“That’s kind of sad.”
“It is. But time marches on.”
I wondered if there was anything I could do. It wasn’t like I could actually revive a dying newspaper. But there had to be ways to improve it—to make it more interesting to the readership.
The door opened and the man who appeared instantly pulled my thoughts from all things journalism.
Josiah Haven.
His surly expression seemed to suck all the air from the room. It was like the barstools had made him angry and he’d come to collect his vengeance. That should have scared me. I usually shied away from people who seemed mad all the time. But there was something about Josiah’s brow furrow and perpetual scowl that glued my eyeballs to him.
And it wasn’t just his face, which probably would have been quite handsome if he actually smiled. His shoulders were so broad, his chest so wide, his arms so thick. His thighs were like tree trunks in those jeans. His physical presence was so intimidating, I couldn’t stop staring.
His gaze swept over the bar in a quick arc. I couldn’t be sure in the dim light, but it seemed like his eyes might have narrowed when he saw me.
I was probably imagining it. But it left a tingle in my stomach just the same.
Actually, Josiah Haven did scare me. But I kind of liked it.
Sandra let out a dramatic sigh. “If only I were younger.”
“You like big burly angry types?”
“Who doesn’t?” She laughed. “The Haven boys are all far too young for me, but I do enjoy looking.”
I watched, twisting in my chair as Josiah stalked to the bar and took a seat. Rocco came over to take his order. I might have been imagining things, but it almost looked like Rocco was watching Sandra watch Josiah—and he didn’t seem too pleased about it.
“I just realized I don’t know if you’re married.” I turned back to Sandra, hoping she didn’t think I was rude for the way I’d been staring at Josiah. “You mentioned that you have kids, but I don’t think you said anything about a husband.”
“Divorced. He thought he could do better elsewhere. Now he’s alone after being divorced twice and yes, I’m very smug about that.”
“That’s too bad.”
“It is. I shouldn’t have married him in the first place but I was young and stupid. You’re smart to wait.”
“Tell that to my mother.”
“Mothers can be opinionated, can’t they? I’ve tried to let my kids live their own lives but it’s not always easy.”
“How old are your kids?”
“My daughter is thirty-two and my son is almost twenty-nine. They’re both married but neither have made me a grandma yet, unfortunately. Hard to keep my mouth shut about that one but I do try.”
“Do they live close?”
“No, they both high-tailed it out of Tilikum as soon as they could. Some people love this place, myself included, but it was too small for them. They both live in the Seattle area. And I don’t mind, although it would be nice if they were close enough that I could pop in and annoy them.”
A hint of jealousy pricked at me. Sandra’s kids had left their hometown and stayed gone.
“I bet your mom is happy to have you living so close,” she said.
“Yeah.” I paused. “She is.”
She tilted her head. “Let me guess. It’s complicated.”
“A little. It could be a lot worse. I’ve known people with real mother horror stories. We get along most of the time. I just can’t help but think she wishes I would have turned out differently.”
“How so?”
“My dad was a politician, so my parents were very image conscious. The most important thing was always how we looked to everyone else in town. And when I was in school, I played into all that. I was an overachiever. You know, the girl who always got good grades and joined all the clubs. I was a cheerleader and in student government. I made them look good.”
“But?” she prompted.
“They had very lofty, and very specific, expectations. They encouraged me to go to college, but then I was supposed to come back to Pinecrest to serve in city government and marry Colin Greaves, my high school boyfriend, so we could be some kind of small-town power couple or something.”
“Obviously you didn’t do that.”
“No. I broke up with Colin and declared I was going to have my own life and it was not going to be anywhere near Pinecrest.” I sighed. “And yet, here I am.”
“Took a hit to your pride in coming back.”