by Carrie Elks
“Yeah,” Van told her. “I’m really going to stay.”
A smile broke out on Zoe’s face, Maroon 5 completely forgotten. She rolled closer to Van, circling her arms around Van’s neck. “Yay! You’re staying. This is so cool.”
Van hugged her back, closing her eyes for a moment. Had she really just agreed to stay?
Yeah, she had. And it was either the best idea she’d ever had, or the worst decision she’d made yet.
Right now, it could turn out to be either one.
Chapter Fifteen
Van scrawled her name across both duplicate contracts, sliding one into the envelope ready to hand back to Tanner, leaving the other on the table to file away later. It was almost nine o’clock on Friday night, and she and Zoe were the only ones in the house. Kim had gone out earlier, surprising Van with her blow-dried waves and freshly made up face.
“Don’t wait up. I’m meeting an old friend.” Kim had air kissed her, the strong aroma of her perfume with an undertone of gin lingering in Van’s nose.
“You’re looking better,” Van had said dryly.
“Don’t be mean. I’m trying to get better. You and Zoe have fun without me.”
That had been two hours ago. And Van still wasn’t sure if she was happy her mom was feeling better, or annoyed she’d left without even asking if Van was okay to take care of Zoe.
Though of course she was. She would have said yes anyway.
“What are you doing?” Zoe asked, walking into the kitchen in her pajamas. She opened the refrigerator and stepped back. “We have sodas,” she said, glancing at Van from the corner of her eye. “And chocolate. Can I have some?”
Van nodded. “Go ahead.”
Zoe grabbed a can of Coke and a Milky Way. “I love it when you go grocery shopping. You want some?”
“I’ll get something in a minute. You want to watch a movie?”
“I can stay up?” Zoe popped the can and took a long sip. “First you let me drink soda and eat chocolate, and now you’re not forcing me to bed before nine-thirty. Are you feeling okay?”
Van grinned. “I’m fine. I just want to spend a bit of quality time with my sister. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be in. Why don’t you find something good on Netflix?”
“Okay.” Zoe grinned. “Maybe you can make popcorn, too.”
“Maybe.” Van wiggled her eyebrows.
Zoe skipped out of the kitchen right as Van’s phone rang. She picked it up, frowning when she saw her mom’s number.
“Hello?”
“Is this Kim’s daughter?” a man’s voice asked. Van felt her skin prickle up.
“Yes. Who is this, please?”
“My name’s Graham. I’m sitting next to your mom at a bar. She’s not feeling well right now.”
Van glanced at the kitchen door. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“Nothing to worry about. She’s just a little sick.” Graham cleared his throat. “She probably shouldn’t have had that last whiskey.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that.”
Van closed her eyes, knowing exactly what this was. Whoever this Graham was, he’d been plying her mom with drinks, thinking she was a sure thing. “What bar are you in?”
“The Moonlight Bar in Hartson’s Creek. You know it?”
“Yeah, I know it.”
“I’d bring her home, but she’s not in a good way.” He gave an embarrassed chuckle. “I don’t want people talking about me like that.”
“It’s okay. I’m on my way.”
“Great. She’s at the bar. I probably won’t be here when you get here.”
Of course he wouldn’t. She didn’t expect anything less. Apart from Craig, she’d never met a lover that didn’t treat Kim like dirt.
And even Craig had at the end.
He hung up before she could reply. He’d done his duty, after all. Van would feel angry, but the phone call was more than most guys her mom hung around would do.
Sighing, she grabbed her purse and keys, and headed out to the hallway.
“Zoe?”
“Yeah?”
“Mom’s sick. I need to pick her up. Let’s watch that movie once I’m back, okay?”
The smile slipped from Zoe’s lips. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. I’ll bring her back and put her to bed, then make some popcorn.” Van winked at her. “Can I trust you to stay here while I’m gone?”
“Of course. Mom does it all the time.”
“You have my number in your phone?”
Zoe nodded. “Yep.”
“Okay. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Sure.” Zoe nodded. “See you in a bit.” She looked calm, as though she trusted Van to make everything right. And she so wanted to do that. For Zoe and for herself.
Van shot her a tight smile and left the house, climbing into her car and slamming the door closed behind her.
She wished she had as much faith in herself as Zoe did. Because right now she wanted to slap her mom like crazy.
“Okay, it’s my round,” Nate said, his legs wobbling as he pushed himself off the bar stool he was perched on. There were eight of them in all, sitting around one of the high tables at the rear of the Moonlight Bar. Tanner had only been here for an hour but he was already trying to find an excuse to leave. It turned out that once they’d finished reminiscing about school there really wasn’t much to talk about, unless you wanted to hear about Nate’s hernia operation or Grant Dubois’ divorce.
When he’d said he was rounding up the gang, it turned out Nate meant two guys and a gaggle of the girls they’d hung around with more than ten years ago. Including Chrissie Fairfax and her friends, who all gave him a huge hug as soon as they saw him.
The girls seemed to be getting along better than the guys. Maybe because they’d kept in touch in a way the guys hadn’t. They’d all drifted apart after graduation, meeting up occasionally during college vacations or when they were visiting their families in Hartson’s Creek, but really there was nothing left between them.
It was the opposite to his relationship with his brothers. That had only grown stronger, even though they were living in different locations across the East Coast. Maybe blood really did call to blood.
Everybody called out their orders to Nate, who looked perturbed when Chrissie and her friend Natalie asked for Pornstar Martinis. “Those are a thing?” he asked, scratching his head.
“Yep. The best cocktails ever.” Chrissie smiled at him.
Nate shook his head and wandered to the bar, leaning slightly to the left. Tanner stood and glanced at their group. “I think I’ll go help him. I don’t like his chances of carrying the drinks back without spilling them.”
Chrissie put her hand on Tanner’s forearm. “That’s a great idea,” she said warmly.
Gently, he pulled his arm away and walked over to where Nate was leaning on the bar, lifting one finger up as he tried to remember the order.
“Two pornstar martinis, one white wine and a Coke zero,” Tanner said to Sam, biting down a smile as the grizzled barman rolled his eyes. “And four more beers, please.”
Sam had put one of Gray’s albums on, the low beats echoing out of the speakers fixed to the wall. Tanner tapped his fingers on the sticky bar, smiling as he remembered singing this song with his brother when they’d tried to beat Becca and Maddie at Karaoke.
For some reason the girls won. Becca still hadn’t let him forget it.
“I want another drink.”
Tanner looked to his left to see where the slurred words were coming from. A woman was half-sitting on a barstool, her long hair spilling out of the clip she’d fixed it in, obscuring her face. Her top was low, enough for her cleavage to be on clear display for everybody to see. Tanner pulled his eyes away.
“Nothing more for you,” Sam said, pouring vodka into a stainless steel cocktail shaker, followed by champagne. “You’ve had enough.”
“Just one more.” Hal
f her body was on the counter. If she wasn’t so drunk, Tanner suspected she’d be climbing over the bar to help herself. “Come on, Sam. Just one more.”
He recognized that voice. Tanner tilted his head to the side, stealing another glance. Despite the curtain of bleached hair, he knew who it was. Kimberly. Van’s mom. He took a deep breath and turned toward her. “You okay?” he asked.
“Who’s asking?” She tucked the curtain of hair over her shoulder and turned to look at him.
“I’m a friend of Van’s.” He didn’t want to tell her his name. He was her landlord, after all, even if she didn’t know it. This had the potential to get messy as hell.
Kim slid off the stool and tried to steady herself on the counter. Next to him, Tanner could feel the warmth of Nate’s scrutiny. “Hello, friend of Van’s,” Kim said, her lips curling into a smile. “I don’t suppose you want to buy me a drink?”
“No, I don’t.” Tanner folded his arms across his chest. “You should probably go home.”
“Ha!” She tipped her head back, but lost her footing, tottering on her high heels. Tanner reached forward to grab her arm, steadying her.
She snapped her head around. “Don’t touch me if you’re not buying me a drink.”
“Sam’s stopped serving you.”
She licked her lips, then lifted her head to stare at him. “Do I know you?”
“I’m a friend of Van’s,” he said again.
Her brows knitted together. “Van. Perfect Van. Don’t tell her I’m here, she’ll go crazy.” Her words were all slurred together. He had to lean his head in to hear her properly. “Oh, you’re pretty,” Kim said, reaching up to trace his lips with her finger. He could smell cigarette smoke on them.
“I really think you should go home,” he told her softly. “I’ll walk you back.”
She laughed, a glass-like tinkle that cut right through him. “No sex unless you buy me a drink.” She attempted to smile. “I’m a lady.”
Tanner tried not to shudder.
“Is everything okay?” Chrissie asked, walking to the bar to join them. Her eyes widened when she realized who Tanner was talking to. “Oh, it’s you,” she said, looking Kim up and down. “Is she drunk?” she asked Tanner.
“Chrissie Fairfax. Johnny’s favorite little girl.” Kim lurched forward, only stopping herself from falling by putting her hands firmly on Tanner’s chest. He gripped her forearms, looking around for somewhere he could set her. Christ, she was drunk.
If Van could see her now, she’d be mortified. He needed to get Kim home before she embarrassed herself – and her daughters – any more.
Chrissie glanced at Tanner, her eyebrows lifting. “Should we call the police?”
“You’re so much like your mom, you know that?” Kim said, still swaying in spite of Tanner’s hold. “I bet you’re as much of a bitch, too.”
Chrissie blinked. “At least she’s not a drunk,” she replied, her voice full of disgust.
“Yeah well,” Kim said, pulling from Tanner’s hold as she turned to face Chrissie. “It’s a shame she can’t keep a man. Your dad’s slept with half the women in Hartson’s Creek.” Her smeared lips curled up into a satisfied smile. “No wonder your mom’s such an uptight bitch.”
Chrissie straightened her spine. “I’m calling the police. I shouldn’t have to deal with this.”
He shook his head. “No need to call anybody. I’ll get her home.”
“I know you, don’t I?” Kim said, turning back to him, as though she’d forgotten about Chrissie. “You’re Van’s friend. Tanner Hartson.”
His voice was graveled. “That’s right.”
“The boy I kept finding in bed with her.” She laughed again. “And now you want to take me home.”
This was excrutiating. With Chrissie on one side of him and Nate on the other, he felt like everything he said was being scrutinized. He was acutely aware of the way Chrissie was pulling her phone out of her purse, her fingers poised and ready to call the local cops.
“That’s forty-five dollars,” Sam said, loading eight full glasses onto a tray in front of Nate.
“Can you take the drinks over to the table?” Tanner asked Chrissie. “Nate’s bound to spill them.”
She glanced from Kim and back to him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“It’s all good. Kim’s going home now, aren’t you?”
Chrissie picked up the tray, balancing it carefully as she stood up straight. Tanner turned to take Kim’s arm again. But then she stepped forward, her hand reaching out to grab a drink from the tray Chrissie was holding. It was like watching a train wreck in double-slow motion. Kim’s hand caught the lip of the tray, her shuddering movement causing it to tip up and spill the cocktails and beer all over Chrissie’s cream dress.
A gasp came from the middle of the room, and Tanner felt his spine tingle as he slowly turned to see who was there.
Of course it was her. Standing all alone in the middle of the bar, her face pale as a sheet, her hand covering her open mouth. Tanner swallowed hard, his body responding as soon as he set eyes on her.
“Van?”
Chapter Sixteen
It was like walking into a horror movie, and realizing you were the star attraction. For a moment Van froze, her eyes darting from her mom to Chrissie Fairfax, as she realized she’d arrived too late.
Her heart stopped as she saw Tanner standing there, too. He took the tray from Chrissie’s hands and slid it onto the bar as the glasses crashed against each other. Chrissie’s dress – cream, of course – was stained brown by the drinks Van’s mom had spilled all over her.
Chrissie looked down at her soiled clothes, then back up at Kim. “You bitch, you did that on purpose.”
Van’s mom staggered backward, her juddery movements only halted when she stepped back against Tanner’s chest.
Van swallowed hard, mortified, as they all turned to look at her.
“You saw this, right?” Chrissie asked, turning back to Tanner. “You’re a witness. She just assaulted me.”
“She spilled beer,” Sam interjected. “It happens. I’ll get you a towel.”
“This is cashmere. It’s ruined.” Chrissie pulled at the material around her chest. “She’s going to pay for this. It cost three hundred dollars.”
“Doesn’t look like three hundred dollars,” Kim mumbled. “It looks cheap to me.”
“I’ll pay for it,” Tanner said, his eyes sliding to Van’s again. She could see pity in them, and it hurt like hell.
“No, I’ll pay.” Van’s feet unfroze from the floor. She walked forward, her spine straight, her jaw set. “I’ll wire the money tomorrow.”
“We should call the police,” Chrissie said, ignoring Van completely. “She shouldn’t be allowed to come out and assault people like this.”
“No. No police.” Van took a deep breath. “I’ll take her home.” She glanced over at the barman, afraid he might be calling the police himself. “Please …”
He nodded. “Go.”
“Let me help you,” Tanner said, his voice so gentle it made Van’s chest ache. “You can’t get her home by yourself.”
“My car’s outside. I’m fine.” She couldn’t look at him. She was so afraid that if she did, she might cry. And she couldn’t. Not when Chrissie Fairfax was watching her with narrow eyes.
She didn’t even want to think about why Chrissie and Tanner were at the bar together. All she knew was that it hurt. Breathing in a ragged breath, she took her mom’s arm. Kim turned as though she was surprised Van was still there.
“Come on, let’s take you home,” Van told her.
“I want an apology first.” Chrissie crossed her arms over the dark stain on her dress. “Then maybe I’ll think about not calling the cops.”
Van’s jaw tightened. “She can hardly talk.”
“She could talk enough to call me a bitch. Twice.” Chrissie shook her pretty head. “She did this on purpose. She hates me and my family.” She looked at Tann
er again. “You heard her.”
Van squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Mom,” she said, her voice low, “say you’re sorry and we’ll get out of here.”
Kim rolled her eyes. “Sorry.”
“You too,” Chrissie said, looking straight at Van. “You’re as bad as her. You hit me once when it wasn’t my fault. You apologize, too.”
“Let them go,” Tanner said firmly. “That’s history.”
“Tell that to my teeth. They never recovered.”
“I’m not going to apologize to you,” Van said quietly. “You hurt me.”
“Then I’ll call the police.” Chrissie lifted her phone up. “Let them sort this out.”
Tanner caught Van’s eye, shaking his head imperceptibly. Then his lips curled into a slow, easy smile as he turned back to Chrissie. “Why don’t you go back to the table?” he said, his voice as smooth as silk. “I’ll get another round. Don’t let this ruin your evening.”
Van wasn’t sure what she hated more. The way he’d looked at her with pity, or the way he was looking at Chrissie right now. All she knew was that she had to get out of here. Before the dam that was holding her tears back was breached, and she started sobbing like a baby.
Chrissie sighed. “Okay, but keep her away from me. She’s crazy.”
Van slid her arm around her mom’s back and slowly turned her so they were both facing the door. “Come on, let’s go.”
She didn’t look back. Not when she was crossing the bar with her mom leaning heavily on her, and not when it took her three tries to push the door open before the warm evening air washed over them both.
It wasn’t until she’d managed to sit her mom in the passenger seat and climbed into the driver’s side and buckled them both in that she let the tears finally spill over.
They rolled down her cheeks as she steered the car toward their little bungalow a few streets down. As she parked, she wiped them away with the back of her hand, determined not to let Zoe see her crying.
Her mom hadn’t said a word for the short journey. Kim’s head was tipped back, her eyes closed, and she let out a little snore.