Yes, he was very good at playing the big brother, too. She seemed to find a lot of those. It was her lot in life to always end up in the friend zone. “It’s habit. For a while there Henry Flanders was worried some bad guys from his past might come to town, and Nate instituted the ‘no one walks alone’ code. He claims it’s in the town charter, but we all know that the town charter was written on a napkin from Stella’s back in the sixties and Hiram used it to blow his nose in the eighties. It was a bad cold, so he tossed it out. Now Nate and Rafe seem to think they can make stuff up.”
Rafe Kincaid was the mayor of Bliss. He’d taken over after Hiram Jones had passed. When Henry had trouble, the whole town had come together to protect their own. It was one of the reasons she loved living here. People cared about each other.
There was a knock on the windowpane. In the low light she could see Ty standing outside, his coat zipped up to his neck. He was heartbreakingly gorgeous, with golden blond hair and baby blue eyes that always made her breath catch. He waved at her.
“So he’s like a cousin who comes by after work to make sure you get home all right?” Van watched as she made her way across the dining room.
“Hush,” she admonished his way. “You should be happy he’s here. It means you can get back to the resort before it gets too late.” It was a weeknight, so Trio closed up at eleven. If Van hustled, he could make it back before midnight. She unlocked the deadbolt and a blast of chilly air hit her. “Hey, Ty.”
He gave her the sweetest smile as he walked in. “Hey. I happened to be in the neighborhood, and I thought I’d come by and give you a ride. Did you not get my text?”
She closed the door behind him and turned with a grimace because she was about to get a lecture. She locked the door again. “I forgot my phone. It’s on the charger back at my place.”
“Hey, Ty. You don’t have to wait. I can totally give her a ride,” Van offered. “I know you’re busy.”
“Nah.” Ty shook his head. “I can do it. We need to talk about what we’re going to do when River and Jazz get back into town. I was thinking surprise party.”
Lucy frowned his way. “His name is Jax, and he is her husband.”
Ty’s lips curled up. “Yeah, but it’s fun to tease her. He doesn’t even remember his real name, so I figure I’m not really teasing him.”
He was terrible. Lucy gave him the stink eye and let her voice go low. “We’ll see how you feel when some crazy doctor lady erases your memory.”
Jax had an interesting history and one Ty shouldn’t make fun of.
“Well, my life would be easier if she erased yours. Then we could start all over again,” Ty said under his breath. “The first thing I would do is train you not to leave your phone at home.”
Yep. Terrible. “I’ve got to mop and check the back rooms. If you want to talk, you can do it while I work.”
“I’ll mop the front,” Van offered. “You handle the back rooms.”
He was a nice guy. Cleaning wasn’t his job. He was supposed to close up the bar and then he was done for the night. “Are you sure? I can get it.”
He shook his head and started for the kitchen. “I can help. The cook had to run because of a family emergency, so I know you already finished his close-out duties. Besides, if I can get in good with the new head of hospitality, I’ll do it.”
He winked her way and she wished she could get Michael out of her head long enough to think seriously about Van Dean. He was a cutie, and he came with a hot best friend who could fix her sink and liked to share. He seemed like he might be interested in her.
Of course she’d thought Michael might want to date her, too. It proved she had terrible instincts about men. She needed to go on a sabbatical from desire. Or simply embrace the idea that she could have an amazing relationship with a vibrator.
She started to make her way toward the back rooms, rounding around the bar. “And I don’t need a ride. My car worked fine today.”
“You mean it started up earlier.” Ty was right behind her. “I know that rattrap. It has a mind of its own, and it’s lazy as the day is long. Did you get the battery changed?”
“No. I don’t have the cash right now.” She needed to head this off at the pass. “And before you grill me about where it all went, the girls needed winter coats, and you know my dad isn’t going to pay for that. He told them to suck it up for another year or wear the old ones. I do not have Dolly Parton’s momma’s skills, so I can’t make them a coat of many colors. I had to make due with Walmart, but Walmart wanted money so I dipped into my savings.”