Ellie followed Lauren into the Shark’s Tail, the one pub and diner in town where, according to her friend, they served the best burgers in Curry County and probably all of Oregon. The sound of music, the laughter, and the strong smells of barbecue and fries hit her straight on as she walked through the door.
“Ooh, cool! The guys are already playing. Come on.” Lauren took Ellie’s hand, pulling her toward the small stage where a five-man band was playing the cover of an Aerosmith song. It was Jared’s band.
Lauren greeted people on her way to a table to the left of the stage and removed the laminated ‘reserved’ tag sitting on the top of the scratched wooden surface.
“I don’t know why Myles still bothers to put this here—everyone knows this is my table,” she said, plopping into one of the four chairs around the table. Ellie took the chair next to her, so she had a view of the stage, and took in her surroundings.
The place looked centuries old but not in a shabby way, more in a vintage, charming, small-townish way. A couple of fish nets hung from the ceiling, with star fish and shells tangled in the threads, a fake shark’s head popped out of the wall just above the swinging wooden doors that led to the restrooms, and a few other references to the sea were scattered around the room. The big chandeliers above the counter and around the room were made from beer bottles hung upside-down, the green glass reflecting the light from the neon bulbs and giving the place a cozy but cool feel. Every table had a beer bottle in the center that was used as candle holder. Framed pictures hung on the wall behind the counter, and bigger posters of celebrities from the sixties to the present day were on every wall. She recognized a few big-name rock artists, some country singer she couldn’t remember the name of, and other faces she wasn’t sure she’d ever heard of but who must be famous.
Then her eyes focused on a man sitting on a barstool by the counter, in a pair of dark jeans and a burgundy sweatshirt. He was staring at the stage, a bottle in his hand, but he looked as if his mind was a thousand miles away. Her heart squeezed.
A petite brunette with a friendly smile appeared out of nowhere, holding a notepad with a pen at the ready, effectively blocking Ellie’s line of vision. “Hi Lauren. Bacon burger and a Bud?” Then she smiled at Ellie. “Hi, I’m Tessa. You must be the new girl.”
Ellie nodded, resisting the urge to flinch at those two words. She’d been here for a month but people still addressed her with that annoying moniker.
“She’s Ellie, and she’ll have the same.” Lauren winked. On the walk to the pub, she’d praised the bacon burger so much, that at least for this first time there would be no choosing something else from the menu.
“So, you’ve met Jared, Cayden and Kean,” Lauren said, as soon as Tessa left them alone. “The bassist is Shane, who’s mechanic as well as a volunteer firefighter in his spare time. And Scott, the lead vocalist, is an attorney. You wouldn’t believe he wears a suit and tie from Monday to Friday, would you?”
Ellie shook her head, smiling. “You really know everyone in town, huh?”
Lauren smiled too. “Not everyone. Since most of the neighboring census-designated places take advantage of our schools, our clinic, and most of our businesses too, it’s a little hard to know everyone. But I’ve lived here nearly all my life, so I know most of the locals, and because of my yoga and Pilates classes, I’ve met some of the outsiders, too.” She waved at someone behind Ellie and smiled before returning her attention to her. “I know living in a city is cool, but I wouldn’t like the anonymity. I enjoy greeting people on the street, asking them how their spouses, or their children, or their grandchildren are. And knowing that they’d bend over backward if my family and I ever needed help.”
“That’s one of the things I always loved when we came to spend our summer breaks here,” Ellie said, remembering people smiling at her and greeting her when she rode her bike through town. Big cities were nice if you couldn’t live without amenities, but small-town life had always attracted her more. She wanted to be someone, not just a face in a soulless metropolis.
“When my father died, back when I was a freshman in high school, the whole town took care of us,” Lauren said. “Mom was devastated. For weeks she barely even got out of bed. People took turns delivering food, helping with the laundry, or stopping to offer support. And after Hannah died we were surrounded by everyone’s love again.”
Tessa delivered their orders, interrupting their conversation, and Ellie thought she saw a flicker of gratitude cross Lauren’s face. Talking about her sister was obviously still hard for her. Lauren dug into her burger like a famished wolf and let out a moan, rolling her eyes. Ellie smiled and took a small bite, resisting the urge to do exactly the same. Her friend wasn’t lying when she said it was the best burger in the whole county.
“I think you should hang out with Kean. He’s cool, not to mention easy on the eye,” Lauren said, once she’d devoured her burger. Clearly, she didn’t want to talk about her sister anymore, and Ellie accepted the change of topic.
Lauren popped a fry into her mouth and chewed slowly, smiling when Ellie raised a questioning eyebrow. “He hasn’t dated anyone in town since he came back from Portland. His girlfriend of two years sort of broke his heart back then.”
Ellie shook her head. “I’m not really looking for a man at the moment.”
“Bad break-up?”
Ellie shrugged. “Sort of.”
“He’s one of the good ones, though. I don’t know why no one has snatched him off the market yet. He’d make a perfect boyfriend, husband, and father. The whole package, you know.” Lauren stared at the guitarist on the stage, her chin resting on the palm of her hand. Ellie smiled.
“Why don’t you snatch him off the market, then?”
“Wrong brother.” She put another fry into her mouth, her shoulders sagging a little. “I used to date his younger brother, Kyle, back in high school. I thought he was my one and only, but I guess I just wanted to have what my sister and Adam had. They’d been together forever and got married soon after college. I thought it would be romantic if two sisters ended up marrying two brothers, but life got in the way.”
Ellie frowned, and Lauren shrugged in response. She took a sip of beer and stared at the band. “Baseball has always come first for Kyle. He went to college, got into the university baseball team and his career escalated from there. He’s a Triple A, Minor League player in the Colorado Springs Sky Sox now, and rumor has it, the Milwaukee Brewers in the MLB have their eyes set on him.”
“Wow. He must be good, then. I’m not exactly a sports fan, but even I know playing in the MLB is an amazing opportunity.”
Lauren nodded, but Ellie could see that behind the mask she was still hurting. Sure, she had a handsome firefighter boyfriend, but Ellie’s psychology training told her that Lauren never really got over her first love.
“Hey, Adam!” Lauren’s hand shot in the air, and the sound of his name made Ellie’s throat tighten a little. She’d hoped Lauren wouldn’t spot her brother-in-law, but apparently luck wasn’t on her side tonight.
Her heart started a silly dance in her chest at the sight of her handsome neighbor walking up to them. He had a bottle of Guinness in his right hand, while the other fisted a denim jacket hanging off his shoulder. It had only been a few hours since she’d seen him on the beach, in his casual clothes and a relaxed attitude, and she had to say, she preferred this Adam to the closed-off man who showed up at Spring Bunnies.
“Hi again, Lauren. Ellie.” He offered a light smile, before returning his attention to his sister-in-law. Something that resembled disappointment settled in Ellie’s stomach, but she was quick to remind herself of all the reasons why she shouldn’t feel attracted to this particular man.
“What are you doing here? Is the world going to end or something?”
Adam shook his head at Lauren’s comment and pulled out the chair next to her. He took a sip of his beer and set the bottle on the table.
“Kean insisted I should come listen to his band. I didn’t want to leave Sophie, but then Cay joined in with Kean’s bulldozing persuasion attempts. You can imagine the rest.”
“Your mom, your dad, and your grandpa joined in too, and you had no escape.”
“Exactly.” He nodded and stole a fry from Lauren’s plate. He tilted his head and looked at Ellie as he picked up his bottle again. “My family’s worse than the mafia when they set their minds to something.”
The comment was nothing but a simple statement, but when his eyes locked on Ellie’s, something shifted inside her. She hated that of all the men she could’ve experienced the jolt with, it had to be one involved with her job. Not that she wanted, or needed, a man in her life, but ever since she met him, she hadn’t been able to stop the flurry of ‘what-ifs’ inside her head.
“Well, it’s high time you went out again. You’ve moved into your new home, you’ve enrolled Sophie in school, so now it’s time you concentrated on your life, too.” Lauren picked up her bottle and stared at him with a serious expression. “Hannah wouldn’t want you to live like a hermit for the rest of your life. You of all people should know that.”
His jaw hardened, his fingers tightening on the bottle neck. Even though it was clear he was fighting to keep his temper, or whatever emotion was simmering under his fake composure, in check, Ellie could see he was pondering running away.
Aw, who was she fooling? Even if he weren’t off-limits because she was his daughter’s teacher, he wouldn’t be any more available. It was clear as day that he still wasn’t over the loss of his wife.
“Oh, cool. The guys are taking a break.” Lauren said as soon as the last note of the Queen song drifted away, totally oblivious to Adam’s torment. Ellie was tempted to reach out her hand and take his, squeeze some comfort into him, anything to take that pained expression off his handsome face. A face she shouldn’t be fantasizing or dreaming about, if she wanted to keep her job and stay in town. But still…
“Glad you could make it.” Jared approached their table, pulling Ellie from her thoughts. He wasn’t wearing glasses today, and with his hair slightly mussed and a black Iron Maiden t-shirt, Ellie hardly recognized the geeky guy she’d met only a few days ago. He greeted Adam with a pat on the back, then smiled at Ellie.
“Did I have any choice?” She raised an eyebrow, and Jared let out a loud laugh. “Between you and Lauren, I feared for my life if I didn’t show up.”
“But it was worth it, right? You’re enjoying the food and the music, aren’t you?”
She nodded, smiling. This was turning out to be a far nicer night than she’d expected. Lauren was great company, nearly as good as Charli, the food was decadently good, and the music was great. If only her handsome neighbor hadn’t shown up to mess with her feelings and thoughts, it would’ve been a perfect night.
“I’d better hit the restrooms now, before the break is over,” Jared said. “I don’t think I can hold it in much longer.”
“Ew, gross. We’re eating, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Lauren gave him a shove, and he grinned.
“Don’t be such a snob. As if you don’t pee at all.”
“Yeah, but I don’t tell the world about it, you know?”
Jared laughed and waved at Ellie as he walked away, spinning around and sticking his tongue out at Lauren just before he disappeared behind the swinging wooden doors that led to the restrooms.
A moment later, the handsome guitarist showed up at their table and bent down to kiss Lauren’s cheek in a friendly we’re-family way. “Hey, Lauren. Good to see ya.”
“Good to see you, too, handsome.”
Kean chuckled as he pulled out the chair next to Ellie, turned it around and straddled it backward, resting his muscular arms on the back.
“Ellie. Nice to see you.” He smiled, and even though she could now see the resemblance with his brother, his smile didn’t have the same effect as his brother’s.
He reached for the bottle Adam had placed back on the table and took a sip. “See? Getting out of your cave isn’t so bad, is it, little brother?”
Adam glared at him, and Kean grinned, before taking another pull from the bottle. “I hope you aren’t being a grouchy neighbor to our lovely teacher here. Wouldn’t want her to run out of Spring because of you. Sophie adores her, and you know I’d never want to see my adorable niece unhappy.”
Ellie chuckled, even though the older Cavanagh wasn’t far from the truth—if Dee ever suspected Ellie’s inexplicable attraction to her neighbor and dug a little deeper into Ellie’s past, Adam could very well be the reason for Ellie leaving town. Just like Spencer had been her reason for leaving San Francisco, and all the gossip, behind.
“He’s okay. We don’t see much of each other outside school, anyway,” she said, hoping it would be enough to deflect the tension Kean’s comment had caused. Adam’s shoulders relaxed, and a feeble smile barely curled his lips. In the two weeks she’d known him, she hadn’t seen a proper smile light up his face, as if it was something he didn’t know how to do. Even now, the attempt seemed forced.
“Thank you,” Adam said, glancing at her for just a second, before focusing on the bottle he’d taken back from Kean. “My brother has a big mouth, which, coupled with a small brain, makes him unsuitable for public relations.”
Kean let out a belly laugh and patted his brother’s back in a forceful way that made Adam’s breath come out in a gasp. “Guess I deserved that, little brother.”
“Cuz, break’s over. Come on!” Cayden, the handsome firefighter, called from the stage, before settling himself behind the drum set.
“Duty calls. Enjoy the rest of your night, ladies. Take care of my little brother while I’m up there.” He gave them a two-finger salute, then walked back toward the stage, waving and shaking hands as he passed by tables.
Adam excused himself and disappeared behind the swinging doors, but not before Ellie had noticed the frown on his face and his troubled eyes.
The show resumed with a Bon Jovi song, and Ellie sat back in her chair, enjoying her last few fries and the sense of laid-back camaraderie floating in the air, determined to forget all about Adam Cavanagh and the way he made her feel. A pleasant buzz filled her as she joined Lauren and the rest of the patrons in the chorus of ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’, feeling truly carefree for the first time since her mother died.