said, striving to keep her tone mild. “I want to watch it live.” How extraordinary.
He snorted. “Don’t sound so excited.”
She was excited, though. She was extremely excited.
To his annoyance, Law started seeing Holden Hampshire everywhere after that night in the bar. When he ran across the street for something at Jenna’s, there Holden would be, chatting with Jenna and other customers. Or he’d show up at the bar, order a drink, and proceed to start mouthing his lines like a simpleton.
The next Friday, Law met Brie for lunch at Sadie’s Diner. Brie had given her notice in Toronto and was in town looking at rentals. He needed her to sign an employment contract, and he’d suggested she do it over lunch—and there was Band Boy again.
“Hey, Lawson’s Lager House, right?” Holden said, looking up from the phone that seemed to be his constant companion—when he wasn’t slow dancing with Maya.
Law grunted in assent. But, realizing he was being rude, he said, “Brie Goodwin, this is Holden Hampshire. Holden, Brie.” At least Brie would be immune to Holden. She was too cool to care about a washed-up “celebrity” like Holden.
Brie cocked her head. “Holden Hampshire as in Two Squared?”
“Guilty.”
She laughed in delight. “I loved you guys back in the day.”
Dammit. Law shoveled fries into his mouth while Brie effused—did everyone love this guy?—and Holden affected modesty.
“What does Two Squared mean?” Law asked once the other two were done with their exchange. “How’d you get that for a name?” It was a stupid one.
“Well, see, there were four guys in the band,” Holden said, and Law refrained from pointing out that “band” might be too generous a label for the song-and-dance show he’d seen when he YouTubed the group. “And four, is, like, two to the power of two.”
“That’s it?” That was even dumber than Law had imagined. He’d expected something less literal.
“Two to the power of two is another way of saying two squared,” Holden said. “You know, that little number in the upper right of a regular number?”
“I am familiar.”
“Does he live in Moonflower Bay?” Brie, all agog, asked after Holden left.
“No, no. He’s in town rehearsing a play. We have a great little theater company, and the director has lured him here to star in a show. It will be on before you get here, which is too bad. They’re doing Much Ado about Nothing, which I don’t know that much about, but she’s pretty much a Shakespeare expert and…”
Brie was looking at him kind of funny. Maybe she wasn’t a theater fan.
“So the job,” he said, forcing himself to concentrate on the topic at hand. He pulled the contract out. “I think this reflects what we talked about.” What they had talked about was her having the title “manager” and gradually taking over admin and supervision at the bar as well as covering a fair chunk of the shifts. But they’d also talked about her helping with the restaurant, and he’d built in a bonus structure that would compensate her for her insight and assistance on that front. “If you want to take the contract with you and read it and mail it back, that’s cool.”
She had picked it up and was scanning it. “Nope, this looks great. Honestly, I kind of expected a small-town gig like this to be sealed on a handshake.” She rummaged in her purse for a pen.
As she slid the signed contract across the table, he couldn’t deny he was a little nervous. Her salary was less than she’d made in Toronto, on account of the lower cost of living here, but more than he otherwise would have paid. She was clearly worth it, but it was a significant expense.
“Can I get you two anything else?”
Law eyed the smiling Sadie, who had come to clear their plates. He didn’t get out much, so he hadn’t seen her since the big revelation about Romeo and Juliet. He was tempted to ask her about it, but he couldn’t right now. What would be the point, anyway? They had done a crappy thing a long time ago. There was no getting around that. There was also no need to make her feel bad.
After lunch, he and Brie went back downtown so he could point out Jason Sims’s house, which was still for sale. “This is the place I have my eye on for the restaurant.”
“It looks great.” She glanced at him. “But you’re not sure?”
“Not sure there’s enough room out back for seating and a pizza