“Not nearly often enough,” Angela said, wagging a playful finger at him.
I frowned at Jamie, honestly bewildered, and he shrugged back, equally stunned.
And that was just the beginning. Cal and Ash came by, dropping something into the flowerpot that they called a “down payment on their wedding venue.”
The Turner brothers came by, and while Mitch and Jamie discussed the ingredients in Jamie’s special ketchup, Dare deposited an envelope he called, “a donation from the darts club, because playing in Si’s garage is getting old.”
Everett and Silas came by, and Ev left an envelope he told Jamie was his “friendship tax, because if Jamie leaves I’ll officially be the crankiest person under forty in this town.”
Bill Nickerson and his pretty wife came by for wings, and Dhann dropped some cash into the pot. So did Theo Ross, when he collected his burger, because he’d “be able to drink legally soon, Parks, just FYI,” and Rae Martin, when they came by for a soda, because they’d loved working for me and “I’m basically paying you to give me my bar-back job again.”
EvenBrian Carrcame by and dropped in a twenty, thanking me for showing him the error of his ways and offering to help out for free if we needed him.
Constantine and Micah came over later, along with Micah’s little brother Mason—a younger, cuter version of Micah who worked as a doctor over in Baxter. While Con was moaning over the wings, Micah gave us something on behalf of his flower shop, Blooms, because he knew how hard it was to start his own business, and he wanted to pay it forward. And evenMasongot in on the action, putting a wad of cash in the pot with a sad little smile because, “money’s just a tool, and you two have something money can’t buy,” which was kinda cute and made me feel bad for him at the same time.
Then Dana and Rena Cobb strolled up hand-in-hand, and while Rena collected their food, Dana produced two pieces of paper from her pocket.
“This is a check from O’Leary’s newest residents, the Talwoods.”
“Who?” I demanded. “I don’t know them at all!”
“Denise andRickyTalwood,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“No way! Ricky and Mrs. Ricky are moving to O’Leary?”
Dana nodded. “We’ve kept in touch since they were here over the winter. They loved thesmall-town aesthetic, so they’re moving once their kids are out of school. And when I told them about you and your bar, they agreed that community spaces like that are important.” She dropped the check into the pot and leaned over the counter. “I’ve also got Ricky’s business card. Have I mentioned he’s a venture capitalist?”
“A venture capitalist,” I repeated dumbly. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. And looking for local investment opportunities. But I’ve got something even better.” She waved the second check, and I grabbed it from her hand before she could put it in the pot.
“This… is from my parents,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at Jamie, who handed Rena a container of wings and then came to stand behind me to look at the check in my hand.
“It’s fortwenty thousand dollars.” Jamie sounded as stunned as I felt.
“Beatrice says she’s glad you finally found therightopportunity, even if it is in O’Leary.” Dana grinned. “Lance says, ‘Tell Parker not to expect a wedding present.’And also that he’s proud of you.”
“And here’s a little something from Dana and me,” Rena said, putting her own check in, as well. “If you need some artwork once you’re up and running, you just let me know,” she added.
“Paul and I didn’t wanna be left out,” Quinn Tierney said, striding up with his little dog Emmylou in his arms and dropping in his own contribution.
My hand started shaking a little, making the check flutter like there was a dry monsoon hitting Upstate New York, and Jamie slid the paper from my hand. He took the other checks and envelopes from the pot and started rifling through them, then his hands started shaking too.
“Parker.Babe.” He swallowed and ran a hand over his mouth and beard. “There arethousandshere. Jesus Christ.” His brown eyes were liquid gold as he stared at me. “Thousands.”
I blew out a breath and looked at the smiling faces all around us. Our neighbors. Our family, in a really weird way.
I’d thought there wasn’t a Parker-shaped hole in O’Leary. Clearly, I’d been wrong.
“I don’t know what to say,” I said honestly. “This is so far beyond…” I sniffled in a totally unmanly way.
Jamie’s hand came to the back of my neck and pulled my face into his shoulder, likely sensing I was about to lose my shit.
“Thank you,” he spoke over my head. “You have no idea what this means to us.”
“I’m guessing it’s just about what you mean to us,” Quinn said.
“O’Learians stick together, son,” Hen said. Then he clapped his hands together once. “Hot damn! I feel like Santa Claus! Who else can we help out, Diane?”
