Page 74 of By Your Side
Piper squeezed my hand once before letting go, her gaze sharpening in that way it always did when she was about to start trouble for my own good.
“Alright,” she said, sliding her coffee aside. “We’re not letting Eli, a busted cooler, or whatever is going on with Hunter ruin a single thing that we’ve got planned.”
“We’vegot planned?” I lifted a brow. “And how exactly arewedoing that?”
Her grin was pure mischief. She leaned in, elbows on the table, lowering her voice like she was letting me in on a secret. “Like I said, we’ll combine the grand reopening with your birthday. Two birds, one giant glittery stone.”
“Oh, no,” I said immediately. “I’ve also been thinking, and absolutely not. Especially now. No way.”
“Oh, yes,” she countered. “Especiallynow. It’ll be perfect. The place will be fixed up?—”
“Except for the cooler,” I muttered.
“Whichwillbe fixed in time for the party. Don’t you worry.” She steamrolled right over me. “But for tonight, we’ll use this nosy town to our advantage. They’ll be curious, they’ll want to know what’s going on, and most importantly, they’ll spend their money in your bar so they can get the story firsthand.” Her smile softened.
I looked down at my coffee, the steam curling in the air between us. “I don’t know if I have the strength for any of this. But I will acknowledge that the gossip angle is legit.”
“Totally legit, so we’re on for the party. As for now, you need cooler repair money; you and Hunter are the latest news. Use it to your advantage. Start crying before you head out to your car. Trust me. Bawl your eyes out, and the bar will be full tonight.”
“But I can’t open the kitchen tonight, Piper. I don’t even know what I have left to serve. I have to close.”
“No, you don’t have to close. We’ll grab some chips and salsa, nuts, crackers, pretzels, a bunch of veggie trays—basically cheap-ass non-perishable finger food to set out. We’ll call it a special. Nobody has to know the cooler broke. It will be okay. I’ll call the sisters, and we’ll head to the store. We got this.”
I took a deep breath and, for just a second, I let myself picture it—the tavern lit up, cheap-ass finger food on the menu, music drifting from the jukebox, people laughing, but most of all, spending money as they watched me for signs of mental distress or a case of the extreme feels. But most of all, I wanted to see Hunter there. But I couldn’t picture him now without that hollow space between us.
Piper was still watching me, like she knew exactly what I was thinking. “Let me handle the food for tonight, and I’ll have Lucy see if Spencer or any of his brothers know anything about refrigeration,” she said. “You just go to work like normal. Yes?”
“Yes.” I blew out a slow breath. “Thank you.”
Her answering smile was all the confirmation she needed.
By the time I left Something Sweet, the sugar and spice scent clinging to my sweater felt like a cruel joke because I knew my bar would be a full-on olfactory assault when I got there. My phone buzzed in my pocket as I crossed the street toward my car.
Jasper: It’s completely dead. Most of the food is bad. Smells pretty gross in here.
I stopped halfway to the driver’s side, staring down at the screen. The cold knot in my stomach tightened with every word. The bar was cursed, or maybe it was me. One step forward, ten steps back.
I wanted to text Hunter. My thumb even hovered over his name. But I couldn’t bring myself to hit send. Not when things between us were already stretched thin and awkward. Not when I was the one who told him I didn’t want to be public.
If he came now, I wouldn’t know if it was because he wanted to be near me or because I’d asked for help. And I didn’t want his presence to feel like a favor. So I slid my phone back into my pocket, jaw tight, and drove toward the tavern.
By the time I pulled into the gravel lot, I could already picture the mess inside. The heavy stench of spoiled food, the empty shelves. Another hit to the budget. Another reason for Eli to add to his list of reasons to mess with me if he found out. I shoved the thought down and got out of the car.
Inside the tavern, the air was thick with the smell of spoiled meat and dairy. Warm blue cheese reeked, and I always had a lot of it. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth, breathing through my nose as I headed into the storage area and stepped toward the walk-in.
The door hung open. The cooler was silent. Too silent.
“Jasper?” I called.
He poked his head out from the back room, face grim. “I tried the breaker, nothing. This thing is done.”
I stared at the racks—empty trays, a few containers sweating in the heat, things I’d bought with the last of my monthly budget. “Everything is ruined.”
“Not everything. I hauled the worst to the dumpster, mostly chicken wings and wilted produce. The blue cheese smell was heinous when I walked in. The stuff that was defrosting in there was still mostly frozen, so I jammed it into the deep freeze. We just have to air the place out. It will be okay.”
My throat felt tight. “Thanks.”
But even as I said it, my phone buzzed again. I half expected Hunter’s name, even though I hadn’t messaged him. Instead, it was Piper.
