“Better than it going to waste.”
“The casserole? Or the space?”
My mother snorted. Almost definitely a laugh.
“Mom,” I said, encouraged. “What happened to Dad’s workbench?”
“Joe took it.”
“Of course he did.”
“Assets of the business, I figured. I’d no use for it. It’s just stuff.”
“It’s not stuff. It was Dad’s. It’s a nice, big, flat surface. I thought I could use it as a desk.”
“Well then, you’ll have to talk to Joe.” She frowned. “He’s been good to me, Anne. I wish you’d try to get along.”
Get along. For Mom’s sake. For Hailey’s.
“I’ll try,” I promised.The jerk.
12
Joe
Then
The Friday-night crowd at theMustang Lounge had thinned. A table of volunteers from the fire department sat under a wall covered in first-responder patches, drinking beer and swapping stories. A handful of regulars hunched over drinks. A bunch of frat bros had taken over a corner in the back.
Joe nodded to the firefighters on his way to the bar. He was filthy, sweaty, and covered in sawdust. Turned out the floor he and Rob were restoring needed more than a few boards replaced. Joe had sistered up a joist, installing a new beam, but the extra work had cost them a day, and tonight he’d stayed behind to sand the floors so they could get back on schedule. He needed a beer, a shower, and some ibuprofen. Not necessarily in that order. But tonight his mom was enjoying a rare night in with seven-year-old Hailey, and there was no way Joe was crashing their princess movie marathon.
Cindy LaSalle—her impressive rack showcased in a redthirst responderT-shirt—slid him a coaster and a smile. “What can I get you, Joe?”
“Blackrocks. Thanks.”
She stuck a glass under the tap. “Flying solo tonight?”
He wondered if she was flirting or looking out for her friend’s best interests. Sometimes with women it was hard to tell.
“They asked Brittany to pick up an extra shift,” Joe said. “At the hotel. They’re hosting the prom tonight.”
Only nine kids in the senior class, but Mackinac still threw them a prom, inviting the younger grades and other high schools to make up the numbers. Even Rob had been…not excited, exactly, but kind of sentimental his baby girl was celebrating another island rite of passage before she went off to college in the fall. There would be lots of parents taking pictures on the hotel porch, Joe imagined. Probably some tears, too, from Rob if not from Maddie.
“Leaving you all alone,” Cindy said.
Still talking about Brittany.
He sipped his beer. “It’s fine.” They weren’t attached at the hip. She’d made that clear. Everything was temporary with Britt. The job. Joe. A muscle pulled across his shoulders, like his shirt was too tight. “I had to finish a job anyway.”
A burst of laughter erupted from the table at the back. He glanced toward the sound. It felt like a long time since he’d been that young. Or that drunk.
A flash of red snagged his attention. A girl. A redhead in a strapless red dress, with her hair piled up and a lot of pale skin showing. He looked again.Anne.
Long, glittery earrings swung against her neck as she turned her head to say something to the guy pressed up against her in the corner. Some jackass in a pink shirt nudged his drink toward her across the table.
Cindy followed his gaze and put down her bar rag. “Be right back.”
Joe’s jaw set. “I’ve got it.”
