Page 73 of Revival

“And it’s part of the fiancée code to tell you not to get involved.” Isla glares.

“Yes, ma’am.” Aiden winks at her. Even from across the room, I don’t miss the way she melts.

Another Powell family get-together where I’m painfully alone.

15

Spencer

“Another?”

“Make it a double.”

The weathered bartender nods and stalks off.

If I’m not mistaken, he’s the same guy who poured me a glass the first time I stepped foot in this old western-style saloon. Though the jukebox leans more modern country these days, the interior decor proudly boasts the original furnishings.

I’ve had my ass on a stool here more times than I can count over the past twenty years, usually with Lucas belly up to the bar beside me. This is the first time in a long time I’ve sat here alone. Nothing but my thoughts and the decisions that lie ahead to accompany me.

Only one thing occupies my headspace since we touched down in Minneapolis last week.

Or one person, I should say.

And she’s the last person I should be thinking about.

How can I not when I can vividly remember how she feels in my arms and how she tastes on my tongue? I’d be a fool to regret our time together. Staying with her was a gift I didn’t deserve.

The bartender taps down a glass in front of me with a nod.

“Thanks,” I mutter, saluting him before tossing back a mouthful of bourbon. The warmth coats my throat, leaving behind a touch of butterscotch as it slides down easily to rest in my stomach.

“Look who it is!” That recognizable booming voice could only belong to my boss, Danny. The stool beside me scrapes across the floor as he takes a seat, and I’m reminded once again that Lucas isn’t in that chair.

“What are you doing back in town?” Danny points at my glass, then gestures to the bartender to bring him the same.

“I haven’t decided yet.” I rest my heel on a rung and fiddle with a napkin. “I might stay, or I might pack up the rest of my shit and get out of here for good.”

“Where’re you thinking about heading? Not back home, I hope.”

Our eye contact is brief before I return my attention to my hands. The puckered scars on the right seem to blend more in this dim lighting.

“Might be exactly where I go.”

“Ah, come on, Spencer. You and I both know there’s nothing good left for you in that town.” He claps me heartily on the shoulder, sending my ribs into the bar.

I cut him a glance. “Says who, your nephew?”

Danny rubs his fingers over his handlebar mustache. He hasn’t shaved the thing in the twenty years I’ve known him, but it’s grayed considerably since we met.

“Going back and running into Jim is asking for trouble.”

“I’m not an eighteen-year-old kid anymore. I can handle trouble.” I swallow another mouthful.

“You and I both know what he did was wrong, but he still holds power there. I heard he’s retiring soon. You should wait him out.”

“You really think he’s going to continue holding a grudge that he had on a kid from twenty years ago?”

Danny slaps down a couple of bills. “Don’t forget he’s still your brother’s boss. Both of them if I heard correctly.”

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