Though of course she was. She would have said yes anyway.
“What are you doing?” Zoe asked, walking into the kitchen in her pajamas. She opened the refrigerator and stepped back. “We have sodas,” she said, glancing at Van from the corner of her eye. “And chocolate. Can I have some?”
Van nodded. “Go ahead.”
Zoe grabbed a can of Coke and a Milky Way. “I love it when you go grocery shopping. You want some?”
“I’ll get something in a minute. You want to watch a movie?”
“I can stay up?” Zoe popped the can and took a long sip. “First you let me drink soda and eat chocolate, and now you’re not forcing me to bed before nine-thirty. Are you feeling okay?”
Van grinned. “I’m fine. I just want to spend a bit of quality time with my sister. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be in. Why don’t you find something good on Netflix?”
“Okay.” Zoe grinned. “Maybe you can make popcorn, too.”
“Maybe.” Van wiggled her eyebrows.
Zoe skipped out of the kitchen right as Van’s phone rang. She picked it up, frowning when she saw her mom’s number.
“Hello?”
“Is this Kim’s daughter?” a man’s voice asked. Van felt her skin prickle up.
“Yes. Who is this, please?”
“My name’s Graham. I’m sitting next to your mom at a bar. She’s not feeling well right now.”
Van glanced at the kitchen door. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“Nothing to worry about. She’s just a little sick.” Graham cleared his throat. “She probably shouldn’t have had that last whiskey.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that.”
Van closed her eyes, knowing exactly what this was. Whoever this Graham was, he’d been plying her mom with drinks, thinking she was a sure thing. “What bar are you in?”
“The Moonlight Bar in Hartson’s Creek. You know it?”
“Yeah, I know it.”
“I’d bring her home, but she’s not in a good way.” He gave an embarrassed chuckle. “I don’t want people talking about me like that.”
“It’s okay. I’m on my way.”
“Great. She’s at the bar. I probably won’t be here when you get here.”
Of course he wouldn’t. She didn’t expect anything less. Apart from Craig, she’d never met a lover that didn’t treat Kim like dirt.
And even Craig had at the end.
He hung up before she could reply. He’d done his duty, after all. Van would feel angry, but the phone call was more than most guys her mom hung around would do.
Sighing, she grabbed her purse and keys, and headed out to the hallway.
“Zoe?”
“Yeah?”
“Mom’s sick. I need to pick her up. Let’s watch that movie once I’m back, okay?”
The smile slipped from Zoe’s lips. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. I’ll bring her back and put her to bed, then make some popcorn.” Van winked at her. “Can I trust you to stay here while I’m gone?”
“Of course. Mom does it all the time.”
“You have my number in your phone?”
Zoe nodded. “Yep.”
“Okay. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Sure.” Zoe nodded. “See you in a bit.” She looked calm, as though she trusted Van to make everything right. And she so wanted to do that. For Zoe and for herself.
Van shot her a tight smile and left the house, climbing into her car and slamming the door closed behind her.
She wished she had as much faith in herself as Zoe did. Because right now she wanted to slap her mom like crazy.
“Okay, it’s my round,” Nate said, his legs wobbling as he pushed himself off the bar stool he was perched on. There were eight of them in all, sitting around one of the high tables at the rear of the Moonlight Bar. Tanner had only been here for an hour but he was already trying to find an excuse to leave. It turned out that once they’d finished reminiscing about school there really wasn’t much to talk about, unless you wanted to hear about Nate’s hernia operation or Grant Dubois’ divorce.
When he’d said he was rounding up the gang, it turned out Nate meant two guys and a gaggle of the girls they’d hung around with more than ten years ago. Including Chrissie Fairfax and her friends, who all gave him a huge hug as soon as they saw him.
The girls seemed to be getting along better than the guys. Maybe because they’d kept in touch in a way the guys hadn’t. They’d all drifted apart after graduation, meeting up occasionally during college vacations or when they were visiting their families in Hartson’s Creek, but really there was nothing left between them.
It was the opposite to his relationship with his brothers. That had only grown stronger, even though they were living in different locations across the East Coast. Maybe blood really did call to blood.
Everybody called out their orders to Nate, who looked perturbed when Chrissie and her friend Natalie asked for Pornstar Martinis. “Those are a thing?” he asked, scratching his head.
“Yep. The best cocktails ever.” Chrissie smiled at him.
Nate shook his head and wandered to the bar, leaning slightly to the left. Tanner stood and glanced at their group. “I think I’ll go help him. I don’t like his chances of carrying the drinks back without spilling them.”
Chrissie put her hand on Tanner’s forearm. “That’s a great idea,” she said warmly.
Gently, he pulled his arm away and walked over to where Nate was leaning on the bar, lifting one finger up as he tried to remember the order.
“Two pornstar martinis, one white wine and a Coke zero,” Tanner said to Sam, biting down a smile as the grizzled barman rolled his eyes. “And four more beers, please.”
Sam had put one of Gray’s albums on, the low beats echoing out of the speakers fixed to the wall. Tanner tapped his fingers on the sticky bar, smiling as he remembered singing this song with his brother when they’d tried to beat Becca and Maddie at Karaoke.
For some reason the girls won. Becca still hadn’t let him forget it.
“I want another drink.”
Tanner looked to his left to see where the slurred words were coming from. A woman was half-sitting on a barstool, her long hair spilling out of the clip she’d fixed it in, obscuring her face. Her top was low, enough for her cleavage to be on clear display for everybody to see. Tanner pulled his eyes away.
“Nothing more for you,” Sam said, pouring vodka into a stainless steel cocktail shaker, followed by champagne. “You’ve had enough.”
“Just one more.” Half her body was on the counter. If she wasn’t so drunk, Tanner suspected she’d be climbing over the bar to help herself. “Come on, Sam. Just one more.”
He recognized that voice. Tanner tilted his head to the side, stealing another glance. Despite the curtain of bleached hair, he knew who it was. Kimberly. Van’s mom. He took a deep breath and turned toward her. “You okay?” he asked.
“Who’s asking?” She tucked the curtain of hair over her shoulder and turned to look at him.