"Must've been." Carter grinned, adding the new chips to his pile before standing up from the table. "Anybody else need a refill?" he asked, gesturing with his bottle.
"Yeah, I'll take one," Anthony replied in his faint Jersey accent. "Hey, did you guys hear about Abbott today?"
"Abbott?" Michael piped up, curiosity piqued at the mere mention of his boss's continued antics. "What the hell did he do now?"
"Put Baker on probation for missing those days when his wife was in the hospital last week. You know, when she was having problems with the baby."
"Are you serious?" Carter asked.
"As a heart attack."
"Abbott's always been an ass. Who knew he could get bigger?" He asked as he took his seat again, and everyone chipped in their ante.
"Tell me about it. But, Baker's pissed and is going to HR over the whole thing. Says it isn't right since he filled out all the paperwork for the time off and everything." Anthony picked up the cards that Michael had dealt, studied them before tossing two back onto the table. "He's right, and I don't blame him for going over Abbott's head with this, but it'll be interesting to see how it all turns out."
"I say it'll get taken care of in one of two ways." Kyle spoke as he tossed his discards on the pile. "Either HR will fix it and Abbott will get wrote up, or Baker will put Abbott on his ass."
"I'd pay to see that," Michael said, laughing.
"I think we all would." Anthony nodded, clamping his cigar
between his teeth again as thin streams of fragrant smoke curled towards the ceiling.
The men studied the cards in their hands as the second round was dealt, the bets were raised and called, or hands were folded. Carter tossed his cards when then bets were too rich and looked on as Anthony added the chips to his meager winnings of the evening.
"Hey, man." Kyle nudged Jeremy with his elbow. "Didn't you have a date with that chick, the hot blonde from the front offices, not too long ago?"
"Her name is Melody, and yeah, we went out." He scooped up a handful of pretzels and munched while he watched fresh cards being shuffled and dealt.
"That's it?" Kyle asked incredulously. "That's all we get? C'mon man, ya gotta give us more than that!"
"There's not a lot to tell. Took her to dinner and the live show going on at the playhouse. She was nice, and we had fun, but that's it."
"A one-and-done, huh?" Carter asked, tossing his cards away.
"Yeah. Don't see us going out again. No real spark. I mean, yeah, we could've hit the sheets, if I was reading her right. But I wasn't feeling it. Maybe I was just off my game." Jeremy shrugged, studied his hand.
"Bummer." Michael sympathized as he folded.
"It is what it is," Jeremy said, raising the bet. "What about you? Didn't you say something about a date last week?"
"Yeah, but unlike you, I was definitely feeling it." Michael bragged, grinning before turning his attention to Anthony. "What about you, Tony? You and Dani go out again?"
"Yep." Anthony tossed in his chips to call the bet. "The high school was playing a home game, so we went. The boys lost, but I scored." Wagging his eyebrows and grinning, he looked over at Jeremy, and each man showed his cards.
"Full house, aces over threes. Looks like I scored again." Anthony separated the chips from the pot and stack them at his elbow as Jeremy tossed his cards on the table in defeat.
"So, Carter." Kyle pulled in all the cards from the other players and shuffled them. "Speaking of women.... what's this I hear about you and a certain redhead, huh?"
Carter went still, sending Kyle an arch look over the bottom of the beer he was drinking. Kyle just grinned at him as he dealt the next hand of cards. Carter set his bottle down, and without replying, picked up the new hand he'd just been dealt.
"There's nothing to tell," he said after a lengthy pause. "She came home and, we met up for coffee to clear the air. That's it." Disgusted at that fact, and the cards in his hand, he folded.
"Wait, what? What redhead?" Feeling lost, Michael looked around the table.
"You know. THE redhead. The one who broke our buddy's heart, here." Kyle tipped his head in Carter's direction.
"You don't mean....Lynn?" Anthony chimed in, setting his elbows on the table’s edge and leaning forward in interest.
"The same." Kyle as he confirmed.
"What the hell is she doing back in town? I thought she was off playing G.I. Jane overseas somewhere." Michael snorted.
"Hey, there's nothing about 'playing' when it comes to serving our country," Jeremy stated, insulted.
"Sorry, just saying.... I assumed that she was long gone. Never to return." Michael looked over at Carter, a questioning look on his face. "I'm guessing that's what you thought, too, huh?"
"Yeah." Carter cleared his throat. He took another quick swig to rid himself of the sudden dryness. "It was a shock seeing her, let me tell you. How did you find out about it?" He asked Kyle.
"Small town grape vine. People saw you guys at the café a while back, and word got around that she was home."
"Mm-hmm," Carter murmured. "Sounds about right."
"So, how did all that go down, anyway?" Jeremy asked.
Carter took a deep breath, toyed with his beer bottle as he gave the guys the brief version of how he had seen her at the store, of showing up on her front step. He finished up the rundown, and his beer, with the conversation at the café.
"Man." Kyle blew a hard breath. "That's rough."
"Yep."
The men sat in silence, each studied the cards in his hand. As they began to toss away their discards, Jeremy spoke.
"Did I ever meet Lynn?"
"No, man." Kyle got rid of his cards, signaled to the dealer for two more. "She was gone before you got here. But, you may have seen her around town since she's been back. Heard she immediately hooked back up with the other members of the trio."
"The trio?"
"Yeah. Her and her two best friends." Carter picked up the new cards he'd been dealt, arranged them in his hand. "They grew up together from the time they were in preschool. Were practically inseparable all through school."
"Do I know the other two women?" Michael asked.
"Sure do." Kyle looked at him and grinned. "Kari Nelson and Bethany Lewis."
"Kari? Isn't she the cute little blonde that runs the restaurant?"
"That would be her, yes."
"Huh. Wonder what her story is."
"Why? You interested in her?" This from Anthony, who nudged Michael with his elbow.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Michael shrugged. "Just that I've never seen her around town with anybody. Guy wise, I mean."
"Well, she's pretty picky." Carter rejoined the conversation. "And with good reason. She's a mom, got a little girl about eleven years old."
"She married?"
"Was. Kid's not his though. He came along about the time the girl was a year or two old." Carter scratched his head as he thought back to that time in Kari's life. "Kari got pregnant young, like seventeen or eighteen. I remember the guy, her kid's dad. Nice enough guy, but was only here for the summer. The two of them were together all the time. He went back to college and so did she, only to find out she was pregnant. I don't know all the details after that, except that Bethany helped her through the whole thing."
Jeremy let out a low hum under his breath as he looked down at the cards in his hand. Kyle looked at the other guys around the table and smiled broadly before turning his attention to his own cards.
"What are you smiling about, you idiot?" Anthony laughed as he tried to figure out what was going on with his friend.
"Oh, nothing." Kyle looked up, smirked as he lifted an eyebrow. "Well, maybe something, but it's more of a feeling than anything else."
"About what?"
"About our friend Jeremy here."
"Me?" Jeremy looked to Kyle, a scowl on his face. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"About the fact that I think you have a thing for the hot librarian."
"What?" Carter looked from Kyle to Jeremy, saw the look that passed between the friends. "When did this happen?"
"Nothing's happened." Jeremy sighed, threw his folded hand to the center of the table in disgust. Not only at the cards in his hand, but at Kyle for letting the cat out of the bag about Bethany. "Look, I've talked to her several times. At the bonfires, couple times when I went into the library. She's a sweet, interesting, attractive woman."
"I can't believe it."
"Believe what?"
"You went into a library?" The men all laughed as Jeremy gave them the finger, shook his head.
"I checked out some movies. They've got a decent selection."
"Uh-huh." Carter looked at his friend. "You going to ask her out or what?"
"Man, I don't know." Jeremy grabbed his beer, leaned back in his seat and ran a hand around the back of his neck. "Like I said, she's nice and smart and all, but...she's got kids."
"So?"
"I've never dated a woman with kids."
"Never?"
"Nope. Especially women who have daughters as old as hers are."
"How is that a problem?" Kyle asked, a look of slight confusion on his face. "It's not like you're going to marry her after the first date."
"I've known Bethany for a while. I worked with Shane." Jeremy's voice dropped. "I was there when she and the girls buried him. It would be too weird, like I was trying to step into his shoes or something."
"Shane's been gone awhile, man." Carter told him quietly. "If you want to ask her out, you should. And if it goes into more than a few dates, then address it. Don't forget, I've known Bethany awhile too. She knows you guys were friends and she'll appreciate it if you're upfront about not trying to take his place, if it gets to that point."
"Yeah, I guess." He pushed the idea of asking Bethany out on date to the back of his mind as he stood. "I'm gonna take a smoke break. Go ahead and deal me out of the next hand." With that, Jeremy grabbed his beer and went out the back door.
"He'll be alright," Michael said as he nodded, took a swig from his own beer bottle. "Just needs some time to figure it all out."
"Yeah. And it explains something else too." Kyle fidgeted with the cards, felt slightly guilty about razzing Jeremy in front of the guys.
"What's that?"
"Now we know why he's off his game." The guys gave a low laugh, finished out the hand. When the hand was over and the winner raked in the chips, Kyle looked over to Carter.
"Let me ask you something."
"Shoot."
"Is Lynn still hot?"
Carter, laughing, got up to grab another slice of pizza and, deciding he'd had his limit on beer, opted for a soda instead. Taking a bite of the thick pepperoni and half-melted cheese as he settled back into his chair, he nodded in response.
"Oh, yeah. She's still got all that long red hair, the big green eyes, and let's just say that military life seems to have agreed with her. She looked great." Which had done nothing to help stop the dreams he was having about her, he thought.
"Nice." Kyle grinned again. "You gonna ask her out, or what?"
"Ask her out? Geez, she and I, we're barely even friends, man. It would be too weird. Not that I wouldn't want to, but the timing's all wrong." He tilted his chair back, considering. "I wouldn't mind getting to know her again, though."
"Get to know her, or get to know her?" Kyle laughed.
"Shut up" Carted shook his head, laughing again as he set the chair back down on all fours. "Somebody deal the cards and let's play poker."
5
Lynn had been back home a short time, only a few weeks, but things were coming together better than she’d hoped. The house she'd wanted had become available, so she had spent the past weekend moving her few belongings to their new home. As she was still waiting on the remainder of her belongings to arrive, Lynn was living in a house that was close to empty. Her parents had loaned her an air mattress while Bethany and Kari had made sure she had dishes and cooking necessities. Lynn had roughed it before, and in much worse conditions. She would be fine until her things were delivered.
For now, though, she had a job interview to get ready for. Which is why on Monday morning, she stood, in her underwear, in front of a closet that held maybe a third of her clothes. She agonized over what to wear since she hadn't been on an interview since she was eighteen. Other than the military, this would be her first real, 'grown up' job. If she got it, and she wanted it in a desperate way. The position was in the human resources department of Riverview Regional Medical Center. And while the job duties and responsibilities were different in the civilian sector, this job was close to what she had been doing in the service. Lynn was nervous about the interview, but excited at the possibility of doing a job she'd be good at, and missed.
After twenty minutes of debating, she settled on black slacks, and a crisp white blouse, which she would throw a suit jacket over when she got there. She dressed quickly and went into the bathroom to do her hair and makeup. Out of habit, she twisted her hair into the tight knot she had worn for years on active duty, then she applied her makeup, keeping it light and professional. She checked the mirror, making sure her jewelry was understated, before she slid her feet into plain black pumps and grabbing her jacket and purse. She locked the front door behind her, went to her car, slid behind the wheel, and headed towards the hospital.
* * *
Two hours later, Lynn was officially the newest member of the personnel management team in the Human Resources department. Next week, she would be the one to deal with processing financial paperwork, handling timesheets and vacation requests, and helping to place temporary employees into the positions that needed them the most. The interview had gone amazingly well, and she liked the director who had done her best to put Lynn at ease from the moment they sat down in her office. Lynn was given a brief tour and had met some of the people she would work with every day.
She couldn't wait to get started.
For now, though, she would settle for grabbing some early lunch. She wanted to share her news with someone in person, and opted for going to Kari's Café over the more convenient hospital cafeteria. Lynn had the feeling she would eat more than her fair share of lunches in that cafeteria soon. She checked her phone on her way to her car and noticed that Kari had already sent her a text.
How did it go? Dying to know!
Lynn smiled to herself, thinking of how she wanted to reply without giving away the news.
I'm on my way to see you. Are you at the café?
Yeah. Tell me. Good news or bad?
Tell you soon. See you in a bit.
Lynn clicked off her phone and tucked it into her purse before she climbed into her car. The vague text would drive Kari up the wall, but that would only add to the fun of telling her about the job.
Spirits high, she cranked up the radio and sang along as she made the quick drive to the café. She arrived late for the breakfast crowd and early for the lunch rush, but was grateful for it since it would give her more time to chat with her friend. The bell above the door jingled as she swung it open. She all but bounced to the counter and took a seat on one of the high stools.
Kari came through from the kitchen, distracted by the papers she held in her hand. She glanced up to take stock of what was happening in her dining room, and did a double take when saw Lynn sitting there, going over the menu.
"You sneaky little wench." Kari walked over and tossed the papers on the counter in front of Lynn. "You weren't going to let me know you were here?"
"Just got here less than sixty seconds ago." Lynn read over the list of sandwiches, decided that the club sounded good. "Can I get the club sandwich with a sweet tea, please ma'am?"
"Sure. As soon as you tell me how the interview went."
"The interview went fine."
"And?"
"And the director was a very nice lady."
"And??"
"And I start next week!"
"That's
great news!" Kari clapped her hands together. "We should celebrate."
"That's unnecessary."
"It is necessary." Kari looked across the counter at her friend as her hands made their way to her hips. "I realize you don't like a lot of fuss. So we'll keep it low key. Bethany's been itching to have a bonfire. That's right up your alley!"
"Kari, I appreciate the thought, but I really don't need a celebration."
"Well, she will have a bonfire anyway." Kari moved to get Lynn's tea. "Can we at least toast to the new job that night?" She set the glass of amber liquid, garnished with a bright yellow lemon slice, on the counter.
"Yes, we can toast." Lynn slid the straw between her lips and sipped the drink. "That I can live with."
"I'm not sure who all she is inviting, but maybe she can invite Carter to come keep you company." Kari wiggled her eyebrows as she heard the bells over the door jingle. Looking up to see who her newest customer would be, one of those brows arched higher onto her forehead. "Well, well. Speak of the sexy devil."
Lynn swiveled on her stool to see who had come in the door. Sure enough, there stood Carter just inside the doorway, his gaze on her. She gave him a small smile and wave, and turned back towards the counter to give Kari a distressed glance.
"Whatever you do, do not call him over here." Lynn’s voice was now a whispering hiss. "We're barely friends, and it would be awkward."
"Well, prepare for awkward. Because here he comes." Kari patted her friend's hand as Lynn closed her eyes and gave a low groan. "I'm going to go put your sandwich order in with the kitchen." She swept up the papers and went through the doors that led to the kitchen.
Feeling abandoned, Lynn pulled out her phone to check for messages. Hoped, prayed that there was something there that could be a distraction for her. But the screen was blank.
"Hey, Lynn." Carter's deep voice resonated from behind her. She took a breath and fixed a smile on her face before she turned to face him. And immediately felt her mouth go dry. He stood before her, wearing jeans, a snug tee shirt that hugged his muscles, and battered work boots. A baseball cap covered his curly brown hair. All of which carried smudges of grayish-black coal dust. She couldn't say she'd ever had a thing for guys who sported the rough, dirty style, but it was working for Carter. And she wasn't the only one who noticed. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see other women in the café checking him out and whispering to each other.
Her Last Love (Small Town Hearts Trilogy #1) Page 5
