say no. Think about it. Read it over. Talk to your girl.” She left in a flurry of movement before Tuck could respond. He reached over to the trash can and dropped the folder in the bin.
Dave laughed without looking up. “Can’t blame ya, man,” he muttered under his breath as he continued typing. This was a cutthroat business. Tuck couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to work in this industry. These people never slept. They worked sunup to sundown.
Tuck had been in some tense predicaments many times in his life. His years as a SEAL had put him in some of the most stressful situations imaginable. The past week working in the bar had on occasion also stressed him out. Last night in particular.
But nothing compared to Hollywood. His acting days would officially be over in about three hours. All he could do was hope people forgot every detail about him as fast as possible. He did not want to spend his life looking over his shoulder dealing with crazed young girls who thought he was the sexiest man alive. What a joke.
The only person whose opinion mattered was Jodi’s, and for her sake he prayed no one hounded them for the rest of their lives.
Chapter 22
Jodi settled into the corner of the sofa, legs folded and tucked under her. She wasn’t slouching, however. She sat ramrod straight. She couldn’t get comfortable. She picked up her second beer of the evening and took a long drink, hoping with enough alcohol she could survive this final episode of Cold Feet.
Her dad wandered into the room from his bedroom and headed for the fridge. He returned with his own beer. “Please tell me you’re not going to watch that shit.”
She glared at him. “Stop it. You know there’s no way I could ignore it. It’s the last episode. I’m going to see the ending.”
Her dad sighed and dropped down into the armchair next to the couch.
“You don’t have to watch it with me.”
He took a sip. “Yeah, I think I do. You might end up over there needing a box of tissues and a shoulder. I’ll be here.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. I’m not going to cry. I’m going to have a party. This is cause for celebration.”
“Did you know he emailed me his resignation this morning?”
Jodi stiffened. “What? Why?”
“Said we didn’t need him anymore since we solved the mystery.”
“Of course we need him.” Her voice was absurdly high pitched. Why would he do that?
“Jodi, don’t get in a huff. You can tell him that yourself tomorrow. Give the man some time off first though. He’s worked his ass off for months. He’s probably exhausted.”
“But why would he quit?” She fisted her hands on her knees, her chest pounding.
“You made it perfectly clear to him many times that we couldn’t afford him, honey. I’m sure he thinks he needs to lighten our load.”
“But that’s not true anymore. We’ve made more money since he started. He brought in more business. He’s part of the team. We need him.” She realized she sounded desperate.
Her father chuckled. “You don’t have to convince me. I doubt you’ll have to convince him either. Chill. He was just doing what he thought was right.”
“If we continue with the same level of increased business as we’ve had lately, we’ll be able to buy the storefront next door. Expand. Add a kitchen. Maybe increase our beer selection. It would be cool if we had several microbrews on tap. They could rotate each week. We could represent all the local microbreweries. That’s what other bars are doing.”
He smiled at her in that way that said he agreed and she was preaching to the choir. “Hon, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Your idea sounds amazing, but we would need a lot of cash for a down payment like you’re suggesting. We haven’t brought in that kind of extra money to stash away for over a year. One month of increased sales is not a strong enough reflection of the future. The area has more bars nowadays. Competition is stiff.”
She leaned forward. “That’s why we need a kitchen and more variety. I know we can do it. I’ll talk to Tuck. He’ll agree.” He has to.
She shifted her attention to the television as the opening credits started. As she turned up the volume, she hoped to God she wasn’t mistaken about Tuck. Surely, the reason he quit was because he thought he was a liability. She would