“Frank Jr. just sold Pete a minivan,” Annie said. “Great credit, but he preferred to pay in cash.”
Zoe nearly swallowed an ice cube. “Mr. Hottie Bartender drives a minivan?”
Annie shrugged. “Why not? He said it was to haul around supplies.”
Coco sniffed. “Well, he might be fiscally responsible and nice to look at, but he’s a big jerk.”
“If you say so,” Sophie muttered.
Coco and Reggie gave each other a knowing look that piqued Annie’s curiosity, but before she could ask Coco to explain, Sophie pounded her fist on the table, startling them all into attention. “Okay, Annie, now spill. Tell us everything you know about Roy Rogers.”
“Roy Rogers?” Zoe giggled. “Like the cowboy? That’s his name?”
It looked as if there was no way around it. Sophie and her friends were going to insist on the real story. “Off the record?” Annie asked, looking specifically at Reggie, because the last thing she wanted was for Sam to get even more unwanted publicity, and this was just the sort of story Fabulous You would love to feature.
“Why?” Reggie’s dark eyes perked up. “Is there a juicy story behind this?”
Annie made some serious eye contact with the other women. “You have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“The only other people any of us would tell are all sitting at this table,” said Sophie. “So spill, already.”
Sophie had a point. “Okay, so, you know that show Single Gal?”
Before Annie could continue, Sophie shrieked, “I knew it! He’s Gas Station Sam! I thought I recognized him. But why would Connie say his name was Roy?”
“Because he made it up. He’s here to get away from the press. They’ve been hounding him nonstop ever since he was on the show, so he used an alias.”
“My aunt Millie is gaga over him,” said Zoe.
Reggie snickered. “So is my mom. Not that I blame her.”
“I was with them when we all watched the episode.”
“That appearance he made on Good Morning, USA didn’t help his anonymity any,” said Coco. “Diane, the receptionist at work? She wants to quit her job and move to Dallas to find him.”
“It’s like all the women in America have been on the Keto diet and he’s a loaf of bread fresh out of the oven,” said Zoe, causing the other women to laugh.
All except Annie. A sharp twinge of something that felt like jealousy hit her straight in the chest. That was twice now that she’d experienced it. Last night at the diner and now. She needed to get a grip here.
“First meat, now bread. All this talk of food is making me hungry. I think we need another round of nachos.” Zoe put her hand up and waved, getting Pete’s attention. “More nachos, please!”
The handsome bartender acknowledged her, then signaled to a server.
“I don’t know why you think Pete’s a jerk,” Sophie said to Coco. “He’s always been perfectly nice to me.”
“Forget about Pete,” said Reggie. “I want Annie to tell us more about Gas Station Sam.”
She took a deep breath. For courage. “I invited him here tonight,” she said making a face.
“Gas Station Sam is coming here? To Bootleg Pete’s?” Coco chortled with glee. “Wait until Diane gets a load of this.”
“No! You promised. You can’t tell anyone.”
“Not even after the fact?”
“Not even after,” Annie said firmly. “Although he probably won’t show up.” Yesterday, after they’d returned to the dealership, Frank Jr. had sealed the deal and sold Sam the convertible. Sam had been polite when he’d stopped by Annie’s office on his way out to tell her goodbye, but there had been a lingering frostiness in the air that had told her he still wasn’t over their earlier disagreement about his sister. If Sam didn’t show up tonight, then that brief encounter in her office would be the last time she’d ever see him. She swallowed back the rest of her drink. Why did she find that so miserably depressing?
Zoe smiled knowingly. “No wonder you want to break up with Walter.”
“Sam isn’t the reason I’m breaking up with Walter. Not exactly. He’s more like the catalyst.” She went on to tell them about the letter she’d written to Sam and how it had helped her get in touch with her feelings.
“And you never mailed the letter?” Sophie asked.
“No! I’d die if I thought he’d read that letter. I bared my soul to that man. I even told him all about Russell. Of course, thanks to Rudy Garcia, he found out about it anyway.”
Zoe placed a comforting hand on Annie’s shoulder. “No one in town feels sorry for you, Annie. Well, maybe there’s a few people like Rudy who won’t let it go, but you’re doing the right thing breaking up with Walter. Don’t marry someone you’re not crazy in love with.”
“Don’t you think it’s weird that of all the places Sam DeLuca could go to get away from the press, he ends up here?” Zoe mused. “Why Old Explorer’s Bay?”
“Why not here?” said Reggie. “Think about it. This town is about as dead as the roach I squished in the parking lot on my way in tonight.”
“True,” said Zoe, frowning. “Still, it feels like more than just a coincidence. You see him on TV, write him this soul-baring letter and then he just pops up at The Miramar Café while you and Walter are in the middle of your regularly scheduled Tuesday-night dinner.”
“It’s fate,” said Sophie.
“Yeah,” said Coco. “What else could it be?”
Annie shifted in her seat. Despite the other women’s objections, Zoe had a point. Sam’s showing up in town did feel uncomfortably ironic. She thought back to the day she’d written the letter. She’d crumpled it and tossed it into the trash, but … No. There was no way he could have gotten ahold of it. It was the alcohol fuzzing her brain. Maybe she shouldn’t have had that second Bee’s Knees. The woman who had been singing Gloria Gaynor earlier was back on the karaoke stage. This time she was butchering the Patsy Cline version of “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”
Sophie grabbed Annie’s arm, startling not just her but the whole table. “Sweet baby Jesus. Guess who just walked in the door?”
Annie craned her neck to get a look. It was Sam, looking completely delicious in a white button-down shirt and jeans. Their gazes locked. He hesitated a second, then began making his way straight toward her.
Annie sat at a table in the middle of the room, surrounded by four other women, one of whom Sam recognized as her cousin Sophie. Annie’s gaze met his with surprise and some other emotion he couldn’t make out from this far away. A crowded bar wasn’t the optimal place to have their much-needed conversation, but it had taken him all day to figure out what he was going to say.
He’d woken up this morning with the undeniable knowledge that he had to make things right. No more lying about that letter. Even if it did put a strain between her and Bridget. He owed Annie the real reason behind his coming to Old Explorer’s Bay.
He rehearsed his opening line in his head as he made his way to her table. But when he finally got there, all he could say was, “Hi.”