The Instant Family Man

by Shirley Jump

  Foster’s Pub and Grill was, more than anything else, a restaurant that housed a bar. Sure, they’d had their share of rowdy gatherings, and they would again. Typically, though, they were a casual place for the tourists and locals alike to grab a meal, a few drinks and kick back after a day on the slopes. Or after hours of hiking or white-water rafting during the summer season.

  He never relished the idea of trouble, but seeing how tonight was one of the last before the winter season ended, he was damn tired. He just didn’t have the energy for trouble. So he winked at the blonde to draw her attention from her other prey, hoping she’d focus on him and forget about Mr. Miller Lite long enough for the guy to seek out greener pastures.

  Or just give up and leave. Either would suit Dylan. His plan beyond that was sketchy, but he figured he’d be able to contain the situation, assuming one presented itself, if he removed as many unpredictable factors as possible.

  He winked again for good measure and slid the shooter across the surface of the bar. “There you go,” he said. “Might want to slow down a bit after this one.”

  “I have no intentions of slowing down,” the blonde said, accepting the shooter and downing it in one long gulp. “And I don’t have to drive tonight, so...another, please.”

  Dylan considered cutting her off, but he didn’t really have a legit reason. Her words were clear and she wasn’t swaying in her seat, and she’d just stated that she wasn’t planning on driving. So he went about making her another Snowshoe.

  “Anyone ever tell you how sexy your eyes are?” she asked when he set the drink in front of her. “What color are they, exactly? Green...brown...hazel?”

  “Depends on the day,” he said, answering her second question. Both he and his younger sister, Haley, shared their Irish mother’s coloring, including her chameleon eyes and brown hair with, in the summer, glints of red. Haley called the color auburn. Dylan preferred the simpler description of plain old brown. His older brother, Reid, and younger brother, Cole, took after their father, sporting almost-black eyes and hair. “And, I’ve been told, my mood.”

  “Ooh,” the woman said. “And what might your mood be right now?”

  Before an appropriate response—one that couldn’t be taken as too flirtatious—presented itself, the door to the pub opened, snagging his and the blonde’s attention. Not the heartbreaker, Dylan was relieved to see, but a young boy who all but tumbled into the restaurant, followed closely by, presumably, his mother. Even from across the room, both appeared windblown and out of sorts. Tired, too, if the woman’s hunched shoulders were anything to go by.

  Grasping her son’s hand, the woman pulled him farther into the restaurant and, after searching the area for an empty table, headed toward their solitary choice: a tiny two-seater near the bar. They removed their coats and sat down, and the woman—a tall, too-thin brunette—closed her eyes and let out a long breath. Not just tired, Dylan amended, but exhausted.

  Far more curious than he should be, he grabbed a couple of menus from under the bar and, with an easy grin directed at the blonde, said, “Duty calls.”

  “Hurry back,” she said, batting her mascara-coated lashes at top speed. “I’m almost ready for another drink, and you haven’t answered my question yet.”

  Question? Oh, about his mood. Seeing how his solitary goal was to go home—alone—and sleep until ten tomorrow morning, he doubted she’d like his response. Rather than saying anything, he nodded and made his escape. As he approached the table where the brunette and the child were, he tried to convince himself that he wasn’t interested in the least.

  He was just lending a hand. Foster’s was short staffed tonight, and Haley—who normally worked behind the scenes in the office—was working double duty by waiting tables. At the moment, she had a tray balanced on each arm and was maneuvering a path around the packed tables toward an extralarge group of customers.

  Nothing wrong with easing his sister’s load a little.

  Believable enough, Dylan supposed, except for the fact that Haley was a damn fine waitress. She’d see and attend to the new arrivals soon enough. Why, then, did he feel compelled to deliver the menus himself? Especially when he had a full bar to contend with and his worrisome premonition that the flirty blonde was trouble? Didn’t matter.

  He’d drop off the menus, tell the brunette and the boy about the evening’s specials, and that would be that. Haley could take over from there.

  “Evening,” he said when he reached their table and had handed them their menus. “We have several specials going on tonight, including—”

  “I want a hamburger and root beer, but Mommy says I have to have milk,” the boy interrupted, his excitement obvious. “So chocolate milk and French fries. With dip!”

  “Ranch dressing,” his mother supplied. “And the burger should be well-done, with nothing on it except for cheese and mustard. Do you... Is there a kid-size burger?”

  “Yup, there is,” Dylan answered, fighting the urge to grin at the child’s exuberance. Heck, the rascal was so jazzed, he kept bouncing in his seat. It was cute. Pulling the order pad from the pocket of his apron, Dylan focused on the mother. She was cute, too. “What about you? Do you need a minute to look over the menu, or would you like to hear the specials?”

  The question seemed, oddly, to fluster the woman. She dipped her chin so she was looking at the table rather than at Dylan. “Oh. I...already ate. Maybe a cup of coffee?”

  “That’s not true,” the boy said with a curious glance toward his mother. “Not since before we left for the brand-new fresh start this morning. I remember. You had a peanut-butter sandwich and a glass of water and you didn’t even eat when I did at lunch.”

  “Henry, I’m...” She trailed off, lifted her head and shrugged at her son. “I guess you’re right, but I’m not that hungry, so—” she returned her gaze to Dylan “—just the coffee, please.”

  “Sure,” Dylan said, jotting down the order. The action gave him a second to consider the give-and-take he’d just witnessed. That, along with the dark circles under the brunette’s eyes and the exhaustion he’d already recognized, made him think she was in some sort of a jam. Not that he should care one way or the other. Not his business. “Coffee it is, then. How do you take it?”

  “Cream, no sugar.”

  “Kitchen is busy, so the wait might be slightly longer than normal,” he said. “I’ll have someone bring a bread basket, free of charge, to compensate.”

  “That isn’t necessary.”

  “Nope, it isn’t. But it’s what we do.” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away before he could offer her a free meal to boot. Because dammit, that was what he wanted to do, and the want made no sense. He did not swoop in to save damsels in distress. Not anymore. Not for a long, long time. Besides which, maybe she really wasn’t that hungry or in a jam.

  Maybe, for once, he’d completely misinterpreted the signals.

  * * *

  “This is so good,” Henry said, dipping the very last French fry into a shallow bowl of ranch dressing. “I like our fresh start so far.” Squinting his eyes, he quickly revised his statement by saying “Now that we’re done driving, I mean.”

  “We are definitely done driving, sweetheart.” Chelsea tore off a piece of bread and chewed it slowly. She had been hungry, but Henry’s meal, her coffee, plus the tip was already more than she could afford. So despite her earlier refusal, she was grateful for the bread.

  Oh, they still had half a jar of peanut bar and a loaf of bread in the car, along with packages of crackers and cereal bars and a few juice boxes. She wouldn’t have actually starved without the bread basket, but she likely wouldn’t have allowed herself to dip into their food supply again until the morning. After all, she didn’t know how long it would have to last.

  While Henry had eaten his burger, she’d gathered the stray dollars from her coat pocket and the loose change from the bottom of her purse. Now, at least, she had a total. They had forty-seven dollars and
seventy-two cents to work with. That was it. And when she paid their bill here, she’d have thirty-seven dollars and twenty-two cents left.

  She might have to swallow her pride and reach out for help. Her choices were few. Lindsay, maybe, if Chelsea could contact her sister without her husband’s knowledge. Risky, though. Kirk was a carbon copy of their father—a guy who believed women existed for the sole purpose of doing a man’s bidding—and he controlled nearly every aspect of Lindsay’s life. Because Chelsea recognized this about Kirk and had attempted to talk her sister out of marrying him, Kirk did everything possible to keep the sisters apart.

  Mostly, he’d managed to do so. For whatever reason, her sister refused to see the truth. Even so, she loved Chelsea. She’d send whatever money she could, but Chelsea did not want to cause more problems. Better for everyone involved if she kept her sister out of this mess.

  That left Melissa. A friend, but not a close one. Chelsea’s fault, as she never allowed anyone to get too close, but Melissa had always been kind. They’d both worked as waitresses, usually on the same shift at an all-night diner, and less than two weeks ago, Melissa had hugged Chelsea and asked her to keep in touch. A kind woman, yes, but how could she ask for assistance from another single mother who was already fighting to make ends meet?

  Melissa would likely try to help, but knowing her circumstances meant that Chelsea shouldn’t ask. Sighing, she shook her head. No, it meant she wouldn’t. The decision had zip to do with pride. She’d gotten herself into this situation; she’d have to find a path through to the other side. Without calling on her sister or Melissa.

  And that put her exactly where she’d started, where she’d purposely put herself time and again: alone. Without a safety net or a solitary person to lean on, or even a plan B.

  For the first time in a long while, Chelsea wished she hadn’t built such a solid, impenetrable wall around herself and that she’d let one trustworthy person into her life. The problem, she knew, was in order to determine if a person was trustworthy, you first had to risk that they weren’t. Which then allowed them close enough access to cause some serious damage.

  In her experience, the risk had never paid off. But if she’d been luckier, and if such a person existed in her life, maybe she wouldn’t feel so inadequate and alone right now.

  Desperation clawed in Chelsea’s stomach. Her only true priority for the past four and a half years had been Henry. Every decision she made had his best interests at heart and now...well, she’d failed at keeping her son safe. And unless she could find a motel in Steamboat Springs that only charged ten dollars for a night’s stay, they’d be sleeping in the car.

  Oh, God. No. Just...no.

  Instructing herself to breathe, to calm the churning panic so she could think without emotion, she focused straight ahead and saw the man who’d brought them their menus.

  Tall and lithely muscular, he worked the bar with an ease that spoke of years of experience. Somehow, watching his quick, seemingly effortless movements softened the tightness in her chest. It was a reprieve of sorts, so she continued to watch as he prepared and delivered drinks, as he smiled and chatted and sometimes laughed to those he served. She envied him and his obvious comfort in his surroundings. In his life.

  When had she last felt such a sense of security and acceptance?

  Not since her grandmother Sophia had passed when she was thirteen. Before then, Sophia had been Chelsea’s refuge, her home and her haven. From her parents, her sadness, her...well, just about everything else back then. But Sophia couldn’t help her now.

  In that second, Chelsea came to the conclusion that she would never be in this position again. No matter what it took. No matter what she had to do. And the first order of business was securing a safe, warm place for her and Henry to sleep for the night. Tomorrow, when the sun rose, she would scour the entire city until she found a job.

  Any job, really. Anything that would get her from this point to the next.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said to Henry. “Just sit tight.”

  “Where are you going?” He stopped playing with his straw and sat up straight, worry dotting his expression. “I want to come with you.”

  “I know, but if you wait here, we won’t lose our table.” True, perhaps, but that wasn’t Chelsea’s concern. She didn’t want her son to know how desperate a position they were in. “I’m going up there,” she said, pointing in the direction of the bar. “We’ll be able to see each other the entire time. I won’t be long, and if you get nervous, you can come to me. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he agreed after a momentary pause.

  Leaning over, she gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head. Then, with hopes of a miracle, she approached the well-polished vintage oak bar. Again, she focused on the bartender, on his relaxed smile and his easy, almost graceful, movements. If a cheap—okay, almost free—motel existed in Steamboat Springs, he’d surely know of it, and if she were very lucky, he might have some ideas about possible job openings in the area.

  Humiliating to ask for any type of help whatsoever—even basic advice—from a stranger. She’d have to tell him some version of the truth, maybe even admit she’d failed, otherwise he wouldn’t understand her dilemma. And if he didn’t understand, why would he bother himself with giving her anything more than pat answers?

  All of this seemed too much, too overwhelming, and she almost retreated. Almost. But her earlier promise to do whatever it took strengthened her resolve. She marched forward and readied the words she’d have to say.

  Because really, what else was she to do?

  Copyright © 2015 by Tracy Leigh Ritts

  ISBN-13: 9781460382806

  The Instant Family Man

  Copyright © 2015 by Shirley Kawa-Jump, LLC

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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