Until Then (Cape Harbor #2) - Heidi McLaughlin Page 0,43

Maybe you can be the knight in shining armor. I’d be happy to give you some pointers.”

Graham reached into his own bowl of popcorn and threw a handful at Bowie. Luke was like a sniper and moved lightning fast to inhale the pieces on the floor. He sat at Bowie’s stool and begged for another morsel. “Now look at what you’ve done,” he said, reaching down to pat his dog on the head. “I’m going to head out. Call me later if you get any news on Grady.”

“Will do.” Graham watched as Bowie left, and another group walked in. A party of four sat at one of the tables, while another party of two sidled up to the bar. “What can I get for you?”

“Anything local on tap?” the young man asked.

Graham nodded and pointed to the chalkboard. “Everything on the board is local. Domestic is bottled.”

“Great, I’ll take the Muddy Moose Stout.”

“And I’ll have a white-wine spritzer,” the woman said.

Graham asked to see their IDs and, after a thorough inspection, handed them back and started his routine. Everything for him was automatic, from grabbing the right glasses to pulling the tab and tilting the pint glass at the perfect angle to pouring the right combination of white wine and sparkling water. As much as he hated the bar, the work was easy, and he was a natural. There were times when the rowdies came in, or he had to cut someone off—those days proved to be stressful, but he was a mindful bartender and owner. If he felt you had too much to drink, showed signs of being drunk, or had an overall feeling someone shouldn’t drive home, he called for a cab and notified the local police to come down and hang out. He felt having the police in the bar sent a strong message to the patrons. He didn’t want an accident on his hands, and Graham was more than willing to help people get home safely.

The bar was like Pandora’s box in the sense that once the door opened and people started coming in, others followed. By midafternoon, the place was about full. Not the type to look a gift horse in the mouth, Graham busted his tail to keep everyone happy.

ELEVEN

Rennie found herself standing at her office window, watching the snow fall to the ground. The accumulation was minimal but enough to cause concern and some panic among the locals if the temperature stayed below freezing. The somewhat-warm temperatures from the holiday weekend turned frigid overnight. She crossed her arms and shivered. After spending the past few days with Graham, she’d thought a lot about their past, especially in California. They had been close, more than best friends, but their lives had been turned upside down with a tragic event, and they could never find their way back to each other. Not that she’d tried, and she was certain Graham hadn’t either. One moment had changed everything.

She turned back to her desk and eyed the stack of reference books she’d pulled from the office’s law library when she’d arrived. Next to the books sat her notes from the weekend, reports she’d found online, and the information from the arresting police officers. Grady’s arrest would happen as soon as he woke from his coma, which Rennie suspected could be any day. From what she read online, medically induced comas lasted about two weeks. Most doctors felt this gave them enough time to assess and administer the necessary actions to make the patient stable. If Grady’s doctor kept him sedated for the duration, his arraignment would be shortly before Christmas. Rennie wanted to handle Grady’s case because she felt she knew what was best for him and the Chamberlains, but she wanted guidance from one of her coworkers.

Next to the pile of reference books sat the files of her other clients—her paying clients. They needed more, if not all, of her attention, and she entertained the idea of hunkering down in her office for the night. She didn’t need to be out in the elements and had a change of clothes in her office. Staying would also give her uninterrupted access to the library and the firm’s database of cases.

Theo had returned to Spokane the night before. He was supposed to fly to Seattle, spend the night, and return home in the morning, but somewhere along the line, his company messed up his flight, and he had texted his apologies to Rennie, with promises of making up