by Gerri Hill
“Yeah, that was her name. I guess we met at the party. I don’t remember her.”
“Jet-black hair. She owns the art gallery.”
“Oh, okay, yeah,” Leah nodded. “I remember her now.” Leah went to the small fridge beside her desk and took out two water bottles, handing one to Megan. “So? What’s the plan?”
Megan shrugged. “I don’t know. A couple of things make me think that this is a very bad idea. Okay, more than a couple,” she admitted. “First of all, I’m not sure Nancy will believe it. I may have called you…well, irritating. And annoying. And a bully. And maybe a psycho crazy woman.”
Leah laughed. “Yeah, that could be a problem. I think I called you annoying too.”
Megan frowned. “You called me annoying? Really? The woman who put up parking signs to a shop that’s not even open yet? You called me annoying?”
A smile played around Leah’s mouth. “I did. What are your other concerns?”
“Nancy’s been hinting that she might ask you out.”
Leah groaned. “I like your sister fine. In fact, she’s very nice. I think we could be friends.”
“But?”
“But I’m not attracted to her in the least. And I’ve done nothing to make her think otherwise.”
Megan nodded. “I know. She said you’ve ignored her attempts at flirting.”
“Okay. So there’s two concerns. What else?”
“If we don’t pull this off, I’ll be crucified. They’ll probably take me down to the amphitheater so the whole town can gather and watch…at the stroke of midnight, no doubt.”
Leah laughed out loud, then sobered as Megan narrowed her eyes at her.
“You think I’m kidding? Mary Beth will lead the parade…she’ll probably have a giant poster with a naked photo of me on it.”
Leah laughed again and this time, Megan joined her. “Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little.” Then her smile faltered. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?”
Leah shrugged. “Could be fun.”
“Fun? There will be nothing fun about it. It will be stressful. But my hope is, after a month or two, everyone will be too busy with tourist season to even care about us anymore.”
“That’s your hope?”
“That’s my hope.”
Chapter Fifteen
Megan had to force herself not to glance at the door each time it opened. She refilled the cocktail napkins and pretended immense interest in the baseball game that was showing on the TV above the bar instead, all the while tapping her fingers rapidly on the counter’s wooden surface.
Their plan—after much debate and a little arguing—was for Leah to pop over to the grill, early, before the dinner crowd, and ask to be seated at the bar…where Megan was conveniently working. They would pretend to visit—like normal people—and hopefully Nancy would see them, perhaps even come over to visit as well. Then, with Nancy there, Leah would ask Megan out. According to their plan, Megan would be too shocked at the proposal to find the words to decline. Leah would leave with a promise for them to get together very soon and Megan would then moan and complain to Nancy that she’d been duped into accepting.
It was a horrible plan.
“Excuse me. Can I get another beer, please?”
Megan turned and gave an apologetic smile to the man sitting down across from her. She’d totally forgotten about him.
“Sorry,” she said. “Another Sam?” she asked, referring to the Samuel Adams he’d ordered earlier.
He nodded, then turned his attention to the baseball game while she pulled a cold mug from the freezer and began filling it.
“Your lucky day,” Nancy said as she came over. “Instead of twelve separate drinks, they’ve agreed on margaritas.” Then she gave Megan an evil smile. “They insist on PatrÓn tequila. Your favorite,” she teased.
Megan groaned and stuck her tongue out. Ever since her birthday, she stayed clear of tequila. She glanced over at the loud group of women who had come in. This must be the bachelorette party that had called earlier to reserve a table.
“Who starts their bachelorette party at four in the afternoon?” she asked. She placed the beer in front of the man and snatched up the bills he’d placed there. “Thanks,” she said with a quick smile before turning back to Nancy. “Where are they from?”
“They’ve got two of Steve’s cottages booked for the weekend,” Nancy said. “I think they’re from Tulsa.”
Megan grabbed the bottle of PatrÓn, trying to ignore the smell, when Nancy leaned closer. “Guess who just came in.”
Megan glanced toward the door, her heart thumping nervously in her chest.
Yeah, it was a bad plan.
“You think she came for dinner?” Nancy asked. “Oh, she’s coming over,” she whispered excitedly.
A very, very bad plan.
“Hi, ladies,” Leah said as she sat down. “I know it’s a little early for dinner, but I missed lunch,” she explained.
Megan ignored her as she continued making the margaritas.
“Glad you came by,” Nancy said with an exaggerated smile. “I’ve got a huge table,” she said, motioning with her head to the laughing group of women, “but if you’ll give me a second, I’ll bring a menu right over.”
“No hurry,” Leah said. “I’m sure Megan can keep me company.”
“Sure,” Megan said. “We’ll discuss parking or something.”
Nancy laughed and touched Leah’s arm. “Oh, you two try to get along. I’ll be right back,” she said as she took the first tray of drinks.
As soon as she left, Leah shrugged. “Bad timing, huh?”
Megan sighed. “Bad plan.” Nancy had her back to them and Megan turned back to Leah. “She’s going to be hurt,” she said quietly. “I hate doing this to her.”
“Whether we do this or not, Megan, I’m not interested in your sister. Would it hurt her any less if I flat-out rejected her?”
“I suppose not,” she said as she placed the tenth out of twelve margaritas on a serving tray. “You want something to drink?”
“Water is fine,” Leah said.
Megan reached in the cooler for a bottle and placed it in front of her. “Here she comes,” she whispered.
“They’re a rowdy bunch,” Nancy said. “Bachelorette party,” she explained to Leah. Then she snapped her fingers. “Oh, I meant to get you a menu. Be right back.”
Megan shook her head as she hurried off. It was a bad plan.
“Maybe we should reconsider,” she said to Leah.
Leah shrugged. “Look, I don’t mind saying ‘no’ to potential dates, but I’d rather not alienate a large portion of the lesbian population in town by appearing to be standoffish.” Their eyes met. “But it’s your call,” she said. “I’m not the one whose photo keeps appearing on Facebook.”
Megan put the last of the drinks on the tray, then slid it over as Nancy came back. Nancy placed the menu beside Leah and took the tray.
“Give me just a second,” Nancy said as she hurried off.
Megan sighed again. “So…what shall we pretend to visit about? Got all your inventory ordered yet? Have any idea what your theme will be?”
Leah smiled. “Are you trying to figure out my plan so you can share it with Susie?”
Megan smiled. “She’s not the only one who’s dying to know,” she said. “Nearly every local who comes in here asks about it.”
“Why is everyone so curious?”
“Well, competition is one reason, but mainly, you’ve been so secretive about it, you have everyone guessing.”
Leah laughed. “I’ve only been secretive about it because I don’t know. Or didn’t. I kinda have a clue now.”
“But you’re not ready to share?”
“No. You’ll have to wait.”
Nancy came back over and sat down next to Leah with a heavy sigh. “Sorry that took so long. They ordered appetizers.” She smiled at Leah. “What about you? Want something to snack on?”
“
No. I think I’m going to try your pesto burger today,” Leah said. “With onion rings, of course.”
“Medium well,” Megan supplied, then shrugged as both Nancy and Leah stared at her. “That’s what you had the last time.”
“Since when do you remember orders?” Nancy asked.
Yeah, Megan…since when do you remember orders?
She bit her lip. “Or was it medium rare? I forget,” she said lamely as she arched an eyebrow at Leah, who was trying to hide a smile.
“Let’s go with medium well,” Leah said. “And I suppose I should get this to go, Nancy. I’ve got some work to finish this afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping you’d stay and visit,” Nancy said.
“You seem pretty busy,” Leah said. “And I imagine the dinner crowd will be coming soon.”
“Yes, it’ll pick up very shortly,” Nancy said as she stood. “Well, maybe another time.”
When Nancy walked over to the table of boisterous women, Leah leaned closer. “So I’m thinking you should just tell her that I asked you out.”
“What? No! That’s not the plan. She’s supposed to be here when you ask me,” Megan said.
“Well, I don’t think that’s a very good plan,” Leah said.
“I tried to tell you that.”
“No…this plan was your idea. I wanted to—”
“Are you kidding me? This was your idea! I told you this wouldn’t work!”
Leah threw up her hands. “Whatever. Just tell her I asked you out.”
“And then what?”
“And then what what?”
Megan took a step back as Nancy again came over.
“Your burger will be right out, Leah.” Nancy turned to her. “Coors on draft and a rum and Diet Coke.”
“Miss? Can we order?”
Megan turned, finding a couple sitting down at the end of the bar waving at her. She smiled at them and nodded. “Be right there,” she said as she filled a mug with draft beer.
“I’m keeping you from your job,” Leah said. “Maybe I should—”
“No, no, you’re fine,” Nancy said, putting a hand on Leah’s arm. “Megan has a problem multitasking sometimes.”
Between the bar starting to fill up and Nancy staying glued to Leah’s side, Megan had no more time to discuss this so-called plan that was going haywire. When there was finally a break, she walked over to Leah, about to tell her that they should scrap the whole thing when Nancy came back with her burger.
She stood in complete shock when Leah looked at her and gave a very subtle wink, her words just loud enough for Nancy to hear.
“So…it’s a date. I look forward to it.”
Megan stared, speechless, as Leah handed Nancy some money and left after telling Nancy to “keep the change.” Time seemed to stand still as Nancy slowly turned, her eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Well?”
“What?”
“What?” Nancy tilted her head. “It’s a date?”
Oh, it was a really bad plan.
“We’re…she wants…well…she may have asked…I think…”
Cheers erupted from Nancy’s bachelorette party, distracting her. Megan took that opportunity to hurry to the other side of the bar, hoping someone—anyone—needed a refill.
When Clint showed up at six to take over bar duty, Megan quickly went to the front, intending to relieve Patty as hostess.
Patty looked at her suspiciously. “I normally have to beg you for a break.”
“That is so not true,” Megan said, feigning insult. “Go help bus tables or something.”
“That’s my break? Busing tables?”
Megan sighed. “I’m avoiding Nancy, okay?”
Patty shook her head. “I don’t even want to know. Call me when it’s safe to come back.”
It was another boisterous dinner crowd and conversation and laughter drowned out the music that was playing. As was the norm, she and Nancy wore several hats and after letting Patty get back to her hostess duties, Megan took a turn serving. She and Nancy had no time to talk, but she could see by the look in Nancy’s eyes that she’d have some explaining to do.
As the evening wore on and the crowd thinned, she joined Clint at the bar where it was still mostly packed. On weekdays, they stopped serving dinner at nine but the bar stayed open until ten. Weekends during the summer months, they had extended hours, especially when they had live music on the patio. Those were the most profitable nights, when the place would stay filled until midnight, but those were also the most exhausting nights.
“Nice crowd for a Thursday,” Nancy said later as they settled down at the bar for an after-work drink.
Megan nodded. “Yes. Busy.”
“So…a date?”
Megan sighed. She hadn’t had time to rehearse a response, she’d been so busy. Now, her tired brain fumbled to come up with anything suitable.
“She…she mentioned having dinner is all,” Megan said weakly.
“With you?”
Megan nodded.
“And you accepted?”
“I was so shocked that she even asked, I couldn’t think of an excuse,” she said.
Nancy’s stare was intense. “So all this pretending that you found her annoying and…and irritating—you secretly liked her!”
“I don’t like her! She is irritating,” Megan insisted.
“Then why didn’t you say no?”
“I told you…I was too shocked. In fact, I’ll probably go over there and tell her no tomorrow.”
Nancy looked at her accusingly. “I think you do like her. Pretending to hide over there from Mary Beth. It was just an excuse to—”
“I was hiding from Mary Beth!”
But Nancy shook her head. “I guess I used the wrong approach with Leah. Instead of being nice to her, I should have been mean and snippy, like you.”
“I wasn’t mean and snippy,” Megan said. “Well…maybe a little. But—”
“Forget it,” Nancy said dismissively. “Go on your date with her. She obviously wasn’t interested in me. God knows I gave her enough hints.”
Megan bit her lip. Whose brilliant idea was this, anyway? She blamed Leah, of course. She would have never suggested they fake date if Leah hadn’t mentioned it.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should tell her no and you should ask her out.” There. She was offering. It was gallant. Her conscience was cleared.
“Oh, Megan, it doesn’t matter,” Nancy said with a shake of her head. “Go out with her. I can’t imagine what the two of you will talk about though. Other than argue over parking spots. Unless that, too, was just an excuse to see her.”
She groaned silently. Whose idea was this?
Chapter Sixteen
Leah watched with amusement as Megan paced across the floor in her shop. Megan was not happy with her, as she’d expected. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find Megan pounding on her door last night instead of early this morning.
“And then she accused me of secretly liking you!”
“That is terrible.”
Megan glared at her. “We had a plan,” she said again for the third time. “Not a very good plan, but a plan. And it did not involve me having to explain a date to Nancy.”
“As I said, your plan involved—”
“Our plan,” Megan corrected.
“Regardless,” Leah said. “The plan called for you and me to visit first, then have Nancy come over.” She shrugged. “Since she was already at the bar when I got there, I thought I would improvise.”
Megan rubbed her forehead. “She’s hardly speaking to me.”
Leah held up her hands. “What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look at it this way,” she said. “At least she believes us. You were worried she’d suspect this was a fake date, as you call it.”
“I know, I know,” Megan said. “I’m sorry.”
Leah’s eyebrows shot up. “Yo
u’re actually apologizing? What’s wrong with you?”
Again…a glare. “Have I told you that I don’t really like you?”
Leah smiled. “Yeah. A couple of times already.”
“God, this was a stupid idea,” Megan muttered. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
Leah laughed. “I think you’re twisting this around a little. Remember Mary Beth? Your problem, not mine.”
“And that’s the only reason I’m going through with this. The sooner she hears about it, the better chance I have of saving what little dignity I have left.”
“So when are we expecting the next Facebook posting?”
Megan put her hands on her hips. “I think you’re enjoying my plight,” she accused.
Leah couldn’t hide her smile. “Well, you have to admit, the photos are really good. I mean, if you like pictures of semi-naked women, that is.”
Megan gave her a fake smile. “I’m glad you find this humorous. I can’t wait for the day that I get to break up with you!”
Leah laughed. “Now is that any way to start a new relationship? Already picturing the end?”
Megan blew out her breath and leaned her head back, staring up at the ceiling. “Okay, back to the real issue,” she said. “Where should we go on our first date?”
“Well, if you want to be seen by locals and get the word out, where would you go?”
Megan smiled. “You’d go to the Phenix Grill, of course.”
“Okay, so that’s out. What else?”
“We could go to El Gallo,” Megan said. “A lot of locals go there too.”
Leah frowned. “Tex-Mex?”
“Yeah, they’re really good. Best in town.”
Leah shook her head. “I’m from California. I don’t do Tex-Mex.”
“What are you talking about? Their enchiladas are great.”
“It’s not even real Mexican food,” she said. “It’s something they made up in Austin or somewhere.”
Megan frowned at her. “Of course it’s real Mexican food. I mean, which state has a longer border with Mexico?”
“Oh, come on. That’s what you’re going on? We practically invented Mexican food.”
Megan held her hands up. “Okay, okay. Whatever,” she said. “No Mexican food.”
