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“We’ve trained him well,” Maria, owner of Shear Heaven, the local hair salon, said with a smile for Shane.
“You ladies enjoy your margaritas… I mean book club.” He winked and returned to the high back stool at the bar. He slid on top of the black leather seat as Shane got in place behind the bar.
He greeted Milo with a handshake, then took out his order book. “What are you having today?”
“Cheeseburger, extra pickles, no onion.”
“You got it.” Shane disappeared to the kitchen for a moment, then came back and leaned against the bar.
“Kind of slow today,” Milo said.
Shane scratched the back of his head. “A little bit, but the book club is keeping me busy.”
“I say enjoy this time. Once the weekend comes and Memorial Day kicks off the summer, this place will be a madhouse.”
“That’s what everyone keeps saying. I’m looking forward to it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the slow pace, but I like to keep moving.”
“I know exactly what you mean. Seems like a waste of a day if you’re not balancing multiple things at once.”
“Exactly.”
Olivia came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray piled high with appetizers. She handed them out to the book club and placed the tray against her thigh. “Anything else I can get you ladies?”
“Margaritas!” Lillian held her glass up, and Shane took the pitcher to meet the demand. He caught Olivia by the waist and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. Olivia smiled, and Milo was thrilled for her. After she caught her ex cheating and realized she wasted four years of her life on the jerk, she finally looked genuinely happy.
Olivia came over to the bar and plopped on the stool next to him. She was wearing sneakers, something Milo was still getting used to. Olivia loved her heels, and until a few weeks ago he hadn’t seen her in anything less than four inches since junior year.
“Didn’t I just see you?” she asked.
“I know you missed me.”
She laughed and stood on the frame of the stool, reaching over the bar to a glass of water. She sat down, pushed her chestnut hair out of her face, and took a sip of the water with a lemon wedge floating with the ice. “Make sure Harper gives you those flyers. I think you’re right that it’ll definitely help drum up business for her.”
“It’s why I offered. She needs reach, and she’s too damn stubborn to let anyone help her.”
“Trust me, I’ve only been trying to get her business on social media since before I moved back. She has a real chance at making this paint night a staple in the community. And did you see the vacant storefront at the end of Main Street is on the market again? It would be the perfect location for her vision.”
“She doesn’t have the money.” It was why he and Jasper paid more in rent, though Milo promised Jasper to keep that to himself. Harper didn’t take handouts, not even friendly offers.
“It’s just so perfect.” Olivia shrugged, and Milo could read between the lines.
“The last time I offered Harper money, she almost decked me. There is no way she would let me help her out with that. Even if I gave her a loan with interest. She’s too damn proud, you know that.” Milo had the money thanks to the lawsuit—more than enough—and if there was anyone he’d be willing to give it to, it was Harper. Unfortunately, trying to help that girl in any way was impossible. She was fiercely independent and, thanks to her mom, had a major chip on her shoulder for anything she deemed charity.
“I know, which is why I’m hoping she can at least take you up on the flyer offer. I just want to see her successful; she’s already sacrificed so much.”
She’d been accepted to three of the top art schools in the country then didn’t go. She’d been afraid to leave her mom and Tom alone. She had dreams of backpacking across Europe with nothing more than her paintbrushes, paint, and a canvas. She wanted to paint the Eiffel Tower, London Bridge, and The Grand Canal in Venice. Wanted to explore the places Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Degas perfected their crafts. To this day she still had never left New York.
Milo offered to take her for their twenty-first birthdays, and that’s when she nearly knocked him out before going on a rant about how expensive that trip would be, and she would not be comfortable with him spending all that money. They had made a promise they’d get there one day, but after that, they never talked about it again. He liked his face too much to risk it.
Harper had definitely sacrificed too much, but she didn’t see it that way.
“She wouldn’t agree with you,” he said.
“No kidding. I’ll keep prodding her, and you do the same. Maybe if we team up on her, we’ll annoy her enough she’ll have no choice but to give it a try.”
“Even if she doesn’t agree, I was planning on handing out her business card, anyway.”
Olivia’s eyebrow inched up. “She doesn’t have business cards.”
