* * *
Grady had to admit, he’d come to Lanterns tonight hoping to see Olive St. Claire. In a town as small as Whisper Lake there weren’t a ton of options for nightlife. But he never would have expected to find her with his sister-in-law.
“Who is Jordan?”
“That is Liv’s ex. She was supposed to marry him tomorrow, but he broke off the wedding because she refused to put her grandad who suffers from Alzheimer’s in a home.”
“What an asshole.”
“See the blonde with the sash?” Chrissy motioned to the bar. “That’s Bridgette, Liv’s cousin. When Jordan, the ex, called off the wedding, Bridgette decided to use the cancellations for her benefit and booked them all for herself.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am.” Chrissy nodded.
“And I thought Jim was an asshole.”
There was a beat of silence before they chorused, “He is.”
“It’s nice to see you out. Where are the kids tonight?”
“At sleepovers. I have the night off.” Chrissy lifted her drink, tilted it back and downed the contents.
He was glad his SIL had a night off. Being a single mom of four kids could not be easy, but somehow she made it look that way.
“So, Liv thought you were a stripper, huh?”
Grady grinned. He knew Chrissy well enough to read between the lines of that question. He didn’t want to give too much away of how he was feeling. He had questions he wanted answered, like how Chrissy knew Olive but if he asked, she’d read into that too, so he changed the subject.
“Mom said that you were thinking of going back to school.”
Grady knew that Chrissy had wanted to be a lawyer before she’d gotten pregnant with Fiona. She’d had big plans for her life but she’d left college to stay home and raise her kids. She’d sacrificed a lot and Jim had left her high and dry. And not just her, his kids too.
She sighed. “I want to, but I don’t know if I have the time.”
“I’m sorry,” Grady apologized.
Chrissy’s brow wrinkled. “For what? There only being twenty-four hours in the day?”
“No. For my brother being an asshole.”
“Stop apologizing for him. You are not any more responsible for his actions than I am.”
“Caldwell!” Grady looked up and saw that Romero and Anderson were over by the bar double fisting beers and wearing Whisper Lake PD T-shirts.
In L.A. when police were off duty, they didn’t advertise that they were law enforcement. People had very strong reactions to the law, whether they were good or bad, it had never been something he’d wanted to deal with. But this was Whisper Lake, and chances were everyone in this bar, or at least the locals, already knew that they were law enforcement.
The last thing he wanted to do was go hang out with his co-workers. If it was up to him, he’d invite himself to crash girl’s night and get to know Olive better. But he knew he couldn’t do that.
He could see that his sister had had a few and he didn’t want her driving. “Let me know if you need a ride home.”
He’d walked to the restaurant, but if she needed a ride he’d go home and get his truck.
“I Ubered.”
“Whisper Lake has Uber?”
“Just one. Carl Fischer.”