The Bartender's Daughter (15 page)

“
What happened between you two? Lee said you used to be friends.”

Joanna looked up from the cuticle she
’d been pulling on and nodded. “He’s an arrogant jerk who thinks he knows everything. I don’t need that in my life.” She looked at Jake now, anger and hurt etched across her face.

There was the anguish she went through after leaving Lee, wondering what she had done wrong, how she could have prevented it all from happening. Joanna had the double hurt of having to deal with the public embarrassment. Jake was the unwilling victim in this mess.
“Sorry. I know how much it hurts. Maybe Jake needs an opportunity to make it up to you.”

“
Maybe Jake wasn’t the one to cheat on you. Maybe Jake has apologized several times for someone else’s mistakes.”

He stood behind them, his eyes focused on Joanna. Sam turned back to find Jo with her eyes narrowed on him.

“Maybe I expected more from Jake. Maybe apologies are worthless when the person clearly doesn’t mean them.” Joanna jumped up and walked away.

Sam spread a layer of cream cheese on a bagel and took a bite. She had no interest in getting involved in whatever gripe they had with each other.

Of course, Jake didn’t take the hint.

“
Joanna doesn’t want to listen to me, but I hope you will. I’m sorry if my advice to Lee hurt you. I have to look out for his interests. It’s my job, not only because he pays me, but because he’s a good friend. I wouldn’t be a friend if I wasn’t honest and call them as I see them.”

“
And you see me as a gold digger.” It wasn’t a question. She’d been there, heard most of what he said and had no illusions on what he saw her as.

“
No, not necessarily, but I do see that you have more power in this relationship than I’d be comfortable with.”

She couldn
’t imagine how he could think she had the upper hand when it came to Lee. He had her heart and her trust, and she had no intention of taking his money. Instead of sitting and continuing to discuss her relationship with a stranger, Sam stuffed the rest of the bagel in her mouth and excused herself. She needed a paintbrush. All the angst in the world wasn’t going to get the bar ready.

Chapter Fifteen

The word exhaustion
didn’t fully describe the way Sam looked. White paint flakes hid in her hair. A few bandages covered cuts from her clumsy attempts at hanging barn board around the room. But she didn’t stop. While their staff worked hard, there were plenty of breaks, some flirting, and endless chatter about the goings on about town. Meanwhile Sam kept moving. She didn’t talk much. It was as if she needed to contribute as much manpower into this project as possible.

At first, he worked beside her, enjoying the feeling of working toward the same goal together. Now he just worried about her. Thankfully, they were finished with the bulk of the work. The dining room was ready for the new tables and chairs, which would be delivered today. New plates were getting cleaned back in the kitchen
, and Maria was planning on spending the afternoon setting up. In two days, they’d be reopening the newly titled Ray’s Seafood Shack, and hopefully he and Sam would be able to get back to working on their happily ever after.

“
Why are you looking at me that way?” She pulled her hair back and threw it up into a ponytail while eyeing him.

“
Just thinking that maybe we’ll be able to have a honeymoon sometime in the next year.”

She laughed and turned back to staring at the wall. She
’d been doing this for the last ten minutes, making sure every one of their newly purchased seashore prints were hung perfectly.

“
Maybe for our ten year anniversary. My father never went on vacations. My first trip away from Oldport was with friends to go camping in New Hampshire when I was twelve.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to him.
“We’ll make it happen and it won’t be camping. I want to see you lounging on a beach in a two-piece, not a paintbrush or a dishrag in sight. Just you, me, sun, sand, and water. Bikini optional.”

“
Sounds nice. I’ll be dreaming of that when I sit down with Michelle this afternoon.”

“
You’re meeting with your sister?”

Sam pushed out of his arms to adjust one of the lighthouse prints.
“She called to see if I could meet her for a late lunch. I’m guessing there’s an offer on the house and I need to sign off on it.”

“
Are you sure you’re going to want to meet my family after that?” He had finally settled on a time and place to introduce Sam to the rest of the Stone women. Tonight was his sister’s anniversary dinner and while he wasn’t hiding Sam, he wasn’t exactly excited for the fallout that would come after tonight’s introductions.

“
Having second thoughts about bringing me?”

He shrugged and pulled a bar stool out to sit on.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just I know how things have gone in the past with your sister. I want you to be ready for my family.”

“
You know you’re starting to scare me. Are they going to eat me?” She smiled, but there was genuine concern behind her eyes.

No, they wouldn
’t eat her but he had no doubt his mother and sisters would find a way to show their disapproval. It was the reason he chose an affair that included forty of his sister’s closest friends. It was the best way of ensuring that Sam wouldn’t be flayed alive by their disapproval. “You’ll do fine. But if you want to cancel, I’m okay with that. You’ve got a lot going on. We don’t have to do this right now.”

Sam opened her mouth but closed it when the door opened behind them. Joanna walked in with a couple of the line cooks Maria had hired on.

Joanna wore a bright smile as she spun around and eyed the dining room. “It’s beautiful. I can’t believe how much of a transformation this place has undergone. You should both be so proud of what you’ve accomplished in just a few days.”

She gave Sam a small hug before coming to him. He loved the look of accomplishment on her face. It made everything—the work, the money—worth it.

“Sam and I are taking the afternoon off. I’ve booked us for manicures and pedicures before Janice’s party. You can handle everything here.”

Sam shook her head.
“Oh, I couldn’t. I have to take time off for lunch with my sister. I don’t think it would be right for me to miss the rest of the day.”

His sister widened her eyes at him. Clearly letting him know that he had to step in and push Sam.
“No, I agree with Joanna. You should go. You’ll need the time anyway to get the paint out of your hair.”

Sam reached up to pat her head.
“It’s bad?”

“
No, but I can get you in with my stylist, too. She’ll be able to get that out and have you looking perfect for tonight.” Joanna winked at him before turning back to Sam. “Let’s say two o’clock. Will that give you enough time to settle things with your sister and get to town?”

Before Sam could throw out an excuse about not having a car, he interjected.
“You can have the Jeep. I’m here for the rest of the day and Jake will be here soon. I can always grab his truck if anything pops up. He can give me a ride to the house to change and you two can meet me there. We’ll ride over to the party together.”

She bit her lip and he was ready to insist when she smiled at Joanna.
“Okay. It sounds like fun. I haven’t had my hair cut since I moved back.”

“
So it’s a deal. One afternoon of pampering followed by an evening of stiff drinks and your introduction to the Stone clan.”

Sam looked less than certain about the plan but he was relieved when she nodded and went back to straightening the already leveled prints.

****

Driving off felt like she was running away from everything left to be done. She felt guilty leaving Lee to handle the rest of the work
, but it was a relief to get away from the bar. It seemed like every waking moment had been filled with it. Even when she fell exhausted into bed, her thoughts were on the business and if the changes they made would be for the best. Lee was her touchstone though. He took away her need to analyze everything.

The parking lot of her sister
’s salon was empty. A closed for lunch sign hung on the glass door. The brown paper bag crinkled in her hand as the bell overhead rung when she opened the door.

Michelle sat behind a tall reception desk in the front of the salon. She looked wary, uneasy
, and Sam held her breath, waiting for the next hit. The one moment she’d been waiting for as the last few weeks passed by without drama.

The look on her sister
’s face cleared and she smiled. “You’re on time. Good. I only have thirty minutes before my next client.”

“
I brought some sandwiches so we wouldn’t have to worry about ordering out. We’ve been getting lunches catered from the diner. Hope you still like Reubens.”

“
Sure. You can put that down in the break room.” She pointed to a door in the back but went to the front door to turn the dead bolt before following Sam.

Michelle
’s demeanor, the deliberate way she spoke, only put her further on guard. “You’re making me nervous. Is everything okay?”

“
Everything’s fine. We have a few things to talk about and I don’t want to wait any longer.” Michelle sat on a vinyl chair and gestured for Sam to take the one across from her. “The first issue is the house. We finally have an offer. It’s not great but it’s the only one we’ve received so far. It will just about cover the mortgages and outstanding tax bill. There won’t be anything left over.”

“
Okay. I’ll go along with whatever you think. You know better than I do how the Oldport real estate market is and what the house is worth.” Sam dropped down into the seat. “Well, that wasn’t so bad. I thought you were going to have some really bad news.” She reached for the bag and started pulling out sandwiches and fries.

“
There’s more, Sam. We have to sell the cottage.”

Her hand froze in the process of unwrapping their lunches.
“What do you mean? Why?”

“
I need my share. The land is worth a lot of money. The same Realtor we used for the house checked it out, and he knows of someone interested in buying waterfront property. They’ve already made an offer I don’t want to refuse.”

“
But I don’t want to sell.”

“
I need the money, Sam. I’m sure Lee has plenty but I don’t. You don’t have to worry about paying a mortgage on a house or a business. I do. People cut out the nonessentials in this kind of economy. My customers used to come in every six weeks. Now I’m lucky if they come in every six months. You have to understand. This is all I have.”

“
How much money are we talking about? I have some left in savings. We can come up with a compromise, can’t we? I mean, the bar should be earning soon and once we’ve paid off the bills from the renovations, I should be earning a steady pay.”
I hope.
She stumbled for an alternative. She couldn’t lose the cottage. It was memories of her father and Lee all wrapped in four walls with a water view.

“
More than you could possibly have in savings. I’m sure your husband could come up with enough to pay my share but otherwise, we need to sell. We have a week to think about the deal. Please don’t draw this out.”

“
What about the money from your half of the bar? Wasn’t that enough to help with your bills?”

Her sister
’s hazel eyes narrowed on her. “I don’t know what you think I received, but it wasn’t enough to get out from the hole I’m in. Before Daddy died, I thought I was going to have to move back in with him. I’ve already let go of two of the girls here. That leaves me and my nail tech. I’m doing everything I can.”

Sam nodded, all the while her mind searching for an answer. She wouldn
’t ask Lee. She just couldn’t. “There has to be some other way.”

“
I’m sorry, Sam. I’ve tried. I need that money and I can’t find another way out.”

A pit opened in her stomach and she stood. She had to get away.
“Let me know when the papers are ready and I’ll sign them.”

“
You’re not going to talk it over with Lee?”

“
No. I don’t think it would be right.” She wasn’t going to have Lee fix any more of her problems. If her sister was struggling, she would be the one to help. Even if that meant selling the cottage.

Michelle dropped her head into her hands. When she looked up again, Sam was surprised to see the tracks of tears sliding down her sister
’s face. “Thank you. I didn’t want to fight with you. I’m just so relieved.”

Sam tried to force a smile and gave her sister
’s shoulder a pat. “Call me.”

“
Wait. There’s more. I can’t let you go until you know everything.”

Her heart stopped.
Not the bar
. She couldn’t take losing that too. “Ray’s?”

“
No, the bar’s yours.” Michelle looked away while her fingers tapped on the little card table. “I’ve been trying to find the right words to say this to you. The right way.” The tears hadn’t stopped rolling down her cheeks and she swallowed a few times before she continued. “I’m sorry about what I did to you and Lee. I didn’t realize how serious things were and I only wanted you to have a chance to get out of Oldport.”

“
Why?”

“
Because you deserved more than the life Mom and Dad had. Because I thought I knew better than Dad about what was best for you. He just wanted to keep you here forever. It was selfish and wrong. Didn’t you ever wonder why he favored you so much? Why he wanted you to take over the bar and not me?”

Sam clenched her hands around the back of the chair in front of her and shook her head. Still reeling from the loss of the cottage, she couldn
’t focus on the meaning behind Michelle’s words. She couldn’t follow where the conversation was headed.

“
I was born a year before Mom and Dad married.”

“
Okay. That’s…weird.” She tapped her fingers on the chair. “Are you sure?”

“
Positive. There’s more. Dad wasn’t my biological father.”

Sam closed her eyes and shook her head. None of this could be true.
“You’ve lost me. Of course Dad was your father.”

Michelle
’s earrings shimmered as she shook her head. “That’s why he wanted you to run the bar. You were his
real
daughter. You couldn’t see it but I did. You shared his blood. It wasn’t that he didn’t love me. He did. He just loved you more.”

“
You’re wrong. Look at us. Everyone says how much we look alike and Dad wanted you to take over the bar. You’re the one that chose to become a stylist. How could you think this?”

“
Because he told me. He wanted me to know that my father, my biological father, had died and left me a little money. That’s how I started the salon.”

Sam felt the breath whoosh out of her lungs. She pulled the chair out and flopped back down into it. All of the pieces of her childhood began to fall together, especially the odds her father and sister had always seemed to be at.
“This is all too much.” She looked Michelle over. There was no doubt she was telling the truth. “How old were you when you found out?”