Something wasn’t right, there was a sadness just below the surface. When Gran and everyone dispersed and Millie turned to walk back to the kitchen, I yanked the belt loop of her pants and pulled her into me.
She smiled as I wrapped my arms around her and gave me a small peck.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
Her face darkened for the slightest moment before she gave me another fake smile.
“Fine. Just busy.” One more quick peck and then she disappeared into the kitchen.
With a sigh, I raked a hand through my hair. If this heart didn’t kill me, that woman would. No doubt.
Chapter 19
Millie
Fuck Fuck Fuck.
I mashed the avocado like a mad woman as my brain chewed on the phone call I’d received earlier today.
I was a perfect match for a liver transplantation to Ashton’s father.
The music blared into the kitchen as the open mic night raged on. It was a total fucking success. Like, we had to turn people away because someone called the fire department about it being too crowded. The Instagram page I’d made for the bar was blowing up with hashtags and pictures. Each band paid twenty dollars a head to be heard and most of them were actually really good. I’d made more food than I ever had in my life—vegan nachos with cashew cream, truffle mac and cheese, and BBQ chicken sliders were our top sellers. And of course avocado toast with sunny-side-up egg on top with a hint of sriracha mayo. I had to call a local grocery store and beg for them to deliver more produce! I was too busy to worry about the liver transplant or the fact that I’d said yes without telling Ashton.
Tomorrow, after the high of tonight wore off, I’d tell him. Just in time for the surgery Monday morning…
His dad was on borrowed time and something inside of me said that if I could save someone like Colin saved Ashton, it would make things right with the world. Make things right with me.
Maybe I was also hoping to repair some of Ashton and his father’s relationship, but honestly I wasn’t sure that was possible.
“Holy fucking shit!” Ashton jumped into the back kitchen and I startled.
“What?” I looked behind me as I flipped an egg, then three pieces of chicken, at the same time as I pulled six slices of bread out of the toaster.
Did he find out?
But when I looked back at him, I saw the grin stretched across his face and I sagged in relief.
“Papa’s gettin a new truck!” he stated, causing me to smile.
“We making money?”
He nodded. “Gave all the free beer away and now they’re buying top shelf liquor. Not to mention the food and the band fees. If we keep this up on weekends, we might actually turn a descent profit!”
He pulled me away from the stove and spun me around as the fan blew the sticky hair away from my face.
I leaned in and kissed him quickly. “I get a new fryer before you get a new truck.”
He pulled back, grinning. “Deal.”
Richie peeked his head in the window. “A little help out here!”
Ashton patted my butt and then walked for the door, looking over his shoulder as he fixed me with a curious gaze. “Oh, Millie?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Later you’re gonna tell me who called and got you in a weird mood, right?”
I swallowed hard, unable to keep the panic from my face. “Right.”
Shit.
I could lie, say Julie and John broke up and then a week later say they were back together. But … this was our fresh start and I didn’t want to start a relationship on lies.
I’d tell him after we closed and pray he understood.
The next two hours passed in a blur. Ashton was sitting in a barstool relaxing behind the bar and popping beer tops while his cousins did the harder work. On my orders of course. We’d crowned the winner of the band battle and named the Cherry Pies our new house band. They were surprisingly good, and I’d heard a rumor that a talent scout had even shown up at some point in the night.
All the bands asked the same thing on their way out. “When can we play at this venue again?”
I took their info and told them we’d do an open mic night every Tuesday and Wednesday when the house band wasn’t playing.
“We’re going to need to hire more people,” I told Ashton, bleary eyed as I closed down the kitchen and Richie made last call. Staff was way too low and service too slow tonight for my liking, but no one seemed to mind.
I started to help Richie wipe down tables when I noticed the chalk wall we’d painted on the far end of the bar had writing all over it.
‘Best nachos in town.’
‘Holy Avocado toast Batman.’
‘I lost my virginity tonight.’
Whoa, what?
“We carded everyone, right?” I asked Ashton as I read the chalkboard.
He grinned and nodded. “My buddy worked security, whole night was legit.”
This thing was thrown together so last minute it wasn’t even funny.
There were only about twenty people left in the bar when the clock struck 3 a.m.
Benjamin, leader of the Cherry Pies, grabbed the mic. “Alright, y’all, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”
People booed, chugged their drinks and then started to walk out.
“Long Live Wayne’s Place!” A guy stumbled out with his fist raised in the air.
We all smiled and the band started to pack up. I finished wiping down the tables while Ashton did the bar top, and by the time we turned off the lights and got upstairs it was near 4 a.m. and my eyes were crossing.
I kicked off my shoes, faceplanted in Ashton’s bed, and didn’t bother brushing my teeth. Only when I felt the bed dip did I remember Ashton wanted to talk about the phone call. I peeled one eye open, praying against all odds that he was asleep next to me. He wasn’t.
