Page 26 of Back To You

The three new bartenders are on their own today and will be more so now that Emmett is on paternity leave. I’ll probably still head in later to make sure everything is okay.

My last shift at Lenny’s is supposed to be at the end of August, but I want to throw up every time I imagine what my life will turn into if I move back home and work with my dad.

I might be able to put off quitting Lenny’s and working at the law firm now that Emmett has his family to worry about—running the bar could be something I take off his hands for a month or two—but that conversation with my dadalsomakes me want to throw up.

A conversation that is weighing so heavily on my shoulders, one I need to get off my chest before it buries me. One that I’ll put off a little longer while I figure out what to do with myself today.

I decide to see if my brother is busy, hoping I can take my mind off all this stuff with Annie and my dad, even if it’s easier said than done—especially the Annie part.

Bennett is technically my half-brother, just like Caleb, but it has never stopped me from seeing them as family. I sure as hell don’t see my parents as such.

“Hey, Lu. You caught us at the perfect time.” Bennett answers on the first ring. As a firefighter, I know it’s usually a hit or miss on whether or not he’ll be able to talk. He alternates between 24-hour shifts and having 48-hours off, and I’m not surprised that he isn’t alone—almost always with his best friend, co-worker, and roommate, Jack, who I assume is the “us” he is referring to.

“Hi, Luke,” Jack says, confirming my thoughts.

“We’re on our way to get breakfast, not too far from you actually. Want us to pick you up?”

I take one more look at Annie’s door. Knowing she’ll want space after last night, I take out the notepad and pen I’ve been using for my notes to her all week from my junk drawer.

Holding my phone up to my ear with my shoulder, I write her a quick note that I’m going out with Bennett and Jack.

“Yeah, I’ll tag along. See you guys in a few.”

The three of us spend the short car ride to the diner a few minutes from my apartment catching up about our jobs, and both Bennett and Jack update me on all the latest Owens and Hastings family drama—both families having their fair share of issues. The biggest one always seems to be how my dad still hates Jack for convincing Bennett to become a firefighter with him.

When we sit down at the diner and each order a coffee, I fill them in on my timeline with the law firm and how my dad won’t get off my ass about it.

“So, you’re still planning on working with Dad?” Bennett asks before taking a sip from his mug.

“Yeah. I’m sure he can’t wait to finally have the ‘sons’ part of Owens & Sons,” I answer dryly, taking a sip of my own coffee.

Jack and Bennett exchange a glance. “Are you still planning on moving home?” Bennett asks. He and Jack have an apartment about halfway between where I live and where we all grew up, our hometown being about 45 minutes north of where I live now.

“That’s the plan,” I answer. “I’m supposed to move back at the end of August so I can start at the firm, but I haven’t looked much for a place. Plus, my boss just had a baby, so things at work have been a little chaotic.”

“The bar has been busy?” Jack asks.

“I have been picking up some of the slack since Emmett’s been busy with Drew and prepping for the baby. They’re my friends too, so I didn’t want him worrying about work when there’s more important stuff to worry about.”

“But your dad wants you to start in September?”

“Unfortunately,” I retort without thinking, the dismay evident in my tone.

“You sound excited.” I don’t miss the sarcasm in his voice. Jack has become almost as much of a brother as Bennett and Caleb over the years, and he is no stranger to what having a dad like Daniel Owens does to one’s psyche.

His dark hair is as long as my brother’s, Bennett’s blonde hair being even lighter than mine. Both guys aretall and in great shape due to their jobs, barely fitting in the booth where they are seated across from me.

I let out a sigh. “It’s just hard imagining myself as a lawyer. I like where I am now and what I’m doing now.” It’s the truth. I like working at the bar, helping Emmett train the new guys, and the social aspect of being a bartender. The same can’t be said for being a lawyer. “I’ll get over it,” I add.

“There was more excitement in your voice over playing ‘boss’ at the bar than there was about the career yousupposedlyhave always wanted,” Bennett responds. And he isn’t wrong. Ever since I agreed to take his place at the firm, I played the part. I told everyone—friends, family, Annie—that I was declining the hockey scholarship becauseIwanted to, even if it was a lie I wasn’t just telling them but myself too.

A lie I’ve been telling since my senior year of high school.

I shrug my shoulders. “I like that Emmett can rely on me, and I’ve been running things on my own.” I’ve taken the new bartenders’ training schedules, inventory, and the distributors and deliveries off Emmett’s plate all week, and things have gone well. “I’m not too bad at it.”

“Then buy a bar,” Bennett replies. He says it with such finality that is laughable to me, like it really is that simple. I don’t mind playing “boss”, as Jack put it, but running Lenny’s isn’t something I want to do for the rest of my life.

It’s something I want to watchEmmettdo for the rest of my life.

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