“Yep.” Amber deftly slid a stack of tips off the bar from a group of college boys and stuffed them in her pocket. Aside from her boys in uniform, they were her second favorite customers. Young and fun, but they didn’t have much money.
But the tips in her pocket were a reassuring weight, and the night was young still. Plenty of hours left to make money. The tightness that had a permanent hold on her shoulders lately drew into a familiar spring.
“Everything okay?” Allie asked, studying her with sharp hazel eyes. As the oldest of the four Hart sisters, Allie didn’t miss much. Since having the twins, Allie was busier than ever, but they were still close. “You don’t usually work Friday nights,” she said.
“I picked up some extra shifts,” Amber said breezily.
Allie’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Aren’t you still working for Mrs. Pearson? Did you get fired already?”
“Hey, rude,” Amber said. “I didn’t get fired. That ship sailed to Florida,” Her latest gig as a personal assistant had been great while it lasted. It was mostly keeping track of Mrs. Pearson’s appointments, filling up her pill containers, and driving her places, but she liked the lady. They had some good times together, and Amber had been sad to see her move down south. Working for her had been one of her favorite jobs to date. And, yes, she’d had plenty of them.
“I don’t ‘get fired,’ anyway. I prefer to leave in a blaze of glory.” That sounded way better than the truth: her track record holding down jobs sucked. It was so well known it was a family joke how many jobs she’d had over the years. Waitressing, office work, that one time she started a dog walking business, she had worked them all, but none of them panned out for one reason or another.
But she wasn’t ready for that much introspection on a Friday night.
Allie sighed. “Right. Well, whatever comes next, let’s hope you decide to stick with it. I just want to see you happy.”
Amber saluted. “Got it, boss.” She had been picking up shifts at the pub for the extra cash, but she really needed another job, one with benefits, preferably. Her car was on the fritz and the window AC unit had stopped working right before the heat wave. Sleeping in her apartment had not been fun this week. “Know anyone hiring, Ford?”
“Actually," Ford said, swirling his drink in his glass, "Theo's assistant eloped. Left him without any warning.”
"Really?" Allie looked excited. “You could totally do that job, Amber.”
"Yep." Ford nodded. “The sooner the better. Knowing my brother, he hasn’t left the office since she eloped. You want me to put in a good word for you?”
Amber snorted. “Can you imagine?” she said. She laughed again just thinking about working for the mayor. Theo Clairmont was No Fun with capital letters. “That would be a disaster.”
No one else was laughing.
“Why not?” Allie frowned at her. “You’re organized and smart. You have plenty of experience and you need a steady job with benefits. What’s the issue?”
How to say this delicately? “Theo Clairmont has a massive stick up his ass.” Or not, but she wasn’t known for her tact anyway.
“Ouch,” Allie said. “What’s the mayor ever done to you?”
Amber ignored that.
Ford grinned. “True. To be fair, he’s got a town to run, but I’m definitely the fun brother. I’d hire you in a second, but mysecretary scares me. I can’t ever fire her. I think she’d poison me.”
“Just think about it, Amber. It’s a good job,” Allie said.
“Will do. Hey, you never showed me the girls’ dance costumes,” Amber said. Showing off the girls never failed to distract her sister. The phone came out, and she was done talking about Theo Clairmont. Everyone in Northfield loved the mayor. Except her.
He was polite to her, sure. Theo Clairmont’s manners were impeccable. But that was it. He certainly didn’t bother to display any of the easy charm that Northfield was so in love with.
From the first time she’d met him, when she was a starry-eyed, stupid teenager in a bad spot, her wild streak had surfaced every time she saw the mayor. He was just so proper she couldn’t resist poking him to see how far she could push before he lost some of that polish.
For years, she had watched him command every room he stepped into with a natural confidence that irked her to no end. Men respected him and sought him out, and women of all ages sat up and took notice when the mayor arrived. In turn, the mayor was charming and patient, earning him countless awards and accolades during his years in office. But when it came to her, Theo Clairmont was noticeably cooler.
It was a feeling Amber was wholly unfamiliar with. She knew a thing or two about charm. You couldn’t work as many service jobs as she had without learning how to wield a smile and flirt like a connoisseur. It was kind of what she was known for and what made her so good at bartending.
She enjoyed talking to people and learning about them, and yes, fixing them up too. She looked around proudly. There were a few couples in the pub right now that she’d had a hand in matchmaking. She was friendly, dammit.
Yet Theo Claremont looked right through her as if she didn’t exist.
It hadn’t always been that way, but Amber quickly dismissed the thought. She didn’t want to ruin her good mood.
Later, after Allie and Davis left, the pub swelled with the Friday crowd and the pace picked up. Amber flitted around, mixing drinks, and pouring wine and beer.
