I chuckled. That sounded exactly like Alonso. He had the biggest heart of anyone I knew, and if he thought someone needed help, he was the first one to reach out a hand.
“He’ll learn.”
“He better,” Quinn growled and slumped against the bar next to me.
I nudged her. “Busy night?”
She had dark circles under her eyes, and her usually sleek black bob was sticking up every which way.
“Busy month. Some blogger came in and gave us five out of five stars. Apparently, there’d only ever been two other restaurants to get that many stars. And she has a huge following. Which turned an already busy restaurant into a madhouse.”
“You ever think about opening a second location?”
Quinn raised a brow at me. “Dad would never agree. But I’d love to.”
I put my arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze. “I’m almost done. By the time you get changed, I’ll be ready to go.”
“Sounds perfect.” She sighed and left me to worship my food.
Quinn was back as I was finishing my last slice of pizza.
“Let’s go before Mom gets back and remembers I was supposed to take out the trash.”
I slid off my bar stool and stashed it back in its hiding place. “You working tomorrow?”
“Unfortunately, yes. So I’m on a two-drink limit,” Quinn pouted.
“I have a deadline, so no fun for me either until I finish.”
We walked the short distance to the bar, linking arms and staying as close as we could to ward off the icy wind. The small town of Ferguson doubled in size during summer and fall, making driving anywhere a nightmare. But we were at the end of tourist season, and since it was getting colder every day now, things had started to quiet down.
I’d come here after pointing my finger at the map and landing on the picturesque fishing town in Washington. It was as far as I could get without moving to Canada, though it seemed just as cold at times.
“Are you still pretending your birthday isn’t happening next month? Or have you moved on to acceptance yet?” Quinn asked as soon as we were seated at a quiet table at the back of the busy bar. It was crowded for a weeknight, but it was great to see so many people out and about despite the plunging temperatures.
The exposed brick walls, dark polished wood accents, and a huge selection of drinks made it one of our favorite bars in the area.
We gave our drink orders to the waitress who had appeared as soon as we sat down, and I turned to my friend. “What birthday?”
She threw her napkin at me and rolled her eyes. “Turning thirty isn’t the end of the world.”
It was if you had accomplished exactly zero of the things you wanted to before turning thirty. So I shot her a look that told her exactly what I thought of that statement.
She threw up her hands. “Don’t start.”
I ignored her narrowed eyes and forged on. “I’ve accomplished nothing.Nothing. I’m a loser whose idea of fun is to walk to the nearest coffee shop. I’d still live at home if my family wasn’t so dysfunctional.”
I had only told Quinn the basics about my family. Murder and mayhem just didn’t make for a great conversation topic.
“They can’t be that bad,” she grumbled, which meant she had no idea who my family really was. And I hoped it would stay that way.
“Whatever you’re thinking, multiply it by one hundred and you’re getting closer.”
The waitress dropped our drinks off, and I took a huge sip of my piña colada.
“You want to go to the farmers market this weekend?” Quinn asked, twirling the straw in her mojito.
“Count me in. Once I’m done with my current project, I’m taking a few days off before starting the next one.”
