She barked out a laugh.
Boyd frowned, continuing to cook. At least I’d gotten a reaction. I stirred my drink with the straw, chasing a cube of ice around the glass.
Hands always in motion, Nell moved on to the grill, tending to thick cuts of steak. “Has he said anything more about selling the house?”
Yikes, not safe territory. “You need to ask him about that.”
“He’s busy. I’m asking you.”
“Yes. And I’m telling you to ask him.” The woman could give me all the hard-eyed looks she wanted. I wasn’t giving away a damn thing Vaughan had confided.
Lightbulbs suspended from the two-story-high ceiling turned on and filled the Dive Bar with a warm glow. I could have happily settled in at a corner table and read for hours. It just felt like a nice place to be.
Until it didn’t.
A slick-looking man with a man-bun marched in, face crankier than thunder, his voice louder than all hell. “What the fuck, Nell?”
Unperturbed, the petite chef smiled. “What the fuck what, Eric?”
“He isn’t working here.”
“He is.”
“No.” The man, Eric, put a hella lot of emphasis on the word. “I’m an owner here too. You need to run this kind of shit past me, and I’m telling you no.”
“Eric.” The other waitress, Stella, hovered behind him, waiting. “Can I have a word with you?”
“Not now.”
“It’s important.”
Eric didn’t get a chance to answer, however, with Nell on the warpath.
“We hired Joe, your brother,” she said.
“We all agreed to hire my brother. Only person I see supporting this decision is you.”
Eyes as cold as the arctic, Nell picked up a particularly long dangerous-looking knife. “We need help. He needs a job. It’s a win for everyone.”
“We’re doing fine. And that asshole can rot as far as I know.” He moved forward, looming over Nell. It was kind of impressive how little fear he had for his life.
“He’s. My. Brother.”
“My brother helped us build this place. Worked day in, day out for next to nothing. Where the fuck was yours, huh?” he asked, jaw rigid. “Off banging groupies on the West Coast.”
“Please. Like you wouldn’t have been doing exactly the same given half a chance.”
Behind him, Stella lingered, eyes hardening by the minute. The woman was not giving me happy vibes.
“Get rid of him,” Eric snarled. “Now.”
“No. We need him.”
“Bullshit. I’ll take over the bar with Joe.”
“Don’t do this, Eric,” said Nell. “You want me to bring Pat in on this? Really?”
Eric’s lips flat-lined.
“He’ll have Vaughan’s back. You’ll be outvoted and you know it.” She drove the blade of the knife deep into the cutting board with a loud thunk. Poor board.
The two forces of will faced off in silence. There was a world war going on between them. Death and disaster, lots of imaginary blood and bomb blasts. Boyd kept his head down and stayed the hell out of it. I did too.
To think I thought Coeur d’Alene was a quiet town. Nice people, not much drama. The longer I lived, the less I knew.
Only one person dared to break the stalemate. Stella visibly braced herself, shoulder back, head held high. “Eric!”
With a growl, Eric spun. “I said not—”
The waitress slapped him in the face. The noise was shockingly loud.
“Fuck you and your ‘not now,’” she said. “I’m not wasting another minute of my life waiting on you.”
Eric said nothing.
“Serious about exploring something with me, were you? Did you honestly think I wouldn’t hear about you taking that skank to dinner last night?” Stella asked, rubbing her probably sore hand against the side of her skinny black jeans. “Well?”
His cheek ripe red, the man stood frozen. Busted. So damn busted.
“You lying piece of shit.” The woman ripped off her neat black apron, shoving it into his stomach. Her teary eyes blazed with fury. “I quit!”
Holy hell.
For a minute, nobody moved. A Jason Isbell song started playing over the sound system. Slowly, the talk and sounds of eating and drinking started up again. The Dive Bar once more came to life. I’d been so caught up in the scene, I hadn’t even noticed we yet again had an audience watching. At least they weren’t interested in me this time.
A hand was at my back, a solid male body standing behind me. I didn’t need to turn to know it was Vaughan. The sudden happy in my hormones was evidence enough.
“Tell me you didn’t fuck another employee.” Nell’s voice was so deadly quiet I almost couldn’t hear it. Her skin seemed snow pale, apart from the twin bright spots high on her cheeks. “You wouldn’t, not after you promised. Not again, on top of everything else that’s going on right now.”
His hands curled into tight fists. “Nell—”
“Tell me you didn’t.”
Obviously, the man couldn’t.
Breathing hard, Nell stared down at her chopping board. “Vaughan works here as long as he wants. I don’t want to hear another word about it.”