“But I think this one may just be. He’s a great man.” She waggled her brows. “And I get a sense he’s quite accomplished in the sack.”
“And how would you have a ‘sense’ about something like that?”
“You get to be my age, you just know about these things.”
I looked back to the sky and let loose a laugh. It had started off slow and quiet but built in speed and sound until tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my temples into my hair. Man, did it feel good to laugh like that after the shitty twenty-four hours I’d had.
“You’re gonna be just fine, darlin’ girl,” Sylvia said, giving my knee a pat. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna finish my vinyasa. And I could really use a glass of iced tea.”
My laughter trickled off into giggles as I pushed up from my mat and started toward my back door. “On it. Be right back.”
I skip-walked down the cobblestones, feeling lighter than I thought possible a few minutes ago. The second I pushed the back door open, I heard my cellphone go off. Moving to the counter, I pulled it from its charger and swiped to answer, holding it between my shoulder and ear as I moved around the kitchen. “Hello?”
“Hey, babe. It’s Nona. From the flower shop the other day?”
“Oh, yeah, I remember. How’s it going?” I asked as I grabbed a couple glasses from the cabinet then headed for the fridge to get the pitcher of iced tea.
“Everything’s good. I’m calling because there’s gonna be a live band playing at The Tap Room tonight, and I wanted to see if you’d be interested in going.”
“What’s The Tap Room?” I asked as I poured the tea and moved to put the pitcher back into the fridge.
“It’s the best bar in town. You’re gonna love it, trust me. Say you’ll come. I know it’s really last minute, but it’ll be a lot of fun. And Eden and I can introduce you to the rest of our friends. You’ll fit right in.”
Fitting in with a new crowd in my new town sounded nice, especially considering I didn’t have a single friend in the world to speak of. Who was I to turn down a shot at making some new ones?
“You know what? That sounds great. What time should I meet you guys?”
“The band goes on at eight. How’s that sound?”
The corners of my lips began to tilt upward and excitement bloomed in my belly. “Sounds awesome. I’ll see you there.”
“See you then, doll.”
I hung up and set my phone down so I could grab the glasses of iced tea.
“Sure did take you longer than I expected,” Sylvia said as I made my way to her through the garden.
“Sorry. Nona called while I was in there. She invited me to a ladies’ night tonight.”
Sylvia took one of the glasses from my hand and sipped while lifting a dainty brow. “Is that so? Well it looks like this day’s takin’ a turn for the better after all, huh?”
I sure as hell hoped so.
“Now help an old lady off the ground, would you? I still have a few miles in these hips of mine. Be a damn shame to break one now.” She shot me a wink as I grabbed her hands and pulled her to standing. “Know some gentleman who’d be real disappointed if I was put out of commission.”
God, my aunt was nuts. And I absolutely loved it.
Chapter Seven
Hayden
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a bar in a small mountain town, but I was pleasantly surprised to find The Tap Room was huge and cool as hell.
The first thing I noticed when I stepped through the doors was that the place was packed to the gills. The second thing was the scent of beer in the air. The moment that malty, almost sweet smell hit my senses, it was like déjà vu. For a split second, I was transported back to that pub in Richmond.
At the reminder of that night, my breasts grew heavy and a shiver trailed up my spine.
Maybe tonight we could find a man to replace all those memories of Micah, the devil on my shoulder queried before I smacked her off. That was a mistake I had no intention of repeating. Especially in the place where I lived. If there was anything I’d learned from that one and only encounter, it was that I really wasn’t the kind of woman who could pull off a one-night stand.
The nights were getting chilly with fall touching down, so I’d decided on a pair of thick black leggings and a red and black checkered button-down that I tied in a knot right above my belly button, showing the baring hint of skin in the front, but the tail in the back came down low enough to partially cover my butt, making me feel a bit less exposed. My calf-high, lace-up booties with thick three-inch heels were cute, but in a cool as hell, edgy kind of way.
I’d given my locks a break from the flatiron and curling iron lately and discovered I loved the natural wave in my hair. It was wild, and it was another part of me my daughter had inherited, so I’d let it air dry tonight, hanging halfway down my back in wild, thick waves. I’d done my makeup a bit on the smokier side for more of a night time look without going too over the top, and to top off the whole ensemble, taking it from casual to casual with a touch of spice, I had gold bangles on my wrists and long, wide chandelier earrings dripping almost all the way to my shoulders.
All in all, I thought I looked pretty good, so I felt good as I stopped a few feet inside the bar and scanned the area for Nona and Eden.
I spotted their familiar faces a few seconds later, waving at me from a cluster of tables right at the edge of the dance floor, facing the stage.
With a big smile, I made my way to them, noticing the group they were with was much bigger than I’d expected.
“Hey!” Eden cooed, shuffling around the tables, belly first, in order to get to me and pull me into a hug. “So glad you could make it. When Nona said she’d called you I got really excited.”
“I’m excited to,” I replied, returning her embrace. “I appreciate you guys inviting me.”
“Of course,” Nona said, taking Eden’s place and giving me a quick squeeze. “Let’s get the introductions out of the way really fast, then we’ll get you a drink.” She shifted us so we were facing the group with her arm slung casually over my shoulders. “Ladies, this is Hayden, the newest resident of Hope Valley. She’s in need of a new crew, so I invited her to partake in ladies night. She’s Sylvia’s great-niece. Hayden, you know Eden already. This here is Tessa, Gypsy, Tempie, Sage, Roxanne, Dani and Rory. Rory owns this place, but she took the night off so she could hang without a bar between us. And that’s McKenna,” she said, pointing to the last woman. “She owns a burlesque club just outside of town called Whiskey Dolls. That’ll be where we do our next ladies’ night. We try to alternate.”
I was overwhelmed and wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep everything straight when the woman who’d been introduced as Rory spoke. “Don’t worry about not getting all that on the first night. It can be a little much.”
She looked like a rock and roll hippy with a colorful scarf wound through the beltloops of her jeans and another one tied into a headband, tangling with her long, sleek black hair. She was wearing scuffed cowboy boots and a form-fitting tee that stated, “The only way to tap it is hard and fast.” Her smile seemed genuine, as did the looks I was getting from the rest of the ladies, but I wasn’t ready to lower my guard just yet. Once burned, twice shy, and all that.