CHAPTER 5
Hank
The parking lot of Southern Comfort was empty as I pulled into it. I shut the engine off, took off my ball cap, and ran my fingers through my hair. This was the last place I wanted to be right now. I wasn’t a fan of being summoned, especially when I was pretty damn sure I knew what the summons in question was about.
Billy had texted me about an hour ago asking if I could stop by. I’d been tempted to say no. The only thing that stopped me was I knew if I did that he’d just show up on my doorstep. And I wanted to be alone.
That wasn’t strictly true. I wouldn’t mind the company of a certain frazzled, adorable, glasses-wearing neighbor. All morning I’d found myself walking by windows and checking to see if I could catch a glimpse of her, but unfortunately, I hadn’t.
Last night, I’d been half asleep when I’d heard a knock on the door. I hadn’t been fully awake when I opened it and Skylar fell to her knees at my feet. For a split second, I’d thought I had to be dreaming, but hearing Luna ask if her mom was okay had brought me to reality.
Still, nothing had prepared me for the jolt of awareness that had spread through me when my fingers wrapped around Skylar’s arms and helped her up. The way her hands felt on my chest as she steadied herself had sent my body into sensory overload. Then, she’d put her glasses on and seeing her eyes widen and a flush rise on her cheeks had only ratcheted up my body’s response.
I’d never really understood the teacher/librarian fantasy. But seeing Skylar with her hair pulled up wearing glasses had definitely ranked in the top three hottest things I’d ever witnessed. She was even more stunning than I’d remembered her, and that was quite a bar to meet much less surpass.
I noticed things that I hadn’t when we first met. She had a tiny scar above her right eye that was in the shape of a half-moon. Freckles dusted her turned-up nose. And her full, raspberry-tinted lips had the sexiest pout. And all of those incredible attributes didn’t come close to the most mesmerizing attribute – her eyes. They were a crystal clear blue-green color that I’d only ever seen in sea glass. She had hues of blue intertwined with shades of green, dusted with specks of gold, all outlined with a thick navy rim.
I’d definitely noticed how pretty her eyes were when I’d first seen her. But seeing them magnified behind glasses was a totally different ballgame. As I stared into her eyes, for just a moment, a glorious moment, the rest of the world ceased to exist. She transported me to a different dimension, where I would’ve gladly stayed if it meant I could continue looking into her eyes.
And If Luna hadn’t giggled when the money blew away, I could very easily still be lost in her beauty. Everything after that was a blur. One second they were on my porch and then they were gone so fast that if I hadn’t had the money in my hand to prove they’d been there I’d have been convinced it was a dream.
I sighed as I stepped out of the truck and the midday heat beat down on me. I knew what this impromptu invitation was about, Billy wanted to know where my head was at about going to see the mechanic.
There was a lot I would do for my brothers. I’d given up my teens and twenties to raise them. And I’d given up the first half of my thirties to care for Pops so they could live carefree lives. I’d done it without complaint and would do it again in a heartbeat.
But I just wasn’t sure I wanted to go down the road they were traveling. Because I knew, all too well, once you know something you can’t unknow it. And there was a lot that Billy, Cheyenne, and Jimmy didn’t know about our mother.
They’d all seemed to take the news that Cheyenne had a different father much better than I’d expected, but they still didn’t know all of our mother’s secrets…and I’d be damned if I was going to be the one to uncover them.
Knowing that I couldn’t put this off any longer, I pushed the large wooden door open and stepped inside. My eyes took a moment to adjust from the bright sunlight to the dimness of the room. When they did, I saw my brother standing behind the bartop.
When he glanced up his brows rose in surprise. “You’re here.”
I kept walking and resisted the urge to respond to Captain Obvious. I’d never been a big talker. My mom used to call me her turtle. She said that I was always retreating into my shell. Really, I just kept my thoughts to myself. I grew up in this bar, which meant I grew up around drunks who liked to talk. A lot. I’d seen more men, and women for that matter, make asses out of themselves before I was even in double digits to last a lifetime. And my father was one of the worst offenders.
I’d made a promise to myself that I would never be like him, or any of the other regulars that came back every night.
The barstool scraped against the hard wood floors as I lowered myself onto it.
“Drink?” Billy held up a bottle of Jameson.
“What’s with the help wanted sign?” Southern Comfort was technically owned by all four of us, Jimmy, Cheyenne, Billy, and me. We were equal partners but Billy was the one who ran the place. Still, I liked to keep up on what was going on with it.
“Nicole’s leaving. She’s going on some reality dating show.”
I liked Nicole. She showed up on time, worked hard, and didn’t ask a lot of questions. That made her a model employee to me. Plus, both regulars and tourists loved her equally which was a tall order here in Firefly. It would be tough to replace her.
A picture of Skylar working behind the bar popped into my head. Clear as day, I saw her serving drinks, talking and laughing with customers.
“So…?” Billy looked expectantly at me. “What are you thinking?”
“About what?” I barked. I hadn’t meant to sound so defensive, but I felt like I was the one who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I just couldn’t stop thinking about a woman that clearly wanted nothing to do with me.
“When are you going to call him?” Billy asked pointedly as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Looked like I wasn’t the only one who was defensive.
I didn’t respond to my brother because I didn’t have an answer. I knew that my brothers and sister wanted me to call the mechanic, but that was because they didn’t have the whole story. I had a bad feeling that I knew exactly what the man would have to tell me. He’d tell me that it wasn’t an accident. He’d explain that my mother had wrapped her car around a tree on purpose.