Page 13 of The Calendar of New Beginnings (Dare Valley #9)

By the time happy hour officially rolled around, the noise level in the bar had risen to concert-level.

Lucy found herself wedged against the bar while her dad built beers like a pro with Mike, his main bartender, and reconnected her with his local patrons.

Of course, she’d seen many of them during her brief visits home, but those visits had typically been limited to a few days at a time, meaning there was usually only time to connect with family and close friends.

It felt good to get reacquainted with a wider net of people.

Some of them were long-time Dare Valley residents she had known since she was a little girl.

A few of her dad’s friends chucked her under the chin, joking that maybe his hair would finally grow back now that she’d returned.

Like she’d made it fall out in the first place.

She even chatted with a few people she’d grown up with. Patrick O’Shaughnessy, a fireman, still had a crooked smile and streaky blond hair. He was a couple years younger, but he’d lived on their block and played Ghosts in the Graveyard with her and the other neighborhood kids.

Her dad also introduced her to several newbies, who’d moved to Dare Valley from bigger cities, seeking more time with their families and less time commuting. She’d never remember everyone’s names, but it turned out they knew hers. According to the bar patrons, her dad talked about her frequently.

One of the newbies, a young doctor who knew her parents, explained that many of Dare Valley’s new arrivals worked in the town’s expanding medical industry.

Dr. Jeff Geller was easy on the eyes, but his faux hawk—perfectly gelled to a point in the middle of his forehead—made her want to giggle.

He’d signed up for a three-year stint at Dare Valley General to lower his student loan payments since it was technically still categorized as a rural hospital.

“Medical practices are popping up everywhere to support our patients,” he told her. “You heard General won an award for being a leading regional hospital, right?”

Lucy shook her head, keeping an eye out for Andy and Danny, who were due to arrive any moment now.

“No, I hadn’t heard that,” she said, soaking in the view of her dad building beers and laughing at something one of his regulars was going on about. She really had missed this place.

“Of course, there’s some like your pal, Dr. Andy Hale,” Jeff said, giving her a sly smile, “who left because of the insane hours in city hospitals.”

“How do you know Andy is my pal?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Your mom talks about you,” Jeff said, making her frown.

Was her mom hoping to set her up with this cute, too-young doctor? Sure, her mom might want her to hook up with Andy, but Lucy wouldn’t put it past her to consider back-up options. When it came to getting grandchildren, Ellen O’Brien would pull out all the stops.

“What exactly did my mother say about me?” she asked.

“Besides the fact that you’re wicked smart, funny, and pretty?”

That line didn’t much surprise her. He’d been looking his fill as he sipped his Guinness, and in all honesty, Lucy had been enjoying his eyes on her.

Sadly, it had been a while since she’d had a pleasant encounter with male admiration.

The last one had been with two frisky chimpanzees in Uganda, who had pounded their massive chests upon seeing her.

It had made her chortle to be the subject of that kind of male admiration.

“I’m all that and more,” she said, grabbing a handful of her dad’s spicy peanuts from the bowl on the bar. “What else did my mom say?”

He brushed closer, like he thought he was scoring points, which was sort of annoying. “Ellen said you have the biggest heart out there and that any man would be lucky to have you.”

Lucy tried to appreciate her mother’s compliments. She really did. “That’s nice of her.”

“I have a secret to tell you,” he murmured.

She edged back as his breath tickled her ear. She was almost afraid to ask. “What’s that?”

“April’s recruited me for the calendar. I have some ideas for you to consider.”

Great. Dr. Faux Hawk was part of the hot dog crew. “Oh, really?”

His head darted closer, making her think of pigeon feeding in a park. Any earlier excitement she’d felt faded.

“My mom died of breast cancer three years ago,” he said quietly.

Great. Just when she was about to kick him to the curb, he had to go all vulnerable on her. “I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged, straightening and giving her space again. “Shit happens. I’m just glad to be part of something that helps. Plus, it’ll be fun.”

Fun might be stretching it, but Jeff had driven home something important.

Even though her mom and April had told her everyone doing the calendar had lost someone, Lucy hadn’t really registered what that meant.

Sure, her mom and April might like to joke about cantaloupes, but there were plenty of deeper emotions behind this enterprise.

Lucy knew all about joking up a storm to cover pain.

Right then and there, she decided she was going to give everything she could to this calendar.

“I’m glad you’re on board, Jeff,” she told him with a smile.

Okay, so it sucked that her mother had obviously told everyone she’d agreed to do the calendar before bothering to tell Lucy there was a calendar.

“Me too,” he said, checking her out again.

She wanted to roll her eyes, but someone grabbed her hand just then, making her jump.

“Hi, Miss Lucy,” Danny called out, grinning up at her in his Star Wars shirt and jeans. Could he be any more adorable?

She let a smile spread across her face. “Hi there, Danny Hale. Wanna sit on the bar? My dad always let me when I was your age.”

A glance over her shoulder brought Andy into view.

He was taller than most of Hairy’s patrons and looked well dressed in a dark blue button-down shirt and tan slacks—or at least that’s how she read the colors.

Her friend had never much gone for the casual look of jeans and a T-shirt.

She always looked like a slob next to him, and today she was no different in her worn jeans and ribbed green top.

“Can I, Dad?” Danny asked, and when he nodded, Lucy lifted the little boy up on the bar top.

“Hey, Andy,” she said to her friend, a little self-conscious of how Jeff was watching them.

“Hi. You planning on getting my kid to serve beers?” Andy asked, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

She could feel everyone in the surrounding area watching them now, including her dad. “Not yet,” she answered. “I don’t corrupt minors.”

“Funny,” Andy said, keeping his cool despite all the eager eyes on them. “How’s it going, Jeff?”

“Pretty good, man,” Jeff responded, shaking his hand. “I’m going to play some pool. Wanna come, Lucy?”

He was sweet. But…he was testing out her feelings by asking her to accompany him. “I have to order my friend a drink.” She pointed to Danny. “It was good talking to you, Jeff. I’ll see you around.”

His eyes held hers for a tad longer than appropriate. “Sure. Come find me if you change your mind. See you later, Andy.”

Her friend waggled his eyebrows at her as Jeff walked off. “Some things never change.”

She socked him, and her dad, who was still watching them, laughed and turned away. “What do you mean?”

“You always stir up male interest wherever you go,” he said, shaking his head.

While it was true, she wasn’t in the mood to converse on the subject. “How would you know? I haven’t lived here in forever.”

He gave her a bland look.

“Can I help being friendly?” Since she wanted to consider that subject good and closed, she turned to Danny. “What would you like to drink, kiddo?”

When the boy opened his mouth, Andy said, “No soda today, Danny. You had your quota for the week at Mrs. O’Brien’s party last night.”

“But Dad!” Danny cried, swinging his little legs off the bar. “It’s a special drink if Ms. Lucy is paying.”

Her lips twitched, and Andy shot her a look.

“Not a word,” he told her.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied, chuckling under her breath .

Andy wouldn’t want her to tell Danny that once upon a time his dad had been her soda partner in crime.

Her mom had rationed her intake as a kid since her father would give her endless soda whenever she visited the bar.

Somehow, her mother had believed in the evils of excessive sugar in children before it became popular.

That hadn’t stopped Lucy. She’d found other ways to get her fix when she wasn’t at Hairy’s.

Andy had let her steal cans from the Hale refrigerator on more than one occasion, and sometimes he’d even sneaked them into her house.

She’d drunk soda in her bathroom and thrown the cans in her neighbor’s garbage on her way to school.

As far as she knew, her mother was still none the wiser.

“Milk or orange juice today, Danny?” Andy asked, making his son frown.

“How about we try a new drink?” Lucy asked, making the kid perk right back up. “Milk and orange juice. Maybe it will taste like orange sherbet.”

Danny nodded enthusiastically. “Cool.”

Lucy asked her father to make two glasses of her concoction. Andy selected a Murphy’s. When their drinks came, Lucy eyed the milk/juice glasses with suspicion. This might not have been her best idea, but she liked trying new things.

“Well, no one found a diamond without looking in the rough.”

Danny looked at her in confusion. Andy rolled his eyes.

“On three,” she told the little boy. “One. Two. Three.”

The chalky mixture hit her tongue when she took a sip, and she gagged. “Oh, yuck. It’s like drinking paint.”

“Blah!” Danny shouted dramatically, setting his glass on the bar top and grabbing his neck for effect. “That’s the most horrible drink ever!”

Andy signaled to her father, his lips twitching. “Orange juice please for my industrious son. Straight.”

“Coming right up,” her dad said, his grin as wide as a dinner plate. “Lucy?”

The foulness of the drink saturated her mouth. “I might need a Jameson to wash that down. Neat.”

“The only way to drink the water of life,” her dad said, all Irish-like. “Coming up.”

“Can I have a Jameson too, Dad?” Danny asked hopefully.

“Yes,” Andy said, tousling his brown hair. “When you’re twenty-one.”

His face fell. “But that’s forever. Mr. O’Brien says it’s water.”

“Water with alcohol,” Andy corrected. “But you can have fries with your burger.”

“Cool!” Danny said. “Sometimes Dad makes me eat salad. It’s horrible—even if all my aunts eat it like candy. Oh, except Aunt Natalie. She likes fries as much as I do.”

Should she act horrified in front of Danny in camaraderie? She was tempted, but Andy looked way too serious about the subject, so she kept silent as her dad brought their drinks.

“Speaking of my son’s French-fry loving Aunt Natalie, she’s meeting us here with Blake and Matt and Jane and Moira,” Andy told her. “So you can spill this thing you’ve had me stewing over all day.”

Thinking about Jeff and the other members of the hot dog patrol, her lips twitched.

How was Andy going to react to the notion of an equal-opportunity calendar?

Personally, she wasn’t sure how she felt about taking risqué photos of Jeff considering how he was trying to cozy up to her.

Sure as shooting, she wouldn’t be taking those photos alone .

“You might have to pry it out of me,” she said, sipping her Jameson instead of downing it like she might have if a child wasn’t around.

Danny downed his orange juice like he’d been on a fast.

Andy leaned over her, trying to be menacing.

“You couldn’t intimidate a fly,” she told him, pushing him back.

Danny barked out a laugh and Lucy joined in. Was there anything better than kid giggles? Lucy had learned that one of the major indications a country was in serious trouble was the absence of children laughing.

“You forget,” Andy said, putting his hands on his hips like he’d taken a Toughen-Up pill. “I know you can’t stand to be tickled. I’ll have it out of you in five seconds.” He poked her under the ribs and laughed when she lurched away.

Danny’s eyes widened before he started laughing with his dad. “Get her, Dad.”

“Cut that out,” she demanded as Andy’s fingers fluttered against her side again, “or I’ll kill you.”

Danny’s mouth dropped open, and Andy gave her a hard look.

“What Miss Lucy meant to say?—”

“Was that your dad was mean to tickle me,” she interrupted, realizing she couldn’t talk like that in front of Danny. “But I shouldn’t have said that last part. I was only teasing.”

The little boy’s nod was punctuated by his wide-eyed gaze. “There’s good teasing, and there’s bad teasing. Right, Dad?”

“Right,” Andy said, sending him a proud, paternal smile.

Apparently Lucy needed to work on her conversation around little people. The kids she spoke with usually were grown-ups in little bodies, wizened by everything they’d experienced in war. “I’m sorry.”

Andy bumped her with his hip. “Forgiven.”

“It’s okay, Miss Lucy,” Danny said, gazing at her with those big puppy eyes now. “You didn’t know you were being bad.”

Indeed. It took some effort not to laugh at his sincerity.

Andy cleared his throat. “How about we grab a table?”

“Good idea.” She held her arms out to Danny. “I had Dad reserve one in the corner for us.”

“Thinking ahead like always,” Andy said as Danny jumped into her arms without fear.

Andy grabbed their drinks, and together, they meandered to the open table. She smiled at the dancing leprechauns, arching rainbows, and pots of gold on the wall.

“What are you smiling at, Miss Lucy?” Danny asked, leaning his elbows on the table and staring at her.

“This place,” she said, feeling warmth for her dad’s bar roll through her heart. “Some things never change.”

“No, some things don’t,” Andy said with a soft smile as he settled onto the bench across from her like he had hundreds of times growing up.

As she gazed at her best friend in her dad’s bar, Lucy was grateful their friendship had never changed either. Despite the sparks of attraction she’d occasionally felt for him, nothing was worth risking their connection.