by Kris Jett
“Can’t wait.”
“I come bearing free monster cookies. You have to forgive my lateness now,” Jessie said as she rejoined the group. She set the plate of giant colorful cookies on the table between them.
“Cookies!” Melody squealed as she grabbed for one.
“Yum, thanks,” Wynn said.
“I can’t even look,” Luci said as she shielded her eyes. “That’s more sugar than I eat in a year.”
“Oh, live a little, would you?” Jessie said. She grabbed one of the cookies and took a big bite.
“I think I’ll stick to coffee. Want me to go place our order?” Luci asked the table.
“Already did. I know what you two drink. April will bring them out in a few. So, what have you guys been talking about?”
“Nothing much,” Wynn said. “Just chit chat.”
Jessie eyeballed Melody. She was back to work on the checkerboard, this time building a tower, and nibbling away on her cookie. “Have you heard from Eric again, Wynn?”
“Oh, please don’t mention his name,” Wynn said. “It’s been quiet, thank God, but I’m just holding my breath praying that he won’t contact me again. I keep hoping he’ll reconsider this whole active parent thing and just fade back away. That’s terrible, isn’t it?”
“Well…” Luci begun.
“No,” Jessie cut her off. “I’d want him to disappear too.”
“But it’s not likely,” Luci said. “So, don’t get your hopes too far up.”
Wynn didn’t want to think about Eric or Brittany at all. She wanted them completely denied access to her mind. “Please, just switch the topic,” she pleaded with her sisters.
“Well, I want to talk to you two about something,” Jessie said, suddenly looking more serious. Her eyes flicked over to Melody, but she was paying the women no attention.
“Sure, what’s up,” Luci replied.
Jessie sighed. “I’m worried. About mom.”
“What’s wrong?” Wynn asked, her voice heavy with concern.
“You know she’s about done with chemo which means her surgery is the next step,” Jessie said.
“Right, we know. We’ll all be here to do anything we can for her,” Luci said.
“Of course, I know that. You guys have been great. That’s not the issue.” Jessie hesitated.
“Tell us,” Wynn urged.
“Money,” Jessie said. “Basically, it all comes down to money. Our health insurance is crappy and this surgery is going to cost a fortune. I don’t know how we’re going to be able to cover mom’s medical bills and keep Starlight open.”
“What?” Luci asked.
“We can’t close Starlight,” Wynn said. That would be the worst possible thing. They all depended on Starlight. It had been their family business their whole lives. “Starlight is like Mom’s first child. She would be devastated.” It was true. Their mom and dad had come to Snowy Ridge on a vacation right after they were first married thirty-five years ago, and decided they didn’t want to leave. They opened Starlight Pub and made their home there.
“I agree. Selling Starlight can’t be on the table. I thought we all had agreed on that,” Luci said.
They had. Not too long after Wynn and Luci had come back home, Luci had tried to sell Starlight. Well, she didn’t actually place it up for sale or anything, but she’d called a realtor out to the pub and asked him to survey the property and tell her how much he thought they could get for it. When he’d showed up at Starlight to talk business, Jessie completely exploded. It was a horrible fight between her and Luci. Luci had agreed to never butt into pub business again. Technically, the pub belonged to Jessie and their mom. They were the ones who ran it for all the years since their dad had died. Luci sometimes did things first without thinking about them. Her heart had been in the right place, though. She was just trying to help their mom out by easing a bit of the burden, but she shouldn’t have side-stepped Jessie like that.
“Believe me, I don’t want to. Starlight is my world,” Jessie said. “I’m just at a loss. I don’t know what else to do. We need money.”
Luci and Wynn looked at each other. There wasn’t anything the two of them could do. They were both just a smidge above broke. That was why they had come home to Snowy Ridge to live with their mom in the first place. Neither of them had anything extra.
“Cookie?” Melody said, offering her last bite to Jessie.
“Aw, thanks sweetie, but you eat it,” Jessie said and smiled down at her niece.
“Should we all get extra jobs or something?” Luci asked.
That idea didn’t sit well at all with Wynn. She was already strapped for time as it was taking care of Melody along with working and going to school.
The three sisters sat in silence, thinking.
“I’ve got it,” Wynn announced. “I know what we can do.”
“What? Luci asked.
“Tell us,” Jessie urged.
“A fundraiser!” Wynn exclaimed.
Jessie frowned. “I don’t think Mom will go for that.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure. We don’t even know how to hold a fundraiser,” Luci said.
“It’s easy, just listen,” Wynn told them. “Back in St. Louis I worked out at this tiny health club. It was a free membership with my job and they offered free babysitting so I went every so often. One of the instructors had breast cancer and a bunch of the ladies from her exercise class held a fundraiser for her to help pay medical bills. They held it at a local bar and charged a cover. Then there was even a little silent auction for donated stuff and baked goods and what have you. Everyone was really generous because they knew the money was all going straight to help the woman with her medical bills. We can do something like that at Starlight!”
“Hmm,” Luci mused.
“Could we?” Jessie asked.
“We definitely could,” Wynn stated emphatically. “So many people in Snowy Ridge love Mom and they love Starlight. I just know they’d want to help her out, especially if it meant keeping the pub open. We could even give it a theme. Valentine’s Day is coming up. We can close Starlight to the public for one night and have a big hearts and angels-themed party. A “We Love Deidre Foster” event. I just know people will come and support her and our family. We’re a big part of this town.
The three sisters exchanged grins.
“I think it could work,” Jessie said.
Chapter Nineteen
It was borderline embarrassing how carefully Bryce dressed for today’s Web Design class. He trimmed his beard, put a little gel in his hair to give it some style, and even patted on a bit of the only bottle of cologne he owned: Cool Water. His wife had bought it for him years ago, when they were first dating, and he still had ninety-five percent of the bottle left. He had bought a new pair of gray slacks that fit him well and he’d put on a freshly dry-cleaned black collar shirt. He was trying here; there was no mistaking that.
It had been over half a week since he saw Wynn on a date with that guy at Starlight pub and it still bugged him. He couldn’t stop wondering if they were in a relationship, hooking up, or just friends. He was definitely jealous of this guy, whoever he was, and he knew he had no right to be. He had no claim to Wynn. He didn’t even know her real name a week ago. But he also couldn’t help how he felt.
Bryce strolled into class with a plan. Well, make that two plans. He did his teacher homework this time and had an actual lesson plan ready to go for the second class. But he also had a plan for what he would do when he saw Wynn again. Bryce set his coat on the back of his chair and laid his laptop bag on the desktop. He scanned the room and saw a lot of blank stares and some encouraging smiles from his students. There was one student glaringly missing however. Wynn wasn’t there.
“Mr. Alexander,” the older woman in the front called out as she waved a hand in the air. “I mean, Bryce.”
Bryce forced a smile. “Yes?”
“I just wanted to tell you that I figured out how to buy my own domain since last week. I�
��m the proud owner of www.HelenTaitAdams.com.” Helen sat back in her chair and shot a smug look to the students on her left and right.
Dillon smirked.
“Great job, Helen. We’ll be using it soon so nice work getting ahead,” Bryce said. He shot a quick glance at the door but no Wynn. Surely, she wouldn’t have dropped the class, would she? She had said she was really excited to be in it and they had agreed that their complicated relationship wouldn’t interfere with her learning or his teaching.
“Uh, Bryce,” Bridget, the mid-forties woman in the middle back of the room called out, “were we all supposed to get domain names for today? Because you never said that.”
“No, no, you don’t need one for this class. Unless you want one,” he added. “Totally optional.”
Bryce saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his right eye and he turned to see Wynn rush into the room.
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as she crossed the room and took a seat near the row of windows.
Bryce grinned widely at her. “It’s fine. Just getting started.” He turned his attention back to the rest of the class. “Okay, I have a present for you all. Syllabuses. Or is it syllabi? Well anyway, here’s what we’re going to be doing for the rest of the quarter.”
The class went by smoothly and Bryce was feeling like he had begun to get the hang of the whole teaching thing. The students filed out and he noticed Wynn lingering a bit as she slowly gathered her things. She came toward his desk and he sucked in his breath.
“Hi, Bryce,” she said.
He let out the breath he was holding all at once. “Hey.”
“Sorry again that I was late. Things have been…hectic.”
Bryce wondered why things were hectic for her. Did she just break up with her boyfriend? That guy from the pub? Is work coming down hard on her? What did she do for work anyway? There was so little Bryce really knew about her. “It was nothing. Really. You’re all adults. I know you have busy lives.” But not too busy to squeeze me into your life, too, I hope, he thought.
“Thanks.” She shifted the weight of her books and her coat looped over her arm to her other hip. She had on jeans and a tight, rose-colored V-neck sweater. The shift in items tugged her sweater down ever so slightly and he could see the lace trim of a peach-colored bra. It looked glorious against her skin and the roundness of her breast.
Bryce felt his eyes linger a moment too long and his mouth went dry. An image of Wynn tossing off her bra and standing only in her panties in his living room last week popped into his mind. It had to be one of the top five moments in his life. He rapidly blinked his eyes and forced himself back to the present, focusing his gaze directly on Wynn’s face. He squirmed in his seat and rubbed one hand on the side of his face. Was it hot in here?
“I saw you in Starlight a few days ago,” she said.
“Oh, you were there?” he said. Like he didn’t know. Like he wasn’t obsessing over her presence so much that his date got up and left.
She gave him a knowing smile. He suddenly realized that she knew that he knew she was there.
“Yeah,” she said, not making him admit that he saw her. “Were you on a date? You were sitting with a really pretty woman.”
“Oh.” Bryce hadn’t thought about this. Wynn saw him with Tiffany. “Well, I guess technically I was. It was a newish thing. A set-up. Remember I mentioned my friend in that band? He set it up. His wife actually.” Bryce could feel himself babbling. He needed to stop explaining so much. “Anyway, yeah. It didn’t work out though.”
“No?” Wynn asked as her right eyebrow shot up.
“No. I guess we just didn’t click.”
Wynn moved in closer to Bryce and leaned her weight on the desk.
Bryce cleared his throat. “What about you? Were you on a date there too?” He caught his breath, waiting for her answer, hoping whatever she said didn’t devastate him.
She smiled. “No, not at all. My family owns the pub. I was snowmobiling with my sister and her boyfriend and his brother. We just stopped in to warm up and get drinks.”
Bryce felt relief flood over him. He rubbed his palms along both arm rests of his chair. He should do it now. The timing was perfect. “So, uh, are you dating anyone right now then?”
Wynn shook her head. “Nope. I’ve been on a sort of self-imposed relationship time out.”
Wynn leaned her right hand on his desk.
Bryce couldn’t resist. He reached out his hand and ran two fingers down her arm slowly. “How much longer are you on time out for?”
Wynn shivered a bit as she watched his hand moving up and down her arm. “Not too long.”
“Go out with me,” he said simply and studied her face.
“What about your job?”
“Don’t care,” he said. Which was the absolute truth. What was the worst that could happen? Fire him? He’d be fine losing this job if it meant dating Wynn.
Wynn pushed up off his desk and walked to the dry erase board behind Bryce. She uncapped a marker and wrote her phone number on the board. “Call me,” she said and then walked out of the room.
Chapter Twenty
Who had time to date in addition to working, going to school, parenting, dealing with a pain in the ass ex, and planning a fundraiser? Apparently, Wynn did. What was she thinking? Well, she knew what she was thinking. She was thinking that he looked so sweet and nervous asking her out after class and she really did like him. My God, he was so damn sexy. And that night at his apartment; Wynn would be lying if she said she hadn’t reimagined it over and over again this past week.
“What’s with the goofy smile on your face?” Jessie asked.
“I have a goofy look?” Wynn asked innocently.
The head cook, Ralph, appeared at the pickup window and Jessie held her index finger up to her sister. “I need a turkey club, plain burger plus cheddar, and two cups of broccoli cheese,” she told Ralph.
“One turkey club, one plain with cheddar, two cups of broccoli cheese,” Ralph repeated.
Jessie turned to face her sister. “Okay, spill.”
Wynn could feel her palms getting sweaty and she wiped them on the front of her apron.
“Can I get some more water?” a woman from table five called out.
“Got it,” Wynn said, happy for the distraction. She grabbed an icy metal pitcher of water from behind the bar and walked over and filled the customer’s glass. Then she did a walk around the room topping off glasses before returning to the bar area.
“Everything all right?” Jessie asked.
“Hmm?” Wynn stalled. “Yeah, everything is fine. I just have a lot on my mind with school and Melody and the fundraiser now.”
Jessie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, did you see all of the decorations Luci picked up? She found a sale somewhere. It’s going to look so cute in here. And Ted’s working on a signature drink for the bar that evening. Something pink and frothy I think.”
“Ooh, good idea.”
“I was working on a flier last night,” Jessie said. “It’s almost done and then I’ll plaster them everywhere. And I already sent out a monster evite to absolutely every person and business owner I could think of in town.”
Wynn bit her lip. She knew they’d be inviting absolutely everyone but she wondered if her mom saw the evite.
Jessie saw the concern on her sister’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Really. I was just thinking about Mom. She’ll probably freak out when she sees the evite and fliers.”
“Then she won’t see them,” Jessie stated simply.
Their mom wasn’t thrilled when the three girls told her about the fundraiser. She was a proud woman. Her husband would have never gone for this kind of thing and she struggled with it as well. But she didn’t want to lose Starlight, either, and she wasn’t strong enough to fight about it with the girls. She would attend and put on her best smile. If nothing else, she said it’d be nice to see so many of her friends in one place. She had be
en secluded in her home for so long now.
“Mom is just old school. I mean, how many gofundmes have we been hit up with from friends in the past year alone? At least we’re having an awesome party while we ask people for their money.
“True,” Wynn agreed.
“Speaking of party, have any ideas for what we can do for entertainment? We need some music. Maybe a DJ? Do you know of any?” Jessie asked.
“I’m not familiar with anyone around here anymore,” Wynn started, “wait. Maybe.” Didn’t Bryce say his friend had a band? That night they’d met they were playing in that bar. They were pretty good, too, from what she’d remembered. The few minutes she was actually watching them play, that was. Maybe she’d text Bryce and ask. Wynn pulled her phone out of her pocket and then waited. She’d ask him all right but she was going to wait until after he’d contacted her. “Just leave music to me,” she told her sister.
It had been a long day and Wynn was ready to zone out with some reality TV. She hardly ever found time for television but when she did it had to be the mindless sort. There was something about watching the Real Housewives, with all their fabulous homes and expensive tastes, that drew her in. One would think that watching rich people spend frivolously would have made Wynn filled with jealousy but she never was. It was pure, purposeless, entertainment.
Melody was tucked in bed and asleep and Luci was out on a mystery date. She was being awfully secretive but Wynn had seen her leave in her tight denim dress and high heeled boots so she knew she was meeting someone. While completely comfortable in the cocoon of soft velour blankets that Wynn had concocted for herself on the couch, a part of her wished she was on date that night too.
As if on cue, her phone buzzed with a text. Wynn paused the show and reached over to the coffee table to retrieve her phone. She had a message.
Juke box or orchestra?
She didn’t recognize the number. She sent back:
Who is this?
Another text came in.
Bryce. Beer or wine?