Page 14 of Crashing the Altar
Cursing small-town life under my breath, I reached into my pocket and produced my keys. Seemingly satisfied, Jesse slid a glass of water toward me. Running a cash sale at the register, she dropped my key fob into the drawer before slamming it closed. As she made her way down the bar, she tossed over her shoulder, “I’ll give those to your ride when he gets here.”
With my brain a little fuzzy from the alcohol, I blinked at her. “My ride?”
“Should be here any minute.” She pulled on the tap, pouring a beer.
Dropping my head to the wooden bar top, I let out a low moan of agony. The way my day was going, Jesse had called my father to drag my drunk ass home, and I’d had more than my fill of his brand of tough love for one day.
Our scene in the kitchen earlier was the first time I’d ever raised my voice toward the man who’d given me life. Respect for my elders had beeningrained from an early age, but losing Penny and having it pointed out that I only had myself to blame had pushed me right over the edge.
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I shifted my gaze to peek at the shoes of whoever had come to collect me from the bar. When they weren’t cowboy boots, I breathed a sigh of relief and lifted my head.
Sympathetic, warm brown eyes stared back at me when my brother-in-law took a seat on the barstool beside mine. “I’d ask how you’re hanging in there, but I have a feeling I already know the answer.”
I dragged my thumbs through the condensation collecting on my water glass. “You should be home with Aspen.”
Mac chuckled. “I’ll deny it to my dying day if you breathe a word of this to your sister, but she snores something fierce now that she’s pregnant. I can’t sleep anyway with her rattling the floorboards harder than an earthquake, so you’re actually doing me a favor by giving me an excuse to get out for a bit of sweaty, smoky bar air.”
When I narrowed my eyes at him, he began to rise. “Or if you’d prefer, I can dial up Daddy Jett and see if he’d be interested in leaving the comfort of his warm bed to pick up his baby boy, who reeks of cheap whiskey.”
“Sit your ass back down,” I snapped.
Flashing me a shit-eating grin, he did just that. “That’s what I thought.”
Jesse appeared before us, leaning an elbow on the bar. “Appreciate you comin’ down to get him, Mac.”
“Sure thing, Jess.” He handed over a credit card. “How about you close out his tab and tack on a cola for me? We’re gonna sit here for a bit before heading home.”
My hand reached for my wallet automatically. “Can pay for my own damn drinks.”
“’Course you can,” Mac agreed. “But you’re the closest thing I’ll ever have to a brother, and you’ve had one hell of a day, so let medo this.”
Because I was an absolute glutton for punishment, I forced out through a windpipe lined with razor blades, “Tell me what I need to know.”
Jesse returned with his credit card and soda, and he waited until she was out of earshot before asking, “About Jake?”
I grunted in the affirmative.
“Far as I can tell, he treats her right. But I don’t know him that well.”
“Clearly, neither does she.” My hand tightened around my glass so hard it was a wonder it didn’t shatter. “Yet she’s marrying him.”
“Yeah, about that . . .” His grimace was audible. “According to Aspen, there is some history there.”
My head whipped around so fast my neck cracked. “What kind of history?”
Mac shifted uncomfortably under my intense stare. “I guess they were together in vet school for a bit and picked back up again a couple of weeks ago.”
With my heart hammering in my ears, the room began to spin. At Mac’s words, the veil was lifted, and I realized there were parts of Penny’s life she kept hidden.
Until today, I’d never seen her with any man in a romantic capacity. I’d figured we were both dancing around our feelings for each other, holding out for that perfect moment when the stars aligned and we got over our fears of ruining our friendship to make a go of it. Never once had it crossed my mind that she might’ve been dating, and learning that she had a history with other men made my gut twist painfully.
“Fuck, I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Okay, let’s get you outta here.” Mac eased me off my stool and down the hallway toward the rear entrance.
The second we cleared the threshold into the parking lot, I bent over, purging the contents of my stomach onto the pavement.
My brother-in-law waited at a safe distance until my heaves grew dry, and then he stepped forward to help ease me upright. “Take a few deep breaths for me.”
