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Solomon grinned before squeezing his shoulder again. “You care about Savina and want her to stay safe. I get it. And for the record, I think you should volunteer to be the first guy she sleeps with. She trusts you, and I doubt she’d need to be drunk to do it.”
“Sleeping together would destroy our friendship,” Hal said.
“It’s already ruined,” Solomon said. “I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s the truth.”
“I can’t sleep with her,” Hal said.
“Then you have to let her live her life too. You need to let her make her own mistakes and figure her shit out. Which includes fucking guys she shouldn’t.”
“I know,” Hal said. “It’s just easier said than done.”
“Ain’t that the fucking truth.” Solomon clapped him on the back. “Come on, we’ll have another whiskey, and I’ll show you the new horse Wyatt’s breaking in. He’s giving Wyatt a real run for his money. And you’re staying for Sunday dinner, no fucking arguing.”
CHAPTER6
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Wanda.” Savina sank into the chair across from Wanda. “I volunteered at the library, and story time ran late.”
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.” Wanda pushed a coffee across the table. “I got you your usual.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Savina sipped at the hot liquid. Grind my Beans was busy this afternoon, as it usually was on a Sunday afternoon. She glanced around the store for her niece Harper, who’d been working at the coffee shop since she returned from New York.
“If you’re looking for Harper, you just missed her,” Wanda said. “She was finished her shift. She said to tell you hello, but I’ll be honest – she didn’t look her usual happy self.”
Savina sighed. “She’s having a tough time right now.”
“Does it have something to do with the new vet, Nathan Henshaw?”
“What have you heard?” Savina said guardedly.
“Just that they might be an item. Seo-Jun hasn’t been quiet about sharing that Nathan was waiting for Harper here at the coffee shop a couple of weeks ago,” Wanda said.
“They were growing close,” Savina said, “but they decided to end it last Wednesday. Harper stopped by the house this morning for coffee and to talk. She talked to her dad last night and realized that ending things with Nathan was a mistake. Nathan is out of town, but when he returns on Tuesday, she plans to talk to him. She’s worried about how it will go, though.”
Usually, Savina wouldn’t tell anyone about Harper’s business, but Wanda was a dispatcher for the sheriff’s office. The only person more closemouthed about people’s business than Wanda was the actual sheriff, Gideon Walker.
Wanda nodded sympathetically. “Love is always a blessing, but it can rattle a person up something fierce when it wants to.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Savina said. “Did you go to the meeting this week?”
Although Savina had known Wanda enough to smile and nod to her on the street, it wasn’t until the last three months that she’d gotten to know the tall and elegant looking Black woman better. Wanda’s husband Murray had died in July, and Wanda had started attending the group for grieving spouses. Savina still attended the group once or twice a month, and while it was the shittiest of ways to make a new friend, Savina felt a real connection with Wanda and valued her friendship.
“I did,” Wanda said. “It was a good meeting, lots of crying, but for the first time, I wasn’t the one sobbing into my coffee cup.”
Savina reached out and took Wanda’s hand. “Grief comes in waves.”
“It does,” Wanda said. “I’m thankful this week has been better than the last few.”
“Good.” Savina squeezed her hand. “One day at a time, right?”
“That’s right. So, how did it go?”
Savina blinked at her. “How did what go?”
Wanda laughed. “If you’ve already forgotten your date, it couldn’t have gone well.”
“It wasn’t what I’d hoped,” Savina said. “It ended with Hal McGinnis punching him in the Thirsty Beaver’s parking lot.”
Wanda’s dark brown eyes went round. “Goodness. I’m gonna need all the details.”
