Midnight Run (17 page)

“Never thought you’d
become a Wall Street banker!” Sharlene shook her head. “I always
thought you’d be an artist, remember?”

Amy shrugged,
uncomfortably aware that Carol and Roxy were listening to her
carefully. She still dabbled with her art; in fact, she’d made
Sharlene a beautiful pendant with a new method of wire weaving she
was experimenting with, but it didn’t seem like the right time to
give it to her. “It pays the bills,” Amy finally said, deciding not
to mention the jewelry until she was alone with Sharlene. Her job
more than paid the bills, and after all the horrible publicity the
industry got during the recession, Amy was sure they all knew it,
but she desperately didn’t want to talk about herself. “What about
you?” She asked, turning to Carol and Roxy. “What do you both
do?”

“I’m a hairdresser,”
Carol offered, “and Roxy runs the Pine Tree Inn.”

Roxy grinned. “I’m
guessing that’s where you’re staying, since it’s the only hotel for
miles.”

Amy nodded. “I
haven’t checked in yet; I wanted to make sure I was on time for the
party, so I drove straight here.”

Joanne returned with
a tray of open amber beer bottles. She passed them around, and then
lifted hers toward Sharlene. “Here’s to you, sweetheart. May your
wedding day be perfect!”

“And may the night be
even better,” Carol added with a wink.

Sharlene
giggled, and everyone clinked bottles. Amy took a tentative sip of
beer and tried to hide her disgusted expression.
Still tastes awful; I
guess some things never change.
She hadn’t had beer since college, and she wondered if it
would be rude of her to order another Manhattan, but before she
could decide, the shrill sound of microphone feedback filled the
bar, and a few patrons swore.

“Sorry about that,
folks,” a deep, mellow voice said, and Amy’s eyes swiveled to the
stage.

“Where’d he come
from?” She asked appreciatively, taking in tight jeans, a vintage
T-shirt, and five o’clock shadow.

Sharlene laughed.
“Same place as Roxy. That’s her brother.”

Amy flushed. “Oh.
Sorry.” Her eyes swung back to the stage despite herself.

Roxy took a swig of
her beer and grinned good-naturedly. “Don’t be. Sean’s the hottest
piece of man-candy around, and don’t he know it!”

“Second hottest,
thank you very much.” Sharlene said proudly. “Or have you all
forgotten Jeremiah?”

Amy’s eyes strayed to
the stage again, but she pulled them away and looked at Sharlene.
“Do I get to see a picture?”

Sharlene pulled out
her phone with a wide smile. “There we are at the vineyard where he
proposed,” she tapped the screen, “and here’s him at the beach.”
She sighed. “Just look at those abs!”

An acoustic
guitar on an amp filled the room, cutting off Amy’s reply, and she
glanced back at the stage. Roxy’s brother looked even sexier with
the instrument slung over his shoulder, his eyes closed in
concentration as he strummed the opening bars of “Cats in the
Cradle”.
The only
thing that isn’t perfect about him is that ridiculous
T-shirt,
Amy thought, taking a
sip of her drink before remembering she was still holding the beer.
She made a face and finally pulled her eyes away from the
musician.

Carol was watching
her, and when Amy met her eyes, the redhead winked. “Nothing wrong
with looking!”

“Aren’t you dating
anybody back in the city?” Joanne leaned forward, curiously.

Amy shrugged.
“Not right now.”
Not for the past three years
, she thought with a pang of loneliness. “There’s just not
enough time,” she added in what she hoped was a casual
tone.

“Well, you never know
what will happen at a wedding!” Carol giggled, and Amy glanced
nervously at Roxy.

The woman just
smiled. “He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

“He won’t need to
take care of anything,” Amy protested loudly over the music. “I was
just looking.”

Sharlene winked.
“Window shopping usually leads to buying.”

Not
in this case
, Amy thought,
resisting the urge to look at the stage again.
A lazy musician isn’t what I’m
looking for, no matter how hot he is.
She didn’t want to piss the women off, though, so she
just smiled and forced herself to take another swallow of
beer.

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