The truth was, he didn’t know. He hadn’t thought it before, but everything in the past few months had been one crisis after another.
And Jocelyn had been the one in his corner through it all. That’s what he had to remember.
He got up from his desk and went to the bar. They’d be opening in a few minutes. He’d reach out to Jocelyn at some point, but they both needed time to cool off.
The last people he thought he’d see coming in the front door were Jim and Stacy McCarthy, followed by Grant, Garrett, Diane and Carolyn Fierce.
Stacy was waving to him with a big smile on her face. Didn’t seem she knew what was going on between him and Jocelyn, so that was a plus.
He waved back, his grandmother seating the six close to the bar.
Since no one else was here yet, he walked out to greet them.
“Nice to see you all,” he said.
“We’ve been wanting to come here for months,” Grant said. “But life gets in the way. Now that the holidays are over, we thought it’d be perfect.”
“Diane called and asked us if we wanted to join them,” Stacy said. “I couldn’t say no.”
“Glad you’re here. Tina will be over in a minute, but can I get you something to drink?”
He took their orders and walked away to fill them, then put them on the tray when Tina came to collect them.
The pub was filling up but not too crazy.
There was laughter at the table with Jocelyn’s parents. If he and Jocelyn hadn’t ended their last conversation the way they had, he might have snapped a picture and asked if she knew they were here.
This time he didn’t want to cause more friction. She might think he thought she sent them here.
When their meal was done, Tina went to bring the bill, but he called her over. “They can’t stop raving about the food.”
“Good,” he said. “Give me the bill. I’ll bring it.” He moved over to them all watching him. “On the house,” he said.
“Please,” Grant said, waving his hand. “Don’t even consider it.”
“It’s your first time here. I know how you guys operate. You’ll end up spreading the word and getting me more business.”
“We will be,” Carolyn said, laughing. “Our reach is pretty extensive.”
“See, well worth it.”
“Didn’t I tell you he’d be good for Jocelyn,” Grant said.
“Huh?”
“Garrett and I called this months ago when we watched the two of you together. Didn’t know you’d already started dating or we would have nudged it along a bit more if we could have figured it out.”
“Did Jocelyn know this?” he asked.
Stacy smiled. “Jocelyn knew they were interested but not in you originally. Don’t think that.”
“She told me she had a situationship going and didn’t need our help,” Garrett said.
That was the last thing he wanted to consider their relationship, but months ago he might have said the same thing.
Now, he was in love with her just like she was him.
If they’d talked to each other more it wouldn’t have come to this.
