CHAPTER 12
“Whoa, hot mama alert!” Ali exclaimed as Brynn entered the bar area at Lanterns.
Jess put her fingers between her lips and whistled.
Brynn felt her cheeks heat up at her friends’ attention. Considering her fair complexion, that probably meant that her face resembled a lobster.
“Have you guys been here long?” Brynn felt odd for not being the first one to arrive. She normally was.
After rehearsal, she’d rushed home. Showered. Straightened her hair. Watched a YouTube tutorial on how to contour and highlight, then contoured and highlighted, finishing it off with a smoky eye and a nude lip. She’d even splurged and bought a new shirt for the occasion. It was a white, long sleeved, wrap shirt that tied in the front and showed a hint of skin above the waistline of her dark, skinny jeans. She’d completed the look with strappy heels, hoop earrings, and several spritzes of her favorite perfume.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d changed out of her work clothes before grabbing a drink with the girls for happy hour. Probably because she never had. But tonight, she’d gone all out in hopes of distracting herself from the constant Axel-narrative that had been running through her mind for the past month. Tonight, she was going to have an Axel-free night.
“We just got here.” Ali gave her a quick hug. “We ordered you a Let Down Your Hair.”
The spiked lemonade drink was Brynn’s go-to ladies’ night cocktail. Jess always went with the Mother Knows Best sparkling cran and vodka. And Ali loved the Smokin’ Smolder, a whiskey drink with a cinnamon stick garnish set on fire. All of the specialty cocktails at Lanterns were now Tangled themed.
A lot of the businesses really played up the fairytale themes since the reality show Fairytale Love was filmed in Whisper Lake. If there was one thing this town knew well, it was how to capitalize on tourism.
“I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m ready to get bibbity-boppity-buzzed,” Jess announced as Liam, the bartender, set three drinks down in front of them with a wink and a smile, revealing perfect teeth and a deep dimple in his left cheek.
Brynn took a moment to look at him, really look.
His sandy hair was a little longer than he normally wore it, and the extra length suited him. His light locks contrasted with his deep brown eyes, dark lashes, and sprinkle of stubble. He was attractive, funny, and smart. He was currently working on his MBA with ambitions to open up his own restaurant consulting business. More importantly, he’d previously shown an interest in her.
Liam had asked her out twice. The first time she’d told him she was busy. The second, she’d expanded on her answer with a blanket statement that she didn’t date because she was too busy.” Now, she was wondering if she should tell him that she wasn’t so busy anymore.
The selection of eligible bachelors in Whisper Lake was limited, but she was determined to put herself back on the market. Last week when she’d gone out to the garage to get Ryder for dinner she’d heard her son tell Axel that he was worried about her being alone. It had broken her heart a little (okay, a lot) but she was glad she’d heard it.
It seemed Ryder was more than ready for her to start dating. And all this time she hadn’t dated for him.
She’d been touched by Axel’s response to Ryder’s fears. He’d said the nicest things about her to her son. He’d said that she was strong, funny, smart and that any guy would be lucky to be with her.
She also heard him say that he didn’t date a lot. And that he didn’t have a girlfriend.
She’d had a flash of hope that he might be interested in her, but that hope had been squashed like a bug under a windshield wiper. Evidently his opinion of her was a moot point considering how he’d avoided her all week.
The real doozy of a take-away from that evening though, was the epiphany she’d had a few days later, that the reason she hadn’t dated might’ve had less to do with her son and more to do with her.
Brynn had been thinking a lot about what her mom had said and she realized that she may have dismissed her mother’s theory too quickly. After taking a fearless inventory, she’d come to the conclusion that she wasn’t emotionally clogged, but she was closed off. And she didn’t have anger or abandonment issues, but she definitely had trust issues and, as much as it pained her to admit that her mom might’ve been right, some resentment as well.
It made sense. When she was a little girl, she’d wanted a family. One with siblings and two parents. Which was exactly what her dad had, just not with Brynn and her mom. So what had she done when she learned that information? She’d tried to go out and get it for herself. But unfortunately she’d tried to get it with Max. He’d had sex with more partners in the year they were married than Brynn had in her entire thirty years.
So yeah, between her dad and Max she definitely had some trust issues. But she’d decided that she was going to try and work through them. And the first step to do that was to stop being closed off and try and put herself out there.
Ali pulled out her card to pay, but Liam shook his head. “This round was picked up by the gentlemen over there.”
Brynn glanced over her shoulder and saw Kade, Ali’s husband, and Ethan, Jess’s fiancé, as well as Chris the vet, Sam the football coach, and Keaton who ran the MMA gym seated at a booth along the wall.
Kade lifted his water and Ethan lifted his beer.
Ali beamed as she smiled and blew her hubby a kiss.
Jess’s lips curled in a private smile as she locked eyes with her betrothed. “Someone’s getting lucky tonight.”
“He didn’t have to buy you a drink to get in your pants,” Ali pointed out playfully.
“No.” Jess winked at her fiancé. “But it doesn’t hurt.”