Chapter 9
“Aunt Rosie gets to be the queen now!” yelled Ariel, Brenda’s almost-six-year-old daughter.
“Yeah, yeah!” chimed in Iris, her younger daughter. “She gots to put on the crown. Here!”
Rosie winced as the four-year-old not-so-gently stuck the glittery plastic tiara on her head. “Why thank you, kind princess.”
“Oh, and barrettes too!” Ariel scooped a dozen small colorful barrettes from the rug and proceeded to attach them haphazardly to Rosie’s hair.
“Wow, we are going to be the prettiest girls at the ball!” Rosie cooed. “But we only have ten more minutes and then I gotta meet your momma at work.”
“Not work. You have to go to the ball!” Iris insisted.
Would be nice to go to a ball instead of work. Singing came from the kitchen, where Brenda’s mom had just arrived to take over the girls. Rosie had covered the early part of Brenda’s lunch shift, but she had to go in for the evening shift. “You girls gotta let your Aunt Rosie go now,” Janet said.
“I can stay five more minutes,” Rosie called back, and stood up from her cross-legged pose on the floor. “All right. You are going to dance with princes so let’s practice. You can’t step on their toes.” She grabbed Ariel’s hand and twirled her around, then did the same to Iris.
After just three minutes, the girls moved on to falling down in dizzy heaps, debating who fell in a way most like a princess would fall. “I must go, princesses. Please prepare for the arrival of Queen Mom.”
“That means pick up all that stuff, girls,” Janet called. “And say goodbye to your Auntie.”
“Bye, Aunt Rosie!” Two sets of tiny arms encircled her waist and squeezed.
She bent to kiss each of their heads. “Bye, my sweeties. See you soon!” She removed her crown and handed it to Ariel, then began unsnapping the barrettes from her hair.
“No you need to keep this,” Ariel insisted. “Mommy says you got a date with a prince. You need the crown.”
“A date with a prince?” Rosie giggled. “Hmmm.” She made a mental note to grill Brenda.
“Is he very handsome?” Iris demanded.
“Can he dance?” Ariel whirled in a circle.
“Um, we haven’t danced yet, so I’m not sure.” Rosie edged toward the door, hoping to avoid any more questions. It had been a week since her fishing trip with Cruz. Now, with the fair all over the news, she was counting the hours until tomorrow night.
“But is he handsome?” Iris was not to be denied an answer.
No question there. Cruz was meltingly hot, with those intense eyes and hard muscles…“Yes. He’s very handsome.”
“Oooohhhh!” They both collapsed into fits of giggles.
“On that note, goodbye, girls.” Rosie waved to Janet and headed out of Brenda’s ranch-style house, to her car parked at the curb. Her shift and Brenda’s would overlap by half an hour.
Brenda had terrible luck with sitters. Her mom worked as a nurse at the hospital in Murphysboro and helped out frequently. Rosie also stepped in when she could. The girls were sweet, they listened to her, and their favorite thing was playing princess—who wouldn’t love that?
She drove the mile to the Sundown Bar and Grille and drove around to the employee parking area. She’d worked one night and a couple days this week, and Owen and George had walked her out each time. Though she had insisted she didn’t need to be escorted in the daytime, they were adamant.
Entering the building, she called out hello to Owen and ducked into the employees’ rooms to stow her purse. Rosie tied on her black half apron and headed to the kitchen, where George manned his post at the stove. “How’s it going today, George?”
He waved in between stirring two pans. “Busy, busy. It’s all good.”
“Hey, girl,” Brenda chirped, entering the kitchen with a tray full of empty glasses. “It’s been a busy Friday. You can tell it’s payday—oh. Hang on.” She set down her tray and reached her hand toward Rosie’s face. “Somehow, you’ve got blue eyeshadow on your jaw.” She swiped Rosie’s skin with a gentle finger.
“Mm-hm. And somehow…your girls know I have a date coming up.”
“Oh, they’re excited for you! I couldn’t resist telling them.” Brenda grinned. “Heck, I’m excited for you. When was the last time you had a date?”
“I don’t remember and that’s not import—”
“See? It’s been too long if you don’t remember.” Brenda reached back to adjust her ponytail. “Cute new guy, defends you from some assholes…”
Rosie couldn’t suppress a smile. She hadn’t seen Cruz since the fishing date that involved barely any fish, but she’d thought about him every day. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help wondering if he’d stop by the Grille, though he’d told her that his crew was working long hours to take advantage of the nice weather. Get a jump on the load of projects they had to get done this year, before the weather turned too cold.
She’d told Brenda about Cruz’s past, the little that she knew. Nothing stayed secret in Sundown, and she’d rather have Brenda hear it from her. “Thanks for being cool about him, Bren.”
“Pssht.” Brenda popped a hand on her hip. “Ain’t none of us saints. I don’t care where he came from. All I know is he coulda left like most customers that night. After all, he was done eating and drinking. But he stayed. He says he was on his phone. Girl, I think he was worried about you.”
“Maybe.”
“Lemme stash these in the dishwasher and I’ll be right up.”
“You got it.” Rosie headed into the restaurant. She wasn’t surprised to see the bar empty now, in the middle of the afternoon. Out in the dining area, only three tables had customers.
“The lull before the dinner rush,” Brenda said as she joined Rosie, leaning her elbows on the bar. “Gonna wear your boots tomorrow?”
“You know it. That’s standard fair footwear.” Rosie grinned. “The rest?” She shrugged. “I’ll wing it.”
“I bet he’ll like whatever you pick,” Brenda murmured. “But ya know, feel free to show off those awesome boobs.”
“Brenda!” Rosie coughed. “Oh my god.”
“What?” Brenda pasted on a faux-innocent face. “I remember that night he came in with the guys. He’s your date and he’s smokin’ hot. Tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious.”
“And, apparently, a prince.”
“Hey, that was the best explanation I could come up with. Those two relate to anything involving a crown.” Brenda gave a wave as she walked to the back. “On that note, let’s see how much of my house is covered in glitter after the royal events of the day.”
“Have fun,” Rosie called.
Two other servers, Tina and Shelley, worked the dinnertime rush as Rosie manned the bar. They worked seamlessly together and thankfully, no jerk customers showed up. Rosie was in the middle of filling draft pitchers for the local men’s softball team when a shadow fell across her light.
Cruz.
“Hey!” she exclaimed. She may have sounded as giddy as Brenda’s daughters, but the bar was loud and she really didn’t care. “Nice to see you.”
He grinned down at her. “Sorry I couldn’t make it in earlier.”
“That’s fine. You guys finally call it a week?”
“We’re working four hours tomorrow morning. But then—I’m done.”
“Good. Don’t leave yourself too tired to walk around the livestock pens.” She winked at him.
“Never.” To her surprise and total moment of wanting to melt, he winked back. Big, tattooed, muscle-bound Cruz winked in a way that was cute, sexy, and froze her in place.
She stood there like an idiot for three seconds before she realized her hand was wet. “Oh shoot.” She shut off the tap and set her pitchers on the bar. “Whoops.” Grabbing a towel, she snuck a glance at Cruz.
Mirth flickered in his eyes. “Didn’t mean to get you all riled up,” he said softly.
“Mm-hmm.” She dried them swiftly and arched a brow. “Be right back.”
She delivered the pitchers to the men, all of whom she knew. She didn’t think twice about it, it was just the way Sundown was. They bantered with each other, including her. “When you gonna come and watch us play, Rosie?” “You gotta watch us beat the snot out of Murphysboro.” “You shoulda seen the play Steve made.” She stood and joked with them for a minute before returning to the bar, where Cruz had taken a seat.
“I’m beginning to think you know this whole town,” he said.
“I do,” she said proudly. “Did you want something to drink?”
“I just wanted to say ‘hi.’ I see you’re pretty busy.” He scanned the other men at the bar. “Customers cool tonight?”
“Yep, all good.” She leaned a hip on the worn wood.
“Good. So tomorrow? What time should I pick you up?”
“Hmm, seven. We can catch the last demolition derby of the day—that’s the one where they really let loose.”
He chuckled. “More crashing than during the day, huh?”
“Yep. They got nothing left to lose. If those cars are still moving, they’re hitting something. And don’t eat dinner. There is so much food there.”
He nodded. “Got it.”
“Oh—wear a cowboy hat and boots and you’ll fit right in.” She widened her eyes for emphasis, holding in a smile. If he actually had those, she might just die.
“Yeah?” His eyes twinkled.
“Mm-hmm.”
“I’ll have to check my closet.”
She burst out laughing. “I’m teasing. But I may wear mine. Just sayin’.”
“Noted.” He tilted his head, focused on a point somewhere beyond her face… “Come here.”
She leaned forward as he reached up and toward the crown of her head. She had no idea what he was doing, but it left her curious and tingly and hot. Above the noise of the bar, she heard a tiny snap.
“This a new thing?” he brought his hand forward
Held lightly between his fingers was a bright red barrette. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my Lord. Has that been in here the whole afternoon?” She giggled and met his eyes. “I watched Brenda’s girls today. Dress up is required at their house.”
“I see. And they left you a present.”
She took it, her fingers brushing his rough ones. Maybe more on purpose than she needed to. “Yep. Are there any more in there?” She shook out her hair.
“Turn around.” His voice held a command and it made her breath hitch, even though she’d asked the question. Without hesitating, she complied. His answer rumbled over her skin. “Nope, that’s it.”
“Well thank you.” She rotated to face him again. “You’re the only one who said anything. I left their house at two o’clock today. So I’ve had an unknown accessory for hours. Great.”
“It works for you.” He stood. “See you tomorrow night.”
“Sounds good. Night.”
She watched him walk out, all long legs and broad shoulders. She could still feel his touch on her hair. Maybe she was overthinking this...but god. He made her warm inside, made her heart race, and no one had done that for a long time. And the next evening, he’d be her date. She didn’t have to share him, had no responsibilities. Her body heated in anticipation and she forced it down. She’d had her Cruz fix for tonight. It would have to tide her over until tomorrow.