Chapter Four
Rhett
Managing my family’srestaurant and inn, The Dock, was the reason I’d gotten a business degree, but there were days I wanted to wash my hands of it all.
And today was one of them.
A pipe burst at the inn, causing flooding to multiple rooms. Three restaurant staff members were sick from a cold going around, which meant we would be utterly short staffed. But the icing on the cake, literally and figuratively, was one of our refrigerators had stopped working overnight and we had to toss a ton of food.
Bella hadn’t said a single word to me since she came in for her shift thirty minutes ago. I was almost certain she was avoiding me, but I couldn’t worry about that now. I had to focus on the problems I could fix.
Then—there was Sarah. Who was also avoiding me because I’d rejected her rather aggressive offer of a blow job after she cornered me in my office earlier. I needed to make phone calls to deal with the issues that had happened, not screw around. And it annoyed me that she constantly tried that shit in my office when I had explained that it was off limits.
I scrubbed both hands down my face, sighing, when I heard a soft knock on my office door.
“Come in,” I muttered, looking up to see Bella stepping inside.
Great, now what?
The bar must be on fire if she’d come to talk to me.
“So… Tyler needs you. Your girlfriend is crying in the stockroom, and Ashley just got here with the desserts you requested.” Bella studied me like she could tell the stress of the day was getting to me. “When’s the last time you took a day off?” she asked with her arms crossed and a no-nonsense look.
“Um—Easter?” I quipped.
I needed to smooth over our argument from last night. Not sure what to say, I rose to my feet and made my way around my desk to stand in front of her. “About last night—I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I hope you know that.”
“Shouldn’t you be trying to make things right with your girlfriend, whom, as I said, is currently crying in the stockroom?” Bella’s curly mahogany hair was piled in its usual messy fashion on top of her head. She looked kind of cute standing there with her arms crossed, one foot impatiently tapping, and one eyebrow raised in question.
“Yeah, I guess I should go deal with that.” I rubbed my temples, preparing to calm Sarah and all of her drama.
“I’ll help Ashley put the desserts away,” Bella replied. “I’m assuming just find room in the other fridge?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. What does Tyler need?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Okay—thanks for helping. I appreciate it. I mean that. And I might take your advice and take tomorrow off.”
“Good idea.” She turned, almost hesitating, but then walked out of my office. I caught myself watching the sway of her hips, but quickly redirected my focus to the ceiling.
Get it together. Go find Sarah.
I dreaded having to deal with her, but if that baby was mine, I needed to suck it up and make things right. At the very beginning, it had been nice and easy. She filled the silence with her ownramblings, never forcing me to talk, which had never been my thing. I never understood the need for useless chitchat, and I struggled to find the words for deeper conversations. But it dawned on me that Bella had a point. Deep down, I wasn’t convinced Sarah had been faithful since we started dating three months ago.
My life is a fucking mess right now.
I blew out a frustrated breath and made my feet move.
After apologizing for being an asshole, I hugged Sarah outside the stockroom. Apparently, I wasn’t very attentive. Her words, not mine.
Bella turned the corner at the end of the hallway and froze—her eyes narrowed as her lips formed a tight line.
My hands abruptly dropped from Sarah, and I took a small step back. “Are we good?” I whispered.
Sarah sent Bella an icy glare as she approached, but quickly turned back to me, flipping her almost white blond hair to one side and pulling me back toward her. She batted her eyes at me and opened her mouth to respond, but before she had a chance, Bella closed the space between us.
“Rhett, Tyler still needs to speak with you, and your sister says you owe her big-time. She wants you to plan a Memorial Day event and have her cater it,” Bella said with a smile.