Taking A Shot (34 page)

Like get a life of her own.

She bent her head, guilt washing over her. Last year her father had nearly died of a heart attack. She had no business pointing imaginary fingers at him for his lack of duty to the bar. He could do whatever he wanted with his life. She was just damn glad he was still alive.

Ty patted her thigh under the table.

“You okay?”

She gave him a quick nod. “Fine.”

“How’s the bar, Jenna?” her mother asked.

She lifted her head, the smile plastered back on. “Doing great. Really busy almost every night of the week.”

“Weeknights, too?” her dad asked.

“Weeknights, too. With basketball and hockey, they keep the place hopping. It also doesn’t hurt that several of the Ice players have made Riley’s their home away from home.”

Her mom cast a warm smile Ty’s way. “We appreciate you coming to the bar. Our patrons love it when sports figures show up there.”

“Jenna does a great job with Riley’s. It’s a fun atmosphere, the food is amazing, and the people are friendly. The guys and me consider it home.”

“Good,” her dad said. “We hope you always feel that way. It’s always been home to Kathleen and me.”

“You should come up there sometime, Dad,” Jenna said. “Your regulars miss you.”

He shrugged. “Not as much fun as it used to be.”

“Because you can’t drink beer anymore,” her mother teased. “Which doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun with your old friends.”

“And you can drink the non-alcoholic beer,” Jenna reminded him. “Tastes like the real thing. I’d love to have you there. So would everyone else.”

“Maybe I’ll pop in one of these nights, make sure my girlie here is doing as good a job as I did.”

If this kept up she’d need dental work before the end of the night. Her jaw ached from clenching it.

After dinner and dishes everyone moved into the living room. Her mom picked up her knitting, and Tara and Liz huddled together working on something for Liz’s wedding, while the guys watched the rest of the race.

She and Ty were putting the rest of the pots and pans away in the kitchen.

“This would be a good time for you to mention expansion,” Ty said.

She handed a pot over to him. He was crouched on the floor, sliding them into the cabinet.

“What expansion?”

“Opening a new bar.”

“No. Not a good time for that at all.” It would never be a good time.

He took the last pot, stacked it with the others, then stood and leaned against the counter. “Why not?”

“You heard my dad. I’m not sure he even has confidence I’m running Riley’s the way he likes.”

Tyler chuckled. “That sounded more like good-natured teasing to me.”

She pulled up one of the stools and half sat on it. “You don’t know my dad. He may sound good-natured, but he’s fiercely protective of the bar. And he’s traditional. He’d never go for an expansion idea.”

“And you’ll never know that if you don’t discuss it with him. How’s the capital situation?”

“Plentiful.”

“Then put a business plan together and present it to him. It’s a good idea, Jenna, and one where you could capitalize on your natural talent.”

“You’re really pushing me on this. Why?”

“One, because I think your talent is being wasted on being a bartender. Two, because I think if you opened up a second bar, you could sing there, which would make you happier because you’d actually be doing something you love to do. Three, because it’s a sound business investment. You already know how to run a successful bar. I think you could make this work.”

Everything he said made sense. It was logical.

But she wasn’t going to do it. She shook her head and slid off the stool. “Too risky. Dad would never go for it.”

More important, she would never go for it.

She started out of the room, but he took her hands. “Then make him go for it. You’re the most argumentative woman I’ve ever known. You’re telling me you can’t stand up to your father? Go to him armed with a sound business plan and make him listen. Sing for
your parents. Take them to the club we went to and show them how this could work.”

She jerked her hands away. “No. I’m not going to do this. Just because you think it’s a great idea doesn’t mean it’s something I want to do.”

“You’re afraid to take this step, just like you’re afraid to sing in front of your family.”

She glanced down the hall to make sure no one had heard. “I’m tired of having the same conversations with you. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

But Ty obviously wasn’t going to let this go. “At first I thought it was a fear of failure. Now I think you’re afraid to succeed.”

“That’s ridiculous. I just don’t think a second bar is a good idea.”

“Which has nothing to do with singing in front of your family. You’re afraid you’re going to be so good they’re going to want to hear you again. Or maybe they’ll get the idea you should do something with that spectacular voice of yours. And then you’ll be forced to step outside your comfort zone—this cocoon you’ve so carefully wrapped yourself in—and do something about being so unhappy.”

“What? Where is this coming from? I’m not unhappy.”

He stepped in closer. “Yeah, you are.”

She moved back. “No, I’m not, and you have a hell of a lot of nerve presuming to know how I feel. I’m perfectly content with the way things are. I was content before you came into it and I’ll be content after you’re gone.”

He arched a brow. “You trying to get rid of me, Jenna?”

“No. I don’t know. Stop pushing me. I don’t like it.”

“I’m trying to help you.”

“You’re not helping me. This isn’t what I want. And if you think it is, then you haven’t been listening all the times I’ve told you.”

He took a step back and raised his hands. “If that’s what you think, then I’ll back off.”

She nodded, but felt miserable, like an invisible wall had just been raised between them.

“I’m going into the living room so they don’t wonder what we’re talking about in here.”

“Fine.”

She walked out, leaving Ty alone in the kitchen.

Well, that went well.

TYLER GRABBED A SODA FROM THE REFRIGERATOR, needing a few minutes to cool down and collect his thoughts. He took a step outside in the backyard.

It was cold out. He should have grabbed his coat. Ah, fuck it. He’d survive. He lived on the ice, anyway. The cold might clear out his brain cells, give him some clarity where Jenna was concerned.

“You training for some iron man endurance contest?”

He looked up to find Mick standing on the steps. Mick closed the door behind him.

“Uh, no. Are you?”

Mick laughed. “Hell no. It’s bad enough I have to play football in the cold. Not a big fan of it.”

“And here I thought you were the tough, macho quarterback.”

“Hey, I like dome stadiums. Comfortable seventy-two degrees. Don’t ruin my rep by leaking that one to the media, though.”

“Now I have ammunition to use against you. Bad move on your part.”

“Come on.” Mick moved off the steps and led Tyler to the garage. They went in through the side door. It wasn’t heated, but it was a damn sight warmer than standing outside with the bitter wind biting through their clothes.

Mick leaned against one of the two cars that sat covered in the garage. “So what’s going on with you and my sister?”

Tyler arched a brow. “In what way?”

“In the I-heard-you-arguing-in-the-kitchen way.”

“None of your business.”

Mick’s lips lifted and he scratched the side of his nose. “Probably what I would have said to someone who tried to interfere in my relationship with Tara.”

“There’s nothing going on. I care about Jenna. We just don’t always see eye to eye on things.”

“My parents like you, and so does Jenna. I can tell.”

“Then that should be good enough for you.”

“It should be.”

“But?”

“You know, as the oldest, and especially having a little sister, it’s always going to be my job to look out for her.”

“Of course.”

“But I also know she’s stubborn as hell. She doesn’t make it easy for guys.”

Ty decided to listen and see where Mick was going to go with this.

“She can be…difficult.”

“Understatement,” Ty said.

Mick laughed. “She’s independent, tough as any man, and she’ll dig in her heels if you try to change her.”

“I wouldn’t want to change her. I like who she is.”

“But she’s also fiercely loyal to the people she loves. And she’s never brought a guy around before, so she thinks you’re something special.”

Ty looked down at the ground, then gave Mick a sidelong look. “Well, thanks for that. I think she’s pretty special, too. I just don’t know how to give her what I think she really wants.”

“What do you think she really wants?”

“That’s not for me to say.”

Mick crossed his arms. “Okay, now I’m confused.”

“Sorry, man. There’s only so much I can say without betraying a confidence.”

Mick pushed off the car and slapped Ty on the shoulder. “That’s okay. She trusts you with her secrets, and you keep them. That’s good. And I don’t know how to talk about something I don’t have all the facts about, but if you think there’s something she wants and she isn’t going after it, push her.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.”

“She’ll hate that.”

Mick laughed and nodded. “Yeah, she will. But do you think she’ll ever be really be happy if she doesn’t get what she wants?”

JENNA WAITED FOR A WHILE, CHEWING ON A HANGNAIL while Ty cooled his heels in the kitchen. Mick had gone in there, so she figured he was shooting the breeze with her brother.

He finally surfaced and hung out with the family for a while, but it was obvious the dynamic had changed between them. Ty took a seat next to her dad and focused his attention on the race. Jenna sat with Liz and Tara, listening to wedding planning, but she didn’t give the conversation her full focus. She kept skirting glances across the room at Ty, who hadn’t looked at her at all.

He was mad. Or hurt. Or something

She couldn’t help that. She knew what she wanted, and what she didn’t want.

Another bar would be nice—one where there’d be music and singing instead of sports, but that was a fantasy that would never come true. Ty pushing her about it wasn’t going to make it happen.

She should have never sung for him, should have never allowed
herself to even think it was a possibility. Then he’d never know, and they wouldn’t be having this ridiculous fight.