Panic gave way to relief. “You sure you want to go to the trouble?”
“What else am I going to do? I don’t have any wheels to get me where I need to go. And it’ll be one small repayment for everything you’ve done for me.” A little cloud passed through her eyes.
Whoa.Was he actually reading her signals? Concern had him blurting out, “What’s wrong?”
She flapped a hand. “Nothing. I just remembered I sent my office an email first thing this morning, but I haven’t heard back.”
“They’re probably stuck too. Wanna call them?”
She pulled a face. “No.”
He was about to ask about her reaction when she abruptly turned and brushed past him. “I’ll find Dixie and get started on that box.” Her honeysuckle fragrance—or was that jasmine?—drifted over him, and he fought the urge to snuffle like Rover. Instead, he fell in behind her—also like Rover. “I’ll go with you.”
Soothing the dog, he closed the door with a promise to come back. He jogged after Hailey, who was at the foot of the stairs saying hello to Reece. As she walked away, Reece’s gaze went with her, fueling a flicker of jealousy in Noah’s chest.
“Hey,” Noah barked.
Reece whipped his head up. “Heard you need some help behind the bar tonight.”
“I need helpeverywhere,”Noah snapped.
Reece’s eyebrows climbed up his forehead.
Noah muttered an apology. “Sorry. Guess I’m … People are going to want to get their Irish on tonight, and I’m not sure we have everything we need.”
Dixie materialized from out of nowhere. “Boss, about that. I didn’t want to spoil your appetite, but now that you’ve eaten, I have some bad news.” She filled him in on the state of his staff, and a sinking feeling had his stomach churning the stew like it was wet cement. Saint Patrick’s was the bar’s second biggest night, right behind New Year’s Eve. He was down a third of his waitstaff, and winter’s last hurrah was about to cap an abysmal first quarter for his business.
She patted his arm. “Don’t worry. I have some ideas. Oh, and one more thing.” The knots in Noah’s shoulders tightened. “I got a call late yesterday about the band you hired. Their manager said they can’t make it.”
Noah clenched his jaw to keep it from exploding. “And you’re justnowtelling me?”
“Well, you were so exhausted and all, and I didn’t want to bother you after you went upstairs. Besides, what could you do about it? I told Dewey I thought it best to let you sleep.” She glanced over Noah’sshoulder. “Isn’t that right, Dewey?” To Noah, she added, “Dewey’s the one that took the call, but him or me’s the same thing.”
The absurd notion that theywerethe same thing streaked through Noah’s brain. Dixie and Dewey reminded him of a matching pair of salt and pepper shakers. Not the same, but best together and not a duo that should ever be separated. Why this ridiculous thought was taking up space in his head escaped him. His circuits were likely fried after this last piece of shitty news.
Dewey faced him and grimaced, but then Dewey always seemed to grimace. “He didn’t want to chance getting over the pass.”
Noah shoved frustrated hands through his hair. “I’ve been advertising these guys for-fucking-ever, and they pull out at the eleventh hour because of a little weather? What the hell am I supposed to do now?” he asked no one in particular.
Reece’s face split in a grin. “We could get the band back together.”
Apparently, Dixie took this crazy idea seriously. “If I can find enough fill-ins, you three could entertain the folks.”
Hailey joined the tight knot in the hallway, standing beside Reece, which annoyed the hell out of Noah. “Entertain how?”
Dixie checked her nails. “The Hunnicutt brothers have a little ol’ rock-and-roll band.”
Hailey’s eyes lit up. “Really?” She pointed at Noah. “What do you play, barkeep?”
“Drums. But I’ll be tending bar,” Noah argued. The gleam in her eyes made him reconsider. Was Hailey into musicians?Hecould be a musician. Wait. No, he couldn’t, and heshouldn’tif it was a turn-on for her. Besides, he had a bar to run. “We haven’t played since last summer, and don’t forget those little details like setting up the gear. Who’s gonna do that?” He was sure this reality would bring their freight train of nonsense to a screeching halt. He was wrong.
“I can do setup and teardown in my sleep,” Dewey volunteered.
Dixie put a hand to the side of her mouth and whisper-shouted to Hailey, “He used to be a roadie for Van Halen.”
The preposterous idea seemed to be growing legs. Noah felt his control slipping away—if he ever had it in the first place—and a headache bloomed behind his eyes. “No. End of discussion.” He stormed to his office, Reece hot on his heels.
In the quiet of his sanctum, he dropped into his office chair while Reece parked his ass on the couch. “Why are you here?”
