Authors: Meg Maguire
“Understood.”
Libby appeared then, joining Colin in leaning on the bar.
“Sorry you’re not my stalker anymore,” she said to Reece, smiling. “That was my fault, that you lost your gig.”
“You did me a favor.” Reece swung the door to the bar up and switched places with Colin. “I couldn’t keep that up much longer.”
She nodded.
“I’ll see you guys later.” Reece clapped Colin on the arm as he headed for the door.
Libby admired her bartender as he filled a drink order. She studied him from her seat across the counter, fascinated. That strong, tall man.
Her
strong, tall man. Her affectionate feelings had turned darker as the night had worn on, and she grinned at him, hungry.
Colin smirked back. “What?”
Her gaze wandered up and down his body behind his T-shirt and jeans. “You’re mine.”
“For as long as you want me.”
“Do you still want
me
?” she asked in a low whisper.
He laughed. “Always.”
She leaned on her elbows, watching him prepare a gin and tonic, watching his arms flex. She wanted every last inch of that body above her, all those talented muscles laboring for her pleasure. His mouth. His intimate smells. That deep voice moaning in her ear, murmuring the kinds of dark words she ached to hear. All those things she’d spent so much of her life avoiding… It was torture, waiting for one o’clock to arrive.
A few customers came and went, and Libby asked, “Do you like this job, Colin?”
He slung his bar towel over his shoulder and nodded. “I do. I liked it better before we were in trouble, but yeah. This place might be shabby, but it’s my dad’s dream. I’d like to make it how he wanted it to be, someday. How it used to be.”
“What would you be doing if you weren’t working here?”
“Making violent love to you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Well, I’m not sure. I like it here, when I can forget about the money worries. Keeps me close to my family. And I quite like being the neighborhood shrink.” He grinned at her. “Not ambitious enough?”
“Oh no, I wasn’t implying that at all. I mean, credentials aside, what the heck am
I
doing with my life? I’m jealous, actually. I’ll miss this, when I go. I never felt like a part of a family before I found this bar.”
“You’re always welcome here, if we can manage to stay in business. But you’ll probably come back in a year or two and find this place shuttered. Sad but true.”
“I’m more afraid I’ll come back in a year or two and find you married.” Saying it made her stomach churn.
He laughed. “Yeah, right. It only took me twenty-eight years to find you. You’re so replaceable.”
Libby blushed.
“Maybe it’s time for a new tattoo, eh?” He made his hands into brackets and framed them around his heart. “What’s your full first name?”
“Trust me, Bigfoot would be more fitting.” Libby reached over the bar and placed her palm on the spot. “There. Just trace my hand with a dotted line. Put ‘reserved’ in the middle.”
Colin smiled, looking equals parts happy and sad. “I’ll think of something good. Something to do with the ocean. A nautilus, maybe.”
“So long as it’s got tentacles. I’m feeling very possessive.”
He smiled again, tight and shy, and cast his eyes down. A patron drew him away, and Libby watched, recording every little detail of him. She felt cheated. By herself. This man, this wonderful person—her
lover
—and she’d only now let herself be with him.
He turned back. “Why are you frowning?”
“I was so stupid. Taking this long to see what you were offering me.”
He shrugged. “Don’t forget who I grew up with. I’ve been dealing with you cautious types my whole life.”
“I never thought of myself that way.”
He nodded. “I bet most people wouldn’t.”
“Maybe not…” She trailed off, melancholy.
“What did the letter from your dad say, anyway?”
Libby laughed. “Oh God, who knows. I’ll read it later.” She zigzagged her gaze over him. “My mind is on other things.”
“What about your sister? Did you call her?”
“Not yet. I was too upset.” And cowardly.
“Call her tomorrow, or I won’t put out.”
Libby sighed. “That’s a very mean threat.”
He glanced at the clock. “Five hours.”
She bit her lip and squinted at him, scheming.
“What are you thinking?”
“Maybe I could pretend to drop a contact lens behind the bar.” She zeroed in on his crotch and licked her lips. “Could take a long time to find it…”
Colin laughed. “Woman, so help me I will rut you senseless in the stock cupboard if you’re not careful. Don’t tempt me.”
“But I like tempting you. You’re fun.”
He shook his head. “Nah, I’m just easy, and you like winning.”
“So let me.”
Colin leaned in close. “The second this pub shuts down tonight I am going to do terrible things to you up against that jukebox, but in the meantime, let me have my painful hours of waiting. I’ve earned them.” He straightened. “There’s Carly Simon in there. Why don’t you go put ‘Anticipation’ on and make me suffer?”
“Now you’re beating me at
my
game.”
“Go read your letter, Libby.”
“In a minute.”
“Now.”
She crossed her arms. “If this pub goes out of business, this will be one of the last times I’ll get to sit here like this, with you. You can’t rob me of those precious moments.”
“Well, you’ve got closure on everything else, now. I don’t want anything looming, casting shadows over the…” He consulted the clock. “Nine days, four hours and six minutes we’ve got left before you leave me. Go read it, and if it’s horrible, I’ll pour you a drink and you can tell your bartender all about it.”
Dear Liberty,
I will keep this short. It was good to see you looking so well yesterday at dinner. I regret it had to be such a brief reunion.
I want you to know that everything I have done, I did in what I believed to be your best interest. I admit that some of my decisions during the crisis of your teenage years were made from a place of fear and uncertainty. I don’t think you would deny that you and I have never understood one another. Even when you were a child, I felt as if we spoke two different languages. But the decisions I made for you, some of which you may feel were cruel or punitive, I made because I wanted only to keep you safe. I regret that I wasn’t able to offer you the understanding you probably needed then, but please trust that I gave you what I felt was the best solution to a problem I felt powerless to fix.
It will come as no surprise when I say that I do not approve of your boyfriend. But I also cannot imagine that my approval is something that will, or ever has, held much esteem in your eyes. I will say that I am glad you have found someone who clearly respects you and feels compelled to defend you. If this young man is someone you feel deeply for, I wish you the best.
I hope that one day you and I will find it possible to forgive one another our decisions. In the meantime, I want you to know that I will no longer be making your life my business, although letting you go will cause me great anxiety. I worry about you every day, but I promise I will trust you to find your path, even though I may not understand it. I hope that one day you might choose to come to me, to reestablish a relationship on whatever terms you wish, but I promise I will not contact you.
Your mother and I love you very much, and wish you all the best in your life. I hope you figure out where it is you belong, and find happiness there.
Love,
Dad
Epilogue
Seven months later
The midsummer sun streamed through the front window, bouncing off the beer glasses as Paul Nolan’s Pub bustled with a capacity crowd. Reece clambered onto a table and tapped his glass with a spoon until the chatter quieted.
“It’s time for a toast!”
“Oi!” Colin shouted from somewhere toward the back of the room. “You’re not staff, anymore. Get off the bloody furniture.”
“Firstly, I would like to thank everybody for coming this afternoon,” Reece began, looking out across the small sea of family and friends and familiar neighborhood faces. “We’re calling this a reopening, although those of you who have been here amid the dust and clutter for past couple months will remind me that we didn’t actually close, and we thank you for your patience.”
“Cheers, Graham,” Annie yelled.
“But at any rate, I would like to make it clear that I deserve none of the credit for any of this. Some of you know Libby, now—Libby, raise your freakishly long arm, would you? There you are. Yes, you can put your finger down, now. Libby Prentiss is the one to thank for all of the new improvements. She has a shiny new…business investor’s visa, is it called? And she is solely responsible for everything you will like or hate that’s changing around here.”
“Our solvency, for one,” Colin interjected.
“True enough. And also for the karaoke night that’s going to keep whatever poor sod moves into my old room awake until the wee hours every Saturday. Colin also thanks her for her bartending, so he can finally have a blooming day off. So cheers, to Libby!” Reece paused for the clapping and whoops.
“A toast to Libby also for…everything. For everything she has done for this family in the past, what? Nine months? She and I have had our differences of opinion—”
A loud laugh from Libby.
“But I can honestly say that she and my brother are possibly the most well-suited couple I have ever seen, and I hope the next time I give a toast it will be as her brother-in-law.”
The crowd let out a collective
Awwwww
.
“She hasn’t got a ring on him yet, but the helmet’s a bloody good start.”
“Hear, hear!” Annie shouted.
“But of course the biggest thanks of all go to my brother, Colin, who as everybody knows has kept this pub and this family together and afloat for the last couple years, and even before that. It’s because of him that we’re standing here now.” Reece set down his glass to lead the applause.
“I should also add ‘happy birthday’, so you people will stop asking me whether or not this is a Valentine’s party. So happy birthday, Col. If you’re anything like Annie, this will be the first but not the
last
time you turn twenty-nine.”
“Oh, ha ha ha.”
“Mum, anything to add? Hang on, she’s already crying.”
Marjorie pulled herself together and moved to the bar. She cleared her throat. “This pub was Paul’s biggest dream… Oh, here I go again.” She took a tissue from Annie and recomposed herself. “Okay. Thank you, thank you,
thank you
, Reece, for coming home when we needed you. And thank you to Annie and Mark, who met in this very pub, of course. And to all our wonderful customers and neighbors, and to Libby, especially, for everything she’s done for this family and for my son. And to Colin, who has been my rock for years and years. Your father would be so proud of you today.” She waved her hand to say she was too overwrought to go on. Colin cut through the crowd and hugged her before taking Reece’s place on top of the table.
“Thank you, Mum, and thank you, Constable Nolan,” Colin said once the heartfelt clapping died down. “I’ll reiterate everyone’s thanks to Libby, for everything she’s done for this place. Some of you will note that the so-called function room is actually functioning again for the first time since the late nineties. We’ve got a new pool table and a digital jukebox, and, as Reece said, karaoke. Reece will be getting his karaoke cherry popped tonight, if his word is any good.” He looked down at his brother. “What do you think, ‘I Fought the Law’? Something by the Police? Public Enemy? Something fitting, at any rate, so look forward to that once he’s got a few more in him. Oh, and pub trivia, right? Mondays, we think, coming someday soon. Libby will not be allowed to play because she’s too bloody smart. Also, we can afford to hire staff for the first time in years, so it won’t just be sad old me behind the bar for your entertainment.”
A couple of girls expressed their exaggerated disappointment.
“Settle down, ladies. And we’ve replaced our horrible house wine with something actually potable, so cheers for that, Libby. You’re the only one who drinks it, anyway. And thank you for… Everything.” He cut his toast off with a weak smile. “So have at it, everyone. We’ll be starting the barbecue up on the roof in a bit, and the kegs are open for business. Cheers!”
“Cheers!” everyone echoed.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Libby interrupted, coming forward. “Doesn’t the new co-owner get to say a few words?”
“Silent partner,” Colin corrected with a zipping motion across his lips.
She crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.
Colin hopped down, and she joined him behind the bar, setting out stacks of clean glasses.
“Excited?” she asked.
“Not as excited as the day you landed, but yeah. This will go down as one of my life’s highlights, I reckon. You?”
“Ditto. I’m glad you finally decided to accept my help.”
Colin laughed. “Help, nothing. This place is half your responsibility now, sucker.”
“I’ll take it.”
Colin laid a discreet hand on her lower back as he wiped the bar, racing to keep up with the chaos. “Probably not exactly the future you dreamed of when you were studying chemistry or plotting to save the third world, though, eh?”
She smiled, grabbing dirty glasses and loading them in the washer. “No, I can’t say I ever pictured myself becoming a businesswoman… But I also never thought I’d fall in love. Being wrong feels pretty fantastic, though, so you won’t catch me complaining. I like wrong.”
“That’s good, because I’m going to do some things to you later that are probably downright illegal.”
She pushed the dishwasher door closed with her hip and grinned. “Is that any way to talk to the boss?”
“Partner,” he corrected. “Though we shouldn’t be allowed to work together,” Colin said, looking her up and down. “Can’t risk the distraction.”
“Yes, heaven forbid. Plus we need your tips if we’re ever going to get the floor refinished.” She studied his face a long moment. “Happy birthday, by the way.”