Page 52 of While You're There
“I haven’t done anything but laundry, errands, and cleaning since I got back to town. Bor-ing. I feel likeyouneed to updatemeon what’s going on.”
“Same old same, mostly. Fielding and Dem invited us all over totheir mom’s place last weekend for a little Sunday Funday. You should see that house, baby. The pool is insane. I swear it’s bigger than WaterWorks. They even have one of those freestyle automatic drink machines filled with a lot more than just Coke products.”
“Rowdy valet boys drinking at the pool? Sounds like my scene for sure,” she joked. “Did you happen to meet their mom while you were there?”
“Nah, she’s on some spa retreat in Arizona or something.”
Tori nodded, assuming the “spa retreat” was actually another rehab facility. She made a mental note to ask Fielding about that. He hadn’t mentioned anything to her when they hung out on Thursday.
“Is our boy stuck in Virginia this weekend?”
She smirked at Jake’s wording: “our boy,” like they shared joint custody of Rhett.
“No, he’s home. He got in late last night. He was sleeping when I snuck out this morning, thank goodness. He needed it.”
Jake froze in place, his hands resting on the pile of menus he had just spread out along his table. “He’s home now?”
“Well, he might have gone out for a run or something, but yeah, he’s in town this weekend.”
She watched Jake tighten his grip on the end of the table as the information sunk in. “What the hell? He sent me what I thought were a whole slew of drunk texts last night, including a picture of a bottle of Macallan 18 he was bragging about.”
“I mean, maybe he had a drink at the airport?” she offered weakly. She hoped her nonchalance would defuse the tension marring Jake’s features.
“So you’re telling me Rhett flew in from Virginia last night. What time did he get in?”
“Honestly? I don’t remember. I was asleep when he got home, so it was after eleven for sure.”
Jake didn’t say anything for a few minutes, instead standing in a wide stance and glaring at her while working his lip between his teeth. He was pissed. He was more than pissed. She didn’t understand what the problem was or what they may have talked about in their texts to elicit this type of reaction.
“You were asleep. Meaningyoudidn’t pick him up at the airport.”
A spark of understanding tried to catch in Tori’s mind, but she didn’t let the embers take hold. She knew what he was implying. Rhett may have had a drink or two last night after the long work week, but he knew his limits. She buried the urge to defend him. She wasn’t about to insert herself into a misunderstanding between her husband and his best friend.They could put on their big boy pants and figure it out later.
“Anyways…” She was desperate for a subject change. “What’s going on with The Oak? Everything all set for Friday?”
Jake blew out a long breath before thankfully dropping the issue and responding to her question. “Technically, yes. We still need to hire another dishwasher and a few more bartenders. I don’t feel like I have nearly enough staff yet.”
“It’s really cool that you get to be the manager, Jake. Mike trusts you completely. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, baby. I’ve had my hand in this for almost a year now. I’m excited to finally see it come together. Are you coming to the grand opening next weekend?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she promised.
The morning passed quickly. The Clinton’s booth was always a crowd-pleaser on Market Day. Tori could barely keep up with the demand for stickers and crayons from all the kids working on their coloring pages. Mike or Cory ran across the street several times to refill the French toast samples. Jake was also busy, on his feet the whole time, chatting with their regular customers and making sure everyone knew about the newest bar in Hampton, Ohio.
It wasn’t until the tornado test siren sounded at noon that Tori realized how much time had passed. She glanced over at her friend as he tidied up his pile of applications and menus. She mirrored his actions at her own booth, cleaning up so they would be ready to pack everything away when Market Day ended. There was no point in trying to talk when the siren was wailing.
It was the ear-piercing wail of the alarm that allowed Fielding to sneak up on them unannounced. Tori turned and saw him first, locking eyes with his light blue irises and returning his megawatt smile.
“I brought you food,” he mouthed as he held up the familiar brown paper bag from Jersey Bagels. Her stomach rumbled as if on cue right as the siren finally stopped.
“Hey, man,” Jake called once he spotted Fielding.
“Hey. You guys hungry?”
“Hell yeah,” Jake replied. “I was about to text Cory to bring us something from Clinton’s anyways. Perfect timing.”
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I ordered a few of everything,” Fielding explained as he passed the bag to Tori. “Do you prefer butter or cream cheese?”
