“He was into it. He basically just wants to make money, and he’s fine with whatever as long as I think it’ll help us do that.”
“That’s awesome,” she said as she dumped the fruit into a bowl. “I thought he’d be resistant to giving it its own name.”
“No, he took that surprisingly well. Waiting a few more weeks to open was a harder sell since he wanted us to launch Memorial Day weekend.”
Sophia stopped bustling around the kitchen and looked at me with a scrunched-up face that made her look cuter than anyone had a right to look. Her dark wavy hair framed her round, tan face perfectly, her green eyes sparkling against the darker contrast. What the hell someone so gorgeous was doing with me, I wasn’t sure, but I was damn thankful.
“How would you ever be ready to open by next weekend?”
“We wouldn’t, but I think Sean was hoping for a miracle. He was bummed, but he also understood how important a grand opening would be.”
Sophia smiled brightly and stepped into me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I love how much faith he has in you. You deserve to have him be in your corner like that.”
I hugged her back, allowing myself to soak up her unwavering support. It felt damn good.
After a moment, we pulled away.
“We better get the rest of this stuff downstairs,” I said.
“Yeah. I’m surprised they haven’t come looking for us yet.”
We packed the food into coolers—thankfully Sophia had ones with wheels—for easy transport and carted it downstairs. When we got to the courtyard, I saw Brody and Carter trying to light the grill while Veronica was sitting at a table chatting with Taylor.
When Sophia had insisted Brody invite his fake wife, I wasn’t sure she’d actually come, but there she was, casually dressed, her dark hair piled under a wide-brimmed hat. She looked comfortable in her skin, which was a feat since Aamee seemed to be resolutely ignoring her presence.
“Food!” Carter bellowed across the courtyard when he caught sight of us. “Gimmee.”
Sophia rolled her eyes fondly as we arrived at the table the girls had claimed and began unpacking the food.
Carter wasted no time grabbing a plate and piling fruit and pasta salad onto it.
“Do you have a single manner?” Sophia asked him, arms akimbo.
He pretended to think for a minute before saying “No” and resuming eating.
“Boys,” Sophia said with a sigh before smiling at Veronica. “Hey, Vee. Glad you could make it.”
Veronica returned the smile. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Absolutely. Mi courtyard e su courtyard.”
I leaned in and pressed a kiss to Sophia’s cheek. “I love when you speak bad Spanish.”
“Well then, you better stick around. There’s a lot more where that came from.”
I felt a buzzing in my pocket, so I pulled away and checked my phone. “Xander’s on his way,” I said as I put the phone away again.
“Awesome,” Carter said. “I didn’t even know he was still around.”
“I didn’t either. Aniyah texted me a couple nights ago to ask if I’d heard from him. When I said no, she asked me to reach out. I guess he’s become a recluse since school ended. I just assumed he went home for the summer like Aniyah and Toby did.”
“I’m not surprised he didn’t,” Carter said, his mouth full of a hodgepodge of food. When he managed to swallow it without asphyxiating, he continued. “Toby said he had a shit home life. His dad’s a real asshole.”
I felt my brow furrow as I let that bit of information digest. I’d known Xander’s dad had given a shit ton of money to the school after Xander had almost burned down the library. Xander had never spoken about his dad as if they were close, but I didn’t know he would prefer to spend a summer alone than be near the man.
While I considered Xander one of my good friends, it bummed me out to realize I didn’t know that much about him. Though I guess it didn’t really surprise me. Xander had always kept us at arm’s length, despite always being there when we’d needed him. Maybe I could break through some of his barriers this summer.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Carter said, standing abruptly enough to almost knock his plate off the table. “I brought my cornhole set. Be right back.” He took off, all of us staring after him.
“Is there some kind of cornhole emergency I’m unaware of?” Aamee asked.
“Who knows,” Sophia said as she scooped some fruit onto her plate and sat down.
“We have way more pressing issues anyway.” Brody pulled an extra chair beside Aamee and sat down. “Like how we get those people off the bocce court.”
“It’s so cool you have all this here,” Veronica said.
“I know,” I agreed. “There’s even a four-hole mini-golf course and shuffleboard on the other side of the pool.”
Veronica sighed. “I definitely moved in with the wrong member of this group.”
“That’s true even without all the yard games,” Sophia muttered. Her head shot up suddenly, causing me to look at her in alarm.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yard games,” she whispered.
“Yes.” I dragged the word out, unsure of what she meant.
“That’s it.”
When Sophia didn’t say anything else, Aamee sighed in disgust. “Is this like charades? Because that game totally sucks.”
“No,” Sophia said excitedly, reaching a hand out to grab my arm. “That’s your angle. At the deck. It’s how you separate your business from everyone else’s. You turn the empty space the deck overlooks into a place people can play yard games.”
I sat back and contemplated what she was saying. “That’s…a pretty awesome idea.”
Sophia looked about ready to come out of her skin. “It would be so much fun. A place people can relax after work. None of your competitors in the area have anything like that. You’d be completely unique.”
I turned to look at Brody. “What do you think?”
He swallowed his mouthful of food before answering. “As much as it pains me to admit it in front of Sophia, it’s a great idea.”
Sophia pushed her hands up in victory. “Yes! Now we just need a name.”
“The Backyard,” Veronica said simply.
Everyone looked over at her, and she paused with a forkful of pasta salad when she noticed she held the attention of the entire table.
“What? No good? It was just a suggestion.”
“No, no, I’m kinda into it,” I assured her.
Sophia was quiet for a moment before she said, “I like it too, but maybe it would be better shortened. What about just the Yard?”
“I like it,” I said.
Vee set her fork down and put her elbows on the table so she could talk with her hands. “It sounds like it would have a backyard feel. And you can do a lot with the name. Like, ‘My bocce balls bring all the boys to the Yard, and they’re like, my bar’s better than yours.’” Veronica sang the last part, and then looked at us self-consciously when we were silent. “Or not.”
“No, no, that’s actually…amazing,” Sophia gushed.
“‘Amazing’ may be a bit of a stretch,” Aamee mumbled, but no one paid her any attention. We were all too busy throwing ideas out to acknowledge the shade she was throwing.
“Hey, look who I found,” Carter said as he approached, carrying one cornhole board, Xander right behind him with the other.
A chorus of “Hi, Xander” erupted around the table, and Sophia told him to help himself to food and to join the brainstorming session.
“Brainstorming what?” he asked as he grabbed a plate and filled it.
“Ideas for the bar Drew’s managing.”
Xander looked impressed. “That’s awesome, man. What kind of place is it?”
I gave him a quick rundown of the place, as well as the ideas Sophia had thrown out and the name Veronica had come up with.
“Now I just need to get through the interviews I
have lined up so I can staff it. Hopefully there are some solid people who applied.”
“I’ll do it,” Aamee said.
“Do what?” I asked her.
“Work at the bar.”
I couldn’t help a surprised expression from overtaking my face. “Have you ever worked at a bar before?”
The answering glare I got was icy. “No,” she said, enunciating the “o” especially heavily. “But how hard can it be?”
“That’s not exactly the attitude I’m looking for—”
“You’re hired,” Brody said, cutting me off.
Aamee squealed and bounced in her seat happily.
“No offense, Brody, but you have no authority to hire anyone,” I reminded him.
“Dude, sometimes the path of least resistance is the only way.”
I wasn’t sure exactly how that related to this situation, but arguing seemed futile.
Oh, maybe I do get it.
“I’ll work there too,” Xander said casually.
I wasn’t sure how I went from talking about interviews to people saying they’d work for me like they were doing me some kind of big goddamn favor, but here we were.
“Have you ever worked at a bar?”
“I’ve never worked anywhere,” he said with a smile as he popped a grape into his mouth.
“That’s reassuring,” I muttered.
“But I can learn anything. I’ll watch a few YouTube videos and be a well-trained bartender by tomorrow.”
“That’s not how it works,” I argued.
“How does it work?” he asked, his tone genuine.
“Normally someone trains you or you go to a school and learn.”
“So, you watch someone mix drinks and then do what they do?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Which is different from YouTube how?”
I sighed heavily. “Whatever. You’re hired.”
“Sweet,” Xander replied.
Sophia leaned toward me, giggling, and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You’re a very easy mark.”
“Evidently,” I grumbled.
“It’s endearing,” she said, “how much you want to help people.”
“It also may be career suicide, but I appreciate you seeing the positive.”
She laughed and kissed me again. “It’ll be fine.”
Knowing the trajectory my life typically took, I doubted that. But it never hurt to be hopeful. Right?
Chapter Fourteen
S O P H I A
Sometimes a day at Margot Nathan flew by so quickly, I didn’t even remember to eat lunch, which was really saying something since I typically picked up lunch for other people.
From the moment I walked in the door, I’d have my tasks for the day detailed for me in my schedule like a grocery list of items to check off as the day went on. Everything ranging from recording meeting minutes to scouring businesses’ social media accounts would be written in black and white so there’d be no mistaking my responsibilities and how many of them I’d gotten accomplished for the day.
Other than the time-sensitive tasks, I could complete most of them whenever my day allowed, and on those busy days, Jeff or Carole—or sometimes both—would need an extra coffee or two from the cafe down the street.
I didn’t mind being in the office, but I never turned down the opportunity for fresh air and a little exercise. Three o’clock would come before it even felt like noon, and I’d head home to spend the evening with Drew. I loved days like that.
But then there were days like today—ones where I swore I could hear the clock ticking, even though there was no analog clock to be found in the place. I’d finished all my work for the day by eleven in the morning, taken lunch orders, picked up food and coffees, and proofed and uploaded the digital content for an upcoming event. I wasn’t exactly sure what Jake’s tasks were for the day, but he did a good job of managing to look busy for most of it.
That was until the past hour or so.
The table we used as our workstation was centered in the main space of the office in plain view of anyone walking by, and even I could tell he wasn’t doing work on his computer from my vantage point across the table. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned about Carole or Jeff spotting him playing around on any of his devices.
“I’m done for the day,” he announced proudly.
I didn’t look away from my laptop screen. “I can tell.”
He was quiet for a few moments before he seemed to realize what I’d meant. “Really? How?”
This time I looked up from my screen. He couldn’t be serious. “You’re not exactly great at finding things to do that are work-related.”
I didn’t mean it as an insult, but I’d been done with everything I’d needed to do for hours, and I’d kept myself busy researching local competition for Drew and Brody and creating possible logos and slogans for the Yard. It wasn’t something for Margot Nathan, but it was marketing nonetheless. Jake, on the other hand…
“What are you playing over there?” I asked.
Jerking his head back at my question, he seemed genuinely surprised. “I’m not playing anything.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to sound sincere, more because I wanted to get back to what I was doing than because I cared about Jake thinking I believed him.
Somehow, he must’ve sensed my skepticism. “Seriously. I’m not.”
I focused my attention back on the logo before saying, “It’s fine. It’s not my business one way or the other.”
“Fine like…?”
“Fine like I’m trying to work and I don’t care what you’re doing.”
He must’ve finally picked up on my annoyance because he went back to whatever he was doing for a few minutes. I saw him look my way a few times, and one of those times he looked like he was going to speak, but thankfully he thought better of it.
I was playing with the font on the logo when Jake couldn’t contain himself any longer. “Can you take a picture of me?”
“What?”
“Just… It’ll take ten seconds.” He was already handing me his phone across the table and looking around the office. “Guess here’ll be fine.”
“Why do you need a picture of yourself right now? Here. Can’t you just take a selfie?” Jake had already opened his mouth to explain, but I stopped him. “You know what? Forget I asked. I’ll take it.”
“It’s for a dating profile,” he said, as if the explanation would make this less weird.
“I don’t… I don’t care. Just go wherever you wanna be so I can take the picture.”
“Okay.” Starting to tuck in his shirt, he stood and looked around. Then he sat and then immediately stood again. “What do you think? Standing or seated? I need a picture that makes it look like I have a good job but doesn’t make me look like a nerd. Most of the pictures I have of myself are old or with a bunch of my buddies.” He pointed a hand toward me. “If you were a girl—”
“I am a girl.”
“You know what I mean. A girl who was looking for someone on a dating site…” He sighed, evidently frustrated. Whether it was with me or with himself, I wasn’t sure. “Just tell me how to pose and take the picture, okay?”
“All right, all right. Calm down. Sheesh.” I took the phone from him and directed him to stand a little to the side with one hand in his pocket. “Act casual. I’m going for a candid shot. Pretend you’re laughing at something.”
“There’s nothing funny happening. I’ll look like I’m crazy.”
“You are.”
“These women don’t know that yet.”
“Well, you should consider adding it to your profile. It’s only fair to warn them.”
When he laughed a little, I snapped a few shots and slid the phone back to him before returning to the logo I’d been working on.
“Not too bad,” he said as he flipped through them. “This one’ll work. Would you just take a look at my profile in a few minutes?”
“I’d rathe
r not,” I told him without looking up from my computer screen.
He left me alone for a few more minutes and then stood with his laptop and headed around the table toward me. “It’ll take two minutes, I swear. Then you can go back to whatever you’re doing so you can get out of here on time.”
By the time he’d made it over to me, I’d come to the realization that helping him would be the only way Jake would leave me alone for any considerable amount of time. It wasn’t ideal, but I’d accepted my fate.
He plopped himself and his computer down next to me, and I pushed mine aside so I could take a look at his profile.
“Whatcha workin’ on?”
Glaring at him, I said, “Do you want me to do this or not?”
“Sorry, yes. Continue.”
I took a minute to read through his bio, which read like a glorified résumé combined with a generic personal ad. Though I didn’t plan to tell him either of those things. I was less than qualified to evaluate something like this, and I just didn’t care enough to give him any constructive criticism.
“Looks great.”
“Really?” He sounded surprised but didn’t question it any further. Instead, he said, “So really, what are you working on? I can help if you want.”
This time, I was the one sounding like I was caught off guard.
“Oh. No, it’s okay. It’s not for here. My boyfriend and my brother are in charge of opening this deck at the bar they work at, and I told them I’d help with the marketing.” I’d told Drew and Brody I’d come up with a marketing plan for them in the next few days. They weren’t familiar with what might be an appropriate timeline or strategy for advertising the opening of the Yard, but they wanted to make sure they got as much traffic as possible.
“That’s cool. The Yard?” he said, looking at the screen. “Is it around here? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Yeah, it’s local. But the name of the bar is Rafferty’s. The outdoor space is separate, so we figured we’d give it its own name so it has a different vibe and’ll maybe draw in some new customers.”
“So you named a deck the Yard?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, it sounds stupid when you say it like that.” I knew I shouldn’t have to explain myself to Jake, but I found myself wanting to because otherwise he’d think we were complete morons. I wasn’t sure why his opinion mattered, but it did.
Two Truths & a Lime (The Love Game Book 3) Page 10
