Just One Night (Black Alcove #2)

by Jami Wagner

  She’s lying. She never told Kelsey about last summer. I would have received some sort of ass chewing from Kelsey if she had. I smile, cocking an eyebrow at her.

  “Okay, so there are some things we don’t share.” She laughs.

  “Yeah, I thought so,” I say, giving her sides another squeeze as she squeals. It feels so good to show her how much I care for her to all our friends.

  “So, does this mean you’re finally out in the open with all this?” Kelsey says, sitting across from us. Ethan takes the seat next to her with a shit-eating grin on his face, too.

  “What do you mean, finally?” Sara asks.

  “Like we didn’t know.” Ethan laughs.

  “Everyone knew something was going on,” Kelsey adds. “We just didn’t know what exactly that was.”

  With her mouth open, Sara looks over her shoulder at me.

  “I never said anything”—I raise my hands in surrender form—“swear it.”

  She rolls her eyes but smiles at the same time.

  “Yes, it does,” Sara answers at the same time I nod in Ethan’s direction.

  “It’s about freaking time,” Ethan says, winking at both of us. “The tension between you two was getting a bit ridiculous.”

  “Shut up, it was not.” Sara laughs.

  “Oh it most definitely—”

  “If I could please have everyone’s attention!”

  Sara jumps at the sound of her father’s booming voice. He steps through the French doors that lead from his kitchen onto the patio and comes to a stop once he’s next to us. Sara stands slowly and I do the same, holding her hand tightly in mine.

  “As you all know, I have been working to expand my business for some time now. It may just be a bar to most of you, but to me it’s how I provide for myself and for my daughter, and it brings me such joy to share with all of you today the birthday gift I have for Sara.”

  I can feel Sara stiffen in my arms so I hold her tighter. Her father turns to face us and the excitement falls from his face when he notices my arms wrapped around her. He swallows and looks me in the eye for a brief moment before returning his focus back to Sara.

  “Congratulations, dear. We got the place in Colorado, and it’s all yours.”

  Fuck. Maybe luck isn’t on my side after all.

  Chapter Three

  Sara

  I’ve heard the expressions “timing is everything” and “everything happens for a reason.” I just thought they were silly because life isn’t about luck. If you want something, you go after it and you don’t give up. This gift from my father is proof that theory is true. I’m finally getting my own bar! First I made a commitment to Logan and now I’m getting what I’ve been working toward. Today is freaking fabulous.

  I let my father finish his speech before I excuse myself and head inside. A smile is plastered to my face as I pour a soda into a plastic cup. Managing the BA has been great, but I never owned it. I’ve always had to clear everything through my father. Not anymore. I’ve got my own bar. Ah! This day couldn’t get any better.

  I pass through the kitchen and take a seat on the living room sofa. The room is filled with pictures of me with my parents, most of them with my father. All moments from my accomplishments, everything from spelling bees in elementary to graduating college. I excelled at everything in those years, and I’ve earned today.

  The click of the front door announces a newcomer to the party—someone new I can share my good news with and relive it again.

  “Hey, girl, sorry I’m late. I was—Hey, whoa, what’s wrong? That’s sort of a creepy smile you got there.” The couch dips as Beth sits next to me. Beth Moyer is both a great friend and an employee at The Black Alcove.

  “Logan and I are together.” I glance up. She’s staring me down with her hands folded in her lap. Something about her red hair, white summer dress, and the spark in her emerald eyes reminds me of the Little Mermaid right now.

  “That’s great,” she cheers, clapping her hands.

  “My father gave me the bar.”

  “Wow! Even better.”

  “In Colorado.”

  “Oh, shit,” she says, every ounce of cheerfulness has left her voice and my head jerks back at her response.

  “What do you mean ‘oh shit?’” I ask, curious to why she doesn’t she see this as good news.

  “You’re really asking me that?” Her question makes her sound just as confused.

  “Yeah, this is great news. Unless you mean ‘oh, shit yes, this is awesome,’ I don’t think were on the same page.”

  “Well doesn’t owning a bar in Colorado mean you have to move?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So, if you and Logan just started dating, how is that going to work?”

  I shrug. “He’ll come with me.”

  “Um, are we talking about the same Logan?”

  I never suspected Beth to be the party pooper. Fine, right now isn’t the ideal time for Logan to pick up and move, but he’ll do it for me. All he has to do it switch schools. A transfer won’t be that hard.

  “Okay, think about this: if he moves with you, the two of you are going from not even dating to living together. Is that a commitment you want to make?”

  “Just because we move doesn’t mean we have to live together,” I point out. No need to freak me out with more commitment talk, Beth.

  “If I moved to another state for someone, that’s asking for a huge commitment,” she adds and I cringe. She really needs to stop using that word.

  “Sara, are you okay in here?” Kelsey asks in a gentle voice as she steps into the living room holding her new baby, Clara, in her arms. I glance back and forth between my friends trying to decide if “okay” is the word I would use to describe the outcome of this conversation. Beth is right, if I ask Logan to move, I’m making a bigger commitment than I’m ready to make. Thousands of people make long-distance relationships work every day. Logan and I are no different.

  “Yes, everything is great,” I say with a stoned expression. And it will be as long as Logan is okay with me leaving without him.

  Logan

  Fuck.

  Just one word says it all. If I had any gut feeling that Sara’s father doesn’t approve of me, this confirms it. He wants to keep us apart and I can’t believe he’s sending her to an entirely different state to do it. I don’t come from the same background as them. I didn’t grow up with luxuries and money. I didn’t and don’t have parents who encourage me or believe in me. Parents who love me. All I have is a sister who won’t return my letters and Sara. Her father is about to take away something more important to me than myself, and I think he knows it, too.

  “Logan.”

  Ethan’s voice pulls me back into reality as he waves a hand in front of my face while everyone else goes about the party like something intense didn’t just happen.

  “That was a little creepy,” Ethan whispers. “It was like you zoned out. I said your name probably ten times. I know you have feelings for Sara, we all do, but your face just told me more than I thought.”

  “I know,” I groan into my hands.

  “What are you going to do? You can’t let her leave, not now. You two just made this official. Her father is ruining it. I’d be so furious and lost right now.”

  It should freak me out that my best guy friend sounds like a complete girl, but it doesn’t. He found someone he refuses to image his life without, and until this moment, I never knew how that felt.

  “Mr. Parker.” Sara’s fathers clears his throat as he interrupts our conversation. “Could I have a word with you?”

  “Yeah, I need to check on Kelsey anyway,” Ethan stutters.

  There he goes again, rushing off inside the house like a girl. It’s good to know I have a friend who can get me to laugh even in an unwanted situation. I push off my knees as I come to a stand in front of Sara’s father. Even for a man nearing his late fifties, he towers over me at six foot five with gray hair, and his solid frame
for an old guy is intimidating. He pins me with dark eyes and sticks one hand in his tan slacks pocket while the other holds a glass at his lips. Whiskey and water on the rocks, no doubt. I’ve been a bartender at the BA for a couple years now, and he’s never ordered anything different. He nods and points for me to walk with him.

  “You know, Logan, in the years I’ve known you, you’ve surprised me.”

  I don’t say anything as we stop at the drink table. He pours another drink and offers the glass to me. I take it even though I hate whiskey.

  “You’ve turned out to be a much stronger, more determined, and smarter man than I would have imagined. And with the way my daughter speaks about you, I know I’ve been wrong about you all these years.”

  Whoa. How do I respond to that?

  “Thank you, sir,” I say as we come to a stop just outside the kitchens doors.

  “I know I’m making the right decision when I ask you to manage and run The Black Alcove while my daughter is away. I’m not the young and quick man I once was. I need someone this family can trust to fill in where I can’t. After last year, calling my brother for help is not something I will ever reconsider. You are the right person for the job, and I believe that you will take care of my business as if it were your own. You salary will be more than doubled, of course.” He adds the last part as if it were an afterthought.

  Wow.

  The entire compliment doesn’t go unnoticed, but I focus on the last sentence. I could really use that money. I could have my student loan paid off faster than I expected, my rent would be caught up, and I could start saving for a future with Sara. It would mean staying here apart from Sara, but if anyone understands building a career, it’s her.

  “Thank you, sir. I’d be happy to—”

  “Logan,” Sara squeals as she comes through the open doors with a smile bigger and brighter than ever. She doesn’t take her eyes off of me as she closes her arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around her waist and hold tight. She kisses me right in front of her father, but I cut it short—I need her father to know I’m serious. That I am all those things he said, that I can take care of his business and show him that I’m someone worthy of his daughter. My only wish is that I could do all that without Sara being hundreds of miles away from me. Damn Ethan. He turned me in to sap.

  Sara releases her hold, giving me another quick kiss on the cheek before she turns to her father. Right now I want to do more than a quick a kiss on the cheek. I want to be anywhere else. I want her alone. I want to forget that we are going to start our relationship apart from each other. Although she wasn’t that sad when she came through those doors, I sure hope she takes my suggestion of our embracing our different career paths well.

  “Can I steal him for just a second, Dad?”

  “Actually, Sara, dear, before you do that, I want you to know that I’ve chosen Logan to manage the BA in your absence.”

  If I’m not mistaken, Sara’s shoulders relax with relief.

  “Dad, that’s—”

  “He could run that place in his sleep. And that’s why I think it would be in our best interest if he took over.”

  She nods her head and an ear-to-ear grin touches her lips. Excited eyes find mine as she throws her arms around my neck.

  “Logan, this is fantastic!”

  “Yeah, I, uh … I think so too,” I reply, hugging her back. She isn’t upset that I’m staying here and she’s moving? “Do you think we could—”

  “That’s what Ethan’s for,” Beth chimes in at an unfriendly volume from somewhere behind us. Her confidence to speak to Mr. Connelly this way probably comes from years of being Sara’s friend.

  “Ethan is … looking into a different career path,” Sara’s father tells her.

  “What, since when?”

  “Since he became a father and is about to be a husband, he wants a job that lets him be home at decent hours. It’s a very honorable thing to do, and I don’t blame him for putting his family first.”

  As if he knows we’re talking about him, Ethan chooses this exact moment to come outside.

  “Ethan,” Beth says loudly even though he’s standing only a few steps away. “Why didn’t you tell me you were quitting?”

  “You’re quitting?” Abby asks in shock as she and Kelsey join him. I didn’t even realize Abby showed up. Since she’s both a coworker and a friend none of us trust very well, I wasn’t aware Sara had invited her. But then again, Sara has the kindest heart of anyone I know, so it shouldn’t surprise me. Kelsey and Abby walking together, on the other hand—well, that’s not the subject right now.

  “I … ” Ethan starts then glances franticly between Sara and me.

  “Oh … this isn’t good,” Kelsey says, leaning in Abby’s direction. “With Ethan gone, Logan’s the only one with enough experience to run the BA, unless Mr. Connelly wants to return. And if Logan takes the position, he won’t be leaving with Sara.”

  “Shit,” Beth says and doesn’t even try to lower her volume.

  Yeah, shit.

  “Sara, I think you should get back to your party and you ladies can continue this conversation another time.” Her father’s tone is clipped.

  She stares at her father for a few seconds, then glares at Beth. Our friend’s expression shifts quickly, and in all honesty, looks like she’s about to cry. Everyone slowly steps away from the circle we’ve created, leaving Sara and I alone.

  Our eyes meet briefly before she reaches for my hand.

  “I think we should go,” she says, her tone void of any excitement.

  I don’t say anything because my fear that she’s going to end this before it can even begin is strong. And that’s the last thing I’m going to let her do.

  Sara

  I find Logan’s hand, yanking hard as I pull him through the house. I grab my purse from the kitchen table and then Logan’s truck keys off the foyer table, walking us right out the front door. Logan doesn’t say a word as I hand him the keys, pointing to his truck. He still doesn’t talk until we’re sitting in the parking lot outside my apartment.

  Yeah, I’m happy that my father gave my position to Logan. Happy that it means he won’t be coming with me and that I won’t have to endure an awkward conversation about why he should stay here. But when Beth started to get defensive, it occurred to me that I should be the one who is mad. I should want Logan to be with me.

  “Is everything okay?” Logan asks as he reaches across the truck to hold my hand. My head falls back against the headrest.

  “What kind of person does it make me that I want to go to Colorado to open this new bar, but I also want you to stay here and take the opportunity my dad is giving you?”

  Logan licks his lips as his head nods. “I’d say that makes you human, strong, and smart for knowing what you want in life.”

  A small smile tugs at my lips. “But it also means that I’m a horrible girlfriend and I haven’t even had that title for twenty-four hours.”

  “Don’t even think that. I think it’s great we aren’t letting this get in the way of success. You will do your thing there, I’ll do mine here, and we can make it work until you get back.”

  “Yeah, but this was supposed to be it, the perfect time for us to be a couple. Now it’s the exact opposite. We may as well wait until I get back before we give this a real shot,” I say. I’m already using the bar as an excuse because I’m scared, but I don’t want to admit it.

  He shakes his head no.

  “You know what, we can do this. We can handle distance. Look at everything we’ve been through. Rockland, Colorado, is what—three hours from here? I’ll come down every weekend if I have to. I’ll do anything and everything if it means seeing you.”

  “You can’t do that. Not now that we have a live band almost every weekend.” Ethan worked so hard this last year finding different bands to alternate at the BA.

  “Even with the bands.” Logan grins. “I’m not the only one who works there, Sara. Every now and then, they wi
ll be able to manage a weekend without me.”

  I blink at his response. Now probably isn’t the time to let him know how nervous that idea makes me. I trust everyone who works there—I wouldn’t have hired them otherwise—but I also know how they work, and like most normal people, when the boss is away, things go wrong.

  “I see your wheels turning, Sara Connelly. You’re going to have to calm down on the perfection factor. I might not be as organized or have the experience you do, but I promise I won’t let the BA go under in my first week.”

  I can feel my eyes practically bugging out of their sockets.

  “I said I wouldn’t let that happen.” He laughs, unclipping his belt to slide over next to me. He kisses the side of my head.

  “I have an idea. What if we took this time apart to grow as a couple and to grow in our careers? Let’s take advantage of what we have been given and make the most of it.” He places another kiss to my head before he touches his fingers to my chin and turns my face to look at him. “It’s ideal for you to move to Rockland because you’re going to own a business there, but in real life, you don’t have to live there if you don’t want to.”

  I relax into his embrace and let out a deep breath. “How do you know me so well? How do you know exactly what to say?”

  He chuckles. “I wasn’t quite finished yet.”

  I lean back up, tilting my head to the side as I wait for him to go on.

  “Your goal while you are there is to loosen up. Don’t let things stress you out. Control is your thing, but I think now is a great time for you to learn you can’t control everything.”

  “Hey, I don’t control everything.”

  He cocks a brow at me.

  “What? I like structure; it’s not a bad thing.”