Page 56 of When I Should’ve Stayed (Red Bridge #2)

Clay

My bar buzzes with noise and chatter and DJ Mikey blaring “Thriller” from his Bluetooth speakers while several townspeople dance.

I pour two beers for Sheriff Pete and Mayor Wallace, sliding the pint glasses over to them with a smile.

They offer a nod of thanks and proceed to go back to whatever town gossip they’re whispering about.

Earl’s Halloween party is in full swing, and Marty and I are busy behind the bar making sure everyone’s drinks are filled and re filled.

I move over to Fran and her husband Derrick, taking their orders and making quick work of their drinks, but once their Long Island iced teas are in hand, the air shifts in the room.

My eyes dart to the door, and that’s when I see her.

Josie walks inside my bar, arm in arm with her sister Norah. They’re both dressed like Disney Princesses, but it’s Josie’s costume that catches me off guard the most.

Snow White. She showed up to my bar dressed like Snow White.

Instantly, a visual of Summer’s coloring book page that Charlie gave us floats around inside my head, and my heart grows tenfold inside my chest. Did she wear that on purpose? She knows what that costume means, and she knows I know what that costume means.

That can’t be a coincidence, right? I shoved that paper in her pocket just two months ago, the night we said goodbye to Summer together.

Both she and Norah walk up to the other end of the bar, but before Marty can take their orders, I all but shove him out of the way with a smile. “I got this.”

He just shrugs and goes to the opposite end of the bar to take Harold Metcalf’s order, and I flash a big-ass smile in Josie’s direction. “Fancy seeing you here. At my bar.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ve been here before. Quite a few times, in fact.”

Oh, I know. I hate like hell that Ben was having the kind of hard time he was, but seeing Josie in my bar those nights was the highlight of my year.

Josie might come across as having a tough shell, but on the inside, she’s soft and gooey and warm. That tender heart of hers has always been one of my favorite things about her. And it felt like a fucking honor when I got to be one of the few people she showed it to.

“So…can we get a drink or…?” Josie questions, and I grin.

“What can I get you, ladies?”

“I’ll just have a water,” Norah says, and it’s a brief reminder of the conversation I had with Ben a few weeks ago, when he told me his now-fiancée is pregnant.

“And I’ll have a glass of white wine,” Josie says, but I don’t miss the way she pointedly averts her eyes from mine.

I don’t take it personally, though. Again, she’s in my bar. In a Snow White costume.

It’s not long before their drinks are in front of them, and Norah practically downs her entire glass of water before Josie can take a sip of her wine.

I smirk, take Norah’s empty glass, and refill it. She smiles gratefully at me when I hand it back to her.

“Thank you.”

“How are you feeling, Norah?” I ask her without really asking her. I’m not sure who in town knows that she’s pregnant, and I refuse to be the one who spills the beans if they’re not ready.

“Well, very thirsty,” she says with a grin. “But I’m pretty good. Though, Josie might say that I’m a little bossy.” She playfully elbows Josie in the side, and Josie snorts.

“Sure, sis. If you want to put it mildly…you’re a little bossy,” Josie razzes. “Not over-the-top dramatic or anything like that. Just…a teensy bit bossy.”

“I like to call it persistent,” a deep voice chimes in, and all three of us look up to find Bennett standing there, dressed in a costume I saw him wear one year when he went trick-or-treating with Summer.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Norah exclaims, and she doesn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his big shoulders.

Bennett smiles down at her, his eyes filled with the kind of love that I know is in my eyes whenever I look at Josie.

“And you’re Kristoff,” she says, and her voice shakes with emotion. “God, Summer would’ve loved that.”

Bennett’s smile doesn’t falter. “She would’ve, wouldn’t she?”

“Yes.” Norah nods, and I don’t miss the one single tear that slips from her lids.

He presses a kiss to Norah’s lips. “Though, I will say, I do think you look better in it than me.”

Norah’s head falls back as a peal of giggles leave her lips. Her tears are happy. His smile is bittersweet. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on her face that day. She couldn’t stop laughing.”

Bennett’s eyes turn wistful, and Norah leans forward to hug him tightly. She whispers something into his ear, and he leans back to meet her eyes again.

“I’m here because I want to be.”

And when Bennett pulls Norah in for a deep kiss, my eyes flit to Josie. She’s looking at me, directly at me, but when we lock eyes, she quickly looks away.

My mind reels. And my heart soars. And I hardly notice when Norah and Bennett skitter off to go chat with a few people in town. But I do notice when Josie grabs her glass of wine and walks away from the bar without a word.

And I watch her the entire way as she heads over to the pool tables where Tad Hanson is dressed like a cowboy and his brother Randy sports a Men in Black costume.

Back in the day, Josie and I used to run those fucking pool tables.

Whenever a random passerby would stop in The Country Club, she’d play the part of the clueless blonde, and I’d help her bait them into betting money on a few games.

We had a whole routine. And she’d purposely lose the first two games.

Just completely bomb them. But by game three, that’s when my little pool shark would come out, and a few games later, those bastards would always end up leaving my bar with their wallets empty and their tails tucked between their legs.

One time, we even managed to get Grandma Rose to join in the charade, and that woman being the Scheming Sally that she was, it was our biggest payday of all. We split the cash three ways and laughed about it for hours at Grandma Rose’s place over takeout from the diner.

Those were the good old days.

But as I stand here, watching Josie talk Tad’s brother Randy into a game, I realize just how much I want those good old days back. How much I want her back.

And when I see how terribly she’s playing during the first game, my mind is made up.

She’s here. In my bar. And I refuse to let this opportunity pass.