Still, if she had to sit and wallow in self-pity anywhere, the comfort of her childhood home would be preferable.
“Thanks, Kate. I’ll keep that in mind.” She paused. “Listen, I should go. I’ve got a lot to do and think about, but I hope you all have a fabulous trip. Where are you off to today?”
“Today we’re going to stop in Birmingham and hopefully make it to Memphis tonight. We’re going to spend a day or two there before moving on,” her mother said. “But I want you to promise me something.”
She had no doubt it was going to be something like promising not to let this get her down or to focus on the positive…something uplifting.
“Sure, Mom.”
“If you go to our place, make sure you pay attention to the alarm—setting it and turning it off. Otherwise it will send alerts to our phone and make us nervous.”
“Um…”
“I’ll text you all the info on the codes if you need it. I hate sending it over a text or email because you never know who’s tapping into our personal information.” She sighed. “We left the information with Ronan. If you decide to go home, why don’t you stop by the pub first and talk to him? He’ll give you everything you’ll need and no one will be listening in and stealing our identities.”
Good Lord…
“Mom, I don’t think…”
“I’m not taking any chances, Fallon. You never know how these things happen, so the less I put those numbers and words out into the universe, the safer I’ll feel.”
Now it was her turn to sigh. “Um…yeah. Great. I’ll swing by the pub. I’m guessing Ronan will be there full-time running the place, huh?”
“It’s Kate again, Fallon! Hi!” Kate called out. “Actually, Jamie’s running the place for us while we’re gone. We’re all a little nervous about it, but Shane says it’s time to give him a chance. I’m not sure I’m as confident in that, but…here we are.”
“O-kay…”
“But you know Ronan’s only five minutes away, so if you get to the pub and he’s not there, anyone can reach him for you.”
“Just make sure he meets you in person,” her mother chimed in, “and doesn’t just give you the information over the phone! Promise me you’ll only get the codes from him if you’re face to face!”
“Mom, why are you freaking out so much over this? I’m sure everything is going to be fine and…”
“Fallon? This is your father.”
She hung her head and inwardly groaned.
“Hi, Dad…”
“Can you just please do what your mother is asking? Can’t you tell how nervous she is about being gone for such a long time? Is it too much to ask that you respect our wishes?”
“It’s not, and I solemnly swear that I will only talk to Ronan when no one else is around, okay?”
“Thank you,” they all said in unison.
“I’ll let you all go. Drive safe and keep in touch, okay?”
“Take care of yourself, sweetheart,” her mother said before hanging up.
With nothing left to do, Fallon was about to pull out of her parking spot when Angela came up and knocked on her window.
Rolling it down, Fallon looked up in confusion. Had they changed their mind? Were they giving her another chance?
“Hey, Angela,” she began warily. “Is everything okay?”
“I know this is awkward, but…I need your badge back.”
So…no second chance.
Ugh.
Reaching into her satchel, she took the badge out and quietly handed it over.
“Thanks, Fallon. And good luck.”
She barely managed a small smile before Angela turned and walked away.
This time when she went to pull out of her spot, no one was stopping her, and she forced herself to stay calm until she got home.
Then she was going to scream into her pillow and cry before eating a pint of Rocky Road ice cream. Who cares if it was only 10:30 in the morning? The only one whose opinion mattered right now was her own.
“And I am one hundred percent okay with ice cream for brunch,” she murmured.
As she continued to drive, she thought about her options and knew some of the things her mother said were correct. First, she couldn’t keep moving from state to state, but…she also didn’t want to stay in Missouri. Going back to Laurel Bay made the most sense.
“So I guess now I need to break it to yet another landlord that I’m leaving.”
And then she had to deal with the very real possibility that she was a fraud and knowing that everyone back in Laurel Bay was going to know it too.
Chapter Two
A week into his time managing the pub and Jamie felt like he had blown away everyone’s expectations. They had a record week in sales, and because the luncheon they catered last week was such a success, it became a standard monthly order now. He took great pride in the things he was doing, and it felt great.
Granted, all this work had definitely taken a huge chunk out of his social life. His date with Mandy never panned out and the few women he had chatted up led nowhere either.
And oddly, he was okay with it. Work was keeping him busy, and by the time he left at the end of the day, he was practically dead on his feet.
Glancing down at his watch, he saw it was after two and that meant the lunch crowd was just about gone and they had a few hours to prep for the dinner one. It was normally around this time that he and his uncle sat down for their own lunch. Jamie knew he was going to go for today’s special—pot roast—but he needed to know what Ronan was in the mood for.
Stepping out of the office, he spotted his uncle standing at the bar talking to a curvy brunette. He knew it wasn’t Mandy because this woman was a bit taller, but she was wearing a snug pair of well-worn jeans and the view was spectacular. Straightening, he ran a hand through his hair to give it that mussed up look that he had perfected and then casually strolled toward the bar. His uncle looked up at him with amusement, as if he already knew Jamie was coming over to check out who he was talking to.
Maybe this one will lead to a date tonight…
“Hey,” he said lightly. “I was just about to put in our lunch orders, but saw you standing here talking to this lovely lady.”
Then the lovely lady turned and…
“Fallon?” he said in horror. “What are you doing here?”
She looked equally annoyed by his presence and he wanted to cringe because he had totally been checking out her ass.
Ew…gross.
Fallon Murphy was his nemesis, had been since they were five years old and she beat him in a bicycle race. Their families had become friends somehow and the Murphys had come over on a Sunday for a barbecue. All the kids had been playing every game possible and Jamie had been holding his own.
Until the bikes.
She hadn’t been a graceful winner and he had most definitely been a sore loser and from that point on, it had been non-stop competitions between them.
“It’s a pleasure to see you too, Jamie,” she said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“Jamie,” his uncle said with a small laugh. “Why don’t you get three plates of the special while Fallon and I get drinks and set up a booth?”