As if answering her question, the thunder cracked again, followed by blinding lightning that streaked through the windows. Heinz, whom she’d let into the bar once the rain really started to come down, stood and twirled around three times before nestling again at her feet.
“It’s two months,” Paxton said. “I’ve explained to both of you how much this project means to me. Why can’t you just be happy for me?”
Shayla and her mother both pouted like schoolgirls who’d been denied recess.
“What does Sawyer have to say about this?” Shayla asked.
Just hearing his name made Paxton feel as if her chest was caving in on itself. She didn’t want to even think about Sawyer right now. It hurt too damn much.
Donovan, who had been in the kitchen helping Jessie clean out the grease trap, since there were so few people in the bar tonight, picked that moment to come up to them, his black gloves covered in grease. If she didn’t know for a fact that it would give him the completely wrong impression, Paxton would have kissed him for giving her an excuse to ignore Shayla’s question.
“Need something?” Belinda asked him.
“Just looking for”—he reached behind her—“this.” He held up the tire iron Harlon had put behind the bar to deter the occasional drunken fight. It had never been used, but Belinda considered it a part of the scenery, so it remained.
“Why do you need that?” Paxton asked him.
“My baseball cap fell behind the stove. I need something to hook it with.” He winked at her. “Thanks for being concerned.”
She, Shayla, and Belinda all rolled their eyes at him.
When Paxton turned back around, she found her best friend staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
“You really thought I would let it drop? How long have you been knowing me, girl?”
“Just give it a rest.” Paxton sighed. She turned and started straightening the liquor bottles that lined the back wall, but she could see Shayla staring back at her in the mirror behind the bar. She spun around. Better to just get this over with.
“Why does it matter what Sawyer says?” she asked.
“Because it does,” Belinda said. “You can’t just pick up and leave him like this.”
Paxton looked at her mother as if she were an alien. “Are you kidding me? You don’t evenlikeSawyer!”
“I never said I didn’t like him. I just didn’t trust him,” Belinda said. “But he’s grown on me.”
“Really?” Paxton huffed out a laugh.
“He’s not a bad person. Just look at what he’s doing with that building on Highway 22.”
Her forehead scrunched in confusion. “The one with the green shutters that’s been vacant for years? What is he doing with it?”
“He didn’t tell you?” Shayla asked. Paxton shook her head. “He’s turning it into a rec center. At first it was only supposed to be for employees at the lumber mill, but, according to Mike Bastian, Sawyer’s making it into a rec center that will be open for everyone in Landreaux so that the kids in this area don’t have to travel all the way into town.”
Paxton remembered what she’d told him during their tour of the Lions Club, and her heart melted on the spot. Damn him for always doing the absolute sweetest thing.
Thunder cracked with enough force to shake the building. Moments later, the front door of the bar flew open. Harlon came in dressed in a yellow rain slicker.
“We need all hands on deck,” he called. “Tell Donovan to get his butt out here.”
Paxton raced from around the bar. “What’s going on?”
He shook his head. “Too much rain in too short of a time. The creek is flooding. Some of the homes on Sandalwood are already taking in water.”
“On Sandalwood?” Shayla asked.
“The animal shelter,” Paxton whispered. “We need to go.”
