“Sure.” Her smile was different this time. Zack noticed, but decided not to inflict Jake’s mirth on his brother. He knew from a brief phone call that Alex had gone through a tough shift, using both dogs to track the whereabouts of a missing toddler. The child had been found a good few miles away from where they had been, shaken and distressed, but physically unharmed.
“You have that mood about you,” Scott said. “The one that screams ‘I’m not seeing daylight tomorrow.’”
“I have every intention of spending the day hungover and eating grease. With maybe a hair of the dog around three,” Alex said.
“That sounds rather tempting,” Scott said. “Apart from the fact that I’m short staffed tomorrow.”
“I’ll take the shift,” Abby said, putting down a shot of tequila which Alex threw back without preamble.
“Then you’re working a double.” Scott looked half-concerned. “Don’t complain if your feet hurt by the end of it.”
“Since when have you heard me complain?” she said, topping up the pints. “And I can get here earlier if you want help with stock taking.”
“Fine,” Scott said. “The flat’s coming free at the end of next week.”
“You mean I can move in?”
Scott nodded. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Tonight I reckon we talk about Sorrell Slater.”
Zack started to find his beer incredibly interesting.
“Her ex is a tosser,” Alex said. “I pulled him for speeding when they first moved into the hotel. Well, she’d moved into the hotel. He was still in Leeds or somewhere.”
Zack decided to look up. He wanted to hear how her ex was a dick, because that would make him feel better that she was out of that situation. His brothers and Jake had already figured that he had a soft spot for the redheaded hotelier and there wasn’t much point in denying it.
“Did he ever move into Litton Manor?” Zack asked. Alex knew the most out of everyone about what was going on in Severton. Not that he was a gossip, it was part of his job. Scott also knew a lot, just different stuff than Alex, like who went home with who and the secrets that were confessed in the booth of his bar.
Alex shook his head. “As far as I know, the plan was for him to move in after his contract had finished where he was working. He was some sort of business advisor and was contracted at a company based in Leeds who owned a hotel and a couple of bars. Not sure how successful he was.”
“I think the money invested was Sorrell’s,” Jake said. “The deposit and the bank loan are in her name from what Keren’s said.”
Zack saw Scott shake his head at the mention of Keren’s name but no diatribe about her level of pain-in-the-arseness appeared.
“So he’s left her high and dry on her own?” Zack felt a growl brew in his chest. “Why? She’s not exactly ugly and she’s got something about her.”
He felt Alex’s hand smack him on the back.
“Yeah, we figured you felt like that from how you were very attentive at the bonfire. The ex was a twat. That just about sums it up. I heard that he had another girl on the go in Leeds who he’s kept very quiet. I don’t know if Sorrell knows about her, or if it’s true. He’s a douche but not a big enough one to rub her nose in it.” Alex picked up his pint and took a long drag from it, as if he was ingesting life giving nectar.
“She should’ve been getting married in four weeks,” Zack said. “I don’t get how you can get that close to an event you’ve been planning for probably over a year and then get cold feet.”
Scott shifted a couple of empty glasses further along the bar, creating a bit of distance.
“But not everyone’s a decent bloke, Zack,” Alex said. “Shit like that happens. And to be fair, you’ve never had a wedding to plan or get cold feet over.”
“I wouldn’t ask someone unless it was what I knew was right.”
Alex shrugged. “I get that. But people sometimes act more out of lust and when that simmers down, you might’ve promised more than you want to fulfil.”
Jake nodded. “I can testify to that. Hayley Rivers, ten years ago. I even bought a ring.”
Three sets of identical hazel eyes landed on Jake. This was news.
Jake shrugged. “I kept the receipt. But I thought she was it for about three months. That she was the permanent home for my dick because she was magical.”
“What happened?” Scott said.
“Woke up one morning with her in bed and something big had happened news-wise. Started to talk to her about it and she hadn’t a clue about anything. Then wondered how we’d get on if her pussy was out of action and decided that you really did need something to talk about after,” Jake said. “Took the ring back, got a refund.”
