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“No, she’s in Grand Forks,” Mia stated. Since they were cousins and neighbors, Mia knew about Mandy’s movements, even beyond the entire town gossip thing.
“Should we call Natalie and Hazel?” Mia scooted over. The two of them were in their early twenties, which made Ruth feel old sometimes when they made references to things she had no clue about.
“No, Hazel has the baby, and Natalie should be with her fiancé today.” Ruth knew both of the women had a ton of responsibility. Hazel had a young son, and Natalie was getting married the next summer.
“Everyone had a bad day?” Tess asked the group.
“You got that right.” Ruth glared again at Rafferty, wishing Anderson would move so that she didn’t have to glare angrily at him too. His only crime was being friends with the enemy. Why must he be friends with the enemy?
Turning back to the girls, she saw that they were both staring at her. “What? Rafferty Brooks killed my day.”
“He always seemed harmless to me.” Tess sipped her wine and glanced over at the two men at the bar with amusement.
“Has he turned his smooth moves on you? He likes to bang anything in a skirt.” Mia downed her shot of whiskey, then slammed her hand to her mouth. “No offense, Tess. Your skirts are always nice. And yours too, Ruth.”
Tess just laughed at the now purple-haired woman beside her. “No, Mia, I have not had the attention of Mr. Brooks. I think I am a little too old for him, anyway.” Tess looked into her glass.
“Too old? That has never been an issue with that one.” Mia waved to the bartender for another drink.
“Then I think I am going to have hurt feelings since he has yet to pursue me.” Tess looked over the man in question again.
“Don’t waste your time with him,” Ruth said. “Anyway, he has a thing for Mia right now.”
Mia’s eyes flew to the man in question. “He can keep his thing to himself.”
“So, there is a hot man who has a job and great hair, and you want nothing to do with him, Mia. Why?” Tess asked the waitress.
“Because he is Rafferty. And besides, the minute I get enough money together, I am out of this town. I am a big-city girl trapped in this dinky town, always have been. Rafferty would only mess that up. And he is a player,” Mia pointed out. Though as far as Ruth had heard lately, he hadn’t dated anyone in months.
“I would play with that if he was looking at me like he is looking at you.” Tess laughed at Mia, who had started to shake her head in denial.
Paul brought over drinks for the table and indicated that they had been paid for by the guys. Once he left, Mia leaned into the table and whispered, “I tapped that once. Not going back.”
“Who? Paul?” Ruth asked in shock. The bartender was almost two decades older than they were. Even though the women had known each other most of their entire lives, Ruth thought she would have heard about that one.
“No, Rafferty. Long time ago, ancient history now. But still a history not worth repeating.” Mia downed her new glass of whiskey.
Ruth had moved on to her new drink and liked whatever it was that Paul had made. Deciding Rafferty was not going to ruin her night, she turned to Tess and asked, “So how old are you, anyway?”
Tess turned back to her and looked over at her. “How old are you, Ruth?”
Mia jumped in. “She turns the big thirty-one pretty soon, sometime in late winter if I remember right. Mine is in the fall, and I will be twenty-nine. I need to be out of this town by thirty.”
Tess looked over at the woman. “I will never get over how much you know about people. Do you know the name, age, and address of everyone in this bar?”
Mia looked around her at the twenty or so people in the bar. Looking back at Tess, she answered, “All but you. I’m sorry, I am a people person. I cannot change that for you.”
“That’s what makes me say you can never leave this town. It will fall apart without you.” Tess waved at the bartender again.
“I know, the café would be sad without Mia yelling at someone for something. Never going to be the same.” Ruth agreed with Tess.
Anderson walked up to the table with the drinks this time. Ruth noticed he had taken his jacket and tie off and was just in his white button-down shirt and had opened the first few buttons. God, he looked good relaxed. Sadly, he looked good anytime. And maybe even better after she’d had a few drinks.
After setting the glasses on the table, he handed them out and said, “Peace offering from Rafferty and me. Our hope is to get back into your good graces, ladies.”
Tess looked him up and down. “It will take more than a few drinks to put yourselves right with these ladies. More drinks and one of those little cardboard pizzas might help.”
Anderson laughed, saluted her, and went back to the bar. “Coming right up.”
