by Ashlee Price
“I thought RJ was kidding when he said this place was a bar for librarians! It really is! It’s so dead out there! No wonder we’re having money problems. Where’s the ambiance, Dad?!?”
“Ambiance?” He furrowed his brow.
“Atmosphere! No one, other than those guys out there, would feel welcome! And honestly, those guys out there aren’t the kind of customers we need! How are we supposed to bring in money when they only drink one beer each?!? That’s 60 bucks for the night, not to mention that they don’t tip!”
Paul huffed. “First of all, I know what ambiance is. Secondly, the atmosphere is fine. Third, stop worrying so much. I’ll make the money for the month like I always do. I have a big customer who comes in to settle his tab at the beginning of the month. Just relax! And if you’re in here, who’s out there watching the customers? I’m sure someone’s going to want a refill on their beer sooner or later.”
Jenna wanted to stand there and argue with her dad some more, but he was right. She needed to get back out there. She was glad she did, because just as she came out of the back a familiarly warm face entered the bar. With her red curly hair pulled back into a French braid, and her dark hazel eyes scouring every inch of the bar, Hannah Jones stepped into The Wheel in search of her oldest friend.
Squealing with delight, Jenna took off running toward her childhood bestie. “Oh my goodness!”
The girls embraced, hugging and hopping around in circles while the grumpy workers nursing their beers looked on unamusedly.
“What are you doing here?!?” Jenna asked once they stopped spinning and hugging. “I’m sorry I didn’t even think to call you. That should have been the first thing on my list, but I was arguing with my dad and the electric company was out here about to shut us down, and these guys only want to order one beer. Ugh!”
“Relax, Jen,” Hannah chuckled in her raspy voice. Jenna had always been envious of Hannah’s vocals. She swore that she could be a great country singer if she really wanted to, but Hannah was perfectly happy staying in Doveport. “Take a breath and come pour me a drink. I’ve had a long day, but I’m guessing your drive was even longer.”
“Yeah, it was,” she agreed, walking with her toward the bar.
Hannah pulled up a stool, her eyes beaming with joy. Jenna’s concern about the ambiance faded immediately. She would be perfectly content with serving Hannah all night. And her friend hadn’t come in for free service either: She slapped a hundred dollar bill on the counter and told Jenna, “Shirley Temple, please. Keep the change.”
Jenna slid the bill back toward her. “You’re going to have to drink like twenty of them for this.”
“So buy the place a round on me,” she told her. “I’m happy to have you here, home. I don’t have anyone to drink nonalcoholic drinks with when you’re not around.”
“I know, how odd is it to work in a bar and not drink?” Jenna laughed. Sometimes she thought that she and Hannah were the only women in Doveport who couldn’t pound beers. They probably were, but when they were together, they didn’t need any alcohol to have a good time. As she started making the drink, she asked, “So tell me, what’s going on out here? How have you been? Your folks? Thank them again for me for my graduation gift. It came in super handy shipping my stuff back here.”
“Yeah, I’ll be sure to tell them their cash was acceptable,” Hannah joked. “Don’t worry about it. It’s only right. I mean, your Dad did the same for me, so they thought it was fair. And as far as me, I’ve been good. I’m still at the employment center helping these kids.”
“Is it a lot of work?”
“Um, not really. There’s only municipal jobs, the mill, or the power plant. I try to encourage the more creative ones to open up some other stuff out here, maybe start a small museum or something, try to get more arts and activity venues.”
“Any success stories yet?”
“Actually yeah, one kid had the brilliant idea to open up a paintball field. It’s great, really fun. It took him about a year to do everything, but it’s good to have something like that nearby. You can really blow off some steam.”
“Yeah, it sounds like a whole lot more fun than coming here,” Jenna sighed.
“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean it like that,” Hannah backtracked instantly.
“I know that, but things have been super tight and Dad doesn’t seem to care about livening this place up.”
“Well, can you blame him? This place has your Mom’s touch all over it. I’m sure he just doesn’t want to change anything. Give him some time, and don’t Jenna it.”
“Now just what is that supposed to mean?” she scoffed.
Hannah huffed, tilting her head slightly. “You know exactly what that means. I love you to death, but when your mind’s made up, that’s it. It’s done. This needs a truly gentle touch. You grieve differently than your dad, and if you try to change everything all at once, like that look in your eye says you want to, he’s going to resist it hard! Besides, you’ve only been back a few hours. Relax. I’ll send out a few texts to get some people in here tonight, but you got time to turn this place around, right? It’s not like the bank is coming tomorrow to foreclose or anything.”
“Leave it up to my dad and they just might,” Jenna solemnly replied.
“Buck up! Let’s keep you in that fantastic mood. So… tell me what your plans are? Grad school?”
Jenna was just about to let her know about her plans when the door opened. The flat, round face with a visibly broken nose was the first thing she noticed about the gentleman walking in with five other men following him.
“Finally, some more customers,” Jenna sighed.
“Jenna, wai—” Hannah tried to stop her, but Jenna was already out from under the bar and walking toward the group.
“Welcome to The Wheel,” she beamed. “Wasn’t expecting too many more people tonight, but we’re glad to have ya. You fellas take a seat anywhere you’d like and I’ll be right over to take yer order.”
“Thank ya, but we’re heading to the back. You must be Jenna.” The blue-eyed man winked at her. “Yer father speaks very highly of ya. Here’s what I owe him, and just bring me a pint of Jack, and a pitcher of Guinness for the fellas. Thanks.”
His Irish accent was subtle, but it wasn’t lost on her as she took the thick envelope from him. Jenna thumbed through the bills to see a few thousand dollars inside. Restraint wasn’t exactly her best trait, and she hurried up behind the group. “I’m sorry, but this is for one month?”
“Yeah.”
“And exactly what and how much were you drinking to run up this kind of tab in a month?”
“You sure are inquisitive, darlin’,” he chuckled. “I don’t explain myself to anyone. Just be happy that I paid it.”
“I’m more than grateful for you settling your tab, Mr…?”
“Hannity, Sean Hannity.”
“Mr. Hannity, I’m more than grateful for your payment, but you see the problem I’m having with you having such a big tab in the first place. Because my father has to wait for you, our bills don’t get paid on time. I had to chase away the utility company earlier today waiting for this. You should really pay your bill at the close of each night.”
“Oh, but I do what I want. And your father has been more than welcoming to that. We’ve been going around like this for months now, and I’m afraid I don’t quite like the idea of changing it.”
“Well, if you don’t pay up front and the lights get cut off or the bank decides to come board the place up, you’ll be forced to change, now won’t ya? I’m pretty sure this is the only bar in town with a private room in the back that isn’t cluttered with a bunch of junk. In fact, you should really be paying up front to reserve it, especially now I see it’s our bread and butter. Maybe I’ll start renting it out to other folks.”
Sean narrowed his thin brown eyes. “Fine. What do you want?”
Jenna thought fast on her feet. “Well, it looks
like having this room at your disposal is important to you. I don’t want to ruin your night, but I also don’t want my father’s place going belly-up. So why don’t we help each other out? I will rent that back room to you exclusively, as in you’re the only person allowed to use it unless you okay someone else. Think of it as your private room. You can use it to play poker, drink each other under the table, throw darts, whatever you want. I won’t bother you and neither will anyone else. You pay what you agreed with my father, plus an extra fifty percent so we can keep the lights on and the doors open while we’re waiting for you to settle up.”
“So you want me to pay an extra two thousand dollars a month for exclusive rights to your back room?”
“Yup. And if you leave a message on the office phone or with my dad, I’ll make sure it’s clean and stocked with snacks. Your drinks will be cold and waiting for ya,” Jenna promised.
“Will you wait on us?” one of the men smirked, touching her wrist gently.
Jenna flinched but maintained her smile. Sean glared at the man who’d touched her like he wanted to kill him, but he simply snapped his fingers and the group retreated to the back room.
“My apologies. The last thing I want is to make the owner’s daughter uncomfortable. That would make what I do here uncomfortable. So you know what? You’ve got a deal, Miss Ferris. And if any of my fellas give ya a hard time, let me know and I’ll take care of it.” He winked and extended his hand to her.
Jenna, full of pride and accomplishment, shook it with a wide, bright smile before heading back behind the bar. It wasn’t until she noticed Hannah’s face down in her drink that she realized the rest of the men in the bar had turned their backs to Hannity as he made his way toward the back room.
“What’s everyone’s problem?” Jenna whispered to Hannah.
“You don’t know who that is, do you?” she asked sadly.
Jenna shrugged her shoulders, grabbing a towel to wipe down the already clean bar top. “A guy my dad does business with. What about it?”
“You shouldn’t be talking to him, Jen. He’s bad news,” Hannah warned her.
“I think you’re overreacting a bit. I just made a huge deal with him! I’ve been back home less than a day and I’m already bringing in extra cash.”
“Yeah, you’ve been back for less than a day, but you’ve been gone these past few years. Coming home for weekends obviously didn’t give you a chance to get to know Sean Hannity. He’s not as nice as he was to you just now, and I wouldn’t expect that attitude to hold up. Just be careful.” Hannah was practically whispering.
“I don’t think Dad would do business with anyone too terrible, but thanks for the warning. I’ll keep my guard up. So… back to you, are you dating anyone or what?”
“Not really, been focused on work for the most part. I did call a few buddies of mine from the firehouse to come in. They should be in in a few, their shift ends soon.”
“A few buddies from the firehouse? And you’re not dating anyone?” Jenna asked in a playful tone.
“Not a one,” Hannah giggled.
As if they knew the girls were speaking about them, a rowdy bunch of firemen burst into the bar. They were filthy, covered in soot and sweat. Hannah got up to meet them. “What the hell happened to you guys?!?”
“Firemen fight fires, and we just put out a big one.”
“A round on me!” Hannah called out to Jenna.
The group cheered and planted kisses on Hannah’s cheek as they filed past her to take seats at a table near the bar. Hannah came over with them. “Jenna, I think you know most of these dudes, but in case you don’t, that’s Gary, Bryan, Mark, Alex, Johnny, and…”
The door opened to one more firefighter walking in with an angry blonde trailing behind him. He held the door open for her with an irritated expression on his face. Hannah shook her head. “And Tanner.”
Jenna’s heart plummeted into her stomach as her pulse raced and her palms grew clammy. Her heartbeat thumped inside her ears as she came around from the bar with her notepad in hand.
“So what can I get you guys?” Jenna asked the table.
Their orders came flying at her, but Jenna took it in stride. She was sure that if the kitchen had been hot she could have sold them on meals, but pretzels and cold cuts were all she could drum up on such short notice. One by one, she repeated their orders back, but when she got to Tanner there was a pause. He remembered her, too. They hadn’t seen each other since her mother had passed. But with the blonde hanging off of him, he decided to keep it short. “Rum and coke for her, and a seltzer water for me, please.”
“Coming right up. Hannah you mind helping me out for a bit?”
“Sure,” Hannah said with a smile.
“You didn’t tell me Tanner was one of the guys coming in,” Jenna whispered while making the drinks at the bar.
“Okay, it slipped my mind, but why does that matter?” Hannah smiled at her quizzically.
“You know we had our thing in high school.”
“Yeah, and?” Hannah shook her head. “He’s with Brandy. You’re not still interested in him, are you? You seemed pretty adamant that he was moving too fast and you didn’t know what you wanted so blah, blah, blah, whatever other excuse you used not to marry him when he asked you.”
“We were kids! We’re still young! And he didn’t really propose. Bringing up marriage the night before I left for school wasn’t the most sincere gesture.”
“Is this going to be a problem? I mean, Brandy doesn’t look like she wants to stay anyway. I can hint for him to go if it makes you uncomfortable.” Hannah’s voice was riddled with sarcasm.
“No, it’s fine. He can stay. She can stay. I’m just glad there’s more money coming into the bar than going out tonight.”
Truth be told, Jenna would have preferred to see Tanner and his girlfriend leave rather than be tempted to steal glances at him for the rest of the night. His blond hair was slicked back and those dark hazel eyes still drew her in. Tanner Devlin would have been smoking hot even if he wasn’t a firefighter.
Chapter 3
Jenna’s first night back at The Wheel was turning out to be far more interesting than she’d expected when it began. More people showed up after the firefighters. A few die-hard plant workers continued to nurse their lonely beers far longer than she would have thought possible, but one by one they gave up and left. Jenna was delighted. By this point they actually needed the space for paying customers.
“I’m ready to go, Tanner.” The blonde’s voice pierced Jenna’s ears as she moved around the floor. Looking at the couple, she could see what Tanner saw in the girl. She was beautiful, with soft blonde hair down to her waist, rosy red cheeks, and a body that rivaled that of a Playboy Bunny. Still, a part of her wondered what other reasons Tanner had for ending up with a woman like that. Other than her stunning beauty, she just didn’t seem like his type.
“You’re staring,” Hannah whispered.
“Crap,” Jenna huffed, turning away from them to make herself busy. “When did that happen, anyway?”
“Um, I think about two years ago or so?” Hannah shrugged. “I’m not really sure. They’re always breaking up and getting back together.”
“Why?”
“It could be that Tanner is smoking hot and knows it,” Hannah laughed. “He was cool when you guys were together in high school, but now… I don’t know. Since he’s been working at the firehouse, he’s just kind of found himself, I guess. He bounced around for a while, but Brandy landed him, and even though they fight like cats and dogs, and break up more than any couple I know ever has, they keep ending up back together.”
“I guess it’s really love if you can’t let it go, huh?” Jenna asked, trying her hardest not to stare at the couple.
“More like trying to shake the flu during the winter. No matter how much Nyquil you drink, it just won’t go away,” Hannah laughed. It got a chuckle from Jenna as well. But the
laughter was short lived as whatever had been brewing between Tanner and his girlfriend began to explode right there in front of everyone.
“Enough! Brandy, you need to go! I can’t believe you’d do this to me!” Tanner shouted.
“Hey, bro, calm down.” One of the firefighters stood up to get in between them.
“Back off, Gary,” Tanner fumed. Turning to Brandy, he yelled, “I’m not going to keep doing this with you! You can tell me if you don’t want to be with me! You don’t have to flaunt other guys right in front of me!”
“I wasn’t flirting! You’re just overreacting!” she yelled back. “I didn’t even want to come here tonight and now you’re treating me like this! After I came down to the station to surprise you!”
“You didn’t come down to surprise me! It was probably just on the way back from your other boyfriend’s house!”
“There is nobody else! Tanner! I swear! You’re overreacting!”
“I’m overreacting?!? I’m overreacting! Then explain this!” He tossed his phone onto the table.
Jenna, and everyone else in the bar, looked on, wishing they could see what he was talking about. Brandy simply glanced down at the device before rolling her eyes. “That’s not what you think it is.”
“Really?”
“It’s not.” She began tearing up. “I was trying to put something together for you and he just got a little jealous. My photographers sometimes—”
She started flapping her hands up and down as if trying to wave away her anxiety. Her pretty face burned a bright shade of red and those big beautiful eyes welled up with tears.
Tanner held his hand out to her. “Stop! Just stop. Leave, Brandy. I survived tonight. Do you get that?!? We survive our shifts! I don’t need this kind of stress. Not with my exam coming up! I can’t do this with you anymore. It’s exhausting.”
“Please, baby, let’s just go somewhere and talk. I can explain all of it. I swear.” She began crying quietly onto his shoulder.
Tanner shrugged her off. “I’m done. I let you do this to me every single time we get together. How many times are you going to break my heart?”