by Mia Carson
“I think we should go get some dinner,” he said happily. “Anyone care to join us?”
“Oh, I know a place that makes killer burgers,” Anna said. “Back to The Crawler?”
“I’m game,” Rodric said, and Christian held up his hand, too.
“I’m coming, too,” Jenny said, but Prentice reached out to grab her daughter’s arm. “Get over it, Mother. You can’t control us forever. I’ll be back later. Maybe.”
They left through the front door. Harold was the last to step outside. He offered his mother one more smile, but she seethed with rage and turned her back on him. Bailey glared. Neither woman was going to change tonight, and that was fine by him.
Like he told Anna, he didn’t care what anyone else thought. Not anymore. He had the woman of his dreams and she had her bar. What more could he ask for?
One Year Later
Anna tried to bend over to pick up a towel she dropped when Missy scolded her. “What? I can get it.”
“No, you can’t,” Missy argued and picked it up for her. “You and your big belly shouldn’t even be behind the bar. Honestly, Anna, you’re pregnant.”
“And your point is what?” She wiped out a few more glasses and set them aside to be hung up on the rack over her head. “The doc said I could keep working, so I’m going to keep working. What would I do all day if I wasn’t here?”
“Knit baby booties,” Pat suggested as he sidled past her.
“Yeah, I can definitely see her doing that,” Missy agreed, smirking.
“Little hats, too, for the fella,” Aiden added from his usual seat at the bar. “And some blankets. I think they’re onto something.”
“I am not knitting,” she informed them firmly. “I am taking care of my bar.”
“Yes, we know,” a man growled from behind her. “Much to the annoyance of us all.”
Anna waddled to Harold and kissed him. “You were fine with me working a few months ago.”
“That was a few months ago. You, doll face, are about ready to pop.” He held her belly protectively and bent down to kiss their unborn son. “If you come out crazy, you can only blame your mother.”
“He’s going to come out just fine,” she sighed and sidled away to bus a table.
Missy beat her to it and shooed her away with a towel. “Go sit down or something. Just go away. We’ve got your bar well in control.”
Anna pouted, but her feet were swollen today and her lower back ached. “Fine, if that’s what you want, I’ll sit right over here out of the way and offer annoying advice the rest of the evening. Does that work?”
She waddled to her and Harold’s booth and moaned with relief at taking her weight off her feet. Harold draped his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head with her blue hair. When they wanted to reveal to everyone the baby’s sex, she decided to change her hair color to match, so blue it was. Absently, her hands rubbed her belly and she rested, watching Missy and Pat work.
“You sure you should be standing this much?” Harold asked.
“If it would make you feel better, I’ll take up a permanent spot at the bar, sitting at it instead of being behind it,” she said, patting his thigh.
“Yes, it would, thank you.”
“How’s it been today?”
“Not so bad. I have a new case that should prove to be highly entertaining,” he said and grinned wickedly. “I’m going up against Bailey’s firm.”
“Kick her ass,” Anna grunted. “She sent us a card by the way—well, you a card.”
“And I’m assuming you tossed it without opening it?”
Anna picked at the table. “I set it on fire.”
Harold burst out laughing and she joined him. “God, I love you.”
“That’s good. I’m probably too crazy for anyone else.”
They sat in comfortable silence, watching as customers came and went in the bar as the evening settled in over the city. Snow blew past the windows, and Anna watched it, more than happy with the past year of her life. They had married a month after he proposed, not wanting to waste any more time, and found a house in the suburbs, a cute bungalow that had been expanded. It came with a massive backyard and huge trees Harold was already making plans to put a treehouse in. His new, smaller firm established upstairs took over Anna’s apartment and the two empty ones between her and Johnny’s old place. And last month, they took over that space as well since he wasn’t coming back. He would be in jail for quite a while for all the shit he did that Anna hadn’t even known about.
Rodric and Christian she worried about in the beginning, but they settled in nicely. Helping those who needed it most rubbed them the right way, and she found herself getting along with them. Life was good. Harold was there every morning to greet her with a sleepy smile and every night to snuggle with. The bar was safe, and thanks to her grandma’s bonds, she had a nice little nest egg for their son started already.
“I’ve been thinking about names again,” Harold said, and she sensed the smile in his words.
“What did you have in mind? Harold Jenson IV?” she asked, cringing.
“Ha, no, not even close. I was thinking of Winston. What do you think?”
Tears blurred her eyes and she wiped at them. “Hormones suck.”
“You can cry. I won’t judge.”
She tilted her head so she could stare up at him. “Winston, huh? You’re sure?”
“My legacy isn’t the only one that should be carried on in this town, Anna. Your dad was a great man, and I’m sorry I never had the chance to meet him,” he said sadly. “I think he’ll be a Winston.”
“Then Winston it is,” she said and rubbed her belly. “Little baby Winston who is going to be raised in a bar by a mother with blue hair and a father who rescues those less fortunate. Oh, yeah, this kid is going to have one crazy upbringing.”
Harold shifted and pulled an envelope from his back pocket. “I thought maybe you could take the night off,” he said as he handed it to her. “And to stop you from being too bored, I made you something.”
“You did, huh?” she mused and opened the envelope. “This is a riddle.”
Harold was already sliding out of the booth. “Yes, yes it is.”
Anna glanced to him and back to down to the paper. “A riddle that leads to something?”
“You tell me?”
“Oh, oh, you’re on,” she said and got out of the booth as fast as she could, waddling to the door. “Missy! You’re in charge,” she called out as Harold helped her slip into her coat. His lips found hers, filled with promise of what this little game of his entailed. The voice in the back of her mind screamed to hurry up and get home so she could really enjoy the rest of her night. She pulled her mouth from Harold’s long enough to see her bartenders grinning as she said, “I have a scavenger hunt to complete.”
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