Page 81 of Fallen Hearts

“How did you know I liked these?”

“Lucky guess.” Beck went off to serve another patron. When he came back, I was two sips in.

“Not bad,” I said.

“So tell me why you’re here. I know it’s not to tie one on.” Before I could respond, he said, “But if it is, I got you covered.” He gestured to the bar behind him.

“That wasn’t the plan.” I lifted the limoncello. “But I’m starting out with this. It’s a high-proof one.”

“You’re right,” he said. “It is.”

“My parents serve a few different brands at their restaurant. I can tell this is probably…” I took another sip. “Closer to sixty proof.”

“Right on the money. The girl knows her liquor.”

I laughed, looking down at my phone. Nothing.

“Turn this thing over,” Beck said, unnecessarily since he did it for me. “Does he know you’re here?”

“No,” I said.

Beck grabbed his phone, shot off a text. “There. Now he does and will undoubtedly come as soon as he’s done. Time to relax and enjoy my company.”

It was impossible not to do so. “You are so different than I first thought,” I admitted. “Not unlike Mason, I guess.”

“I could tell you liked me right from the start.”

He was teasing, and I could not in good faith keep a straight face. “You are a nut.”

Beck didn’t answer until he came back from serving another customer.

“Guilty as charged. So tell me why you’re really here.”

I shrugged.

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it that easily. You’re worried, obviously. But why here? Why me?”

“Great question.”

Beck spread his hands out on the bar and leaned toward me.

“Pia. Talk to me.”

“Forget it. Let’s talk about something else.”

“No bueno. Try again.”

“You are relentless.”

“Among other things. And been tending bar long enough to be able to read people. This is not the Pia I’ve seen flitting through the inn this week like a woman on a mission. The one sneaking off into corners when she and my friend Mason don’t think anyone is looking. Who has him smiling more in a week than I’ve seen him smile in a year. This one is nervous, and tense, and I don’t think this is just about your job.”

Astute man.

“Do you think he’ll go back to the city?”

Crossing his arms like his prize pig just won a blue ribbon at the farm show, he grinned. “Now that’s why my girl needs to down that drink and stop sipping it. Come on.”

“No, Beck. I’m not doing shots.”

---