apologizing for the unschedu
led closure and promising live music Sunday night.

  Summer’s face looked pale and tired as she sat on the barstool sipping an orange juice. I’d finished talking to the police. They knew Ralston and his buddies quite well and were more than happy to haul them into jail.

  I walked over to Summer. Her brown eyes glossed as she smiled weakly at me. “That was some amazing timing, mountain man.” She closed her eyes and then opened them again. “Are you swaying back and forth?”

  “No,” I said.

  “Then is the room swaying back and forth?”

  I took hold of her arm just before she nearly tottered off the stool. “Like the officer said, we need to get you in for some stitching.”

  She shook her head, and again, I kept her from falling. “It’s fine. It’s almost stopped bleeding.” She turned her towel-wrapped hand palm side up. Blood had spread completely across it. “Sort of. Besides, stitches sound painful.”

  “They’ll give you a shot to numb it first.”

  “A shot in my hand?” She fell forward, and I caught her in my arms. She pressed her face into my shirt and her thin shoulders shook with sobs. “This was a stupid decision. I don’t know what made me think I could handle this.”

  “None of this was your fault. Those guys gave your grandpa plenty of trouble too, and there’ll be other asshole customers to follow. From what Kristina told me, you handled yourself pretty damn well with those jerks.”

  “Thank you again for being here.” She pulled her face from my shirt and rubbed her nose with the back of her good hand. “I guess I’ll have to brave a trip to the emergency room.”

  Undeterred by the earlier events, Seth had sat himself down to the massive plate of macaroni and cheese Maxwell had prepared for him. He was shoveling it in at a lightning fast pace.

  Summer laughed softly. “That poor guy was hungry.”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s such a clown.”

  “He’s fucking awesome.” Her long lashes were clumped together with tears. “And so is his grizzly-shaped brother.”