“I know you think it’s a good idea and all, but I just can’t commit to takin’ on a task like that. I’m too damn old.”
“You’re sixty,” Jeff snapped. “The same age as me. If you’re old, that makes me old, andI’mnot old.”
“Fine,” Mack huffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m not old. But I’ve got too much shit I wanna do outside these walls.”
Rafe nodded. “I understand. I—”
“I wasn’t finished.”
Rafe closed his mouth.
Jeff chuckled and shook his head. “Why anyone would want to work for you is beyond me.”
“Well, the good news is, no one has to,” Mack countered.
Rafe waited for someone to tell him what was going on. Was Mack firing him? Seriously?
Mack took his sweet fucking time before finally looking at Rafe again. “I’ve decided to sell the bar.”
The air released from his lungs in a rush, but it wasn’t relief. Mack wasn’t firing him, but Rafe figured the new owner certainly would. Rafe was a good bartender, but he lacked the experience most people would want. He made a mean martini and could sling beers with the best of them, but he didn’t spend much time learning all those fancy drinks because no one around here bothered to order them.
“You ain’t got nothin’ to say to that?” Mack prompted.
Rafe glanced between the two men. “I didn’t realize I was supposed to say somethin’.”
“I figured you’d wanna buy it,” Jeff noted.
Rafe shook his head. “I don’t have that kinda money.”
“He’s right,” Mack told Jeff, looking forlorn. “He doesn’t.”
The knots in Rafe’s guts twisted even tighter. What the hell was he supposed to do now? If the new owner fired him, he’d end up out on his ass without a fucking thing to his name. It was bad enough he didn’t have anything to offer a woman he loved, but now he would have to lean on his brother for help. That would make him doubly pathetic. At that point,no onewould want him.
“But I thought you said…” Jeff’s face scrunched as he studied Mack.
“What?” Mack’s bushy eyebrows rose. “What did I say?”
“Somethin’ about twenty bucks.” Jeff shook his head. “Maybe I was wrong.”
Mack’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. The twenty bucks Rafe gave me for that beer he had … what was it? A month or so ago?”
Jeff nodded. “I think it’s been that long, yeah.”
Mack chewed his lip and looked at Rafe. “I told him his money was no good here.”
“You lied,” Jeff said.
Rafe wasn’t sure what the fuck they were talking about or why they were talkingabouthim but nottohim. His head was spinning. Maybe he needed some air.
“I did,” Mack said. “I lied.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Because those twenty bucks bought you a bar.”
Rafe choked.
He took a breath, and he fucking choked on air. He coughed and sputtered, pushing away from the bar to try and clear his throat and get oxygen into his lungs.
“I didn’t think you could do it,” Jeff said. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
Rafe managed a breath and turned to look at the two men. “Are y’all fuckin’ with me?”
