Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
I pull in a deep breath when I see Hailey Murry standing at the bar. I hired her not long after she got to town several months ago, but it didn't work out. The woman couldn't keep an order straight if she tried, and I never got to find out if she could wash dishes because she broke most of them before she could get them back to the kitchen.
I can't recall once in my years of owning this bar, and the years working here before my run in the military, that I had seen a worse waitress.
"Hey, Hailey," I say as I approach, mentally working through what I can say if she asks me to hire her back.
She wasn't surprised when I had to let her go. She just looked up from the mess she was cleaning in the back room and asked if I would mail her last check or if she should pick it up here. Having been fired many times before, she must've understood that the last check normally isn't direct deposited.
"What can I get for you?"
She looks over my shoulder at the mirrored wall of liquor bottles.
"Anything that eases the burn of getting fired again?”
I feel so sorry for this girl’s inability to find something that she’s good at, but not enough that I can afford to put her back on the floor to break every glass she touches. I’ll go broke replacing wrong orders for free in less than a month. Of that, I'm certain.
"Coke and Patron is pretty popular among those having a bad day," I suggest.
She gives me a tight smile. "Make it diet and you have a deal."
I breathe out a sigh of relief that she didn't put me in the position to have to deny her. The girl is as sweet as pie. There was a lot of forgiveness by customers when she first started because a pretty smile and a sincere apology can go a very long way, especially when there's alcohol involved, but it only lasts so long.
I make her drink and move on to the next customer, but not before lifting my eyes and finding Claire smiling at a table of women here for a girls’ night out.
Chapter 20
Claire
Madison went above and beyond setting up Cash and Adalynn's wedding.
I missed the ceremony while helping Walker stock the bar, but I was able to walk behind the house and see the seating arrangements and the dais created where they said their vows.
The weather held out, and I have to say both Madison and Adalynn were brave in hosting the wedding outside. I imagine there were contingency plans in place if the temperature dropped or the sun didn't stay out as the forecast promised.
Cash and Adalynn said their vows with the Graves Estate grapevines in the distance, an integral part of Lindell's history. Both Cash and Adalynn left town only long enough to go to school. If I'm hearing the stories right, Adalynn only left town because Cash did. He returned when she did, and this is where they plan to spend the rest of their lives.
Like many others in town, I was sure they would end up together. I saw the two of them together at her bakery Fondante's Inferno more than once and saw how they watched each other. They moved as one rather than there ever being any of that awkward repositioning most people have to do when in close proximity to others.
As I restock the ice in the bin for Walker, I consider what my life would look like if Barrett is able to get me even part of that settlement. As much as I complain about folks here in town, it's actually a great place to live. Despite my own issues with Nora and Leo for never stepping in to ask her to calm down, I know they love Larkin. I know she’s safer here than a lot of other places, especially El Paso.
I smile when the happy new couple is introduced and the guests cheer, whistle, and clap for them.
Adalynn is stunningly beautiful in her simple but elegant dress. Cash looks like a brand-new man in his suit, and both of them are all smiles. They pay more attention to each other, glancing at each other more often than they look at people wishing them well and giving them hugs and congratulations.
I can't help but think about my own wedding and how different it looked from this.
There was no white dress with lace inlays for me almost four years ago. I met Hux at the county clerk's office to get a marriage license, in the jeans and t-shirt I was wearing to work my shift at the bar later that evening. I can't guarantee I didn't have a vomit stain somewhere on it from the horrific morning sickness I was suffering in my first trimester.