The Bartender (Seductive Sands Book 5)

by Sammi Franks

  “Hey,” I murmured as I stepped closer to her. “You should come surfing with me. It’s absolutely impossible to be miserable out on the water.”

  Her head tilted. “I don’t know about that. We’ll see how you feel after we talk.”

  10

  Norah

  * * *

  I didn’t want Bodhi to see this. I didn’t need Mark ripping out my heart from my chest so callously and then serving it to me on a platter. What Bodhi and I had was fun. What Mark was doing to me wasn’t. I didn’t need him to hear this. I didn’t want to ruin his vibe. Instead, I wanted him to let me handle this and then I could see where I wanted to go from there.

  When Bodhi left, the café door firmly closed, I refrained from following him with my eyes. Instead, I focused on Mark, pressing my lips into a thin line.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  Mark moved from the entranceway of the cafe to come near me. While I did not want him close to me, I also didn’t want to back down in front of him. My insides shook. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea if what Mark said was true. What I did know was that Mark didn’t lie. He wasn’t a good boyfriend because he prioritized everything else above me, but he never lied. He did what benefitted him and I could either go along with it and reap the benefits, or I could stand up for myself and dump him. I chose the latter.

  “Given our history, you know I’m telling the truth,” Mark murmured. At least he had the wherewithal to look chagrined. “Your parents called me and offered me the café. I’m sorry about your grandmother by the way.”

  I set my fingertips on the café table in front of me. There were still crumbs from Bodhi’s panini on the surface of the table. I wasn’t quite ready to toss that out yet, not the way I had with Bodhi himself.

  I didn’t like that Mark knew about my grandmother. I didn’t like that my parents called and talked to him about the café without telling me what was going on first. I still hadn’t received a call from them. They typically called every Wednesday at six, just after closing, without fail. When they missed their call yesterday, I thought something happened, but that if it was bad, they would have told me. I was wrong. This was bad and they hadn’t told me.

  What happened to make them feel they couldn’t trust me with this? Where they couldn’t at least have given me a head’s up? I thought that this had been part of their dream, to come here and open a café. This café paid for a nice condo a few minutes away from the beach. It paid for my college tuition. It brought them great happiness. What had happened to Grandma so they needed to sell it? Or was she fine and they were planning to use the money to remain in India? They had talked about retiring soon, but I hadn’t realized it was this soon.

  “I know this is a lot for you to take,” Mark said slowly, tentatively. “Everything was finalized last week. I only just got into Westport the other day, but I wanted to let you know immediately - you are more than welcome to stay on as a barista.”

  I sneered. “You think that’s what I do?” I asked, tilting my head to the side so my hair spilled over my shoulder and covered my profile. “You think I’m a barista? You think that I’ve kept this café running because all I do is make coffee?”

  He clicked the top of his mouth with his tongue. “No need to get hostile, Norah,” he said, already exasperated and we’d barely started our conversation. “A few weeks ago, your parents reached out to me and told me about your grandmother. They knew I wanted to look to expand my reach to Westport and I offered them a more than fair price for it. As long as you got to keep your job, they were fine with transferring ownership over to me.”

  I couldn’t believe it. His words made sense and it sounded like something my parents would do if they needed to. What I didn’t understand was why I was hearing about this from Mark instead of my parents.

  “I just assumed you were a barista,” Mark continued, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s what people who work at cafés are called, right?”

  “I’m more than just a barista,” I said. I knew I shouldn’t waste my time and energy getting upset with him. He wasn’t worth it, and he shouldn’t have this hold over my emotions, either. “I order stock, take inventory. I open the shop, I close it. I do everything and I do it by myself. I’ve made this café more profitable than it was. This is mine.” Tears sprang into my eyes quicker than I realized and I quickly tried to blink them away so Mark wouldn’t see. The last thing I needed was for him to see me crying. “This café is mine.” My voice cracked. It was nearly as bad as letting the tears fall.

  “It’s not, though,” Mark said softly. He looked away like he was uncomfortable with my state. I couldn’t blame him. I was turning into a hot pathetic mess. “You can keep your job, Norah. I’ll get you a fair salary with benefits. But the café is mine.”

  “No, it’s…” I bit my bottom lip and tried to control myself. I didn’t want to say something I would later regret, but the words bubbled up inside of me like carbonation in a shaken soda can. “I won’t work for you, Mark. You think you’re doing me a favor by letting me keep my job, but you are giving me the worst insult.”

  I needed to leave. I needed to get out of here before I broke down and cried.

  “Will you do me a favor?” I asked.

  He paused, looking at me with doubt. “Sure,” he said.

  “Can you give me a day?” I asked. “I need this to settle.”

  Mark nodded. “That’s fair,” he agreed.

  Good. I needed fresh air, sand between my toes. I needed the beach when it was quiet. Tomorrow, I would go for a walk on the beach and try to clear my head.

  11

  Bodhi

  * * *

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked as I wandered closer to her. There was a look on her face like she wanted to bolt, but was too worn out to run. Guess I had that going for me, which was awesome because I was seriously too relaxed to chase her.

  Norah sighed. “Thinking.”

  My brow furrowed as I realized it was closing in on mid-morning. Though I didn’t know her particularly well yet, I knew what she wasn’t the kind of person to blow off a shift, which might make us complete opposites. Before the bar, I could barely be bothered to go to work. “Shouldn’t you be at the café?”

  She released a hollow laugh before meeting my searching look and shaking her head sadly. “Not really.”

  “Not really?” I felt like she was talking in riddles today and if I could just crack the code, I might be able to understand what was going on with her. A thought occurred to me. “What happened with that guy last night?”

  “That guy.” She chuckled. “That guy.” Tears trickled from her eyes and dripped from her chin.

  I squatted in front of her and slowly, gently, wiped them away. “Talk to me, Norah. I’m a really good listener if you just give me a chance.”

  She swallowed hard and looked away. “I don’t really have a job to go to because…” she broke off, “I don’t do pity.” She rested her chin on her bent knees and wrapped her arms tightly around her shins.

  “Why would anyone pity you?” I reached out and tucked a few loose hairs behind her ear and then stared into her watery eyes while I patiently waited for her explanation.

  “Oh, well…because my parents sold the café out from under me. They didn’t offer it to me or talk to me about it. They just called up my ex-boyfriend, offered him the place, and he bought it…and me with it.” She choked out a laugh.

  “Bought you?” My head tilted. Why was I having so much trouble keeping up this morning? It’s not like I got drunk the night before. And chocolate was supposed to have medicinal properties, according to Isla.

  “Yeah.” She sniffled sadly. “Their one caveat with the deal was that I convey.”

  My brow furrowed. “You convey. That’s a real estate thing, right?” Where was Victoria when I needed her? This was too much. And why were all the women in my life smarter than me? I probably only had a few years of mental superiority
over tater tot.

  “Yeah. And I’m mostly joking, but they told him they’d only sell if I could keep my job.” Norah threw her hands up. “I don’t even like my job!” She shook her head wildly and her hair whipped around her face, undoing my efforts.

  “Hey,” I murmured, hoping to soothe her. “I get it. I didn’t like my job. I used to work for my father. Do I look like the suit and tie type to you?”

  Norah made a face. “Not even a little.”

  “I’m not sure I’m the bar type either, but I like having my days free. I like being able to surf. And I need money, so I make it work. Plus, the people are mostly cool.” I shrugged. “I can deal with that.”

  “Even though now you’re working for your brother?” She eyed me curiously.

  I grimaced. “It’s not like I traded one poison for another. I like my brother. He’s a little stiff, but I’m working on him. And he gives me a lot of room to be myself. I can do just about anything I want.” I leaned back on the sand and sighed. “I’m not like the rest of the family. I’m not wildly ambitious and driven. I don’t have lofty aspirations. I don’t chase money. I chase happiness.” I snickered.

  “And how’s that working out?” Norah asked sadly. “I’m not trying to judge. I just don’t know what to do from here.”

  “What do you like? What do you want? Was the café your dream?” I reached out tentatively and held her hand. “I want to help,” I whispered.

  For a moment, she stared at her hand in mine. “I was going to be a professor. I was going to study literature and pass on my passion. Food…was my parents’ thing. I just wanted them to be proud of me.”

  I nodded in complete understanding. “I get that. It’s the reason I accepted being miserable for so long. Then I realized I could spend my whole life trying to please someone while making myself miserable.”

  “So, I should do what? Quit? Do I look like a quitter to you?” Her chin jutted out.

  I chuckled. “I’m not calling you a quitter, but you seem to have passive aggressive down. After all, you’re not at work, are you?” I challenged her with my eyes.

  Norah groaned. “You got me. So, now what? I go back?”

  “Do you want to go back?” I watched her reaction.

  Slowly, she shook her head. “No. I didn’t want to work there to start with. I just don’t know what will make me happy anymore.”

  “Know what I do when I don’t know how to be happy?” I grinned, waiting for her to catch on.

  “Drink?” She guessed as she threw her hands up in frustration.

  I rolled my eyes. “No. I surf.”

  “Well, that’s helpful, but I don’t know how to surf.” She stared out at the waves.

  “No problem. I’ll teach you.” I stood and tugged her up behind me.

  “What are you doing?” She sounded nervous.

  “We’re going surfing. Lesson one.” I studied her attire. “Always wear a suit.” I dragged her behind me down the beach.

  “What are we doing?” Norah asked, a hint of alarm in her voice.

  “I’m getting you a bathing suit. I’m pretty sure Isla tucked one in my glovebox.” I laughed as I tried to picture her wearing anything that belonged to my sister.

  “Isla?” She bristled.

  “Yeah. You have to meet my twin. She’s a force to be reckoned with.” We’d reached my truck and I paused to look at her before opening the door. “You two have a lot in common that way.”

  12

  Norah

  * * *

  Surfing was...exhilarating.

  Truth be told, I fell down. A lot. But Bodhi was right there, helping me back on the board until I got the hang of doing it myself.

  Surfing was nothing like I expected it to be. No matter how much I planned to do something, the water was unpredictable. I couldn’t plan for it. I had to ride the waves, wherever they decided to take me. It humbled me.

  I had always preferred planning for everything. I always planned my time, especially in school, but it wasn’t until my parents dropped the news that I would be running their café in their absence when I kicked the planning into high gear. It was almost like because I couldn’t control the decision my parents made for me, I wanted to control everything else, including how people reacted. Obviously, I know I couldn’t control it all, but it didn’t stop me from trying.

  Surfing was one of those things where you couldn’t plan on anything. You didn’t know how the waves would react or how the wind affected the waves. It was freeing even if I couldn’t control it.

  By the time the sun was high in the sky, I managed to ride a small wave almost all the way to the shore before I fell off. Luckily, my ankle was strapped to the board so the board didn’t go far. We wound down a few minutes after that, straddling our boards, a few feet from the shore. It was going to be a hot day today; it felt good to have the sun on my skin, drying up the cold water. Unlike the majority of the residents of Westport, I was a big fan of the blistering heat. It was probably why I didn’t even flinch when Bodhi ordered a hot chocolate in the middle of the day.

  “How was that?” Bodhi asked.

  I couldn’t stop staring at his damp hair in his face, that million-dollar smile that caused laugh lines to crinkle his eyes. Bodhi Rogers was beautiful and I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only woman who thought so. From where I sat, I could see women of all ages staring at him, some smiling, others studying. All of them found him attractive though, that much was easy to see, and I couldn’t blame them.

  I cleared my throat and looked back at him. “I’m sorry?” I asked. I had never been so wrapped up in staring and thinking where I couldn’t remember what sort of question he had just asked me, but I remembered the sound of his voice. I was annoyed with this type of girls and now I found myself understanding them.

  “The surfing,” he said. “How did you like it?”

  “Oh.” I felt myself smiling despite myself. “It was absolutely wonderful. I hadn’t imagined it could be that way.”

  “What?” Bodhi asked. For some strange reason, he looked at me with awe in his eyes. Like I was something to behold. It made me feel uncomfortable because no one had looked at me that way before.

  “Being free,” I replied.

  The amusement faded from his eyes and instead, he looked at me with something else - it was subtle but deep, like he really saw me, past the wall I had carefully erected around myself.

  “You plan too much,” Bodhi said. He was slightly hesitant with his words and I appreciated that he didn’t want to offend me.

  Instead of jumping on him, contradicting his statement, I let him continue. I placed my hands in the ocean, feeling the cold water run over my skin. It amazed me that I had lived here for so long and hadn’t taken advantage of the fact that the beach was so close. It was crowded now, thanks to the heat and the summer months, but I could still walk it after work, whatever that might entail, and let the day’s stress and problems fade away underneath the soothing sounds of the waves hitting the shore.

  Except the café wasn’t mine anymore. It wasn’t even my family’s. It was Mark’s and he allowed me to keep my job because my parents forced him to.

  I slapped the surface of the water with my hand, accidentally splashing Bodhi.

  “Whoa, now,” he said, that smile still on his face. “Hostile, much? You are not supposed to be angry when you’re out on the ocean. It’s just not allowed.”

  I wanted to smile because he was trying to make me smile but I couldn’t bring myself to.

  “I just don’t know what I’m going to do about the café,” I admitted. My eyes were on the board, the color nearly the same color blue as the ocean. “For the longest time, that was all my parents could talk about. And now, for them to have sold it to Mark of all people without even telling me...” I cut myself off, shaking my head.

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Bodhi said.

  I felt a prickle or annoyance, my eyes narrowing up in his direction. It wa
s easy for him to say that, with his brother buying him a bar and his family having money. He could pick and choose what he wanted to do without committing to anything. My parents gave everything for this café. The sacrifices we made collectively were enough to make the thought of someone like Mark owning it bristle.

  “It’s not as simple as figuring it out,” I snapped. “There’s more to this than thinking something will just come up, Bodhi. You can’t go around chasing happiness because you feel like it. Some of us need to make a living.”

  Bodhi let me say what I had to say before nodding his head. “Work for me,” he said.

  “What?” I furrowed my brow. Was he serious?

  “You need a job,” Bodhi pointed out. “I have an opening. Come work for me.”

  “Did you not hear a word I said?” I was furious. Mark offering me pity was one thing, but Bodhi? After what I just shared with him? “Clearly, you don’t get it.”

  Before he could say anything, I started to paddle to shore. I couldn’t be around him right now.

  13

  Bodhi

  * * *

  When Norah paddled away, I froze. In my mind, I replayed our conversation and I couldn’t figure out where the discussion had gone horribly wrong. I was still struggling when I picked up Penelope from Isla and Hawk. “Ready, tater tot?” I asked as I motioned for her to follow me out to the truck.

  She hesitated. “Why are you sad?” she asked before I’d even managed to coax her out of Max’s condo.

  “I’m fine.” I shrugged and turned away, concerned my sister would try to initiate a conversation.