Second Chance Baby

by Natasha L. Black

  A new group came in, and I took down their information, then turned to her.

  “I don’t think I own a bar anymore,” I said. “I think I’ve transitioned over into a restaurant.”

  “I don’t think you’re quite there yet,” Ava said. “But it might not be the worst idea in the world to put a pin in the idea of expanding at some point.”

  “Have I told you recently that I am so proud of you?” I asked.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

  I was about to kiss her when a guy at the nearest table got her attention.

  “Can you check on my food?” he asked. “It seems like it’s taking a long time.”

  She looked at me with a withering sigh. “He ordered about five minutes ago.”

  “Well, you can’t always have the best customers. There’s always got to be one. If there wasn’t, there would be nothing to drink about after work,” I said. I kissed her on the top of the head. “You stay here and man the door for a bit. I’ll go check the food.”

  I went into the kitchen, and Jesse pointed out that he and Damien, the new cook, were just plating that order. I went back out to the table and relayed the message. Tyler had come over to check on us, and we transitioned him into a shift at the door so we could go back behind the bar. I recognized one of the men sitting there as a new regular. His eyes lit up when he saw Ava. He was excited and clearly wasted.

  She greeted him and started making drinks. Jesse stuck his head out of the kitchen and asked if one of us could come back and help Matt deliver orders. Since they were already busy, I headed for the kitchen. My hand ran across her lower back as I went, and she tossed me a smile over her shoulder.

  “What if I help out in the kitchen?” the guy at the bar asked. “Where would I get to touch you?”

  I stopped and turned around to look at him. “What did you just say to her?”

  “Let it go,” Ava said. “Just go back in the kitchen.”

  She tried to ease me toward the door, but I moved away from her hands and took a step toward the guy.

  “She’s a bartender,” he said. “She can consider it part of my tip.”

  I was instantly ready to fight. Ava grabbed onto me and tried to push me out of the bar area, but I shook her away.

  “You better watch your fucking mouth,” I said.

  “Mason,” Ava snapped. “Get away from the bar. This isn’t where you belong. You need to go do something else.”

  She stared at me for a few seconds, then stomped away toward the office. I knew she was mad but decided to leave it be for now. Going to talk to her wouldn’t do any good. I left the guy to be attended to by the new bartender and headed back into the kitchen.

  27

  Ava

  “You should have seen them,” I said. “They were literally growling at each other. I was expecting them to go across the bar at each other and clash horns. And Frank, I can completely just put him out of my mind. He comes in all the time. He gets drunk. He says stupid things. Usually not that stupid, but stupid. It’s whatever. It was Mason who bothered me so much.”

  Stephanie looked at me over the massive ice cream sundae she was in the process of constructing. “Just so I can be absolutely sure how it is I should respond to the situation, I’m going to need you to clearly define what it was about his behavior that bothers you so much.”

  If I hadn’t been so frustrated and exasperated in that moment, I would have laughed. It was hilarious hearing something like that come out of the mouth of a woman who was drizzling chocolate syrup over scoops of ice cream and adding sprinkles with a dramatic flourish.

  “Mason was walking toward the kitchen, and as soon as he heard Frank say that to me, it was like he ran into a wall. He couldn’t even take a step forward. He had to turn around and, I don’t know, defend my honor or some stupid shit like that.”

  “You’re seriously angry because a gorgeous man who loves you wanted to protect you and not let another man say inappropriate things to you?” Stephanie asked. “Are you hearing yourself right now? Do you know how many women would kill just to have their boyfriend notice someone was looking at them, much less go to the effort of actually confronting another guy?”

  “I know,” I said. “And it’s not that he defended me. I love that he defended me. Hearing guys say stuff like that to me makes my skin crawl. And having Mason stand up for me makes me feel safe and protected.”

  “I just don’t know if I understand what you’re so upset about,” Stephanie said. “A drunk guy at the bar said something really inappropriate to you, and the man who loves you stood up to him and made sure he knew that wasn’t acceptable.”

  “Exactly. He was just a drunk guy at the bar. And Mason was suddenly almost primal. He got angry and right on the edge of seeming like he was going to get violent.”

  “That’s kind of hot,” Stephanie said.

  I rolled my eyes, even though she wasn’t lying. “The point is, we already had the talk about guys flirting with me at work. He got all jealous at the classic-car night, and we had to have a talk about it. I thought he was over it and was going to be able to deal with it. I can’t stand the idea of going into work every day and having him act like that toward every guy who says something to me. It’s just too much hassle, and it’s going to cause a lot of trouble with customers. Not to mention just aggravating the hell out of me.”

  “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere,” Stephanie said. “I get what you’re saying.”

  “Then what do I do?” I asked. “How am I supposed to handle it?”

  “You’re just going to have to talk to him again,” she said. “And this time, be more direct with him. Just say, ‘Mason, look, I’m super-hot and irresistible and I work around drunk guys. We had this conversation and you’re just going to have to learn to ignore their comments like I do.’”

  She plunged a long-handled spoon into the ice cream for emphasis.

  “You’re ridiculous,” I laughed. “Just like that?”

  Stephanie nodded. “Just like that.”

  “Alright. Then that’s what I’ll do,” I said.

  She handed me a spoon, and we clicked them together before diving into the sundae.

  After we finished our ice cream and talked about the wedding and the dress saga, Stephanie left. I was still thinking about how Mason acted and decided it would be better to take care of it now rather than waiting until after work. I didn’t want the awkwardness of the interaction the night before to hang over us and make it harder to concentrate.

  It wasn’t that I was mad at him. I was aggravated, but I knew it would just get worse if I tried to work through the night while thinking about it. The whole time, I would be looking around, waiting to see which of the men was going to say the next comment, and how Mason was going to react to it.

  I didn’t have time for that mess. So, I got ready for work early and headed over to Mason’s house so we could talk. He looked surprised to see me when he opened the door. I noticed he was holding it partially closed, like he didn’t know what to expect from me.

  “I called you last night,” he said. “You didn’t answer.”

  “I know,” I said. “I needed some time to think. That’s why I’m here. Can I come in?”

  He stepped back and let me come inside. We walked into the living room and sat down.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.

  “No,” I said. “I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you about last night. I really didn’t like you lashing out at a customer like that. Especially one of the regulars.”

  “I don’t care who he was,” Mason said. “Nobody should talk to you like that.”

  “I agree,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean you should act all neanderthal toward him. You were no better than he was. Besides, I don’t need you to jump in and handle every situation for me before I even get a chance to respond.”

  “What do you mean? You didn’t say a
nything at all.”

  “That’s because you didn’t give me a chance. I was just about to hand him over to Miranda when you freaked out. What he said was inappropriate, but it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard. And I promise you I will hear worse again. It’s just part of the job. Most of the time, all it takes is ignoring them or shutting the comment down and it’s over,” I said.

  “And what if it’s not?” Mason asked.

  “Then you figure out how to handle it from there. The thing is, you have to trust me to be able to tell the difference. Let me respond to a situation and get it taken care of before it escalates. And if something else happens and I feel like I need your backup, I’ll let you know. And besides that, you’re really lucky the new bartender was able to make Frank happy again. We really don’t need any one-star reviews because our employees are rude.”

  “I’m not just an employee,” Mason said.

  “Do you think he realizes that? Or that he even cares? If you keep acting like that toward every guy who makes a comment to me, you’re going to undo all the work I’ve done to build up business. You need to trust me. And sometimes I need you to just deal with drunk guys being jackasses,” I said.

  Mason drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry. Again. You’re right. We’ve had this conversation before, and I should have thought about that. It’s just that I love you and can’t stand the thought of any guy treating you like that. But I promise I will back off and let you handle yourself.”

  I smiled at him and leaned forward for a kiss. “Thank you.”

  “Can I drive you to work today?”

  “Absolutely.”

  We headed into work and found Jesse making a row of small plates down the middle of the bar.

  “What are you doing?” Mason asked, looking at the plates questioningly.

  “I need somebody to try my new dishes,” Jesse said, sounding almost frantic.

  Mason walked up to the bar and looked down at one of the small white plates. He shrugged. “I mean, they look like they’re pretty sturdy to me. I’m sure they could handle holding food.”

  Jesse looked at him like he was on the brink of snapping. I walked up to Mason and put one hand on his back.

  “I don’t think he’s in the mood for jokes right now,” I said. I looked over at Jesse. “What do you need us to try?”

  He rattled off a list of different recipes he had been working on. Some of them sounded familiar, like options we talked about weeks ago. I realized he had been thinking about them and trying to perfect them all this time. I was proud of him, impressed at how hard he had been working and how much dedication he was putting into the food for the bar.

  A few minutes later, he had served up a little bit of each of the things he’d cooked, and Mason, Tyler, Matt, and I were sitting in a row tasting everything. We sampled right up until the last minute before we had to get ready to open. Mason and I were talking about a few of the different offerings when I noticed him look over my shoulder toward the door.

  I turned around and saw Frank walk in. His eyes were angry, and they immediately locked on Mason. He stalked toward the bar and slammed both hands down on top of it.

  “Do you have anything else to say to me?” he asked. “The night’s young. There aren’t many people here yet. Nobody will miss you—come on outside with me and we’ll settle this once and for all.”

  I braced myself. Now would be the moment when primal Mason would return and I would have to deal with that nonsense again. He stood there staring at Frank for a few seconds, then turned and walked away from the bar.

  “You’re just going to walk away?” Frank demanded. “You’re just going to punk out like that? How about that, Ava? That’s the kind of guy you get into bed with? Why don’t you call out for the night? Come home with me and I’ll make you forget all about him.”

  I didn’t even give him another look. I followed after Mason and found him standing at the edge of the back parking lot. He turned toward me and looked like he was about to say something, but I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

  “I’m proud of you,” I said.

  “Really?” he asked.

  “I am. And I also think we might just have to ban Frank.”

  “You’re not going to get any argument from me on that one,” Mason said.

  28

  Mason

  “I don’t know, Jesse. Sushi Night doesn’t sound like that good of an idea,” Matt said as I walked into the bar.

  He and Ava were sitting at their usual places, looking down at plates in front of them. Jesse stood on the other side of the bar, looking at both of them with expectation.

  “I think it sounds delicious,” Ava said. “I love sushi.”

  “Yeah,” Matt said. “But sushi made by people who know what they’re doing. I mean, you realize the people who make this stuff have to, like, go to school for it. It takes them something like years to learn how to make rice.”

  Jesse swiped the plate away from him and stomped back into the kitchen. I laughed and shook my head. Taking Ava’s hand, I helped her down off the stool.

  “Come on,” I said.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “We are taking the night off.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, we are taking the night off,” I repeated. “You and me. I have plans.”

  “Do they involve puffer fish?” Matt asked.

  He had turned his attention to the plate in front of Ava and was poking the sushi.

  “No, it does not involve pufferfish,” I said.

  “Very mysterious,” Ava said. “Just give me a minute. I promised Jesse I would try these things for him.”

  She tasted each of the bits of food arranged on the plate and gave my brother her evaluation. By the time we were walking out of the bar, I was certain sushi night was not going to be on the list of our themes coming up. Ava seemed to enjoy most of the offerings, but nobody else was enthralled by them. In fact, I didn’t see anybody else even willing to taste them.

  We got out to the car, and Ava turned to me with a curious look in her eyes.

  “Okay, now are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she asked. “You’ve never just come in and declared that we were going to take the night off before.”

  “No,” I said, turning the key in the ignition and smiling at her as I pulled out of the parking spot. “I also haven’t come to celebrate a month of being back together with you before.”

  “A month?” Ava asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “It’s been a month since we reconnected after the whole Tom incident. Can you believe it?”

  “No,” she said. “Time really is going by fast.” She sat silently for a few seconds, then turned to me. “Wait, why didn’t we celebrate a month back together the first time we got back together?”

  I laughed. “An oversight. But I’m not having any more of those. Like you said, this is real. And it deserves a celebration. So, we’re going to go out to dinner, just the two of us. No rushing so that we can get to the bar. No worrying about anybody else. Just us enjoying some time together.”

  “Now that sounds amazing,” she said.

  I brought her to one of my favorite restaurants in town. It was a place that didn’t exist before she left, so we didn’t have any memories of it. That felt appropriate in a way. Like we were starting fresh. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was romantic. When we were done, I didn’t want the evening to end. I wanted to linger in the feeling of celebrating and enjoying being together.

  “How about a walk along the beach?” I asked as we walked out of the restaurant. “It’s not far from here.”

  Ava reached down for my hand and nodded. “I’d like that.”

  I drove us to the beach and parked in a small gravel lot just a few yards from the water. A soft chill rose up from the ocean as it rolled up in waves that crashed on the rocky shore. We held hands as we walked, staying quiet as we went. We di
dn’t need to say anything. It was a comfortable, gentle silence that came from knowing each other so well, even as we were getting to know each other again.

  We had been strolling along for almost an hour when I noticed Ava press her hand to the middle of her chest and draw in a breath. Her hand slid down to her stomach, and she grimaced slightly.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  “I’m not feeling well all of a sudden,” she said. “My stomach is turning.”

  “Oh, no. Do you think it could be food poisoning?”

  She groaned. “It probably is. That damn sushi.” She took a sharp breath and covered her mouth for a second, closed her eyes, then opened them slowly. “I’m going to kill your brother.”

  I wanted to tease her for being the one that thought it was a good idea to eat raw fish that Jesse put in front of her, but she looked so miserable I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She looked out over the ocean and quickly turned away.

  I put my arm around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get you home. Hopefully this won’t last too long.”

  She kept the window down as I drove to her house. She sucked in breaths of the air whipping around her and seemed to fight new waves of nausea that hit her as we went. I debated between going faster to get her home as fast as possible and going slower to control the motion of the car.

  She managed to keep herself from getting sick before we got her home, and I brought her right inside. She stripped down and crawled into bed. I brought her a glass of water and put it on the table beside her. Adjusting the blanket over her, I stroked her hair and leaned down to kiss her temple.

  “I’m going to stay the night to make sure you’re okay. I’ll be right out in the living room on the couch. If you need me for anything, just call,” I said.

  She managed a nod. “Thank you.”

  Grabbing the extra pillows and blanket from the linen closet in the hallway, I went into the living room and made a bed on the couch. I lay there watching TV for a couple of hours, wanting to make sure Ava didn’t need me right then. When she hadn’t called, I turned off the TV but left the light in the hallway on to make sure I could see if I needed to get to the bedroom fast.