Amber Williams - A Place with Briar

She snorted out a laugh. “Wait until mid-July before you start making weather assumptions. I should give you the grand city tour, introduce you to the right people. You might like it enough to stick.”

No. It’d be a while before he could stick anywhere. The thought of two weeks in Fairhope already seemed like an eternity. At Hanna’s, anyway—close to Briar and other things too far out of his reach. However, if he couldn’t be around Briar without thinking straight then her friends might be able to tell him more than he could wean out of her. “What are you doing tonight?”

She considered. “I could ask Briar to babysit.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to put Briar out.” God knew she had enough on her plate already.

“Oh, Kyle loves Briar,” she explained. “He helps her out around the place, gives her a much-needed hand, even if it is with the little things.”

He hesitated, weighing the situation. “Well, okay, then. I’ll meet you at the tavern around seven?”

“Seven it is.” She started to walk off. “I have a customer waiting on these roses. It was nice meeting you, Cole.”

CHAPTER FOUR

“YOU GOT A date with the new guy?”

Adrian heaved an aggrieved sigh. “It’s not a date, Liv. I’m just showing him around.”

“I think he might be able to show you a thing or two,” Olivia deduced.

Adrian took a bite out of her tuna sandwich, knowing as well as Briar did that a reply would only egg on Olivia. It was no use trying to budge Olivia once she set her mind to something. Especially if that something was in any way, shape or form promiscuous.

Olivia and Adrian were eating lunch at the inn kitchen table while Briar attempted to fix the leaky pipes under the sink. It didn’t take long for Olivia to notice that she was having difficulty using the socket wrench. “You need a plumber.”

“Plumbers cost money,” Briar said. “Unfortunately, I can’t afford such a luxury.”

“Come on, cuz,” Olivia said. “It’s not that bad.”

Briar frowned as she gave up on the pipes and the wrench, tucking it away with her other tools and cleaning supplies by closing the cabinet doors. She washed her hands then walked to the fridge to pull out the makings for lunch. “I got a call from a county man today. Property taxes are overdue.”

Olivia and Adrian exchanged worrisome glances. “Did you ask for an extension?” Adrian asked.

“I’ve already had two,” Briar explained, pulling open a packet of bacon. Strips sizzled as she laid them one by one on a hot skillet. The smooth, practiced motions of her hands were at odds with the slight quaver of her tone. “He said that if I don’t pay by the middle of July, they’ll seize the property to compensate.”

Olivia choked on her sandwich as Adrian gaped in horror. “They can’t do that.”

The last time Briar had felt this tired, drained, was during her mother’s last days. “With the way business is going, I don’t know if I can raise it. If I don’t nail down one of these potential investors soon, I could lose everything.”

“We’ll fight for it.”

“That’s right,” Adrian assured her, echoing Olivia’s sentiment. “We’ll fight for what’s ours, Briar. We’ll help you.”

She shook her head. “I’m already bleeding the both of you for rent. Adrian, you had to replace your greenhouse after the last hurricane and I know it ate a hole in your house budget—you barely had enough left over to send Kyle to soccer camp. And, Liv, you’re saving up for an addition to the tavern. I have to do this alone.”

“You can’t do everything alone,” Olivia protested.

“And that’s why I have potential investors.” She waved her hands in frustration. “Can we not talk about this right now? So, tell me what you think of the new girl.”

Defeated, Adrian lowered to her seat, appetite forgotten. “Roxie Honeycutt. She seems nice, really excited about opening shop.”

“Though Lord knows we don’t need another bridal boutique around here,” Olivia said before taking a big bite out of a banana.

“She also has a license for wedding consultation,” Briar added.

Olivia made a face. “They give out licenses for just about anything nowadays.”

“Anyway,” Briar went on, “she has some interesting ideas—I think she’ll do well. And I bet her gowns are gorgeous.”

Adrian brightened up. “And she plans on using me for all the floral arrangements she’ll need.”

“I like her,” Briar concluded, placing the bacon onto a plate. She took a knife from the butcher block to slice a tomato. “Why didn’t you bring her over for lunch, guys?”

“Said she was eating with her hotshot fiancé,” Olivia explained with a dismissing wave of her hand. “Some law professor named Richard Levy.”

“He teaches in Mobile,” Briar blurted. “At South Alabama.”

“You know him?” Adrian asked curiously.

“No,” Briar said, frown returning. “Daddy was talking about him the last time I visited.”

That left another gray cloud hanging over the room—usually any mention of Briar’s father did. Any thought of him, really, had the same effect.

It’s unimaginable—you running the business by yourself....

She closed her eyes because the terrible words he’d spoken to her that day not but a year before still echoed clearly through her head—on a constant loop.

Adrian recovered the conversation. “She’s coming by the tavern tonight to try one of Olivia’s margaritas.”

“I guess that’ll be around the time you skip off on your hot date.”

“It’s not a date, Liv.”

Briar looked up. “What’s this about a date, Adrian?” she asked as she began to shred a head of lettuce.

“Oh, she’s got one hell of a date lined up,” Olivia groused. “With Cole Savitt.”

The lettuce dropped to the floor with a crunch. Briar felt the color drain from her face as she bent to scoop up the mess. “Oh.”

Olivia watched her cousin closely as she ran the lettuce under the sink tap. “Yep. She beat us both to the plate.”

“That’s not true,” Adrian protested, clearly alarmed by Briar’s reaction.

“Did you get the scoop?” Olivia asked.

“About why he has that wounded air about him? Maybe. And it seems to be a recent development.”

“And?”

Taking a sip of her mineral water, Adrian watched Olivia’s expectant face with a shred of glee. “It’s personal.”

Olivia groaned. “Can’t you just give me a hint?”

“Nope.”

“Spoilsport.” Olivia took a hearty bite out of her sandwich, eyeing Adrian with mock loathing before turning her attention to Briar. “Would you just sit down and eat? The man has two hands. He can fix his own lunch.”

“You know that I provide meals when they’re requested,” she reminded Olivia. “He wanted to eat here. I’m going to accommodate him.”

“Like a good hostess,” Olivia said with some disdain. “Personally, I don’t think women should cook for men at all anymore. We’ve progressed too far for that. Let them fend for themselves.”

“It’s not as if we’re married,” Briar said, irritation nipping on her heels. “I’ve never done anything less for any guest.”

“If I were in your shoes, I’d serve him right up in a negligee,” Olivia said with a knowing smile.

Briar’s color was definitely coming back. “You just stepped on your point.”

Olivia met Adrian’s curious gaze and said, “She’s got the hots for him.”

“Olivia—”

The screen door creaked open and Cole walked through. “Good afternoon, ladies.”

“Cole,” Olivia greeted, offering him a Cheshire-cat grin. She patted the cushion of the seat next to hers. “We were just talking about you.” She winked conspiratorially at Adrian.