Chapter Ten
Lennix
Iwas definitely having one ofthosedays.
You know, the kind where anything that could possibly go wrong did.
The puppy that Raylan and I found the night before was scheduled to be released around lunch, so I’d taken the day off to help the little guy acclimate to his new home and all of his new siblings. Unfortunately, that plan went to hell barely an hour after I woke up. I hadn’t even had a chance to finish my coffee before the shit started raining down.
Apparently, some nasty stomach virus was working its way through my staff, rendering two of the waitresses and a bartender who were all scheduled on the same shift out of commission and leaving us severely short-staffed.
I could have called my mom or dad to come in on short notice. Neither of them would have minded, but my pride wouldn’t let me. I wanted to prove I could do this on my own, that I didn’t need my parents’ help to run a successful business.
It wasn’t that they didn’t believe in me. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The support my folks gave me was the fuel I used to quiet the negative voices in my head and push me on any time I started to doubt myself. I was who I was because of their love and support. Their belief in me.
They weren’t the issue. The issue was the people in this town who believed I’d gotten to where I was today because Rory and Cord Paulson had handed everything to me on a silver platter.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Hope Valley. I couldn’t imagine ever calling anywhere else home. But like every other town or city in every state across the globe, we weren’t immune to busybodies, gossips, and assholes. Gossip was a condition that afflicted more people in our small town than head lice would in a kindergarten classroom. Most people were supportive, but it never failed that there were those handfuls of miserable people looking for company. And for some reason, those jerks were always the loudest.
I’d heard all kinds of rumors being spread about me, everything from how my parents only handed the bar down to me because I threw a temper tantrum and accused them of loving Zach more because he ran the family ranch, to how my father had to write a massive check to keep The Tap Room open after I ran the business into the ground.
There were people who felt I was too young to have gotten to where I was today without Mommy and Daddy holding my hand the entire way. It never failed to amaze me how all those negative people freely andaggressivelyinsisted on throwing around their opinions.
I wasn’t the kind of woman who lacked confidence. Being a bigger girl, I’d learned quickly that I needed to embrace myself in every single way if I hoped to develop a thick skin, and that was exactly what I’d done. I learned to love myself just as I was. I woke up every morning, looked in the mirror, and told myself Iwas a beautiful, fierce, amazing woman until the words took root and I realized how true they were. I knew my worth. However, as strong-minded and confident as I was, it wasn’t always easy to keep the nastiness of other people from seeping past the surface of my skin from time to time.
And tonight happened to be one of the times I let it get to me. So instead of swallowing that pride and asking for help, I stubbornly insisted on doing everything myself. And it was proving to be an even bigger pain in the ass than I’d anticipated.
I had hoped the puppy would be content in my office between feedings, what with his cozy new dog bed and the pile of plush toys I’d already purchased for him. However, the moment I stepped across the threshold and started to pull the door closed, he’d start howling and barking like crazy. The sad, scared noises coming from him damn near broke my heart, so despite all health codes I would be violating, I stashed the tiny furball in the pocket of my apron and had spent the entire shift so far carting him around with me. I expected him to make a fuss, but I was shocked when he passed right out and hardly stirred until feeding time rolled around.
Balancing a tray of drinks was a little more cumbersome thanks to the puppy in my apron throwing off my center of gravity, but I made it work, winding my way through the crowd and offering pleasant hellos to all the familiar faces as I passed.
I was met with the bright smiles of Holly and her sisters, Sunny and Gypsy, as soon as I reached their table. “I see we’re having a sisters’ night out,” I said with a happy grin as I started unloading my tray of their drinks and baskets of pretzel bites, corn nuggets, and mozzarella sticks. Basically half of the fried bar food we offered.
Sunny’s hand shot out, snatching up one of the pretzel bites and popping it into her mouth. “You kidding? Ifinallyhave anight out without my husband and kids—who I love and adore with all my heart, of course.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Oh, of course,” I agreed with a heaping dose of sarcasm.
“With these few hours of freedom, there’s nowhere else we’d want to be.” She chomped down on another pretzel bite.
“Well, on behalf of the Christmas bonuses I’ve already promised my staff, I appreciate you choosing to spend your evening with us.” Tucking the now-empty tray beneath my arm, I made my way around the table, giving one-armed hugs to all three of them.
“Uh, honey. What’s going on here?” Holly asked, pointing her finger at the noticeable bulge at the front of my apron. As if he understood he was being talked about the puppy began to stir, and a second later, his little fawn-colored head popped up from his hiding spot.
“Oh my god,” Holly began in that excited girly squeal women emitted when something was too cute for words.
“Shh!” I flapped my hands at her and flung my gaze around to make sure we hadn’t drawn too much attention. “I could get in a whole mess of trouble. I’m breaking like, a million health codes, having him in here like this.”
Sunny’s brows winged up, her cheeks stuffed with more fried food. “Then why are you carrying him around?”
“Because he’s just the cutest little smoosh face in the whole wide world,” Holly baby-talked as she squished the puppy’s cheeks together. He began to squirm in my apron pocket, his tongue darting out to lick the air manically as Holly blew him kisses.
“She said not to draw attention,” Gypsy laughed, giving her youngest sister’s shoulder a playful nudge. “So maybe don’t crouch down and make it look like you’re talking to her crotch?”
“Sorry,” Holly said, chagrined. “He’s just so stinkin’ cute.”
I let out a sigh, reaching down to rub between his ears. “I know he is. Which is why he’s in my apron pocket instead of my office, where I made him a cozy little cocoon to wait in while I worked. But he started crying...”
“And you were a sucker for it,” Holly finished, knowing me all too well. “Just like you are for anything with four legs.”
