Still The One - Carrie Elks Page 0,41

bar. I probably won’t be here when you get here.”

Of course he wouldn’t. She didn’t expect anything less. Apart from Craig, she’d never met a lover that didn’t treat Kim like dirt.

And even Craig had at the end.

He hung up before she could reply. He’d done his duty, after all. Van would feel angry, but the phone call was more than most guys her mom hung around would do.

Sighing, she grabbed her purse and keys, and headed out to the hallway.

“Zoe?”

“Yeah?”

“Mom’s sick. I need to pick her up. Let’s watch that movie once I’m back, okay?”

The smile slipped from Zoe’s lips. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“She’ll be fine. I’ll bring her back and put her to bed, then make some popcorn.” Van winked at her. “Can I trust you to stay here while I’m gone?”

“Of course. Mom does it all the time.”

“You have my number in your phone?”

Zoe nodded. “Yep.”

“Okay. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Sure.” Zoe nodded. “See you in a bit.” She looked calm, as though she trusted Van to make everything right. And she so wanted to do that. For Zoe and for herself.

Van shot her a tight smile and left the house, climbing into her car and slamming the door closed behind her.

She wished she had as much faith in herself as Zoe did. Because right now she wanted to slap her mom like crazy.

“Okay, it’s my round,” Nate said, his legs wobbling as he pushed himself off the bar stool he was perched on. There were eight of them in all, sitting around one of the high tables at the rear of the Moonlight Bar. Tanner had only been here for an hour but he was already trying to find an excuse to leave. It turned out that once they’d finished reminiscing about school there really wasn’t much to talk about, unless you wanted to hear about Nate’s hernia operation or Grant Dubois’ divorce.

When he’d said he was rounding up the gang, it turned out Nate meant two guys and a gaggle of the girls they’d hung around with more than ten years ago. Including Chrissie Fairfax and her friends, who all gave him a huge hug as soon as they saw him.

The girls seemed to be getting along better than the guys. Maybe because they’d kept in touch in a way the guys hadn’t. They’d all drifted apart after graduation, meeting up occasionally during college vacations or when they were visiting their families in Hartson’s Creek, but really there was nothing left between them.

It was the opposite to his relationship with his brothers. That had only grown stronger, even though they were living in different locations across the East Coast. Maybe blood really did call to blood.

Everybody called out their orders to Nate, who looked perturbed when Chrissie and her friend Natalie asked for Pornstar Martinis. “Those are a thing?” he asked, scratching his head.

“Yep. The best cocktails ever.” Chrissie smiled at him.

Nate shook his head and wandered to the bar, leaning slightly to the left. Tanner stood and glanced at their group. “I think I’ll go help him. I don’t like his chances of carrying the drinks back without spilling them.”

Chrissie put her hand on Tanner’s forearm. “That’s a great idea,” she said warmly.

Gently, he pulled his arm away and walked over to where Nate was leaning on the bar, lifting one finger up as he tried to remember the order.

“Two pornstar martinis, one white wine and a Coke zero,” Tanner said to Sam, biting down a smile as the grizzled barman rolled his eyes. “And four more beers, please.”

Sam had put one of Gray’s albums on, the low beats echoing out of the speakers fixed to the wall. Tanner tapped his fingers on the sticky bar, smiling as he remembered singing this song with his brother when they’d tried to beat Becca and Maddie at Karaoke.

For some reason the girls won. Becca still hadn’t let him forget it.

“I want another drink.”

Tanner looked to his left to see where the slurred words were coming from. A woman was half-sitting on a barstool, her long hair spilling out of the clip she’d fixed it in, obscuring her face. Her top was low, enough for her cleavage to be on clear display for everybody to see. Tanner pulled his eyes away.

“Nothing more for you,” Sam said, pouring vodka into a stainless steel cocktail shaker, followed by champagne. “You’ve had enough.”

“Just one more.” Half her body was on the counter. If she wasn’t so drunk,