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1
NOLAN
“I’ve waited my entire life to find the person I’d say this to—Inez Machado, you are the woman I see myself spending forever with.”
Eyes focused on the clipboard clenched in my hand, I keep my head down.
I try my best to focus on my inventory form. I try to ignore the reality TV show blasting from the wall-mounted flat-screens positioned all around the room.
But this sappy love declaration booms through the hi-tech speaker system of my old-fashioned bar, bouncing off the exposed brick walls.
Taunting my head.
Twisting my guts.
Hacking away at the cool, calm, collected persona I’m struggling to portray.
I’ve changed the damn channel on multiple occasions tonight. I even tried hiding the remote. But all my big screens somehow keep getting switched right back to this freaking TV show.
“Wow…I, uh…” a feminine voice responds. Her tone is soft. Quiet. Vulnerable. “That’s…that’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
From the feathery quiver of her words and the way her voice cracks as she speaks, I can tell that she genuinely means it.
And the burning pressure inside my chest only amplifies.
I set down my clipboard on the bartop and rifle around in the first aid kit beneath the counter. I’m in desperate need of the strongest antacid known to man. Coming up empty-handed, I rub the center of my chest.
I’d like to convince myself that this feeling is nothing but heartburn. But the persistent ache inside my ribcage feels a lot like regret.
Fuck.
Against my better judgment, my eyes lift to one of the oversized wall-mounted TV screens, craving one fleeting glimpse of Inez’s pretty face. But all I see is that goofy-ass bachelor dude dropping to one knee with that goofy-ass grin on his goofy-ass face…and a massive diamond ring in his hand.
My lungs tighten. My stomach gurgles. I know exactly what happens next.
“Inez, make me the happiest man alive. Tell me—will you be my wife?”
Around me, the crowded bar falls completely silent. Tension throbs in the room. Everyone is holding their breath. Like they’re seeing this television scene for the very first time. Like they haven’t been gathering here to watch this same exact episode—over and over, on repeat—for the past week.
All of Starlight Falls, Iowa is addicted to this show, and I’m still trying to figure out how The North Node Tavern became the unofficial movie theater of my five-thousand-person hometown.
A Chance with Vance is one of those dating reality shows with a ton of attractive women all vying for the attention of one famous bachelor. Vance Cavendish is some Hollywood actor with a fake tan, a corny haircut and a pretentious personality. Everyone loves him.
Me? I think he’s a certified douchebag. And I’m sick of his stupid face.
I hate every second of this show. This episode especially. Because in this most recent episode, the bachelor has eliminated all the other contestants.
The last woman standing? Inez Machado.
Fuck.
Just so there’s no confusion—there’s nothing romantic between Inez and me. There never has been. She’s my friend. Sort of. Well, at least, she used to be.
Up until a few short months ago, she used to work right here in this dingy old bar. Night after night, she stood beside me behind this counter, slinging drinks and telling jokes and charming the socks off of anyone who walked through the front door.
I can’t deny that she and I go way back. Inez was the very first employee I hired when my grandfather handed the keys to this bar over to me a little over six years ago. At the time, I was just a twenty-one year old, in way over my head. I was a brand new father and I’d just walked away from my professional hockey dreams in order to take care of my young family.
I had no fucking idea what I was doing running a business. Inez was even more clueless than I was, but together, we managed to figure shit out. We learned the ins-and-outs of managing a bar, safely feeding customers, and how to run the books correctly.
