Nell waltzed into the house late Monday afternoon, with Rosie the waitress hot on her heels. One carried booze, the other pizza boxes. Immediately my stomach rumbled in need. Pizza was just the best.
“Did I miss the part where you knocked?” Bent in half, Vaughan sat on the sofa, tying his shoelace.
“You’re funny, little brother,” said Nell breezily, dumping her box full of wine bottles on the kitchen counter. She was wearing a denim miniskirt and orange shirt. Rosie rocked a breezy blue maxi dress. Definitely not Dive Bar uniform.
“I’m serious,” said Vaughan.
“I know. That’s what makes it so amusing.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, stuffing crap into my handbag. We’d been preparing to head to work. Given the swift departure of Eric’s waitress friend, Stella, I’d agreed to fill her shifts until a replacement was found. Or until it was time for me to leave town. Whichever came first. I was wearing my best black slacks and a matching Dive Bar shirt Nell had given me the night before.
“I’m giving us the night off.” From a cabinet she pulled out three wineglasses, rinsing them beneath the tap. “Lydia, Rosie, and I are doing some girl time. Be a darling and go away, would you?”
“I really need to start locking the doors,” Vaughan muttered, stretching out on the couch. “Who’s running the bar?”
“Eric.”
“And?”
“Just Eric.” Nell beamed. It was an unnerving sight. “He’ll also be tonight’s waiter. Boyd has got the kitchen under control, but otherwise, Eric’s on his own.”
Rosie also grinned like a loon.
“Is that good for your business?” I asked without thinking, and accepting a very large glass of red. “Wait. Never mind. Forget I said that. I will not rain on people’s parades with unnecessary practicalities they can figure out for themselves.”
Over on the couch, Vaughan gave me a small smile, a look of understanding.
“O-kay. It’s fine.” Nell laughed. “We probably need a voice of practicality around here. But the thing is, sometimes, you just have to teach people a lesson. Either that or resort to homicide, and I’d rather not go to jail.”
“Word,” said Rosie, taking a sniff of her wine. “Ooh. You grabbed the good stuff.”
“Of course I grabbed the good stuff.” She turned to her brother and me, curiosity filling her eyes. “So what have you two been up to today?”
“Vaughan worked on his car for a while, then he helped narrow down some potential sets of wheels for me.” I left out the part where my real estate agent pal had stopped by to take a look at the house.
“She wants a Prius.” Vaughan snickered.
“They get good mileage.”
“Lydia.” Nell winced. “No. Just no. Okay?”
Even Rosie seemed mildly terrified by my taste in vehicles.
“Do none of you care about the environment?” I raised my shoulders, amazed.
“It’s for your own good that we save you from this.” Nell held her glass of wine high, toasting my lack of style, apparently. “You’ll thank us one day.”
“I doubt that.” So this was what having friends involved. Maybe I should just get a pet rock or something. A plant, maybe. Anything incapable of answering back.
Once again the door swung open, this time care of the opposite sex. A tall dude with a massive beard and the sides of his head shaved walked in with a growler full of beer in each hand. Almost every inch of skin on him was covered in ink and a silver ring hung from his nose.
The instant he saw Nell, he stopped dead. “Shit.”
“Pat,” she said in a low careful voice. “I thought you were going to Whitefish.”
“Changed my mind.”
She nodded, gnawing at her lip.
“Hey.” Joe walked in behind him, another couple of growlers in hand. Seemed everyone was planning a party.
Last came a slightly older guy. Not as tall as the other two, but built and very good looking, in an I’ve-seen-some-life way. Gray streaked his short spiky hair and the stubble on his jaw and cheeks. In one hand he carried a guitar, in the other he balanced a couple of big pizza boxes.
“Andre.” In a rush, Vaughan got to his feet. “Fuck, man. Good to see you.”
“Thanks for letting me know you were back.” Andre thrust the guitar at Vaughan, all the better to grab the pizzas with both hands. “Joe had to tell me.”
“Sorry.” Vaughan took the guitar under one arm, holding it ready to play. Then he strummed a chord. “She still sounds sweet.”
“Course she does. Martins only get better with age.”
With a wry smile, he handed the instrument back, taking charge of the pizza. “I don’t want to go falling for something I can’t afford.”
Andre laughed, shook his head.
“Lydia,” said Vaughan. “Want you to meet some old friends of mine, the one with the Gandalf-length beard is Pat. He owns that tattoo parlor next to the bar.”
“Hi.” I raised a hand in greeting and the man gave me a chin tip.
“And this here is Andre.” Vaughan gave the man’s shoulder a squeeze. “He’s the one who taught me to play. Bought my first guitar off him when I was ten. He’d just opened his store.”
“Yep,” said Andre. “Took all your Christmas and birthday money.”
“Typical.” Joe set his growlers down on the dining table. “Ripping off small children. Should be ashamed of yourself. Bet you stole their candy too.”
Ever so discreetly, Andre flipped him off.
“Oh, it cost me,” agreed Vaughan. “That secondhand Epiphone had taken some hits, but you were right. She had a beautiful sound, did the job and then some. I’ve still got her.”
“No shit?”
“Haven’t played her in a long time. But I couldn’t bring myself to let her go.”
They both smiled.
“Anyway,” said Vaughan. “I used to work in his shop sometimes after school and stuff.”
“The music shop near the Dive Bar?” I asked, sipping my wine. Excellent quality, Rosie was right.
“That’s the one,” answered Andre, setting the acoustic down on a chair. He wandered my way, looking me over. “Good to meet you, Lydia.”
Then he came closer, dropping his voice to a murmur. “Delaney’s a dick. That was a lucky escape on your part. You can do a hell of a lot better, honey.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Thank you.”
The man leaned in, giving me a kiss on the cheek, smiling. Damn, he was smooth. He also wore a very nice aftershave.
“Hey,” came a cranky voice. Vaughan was instantly by my side, shooting laser beams at his old friend. “Go easy, man. You only just walked in the door.”
“I’m sorry, Lydia,” said Andre. “Did I make you uncomfortable?”
“No.”
The laser beams and frown turned my way.
“Good.” After a pat on Vaughan’s shoulder, Andre walked away. Next he went to Nell, kissing her on the cheek, and then Rosie. Clearly, it was just his way of being friendly with women he liked. As if I’d suddenly be catching the eye of every hottie.
“You have a lot of good friends in this town,” I said, moving the conversation along.
A grunt.
“It’s great to get to meet some of them.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Listen, Andre is a bit of a player and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I covered his mouth with my hand. “Stop right there. You think I’d take up with one of your friends?”
His worry didn’t seem to ease.
“I wouldn’t—especially after today,” I lowered both my voice and my hand. “Remember the part where you kissed me?”
His gaze dropped to my lips. Ye gods, this man. “I remember.”
“And the part after when we talked about crazy at first sight?”
“Yeah.”
“That wasn’t a commitment on either of our parts. I know that. But it was a statement.”
His hand slipped beneath my low ponytail, thumb stroking the back of my neck. Shivers ran down my spine. Just that easily he got me all stirred up. Stupid me for not dragging him to the closest mattress earlier.
“Forty-eight hours,” he muttered.
“What?”
“I’ve known you for forty-eight hours.” He lowered his face, bringing us closer.
“That’s right.” This was a safe space. And it was beautiful. “Feels like we’ve covered a lot of territory in a very short amount of time. Kind of speed-friendship with the potential for benefits.”
“Mm.”
“And I just want you to know that I don’t think less of you for driving a gas-guzzling environmental disaster of a car.”
“Thanks, babe.”
I screwed up my nose. “You caught me in a weak moment earlier. I didn’t really mean to say you calling me babe was all right.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Sucks to be you.” He placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
“Vaughan,” said Joe, clapping his hands together loudly. “Still got that fire pit out back?”
“It’s overgrown, but it’s there.” He gave the nape of my neck one last squeeze, then he took a step back. “You thinking we should get it working again?”
“You read my mind.”
“Let’s do it,” said Andre.
Vaughan looked between Pat and his sister, neither of whom appeared to be particularly relaxed. Nell’s smile seemed strained, the wine in her glass disappearing at lightning speed. A muscle jumped in his jawline. “Yeah, let’s do that. Leave the girls in here to do their thing.”
“Thank you, gentlemen,” sang Rosie, the wine in her glass also greatly reduced. “My husband only agrees to baby-sit once every blue moon. I mean to make the most of it.”
“Have fun.” Vaughan picked up the growlers Joe had left on the table, then moseyed over to the big glass doors heading out back. “Grab some glasses.”
“On it,” said Joe.
“Coming, Pat?” Andre asked before going out into the early evening.
Without a word, the tattooist followed. Nell’s gaze did too. There was love, in all its pain and glory, written over her face. In comparison, what I’d felt for Chris was laughable.
“We grew apart,” said Nell, meeting my eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged and drained the last of her wine. “These things happen, right? Grab the bottle from the kitchen, would you?”
“Sure.”
All three of us crowded together on the couch, topping off our glasses.
“Shit, I forgot. Pizza!” Rosie raced into the kitchen, bringing back one of the boxes. “Calabrese, tomato, and basil. My favorite.”
“Nice.” My stomach rumbled to life and I helped myself to a slice.
“Want me to heat it up?”
“There’s no time for that,” I said, taking a bite. “Oh. This is good. Really good.”
“Sure about that?” Rosie laughed.
“You just wish you could talk with a mouth full of food, and still look this attractive.”
That even made Nell snicker. Score.
“Made them for us before abandoning ship. I’m glad you like my cooking,” she said. “Since I see my brother hasn’t bothered to stock the house. You’ll likely be relying on me for the duration of your stay.”
“I’ll go to the supermarket tomorrow,” I said, pausing to gulp down a mouthful of the very good wine. “Vaughan’s been busy.”
“Wouldn’t matter if he hadn’t been,” she said, swirling her glass of red. “He won’t do anything that feels like settling in here. This place … it’s just too hard for him. Too many memories, I guess. He’ll be gone as fast as he can be.”
“You really think he’s going to sell it?” asked Rosie.
Nell lay her head back against the top of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “All he ever wanted to be was a guitarist, play in a band. He needs the money.”
“Shit,” whispered Rosie. “I’m sorry.”
I ate more pizza and drank more wine. My heart hurt for her, but there was nothing I could say.
“It’s like I lost him when I lost Mom and Dad. Now Pat’s gone too.” Nell sniffed, quickly wiping at her eyes. “Fuck. Sorry, girls. Didn’t mean to get all weepy on you.”
“It’s okay,” I said, touching her elbow. “You’re safe here, Nell.”
“What she said,” echoed Rosie, rising to grab an old box of Kleenex from the corner. I really did like her. She was good people.
“I’m the hard-core bitch,” said Nell. “I’m not allowed to cry.”
“We all cry sometimes. It’s no biggie.”
“My period’s due any day now. Let’s blame it on that.”
“Done.” I smiled.
Rosie shoved the box of tissues at her, then ran off to the kitchen to grab another bottle of wine. This night was going to get messy. Everyone needed to cut loose now and then.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the only end result of love. Feeling lost, hurting, clinging onto what was left of your life? Thank goodness I hadn’t gone through with the wedding. And thank god this thing with Vaughan had an end date. Otherwise, who knew what might happen. I could wind up broken, left in an even worse state than after Chris’s betrayal. Because Vaughan could do that. Forty-eight hours in, and already he stirred up feelings I didn’t want to mention. We were a train wreck waiting to happen. But, damn, it’d be hard to avoid going down that track. Even if I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
“Considering we work in the same building, Pat’s gotten amazingly good at sticking close to the tattoo parlor and avoiding me,” she said. “I haven’t seen him in weeks. I think that’s what caused our split.”
We kept quiet, letting her spill. Sometimes, that’s just what a girl needs.
“When he took over the parlor it was shit. A total mess. He worked his ass off to get it to where it is today and I supported him. I thought when we opened the bar that it was my turn, my thing. I figured he’d understand. But it didn’t work that way.” She held out her glass and Rosie filled it up again. “We were hardly ever seeing each other and we just … we drifted. One day he got up and said, I don’t know why we’re even bothering. What can you say to that? How the fuck are you supposed to react? It was like every bit of emotion had drained right out of him. His body was there, but his head and his heart were on another planet.”
Her mouth opened, but for a moment nothing came out. Nell looked ruined. Christ, if this was marriage, if this was trusting another person body and soul, it scared the living shit out of me.
Suddenly, her chin lifted, her shoulders squared. “Like I’m supposed to smack him around the head with our marriage certificate? I told him if he didn’t want to be there then he should go. I wasn’t going to stop him. Fuck, I didn’t think he’d actually leave.”
Outside there was shouting, laughter. It seemed so out of place. Wrong. But I guess life went on, even when it shouldn’t.
Nell flipped her hair back, licked her shining lips. “Anyway…”
“I’m sorry,” I said, not that it helped.
She turned her splotchy red face my way, tears trailing down her cheeks. “Can’t you just accidentally get pregnant and make Vaughan stay in Coeur d’Alene? I want some family around.”
“Um, no. Sorry.”
She barked that signature laugh. “Fine. Ruin everything, Lydia. See if I care.”
“Gosh, Lydia,” chided Rosie with a smile. “She’s not asking for much.”
I laughed and drank more wine. Everything would make more sense inebriated. I just knew it. And boy, was it going straight to my head. I guess having eaten only a piece of pecan pie today wasn’t the best way to start a night of wine drinking.
“I’m not being funny.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m a selfish ho.”
“Yes. You are.” Nell blew her nose and refilled her glass, attempting to pull herself together under our watchful eyes. “You should just let me do what I want with your uterus.”
The woman was nuts. Children weren’t even on my radar yet. Let alone with Vaughan.
“Your brother and I are just friends, Nell,” I said.
Both women laughed so hard it was a wonder they didn’t fall off the couch. I stoically ignored them as best I could. Female friends, so overrated. Though also kind of wonderful in all the ways. Damn Coeur d’Alene for getting so great just as I was about to leave.
“A toast!” Rosie held her wine glass high. “To bullshit and broken hearts.”
“Ha. Nice one.” I grinned.
“Here, here,” said Nell, drinking deep.
“To bullshit and broken hearts,” I said. Then I drank too.
Hours later someone knocked on the door. Hours and hours and many bottles of wine and slices of pizza later. Nell slowly got to her feet and stumbled on over to answer it. I’ll admit, it kind of surprised me when the person didn’t just charge inside the same way everyone else did.
“Oh. It’s you.” Nell turned around and returned to the couch.
Behind her was Eric, his anger from last night missing. Well, mostly. His lips were pressed tight together, but his eyes were completely devoid of the fire and rage. “You’ve made your point.”
“Glad to hear it,” said Nell, picking up her wineglass.
“It was a shitty thing to do, leaving me to run the bar on my own,” he said. “But I get why you felt the need.”
Nell just watched him with eyes slightly glazed.
“We’re lucky we weren’t nearly as busy as last night. As it was, we had a few complaints about the slow service. More than one table left without tipping.”
“Hmm.”
Eric studied his shoes, and shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants. He looked like a schoolboy called to the principal’s office.
He really was a good-looking man, I thought, as I eyed his long dark hair and sculpted face. Some expensive underwear company could have put him on a billboard. He didn’t dress casual like the other guys. He wore a white button-down shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, and nice black trousers instead of jeans.
“Where’s Vaughan? I better talk to him,” he said. “Set things right.”
“He’s busy,” blurted out Rosie, sitting up straight, all of a sudden at full attention.
“We can tell him.” Again, Nell clambered to her feet, red-tinged eyes suddenly far more open. “But I appreciate you offering to smoke the peace pipe.”
“No, I’ve been thinking,” said Eric. “There’s something I want to say to him.”
“But—”
“Vaughan!” Eric craned his neck right and then left, checking out the hallway and the dining area. “Hey, Vaughan, you got a minute?”
“Eric, don’t.” She grabbed at his arm, yanking him toward the door. “Later. Talk to him later.”
“Relax, Nell. I’m not going to cause any trouble.”
The kitchen door flew open, banging against the wall so hard you could hear the glass shudder. Though it wasn’t Vaughan who stood there, fury etched into the skin of his face, above the mammoth beard.
“What are you doing here?” Pat growled, taking several large steps into the room.
Nell released Eric’s arm, taking a hasty step back. “Patrick…”
“It was a work thing,” said Eric, tone calm, placating, even. “I just stopped by to tell her something. I’ll leave now.”
“Shit,” Andre mumbled, looking far from happy. The other guys had come inside too, Vaughan hanging back by the dining table, confusion in his eyes.
But Joe hustled ass around the room, getting over to his brother’s side, pronto. “Come on, Eric. Let’s go. Catch you guys later.”
“What is this?” Vaughan stepped up beside Pat, brows pulled in so tight they almost touched.
“I just wanted to say I’m fine with you working at the bar,” said Eric. “It’s fine with me. That’s all I came here for.”
Nell stood at the edge of the room, wringing her hands, looking like she’d bolt at the first opportunity. I set down my wineglass. Whatever was going on, the party was most definitely over.
“Pat,” said Vaughan. “Man?”
Pat just stood there, steaming. And I’d thought Vaughan’s laser beam eyes were impressive. He had nothing on Pat. With the way Pat was glaring at him, Eric should have turned into ashes. Dust.
“Don’t,” warned Nell, eyes silently pleading with her ex. “Do not bring my brother into this.”
“Everyone fucking knows.” With some mumbled expletives, Pat offered her a bitter grin. “Did you really think he wouldn’t find out eventually?”
“Find out what?” asked Vaughan, voice beyond tense. “Nell?”
“They screwed,” said Pat. “Your sister and him. Can you believe that shit?”
“What the fuck?” said Vaughan, eyes huge as he turned to his sister. “Nell?”
“Don’t you look at me like that, Vaughan. You weren’t here, you have no idea what this has been like for me.” Fists tight against her stomach, Nell struggled to stay calm. “It only happened a few weeks ago. Pat and I have been separated for over a year. I am not a cheater.”
“Sorry,” muttered Vaughan. “Didn’t mean to accuse you of anything.”
Nell just shook her head. “And you … you were at the goddamn Iron Horse every night tapping all that ass, weren’t you, Pat?”
His jaw trembled with rage.
“You hypocritical bastard,” she said.
“I didn’t fuck your friend, Nell!”
“I made a mistake. I got drunk, and I made a mistake.” Again, her eyes welled with tears.
Hand outstretched, Eric stepped forward. “Pat—”
“I don’t want to hear a single thing from you.” Beneath his faded black shirt, Pat’s shoulders heaved. “Not a single damn thing ever again.”
Mouth hanging open, Vaughan didn’t seem to know where to look. All of his family and friends gathered around him and now this. What should have been a positive experience had hit the wall.
“I trusted you,” snarled Pat. “I trusted both of you.”
“Enough,” said Vaughan, shoving a hand through his hair, obviously struggling. “Leave, Eric. Now.”
“Christ.” Eric hung his head, giving a harsh laugh. “I came here to smooth things over with you. To bury the hatchet. This is such bullshit.”
“Man, c’mon.” Joe grabbed at Eric’s shoulder, but he shook it off.
“Bullshit is it?” Pat took a step forward. “You fuck my wife and that’s bullshit?”
“You know what I don’t get,” said Eric. “You walked out on her, man. So why are you so bitter about this? Got some regrets, Pat?”
“Stop it.” Nell groaned, tears coursing down her face.
“She wasn’t your wife,” continued Eric as if he hadn’t heard. “You heard her. You two had been separated for ages. It isn’t like you’ve been waiting for the divorce to come through before moving on, is it? More like making up for lost time if you ask me.”
“Both of you assholes, shut up now,” yelled Vaughan. “You don’t make my sister cry. Not here, not in this house.”
Lip curled, Pat glared at Eric. Neither of them moving.
Vaughan took a deep breath, visibly reaching for calm. “I think it’d be best for now if both of you left.”
A sobbing sound came from Nell and she turned her face away, obviously distraught. Funnily enough, the fury in Pat’s eyes faded when he saw her in that state. But I don’t think Eric noticed at all, cruel gaze and handsome face warped with anger.
“You know, Pat, I thought you were crazy sticking with the one woman all these years,” said Eric, holding his face up. His smile was more of a sneer. “But now I understand. Fuck me, if Nell isn’t the hottest piece of—”
With a roar, Vaughan suddenly launched himself at the man. Fists flew, sickening thuds. “You don’t talk about her that way!”
Feet kicking, voices shouting, wood splintering as the coffee table exploded beneath the brawling men. Things moved impossibly fast. Someone was screaming. Nell, I think. It was all too much for my drunk dazed mind to comprehend.
Rosie grabbed my arm, hauling me as best she could over the back of the couch. I scrambled to keep up. To get to safety. The two men were like a hurricane, destroying everything in their path. Warm blood splattered my face, then I was up and over, falling onto the floor, crawling away to stand by Nell.
Both Joe and Pat entered the fray. I think Joe tried to tear the men apart, but Pat seemed to have lost his senses. While trying to land a punch on Eric, he clipped Joe’s arm. Joe defended his brother. Of course he did. The couch was shoved back, sliding toward us. I put out my hands, pushing back before it made impact. Rosie grabbed Nell’s arm, dragging her into the hallway.
Fuck. I’d never seen a fight before. Not like this.
I wanted to heave. And Vaughan was in there, caught up in that mess. The thought of him getting hurt made me want to do something extreme. God knows, he’d stood up for me more than once.
“Don’t,” said Andre, pulling me farther back before I could do something stupid. Probably unnecessary, my feet were stuck, frozen. The rest of my body was pretty much stuck too, deep in shock.
On the floor, the four men fought it out. I could only see blood and violence, Vaughan and Eric still struggling on the floor. In the hallway, Nell gave into the impulse to puke. The sound and smell made me swallow hard. I took deep breaths.
Time seemed to be messed up. Because it didn’t feel like that long until I heard sirens fill the air.
“Thank god,” I said, sagging against Andre.
His arm tightened around my waist, his head leaning against mine. It wasn’t sexual in the least. We both needed the comfort.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “They’ve all been friends for a long time. They’ll work it out.”
“You really believe that?”
He puffed out a breath. “No.”