Page 34 of Another Last Call
It was somewhat funny to me that he thought I’d still consider selling my place to him after that. I mean, he was lucky I didn’t run him down with my truck. Instead, I just decked him, then got into my truck and pulled out of the parking lot, my heart beating so fast I could see it pulsing in my eyes.
Then, when I was a few blocks away, I pulled into a grocery store parking lot and turned the truck off as my heartbeat transformed into shaking hands that clutched my steering wheel.
A police siren sounded on the road beside me, but I didn’t look at it. Todd hadn’t called the cops about me punching him; he was a douchebag, but he was the kind of douchebag who would be too humiliated about the fact that I’d hit him hard enough to knock him down to tell anyone about it. Instead, I waited for it to fade, then dug my phone out of my pocket.
I couldn’t let The Sea Glass shut down.
Eighteen
Maggie
Threeweeksin,Iknew it was hopeless.
Every night, I counted out exactly what I needed to live off of from my tips and put the rest in an envelope for my mom. On payday, I cashed my check like I always did, then added that money to the envelope.
I organized a huge dinner event and invited everyone in town, practically begging them to spare whatever they could to help save The Sea Glass. Big Tim cooked up burger after burger, Tiny Steve was the bartender, and Annie volunteered to be a server for the night so I could play my guitar. Every cent we earned, I added to my envelope, plus all the donations that had come in.
I even wrote a song. It was terrible, but I hoped it would go viral online when I shared the story about what was happening to The Sea Glass.
It did not.
Despite being known as the town grouch, the locals banded around me. The Sea Glass waspartof Marble Beach, they said. Destroying the building would be another hit to the charm of our little town.
But Marble Beach was a small place and tourist season was over. People could only give so much and the rich tourists who descended on us every summer were long gone, along with their wallets.
I was desperate. The Sea Glass—and Marble Beach—was my home. I had nowhere else to go. I had no other skills. And aside from being lonely, I liked what I did. I loved working with my mom, as much as she drove me crazy. I loved the routine of it. I even loved the stupid tourists, except the awful ones, which were most of them.
But some of them were okay.
Like Caleb.
He came around the bar almost daily, though I barely had the time or energy to talk to him. Despite our apologies and acceptance of them, things were different. I was embarrassed about my behaviour, though he insisted we were okay. I didn’t know if we would get past it, especially now that… well.
I wondered if he could see why we were so different now that he was renovating his cabin and I was about to lose everything.
For three weeks, I worked my ass off. Every night, I counted my envelope of money and refused to acknowledge that we’d barely made a dent in what we needed to save the bar.
I couldn’t stop trying.
Icouldn’tlet The Sea Glass shut down.
Even though I’d lived above the bar for years, Mom had rarely visited me. So when she knocked on my door a few days after the fundraising dinner I’d planned to save the bar, I was astounded.
“What are you doing here so early?” My hair was wild around my head, and I was still in my pajamas.
“It’s eleven in the morning.”
“That’s early for me. I work nights.”
“We’re not open that late.” She followed me into the apartment and sat on my couch. “You and I need to have a talk, hon.”
My heart dropped as I settled beside her. “Mom, I still have a week. The video’s online still, it might still go viral. I can send it to—”
“It’s too late, Mags.”
“Mom, no—”
“It’s not what you think.” She sighed. “I sold part of the business.”
