‘Um, let me see. I’m a hard worker. I’m ridiculously hard-working, actually. Maybe a bittoohard-working. I’m kind and open-minded. The kids like me because they say I give out the tastiest lollipops and have the best stickers. The grown-ups like me because I always go the extra mile.’
‘That all sounds very promising. But… what about your weaknesses?’
Tammy thought for a while. She felt an overwhelming urge to be honest with this man. ‘I’m a bit shy. And I sometimes think I’m a bit greedy.’
‘Greedy?’
‘Maybe I want more than my fair share?’
‘Nothing wrong with wanting the moon on a stick, Tammy. Why shouldn’t we all want to squeeze every last drop from our time on Earth? Be ambitious. Be greedy. Want it all. As long as it’s not hurting anyone else, then dream big, little one.’
Tammy glowed with happiness. It felt good to have someone say that to her. This guy was telling her all the right things. She continued, feeling herself open up more and more to him. She even noticed that her Little voice was coming out naturally too. ‘Also, I’m kind of a hoarder. Like, I keep things that I shouldn’t, even when they’re starting to go a bit gross and mildewy. Like, my peg dolls—’
Haze barked with laughter again. ‘You sound perfect. We’ll give you a trial run here, but I’m going to have to swear you to secrecy. Our location is confidential. Not everyone is as open-minded as you.’
‘That’s OK,’ whispered Tammy. ‘I can keep secrets. Where are you based?’
Haze paused for a moment, then said: ‘Texas.’
*
Finn threw another log on the fire. Even in Texas, it got chilly at night in January.
This fecking place, though. It was love at first sight for Finn. A dream for a writer like him.
Not that he could bear to think about writing at the moment.
OK, OK, hethoughtabout it plenty. But he wasn’tdoingit. And that was fine. His brooding, romantic soul was being nourished in other ways. Running the pub with his brothers. Going for walks in the fresh air. Reading the pile of second-hand books he brought with him.
Liberty was still kind of a rundown dump, but it was bristling with potential. Like a blank page, ready to become the most perfect story. Liberty was a fresh start. A chance to begin again.
God knows he and his brothers needed that.
When Haze had asked them to come and run this place, they had all been skeptical at first. An abandoned mining town? Was it even safe? But Haze had excited them with all his tales of how he intended to transform the place, and they’d been hooked. Then, when Haze told them the name of the pub he wanted them to run — The Den — it had felt like serendipity. They’d had a favorite den when they were younger, back in Connecticut. A place where they hung out back when things were simpler. Maybe this was a chance for that to happen for them once more.
Finn settled back onto his seat, checking there were no customers in need of a drink. Everyone looked happy and well catered for. There weren’t many people in town yet, so the bar never got busy, but more and more, people had started to come out here for company on the cold winter nights.
Plus, since they’d ordered in all those board games — Connect Four, Cranium, The Game of Life, and, at Billie’s request, Candy Land — the Littles had been coming in to play every night. They’d had to get rid of Clue because some of the Littles were getting scared. Until Liberty started to feel more ‘alive’, and less like a ghost town, it was probably best to steer clear of the murder mystery and horror games. Not that Liberty was dangerous, obviously. It just wasn’t right to scare the Littles.
The Bigs enjoyed coming to the pub too. Especially since the dartboard and the pool table had been installed. Turned out, Angel was actually pretty good at darts, and Nate was crazy good at pool. Like, nobody else had beaten him yet. Even Conor — much to Conor’s disappointment.
Tonight, Billie, June, and Isla were playing Connect Four. Isla had only arrived last month. She’d been called in to help organize the Christmas party to end all Christmas parties. What happened was so fecking dramatic you could hardly believe it if you weren’t there. A freak weather occurrence, a helicopter rescue mission, a last-minute birth. Anyway, it had brought the community together closer than ever. And it had brought Isla and the new veterinarian Bjorn evencloserthan that.
Bjorn was here tonight, playing a quiet game of pool with Edan. Neither of them was much good at it, but they looked relaxed nonetheless. Angel was watching them while eating his way through his second bowl of Irish stew. That guy loved his stew even more than Shay did.
It was a good job Shay had left some portions of stew behind to zap in the microwave before heading off on his wilderness wander. Shay did that from time to time — strapped on a hiking rucksack and wandered off for some alone time. He normally came back with a ton of foraged food and a few stories to boot.
Knowing that everyone was happy, and nobody needed his attention, Finn opened up his book and tried to get back into the story. He was readingThe Great Gatsby, but his heart wasn’t in it. All those parties. All that glitz and glamor. Finn preferred the simple things in life. Especially since coming here, and meeting all the good people in this place.
Maybe Finn’s heart wasn’t in the book because of all the bullshit he’d been through with his so-called publisher. Dropping him right before Christmas, right before his first publication, because they’d decided to ‘focus solely on celebrity autobiographies from now on’. Feck that shite. If they hated the manuscript he’d given them, they could have just said so.
Actually, Finn kind of hated the manuscript he’d written. It just didn’t feel like him. Didn’t feel authentic. He was trying to be too clever, to write something that people would study in classrooms for years to come. He should have just written from the heart.
Trouble is, Finn’s heart was all over the place. He’d never been in love — well, not for a long, long time. He had never evenbeen witha woman. Having an identical twin brother made things kind of complicated. He and Conor had never outright discussed it, but they both knew, deep down, that it was going to be impossible for them to be with a different girl each. They had to share. They were too connected.
But what kind of girl would want to do that?
And would she be the right girl for them?