Gypsy frowned and lifted her hands, unable to understand what he was trying to say.
“Today is Belle’s birthday. She had a party at her house. When I got there, her mother said she had to run out and get some more ice cream, but she didn’t come back.”
“What?”
“She isn’t answering my calls or texts. When I told my mom about it, she said that Francie sometimes needs mommy-time.” He air-quoted the last words.
“Mommy-time? What is mommy-time? And where the hell can I get some?”
“My mom says sometimes Francie leaves Belle with them and goes away for a couple of days without telling them.”
Gypsy’s mouth dropped open. A fist gripped her gut. “Excuse me?”
“I didn’t know anything about this until she vanished in the middle of Belle’s fucking birthday party, leaving me with twenty five-year-old girls and twenty mothers.” He rubbed at sweat collecting on his forehead. She’d never seen him look so lost and frantic. “My parents leave tomorrow on a cruise for three weeks, so I couldn’t leave her with them. I didn’t know what to do with her. I couldn’t just leave her home alone.”
“Then you get a babysitter. You don’t bring her into a bar.”
“The only person in town I’d trust her with is you.”
“Don’t even. I’m completely immune to your charm.”
“It’s only fair. That little thing has been buttering me up all day.” He ran all ten fingers through his hair. “I’m ready to buy her a pony. A fuckin’ real one.”
Gypsy crossed her arms. She’d spent years cleaning up other people’s messes. When she’d been faced with raising Cooper on her own, she’d vowed to let others take care of themselves. Now, Cooper always came first. No question. Which was why she was interviewing for a manager, so she’d have more time with her boy.
But this didn’t involve Cooper. At least not directly. And it was the first time since she’d made those vows that she was tempted to let them slide. Not for Wyatt, but for Belle.
“If you could just watch her while I play,” Wyatt said, “the customers will be happy, Belle will be happy. It’ll all be good.”
“Good for you. I can’t keep Belle in the main bar, and if I go to the back room with her, there is no way the current bartenders can handle the crush.” Gypsy exhaled hard. “Does Belle know her mom bailed?”
“No. I just told her we’re doing a sleepover at my house tonight.”
“I so hate you right now, Jackson.”
Gypsy walked away, moved behind the bar, and climbed on top, much the way Wyatt had days before. But she didn’t have his whistling skills, so she reached for a cow bell hanging in one corner and rang it until everyone in the bar went quiet.
“If it doesn’t come from a bottle or a tap,” she yelled, “we’re out.”
A collective groan of disappointment rippled through the bar.
“In good news,” she added, “Wyatt Jackson finally got his lazy ass in here.”
The disappointment turned into cheers, then the chant of his name. “Wy-att, Wy-att, Wy-att.”
She climbed off the bar and worked up a smile for Belle. “I’m betting you’re Princess Belle.”
Her eyes brightened. “You’re right.”
“Then you must like Beauty and the Beast.”
“I do.”
“I’m Gypsy. I have the video in my office. Wanna come back and watch it with me?”
She pulled in a sharp breath. “Is it the real movie?”
“You mean with real people?”
“Yeah.”
No, it was the cartoon version, one Cooper hadn’t quite gained interest in yet. But Gypsy could easily enough download the real-people version. “Bet I can find that one.”
Belle jumped off her stool and met Gypsy at the swinging door, where she slid her hand into Gypsy’s.
Wyatt crouched and took Belle’s free hand. “I’m just going to sing for a bit, then we’ll go home. Maybe stop and get ice cream on the way.”
Belle grinned and patted Wyatt’s face. Gypsy didn’t want to notice or care, but the love between the two was palpable. “Yes. My tummy feels better. Can we go to Baskin Robbins and get bubblegum flavor?”
“It’s your birthday, baby. Anything goes.”
He stood and met Gypsy’s eyes. “I’ll make it up to you.”
Like she hadn’t heard that before. “Yes, you will.”
“Cover your ears,” he said, then turned toward the crowd and whistled. “First round of Bud is on me!”
The crowd went wild.
Gypsy smirked. “That’s a good start. Get your ass up on stage.”
She took Belle down the hall and into her office, where she closed the door to shut out the craziness.
“Wow, it’s messy in here,” Belle said.
Gypsy leaned back against the door and took a minute to breathe. She hadn’t had time to clean or organize or generally keep her own shit together, and here she was corralling Wyatt’s shit. Nothing had made her this angry in a long damn time. “Yes, it is.”
She forced her mind off Wyatt and onto the candidates coming in for interviews tomorrow. She was beyond fried, and if something didn’t break soon, she was going to end up in a pink padded room.
Belle wandered the office looking at the supplies lined up on the shelves and checking out boxes of promotional material, then made her way to the box of toys Gypsy kept for Cooper. Gypsy searched her desk, dug around, and uncovered her laptop. “Okay. Beauty and the Beast.”
She searched Amazon Video for the “real” Beauty and the Beast. Maybe, with Belle absorbed in the movie, Gypsy could get some paperwork done. That might distract her from the hard-liquor cash sliding down the drain in the bar.
“Gypsy,” Belle said, “can we play diner instead?”
Gypsy glanced at Belle over the laptop. “What?”
Belle held an order pad and a pen, and the girl had the same damn smile as Wyatt—the one that could melt steel. “Diner. I’ll be your waitress.”
Wyatt’s voice permeated the walls as he warmed up his crowd with chitchat. Followed by laughter and cheers.
Gypsy rested her chin in her hand and sighed. She was too tired to focus on paperwork anyway. “A princess waitress. That’s original.”
She stood and looked around. Gypsy picked up an apron and knelt in front of Belle, tying it around her little waist. Wyatt’s acoustical guitar pierced the walls, followed by the rich sound of Wyatt’s voice. A voice that could turn everything inside her into marshmallow.
“There you go,” Gypsy said. “You put the pad and pen in this pocket, and let’s get you some straws to put in this one.” Belle’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and Gypsy’s heart squeezed. She couldn’t fathom a mother being so messed up she would abandon this beautiful creature. “Do you and your mom play diner?”
Belle’s smile faded. “Not anymore. She’s always tired, and she sleeps a lot. Playing just makes her sad.”
Gypsy chastised herself for judging Belle’s mother. Francie had been raising Belle mostly on her own, and as soon as her husband finally came home to stay, he killed himself. Gypsy couldn’t begin to understand what toll that took on a person. Wyatt hadn’t ever shown her the depth of his pain. She’d only caught glimpses of it over the last year.