I didn’t wait to see if he would show up, although a part of me wanted to. I turned my car on and drove out of there before I did something stupid, like deck the guy. My fists were itching to take the lead, but shy of driving around town, tracking his ass down, he wasn’t standing in front of me waiting for me to unleash hell on him.
I bunkered down in my house, ready for the impending storm. My cell was charged and ready to be called into work in case of an emergency.
Wind howled all night. The rain came down in a deluge for hours on end, the storm raging outside a mirror of the one brewing inside of me.
Before long, a peek of the morning sun broke through theclouds. As it turned out, the storm came and went without too much damage. Some downed trees, a few basements that the fire department had to help pump out. But overall, the impact was minimal. I called Scarlett first thing in the morning to make sure she’d made it through okay.
“Hey, Luke. Good morning,” she answered. I could hear Aurora in the background saying something. It sounded like she was mocking her. Scarlett hissed at her to shut up, but I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Hey, Letty. Just checking in with you. How’d you make out last night? Any damage?”
“No. We lost power for a few hours, but it’s already back on. How about you? Did you end up getting called in?”
“No damage. No call in. Turned out this tropical depression was nothing more than a squall.”
“That’s what happens when you live in the best place on Earth,” she said.
“Damn straight,” I told her, the smallest of smiles on my lips. Only Scarlett could manage to pull that out of me with her infectious cheer.
After I checked in with Scarlett, I called my dad and then my brothers. Everyone made it out just fine. My dad had a section of fence that would need to be replaced, but that was the extent of it. Reid would have that repaired and replaced in a minute, so I knew there wasn’t anything for me to do there. I had almost wished it had turned into something a little more. Something that would have me out there, cleaning up, helping people, working and staying busy. Sitting in my house all day was making me crazy. I even called the captain to see if he needed me to come in, but he told me to stay home.
I sent a text out to the ongoing group chat with the guysin the late afternoon, seeing if anyone was up for drinks at Harpoon’s. It was a Tuesday, but none of us had conventional nine-to-five jobs, so a Tuesday was just as good as a Saturday in my opinion.
Wyatt was the first to respond, but he was out. He was staying home, living it up with his family. Who would have thought Wyatt would turn out to be the family man of the group?
Seb: Shit yeah. Tuesdays are karaoke night. You know I’m in.
Did he intend to participate in the karaoke? It was Seb, so anything was possible.
Reid: Claire and I were going to spend the night in. We bought candles in case the power went out…
Reid: Thought we might see what other uses we can find for them…
Me: Say no more. Ever.
Reid sent a meme of some guy wiggling his eyebrows in an exaggeratedly suggestive way.
Wes: I’ll be there.
* * *
Harpoon’s Tavern was busier than I expected for a Tuesday night. Dim lighting was cast from the ship’s wheel chandeliers. Nautical-themed decor and memorabilia hung on the walls and from the wooden rafters.
Seb was sitting at the bar, already in conversation with a couple of women seated next to him. I didn’t think that the seating arrangement was a coincidence. Sebastian Devereuxwas never one to shy away from female attention. I joined him at the bar with a clap to his shoulder. Now that I was closer, the girls he was talking to looked like they were still in high school.
“Hey, man. Ladies, this is my friend Luke. Newly single, and he’s a cop.” Seb introduced me to his new friends, Jasmine and Naomi. I leveled a hard look at Seb before nodding a greeting at them.
“Nice to meet you. Small point of correction in that introduction. I’m not yet single.”
“Close enough, man,” Seb said.
Ronnie, the bartender, appeared like a savior. My Jamison was in front of me within seconds. Her dark eyes darted to my face, and with one manicured brow raised, she added another finger to the glass. Apparently, I looked like I could use it.
“Here you go, Wilder.” She slid the glass to me. Glancing at Seb, she leaned in toward me. “You might want to let your boy know those ladies are drinking mocktails and not because they want to be.”
“Noted.” I raised my glass to her. Ronnie was the best. She had an eye on everything that happened in this place and was always looking out for people. In this case, she could have been looking out for Seb or for the young women. Probably both.
I leaned in behind Seb, keeping my voice low so that only he would hear me.
