“I never wanna see another tater tot as long as I live,” Shelby groaned.
“Go sit.” Kiara patted her butt. “I’ll make you a hot toddy.”
Phone to her ear, Charlie smiled broadly. “Okay, I’ll tell ’em. Yeah, promise. Love you.” She smooched the screen, then held it to her chest and sighed. “River says hi, everyone. He caught a bazillion squid.”
Shelby called, “What say we switch out tots for calamari?”
“You hush.” Dawn mussed Shelby’s short, spiky hair before moving to the bar and ringing the ship’s bell. “Closing early tonight, folks. Last call.”
Eddie surveyed his work family. Everyone was pairing up—Charlie and River, Diego and Anna, Jojo mooning over Lana, and he was pretty sure Kiara and Shelby had something cooking. It was almost like that mahogany cherub atop the back bar was shooting invisible arrows. Its magic didn’t last, though, at least not with him and Rosie.
God, he was going to miss this crew. He had to find a way to make things right with his parents, and with Rosie. His poor battered heart couldn’t take leaving this place, these people behind.
Once the last customers trailed out, Dawn summoned everyone to the bar. “Gus has an announcement.”
The grizzled old fart wiggled off his bar stool and pulled up his sagging jeans. “Yes, well, ahem.” He shuffled his stained work boots.
“Get on with it, darlin’.” Dawn’s cheeks bunched in a fond smile.
Dawn and Gus? The boss was 50-something, he figured. Gus must be…hard to tell, actually. With that brown-gray beard and baggy face, he could be just a little older than Dawn, or twenty years older. Were they a couple too?
Gus cleared his throat and clasped his hands atop his belly. “So, my friend works at the women’s shelter on Broadway. We got to talkin’, and they need all kindsa stuff, bed linens and blankets, kids’ clothes, toys, pots ‘n’ pans…”
Dawn cut in. “Seems every bar and restaurant in town is running something for Valentine’s Day. All we got so far is our Anti-Valentine’s Party. I’ve been wracking my brain for something to make it special when—bingo! Gus told me about the shelter. Here’s what I’m thinking. You’ve all seen those posters in the bathrooms?”
Kiara nodded. “Love doesn’t have to hurt.”
Dawn smacked her palm on the bar. “That’s our angle. We’re gonna hold a fundraiser for the shelter. I found a printer who’ll give us T-shirts at cost if we pay for labor. But we need a design fast. Like, yesterday.” She beckoned. “Ideas. Hit me.”
Eddie pointed to the troublemaker atop the bar. “How about him?”
“That little angel?” Kiara squinted. “He kinda looks like cupid. We could give him a bow and arrows.”
Dawn clapped him on the back. “Great idea, Eddie. Now all we need is a design for the T-shirts.” With a huge, shit-eating grin, she turned to Rosie. So did everyone else.
Rosie blinked for a moment. “Yeah, okay. I can draw our cupid, I guess.”
“That’s my girl.” Dawn pointed. “Lana and Charlie, can you do a social media blitz like you did for our Christmas party?”
“On it, boss.” Lana saluted.
Dawn wrapped her arm around Eddie’s shoulder. That leaves you and me to finalize plans.”
Eddie huffed a laugh. She was sweet to include him, but everyone knew he was just there to backstop the boss. Besides, his poor brain was so fried, not to mention his deflated heart, he doubted he could contribute any ideas worth shit tonight. “Okay if I think on it overnight?”
“Yeah, you look pretty rough.” She tousled his hair. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
While he and Kiara cleaned up the bar, Dawn and Gus conferred over mugs of coffee, and Rosie sketched, head down, her pencil moving in quick flicks. Once everything was set to rights, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and strolled toward her table, aiming for relaxed, casual—probably looking like a shambling idiot.
Her gaze flicked up toward the carved angel—and collided with him. She startled, clutching the pencil in a white-knuckled grip.
Eddie nodded toward her sketch. “Can I see?” He slid into the seat opposite her.
His heart squeezed when he saw she was still using the peacock-blue notebook he’d given her at New Year’s. Seemed like a lifetime ago now. The angel was perfect—at once recognizable as the Bangers’ mascot, but with a saucy grin, a heart-tipped arrow notched in its bow, and heart-spangled wings.
“You’re amazing, Rosie.”
“Hmmf.” She bent over the page, adding bits of shadow here and there. “How’s your dad?”
“Healthy enough to chew me out all the way home.”
Keeping her eyes on her work, she hooked a stray curl behind her ear. “You told them?”
“Not yet.”
Finally, her gaze met his. Never had her dark eyes looked so dull and vacant. “Will you ever?”
When he didn’t answer immediately, she sighed and looked away. “Not my business, anyway.” Scratch, scratch went her pen. “Funny how your mom told me before she told you.”
“Maybe she wanted to practice.”
“Maybe she was drunk.”
Unable to resist her gravity one second more, his hand closed over her wrist. “She trusted you.”
She snorted. “Right. For about thirty seconds. Then I became the evil Jezebel luring you away from family duty. Anyway, what does it matter now? You’re gonna do the right thing.” She pulled out of his grip. “For them, not for you.”
Eddie’s heart thudded dully against his ribs. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Rosie. But you’re right. I should have told them long ago. Now it’s going to be harder than ever.”
Closing her eyes, she scraped her hair back from her forehead. “It never woulda worked out, Eddie. We’re on different paths. Besides, guys like you don’t stick with girls like me. Guess I always knew that.”
Her comment sliced him right to his core. She’d said the same thing at the beginning. Unwilling to let her go, he’d coaxed her back into his bed, pried open her guarded heart, even told her he loved her—then abandoned her after everything she’d done for him. The
