I couldn't think of a single nice thing to say to Bill Franklin. If he had driven all the way from Atlanta to try and patch the black hole he'd created, he had wasted a lot of gas. I went about my business as he found a seat at the bar, letting Jackson greet him while I talked to Carol.

"Guess who just walked into the bar?"

Her eyes lit up like a like a rich widow in a Mercedes showroom. "Johnny Depp? I've always wanted to meet him."

Her comment had me smiling; exactly why I'd involved her. "Sorry to disappoint, but this guy isn't a celebrity. Although he's egotistical enough to be one."

"Alright already. I'm fully intrigued now. Who is it?"

"See the guy who just sat down at the bar? The one Jackson is talking to? That's Cabe's dad."

She craned her neck to see around my shoulder, and a big grin grew on her face. "Well, I can see where Mister Extra gets his good looks. Is the guy married?"

"No. But did you not hear the part about him being egotistical?" I wasn't going to tell her that he preferred women who were half her age. That would have been rude.

"I wouldn't keep him. I'd just take him for a spin."

Jackson arrived to interrupt us, and I wished I had used the time to take a shot of Petrón. "Hey, June. There's a guy at the bar who's heard of your legendary bartending skills. He wants you to pour him a drink. He also said he's friends with you."

"Friends is a stretch. But thanks, Jackson. I'll handle him."

"Is there something I'm missing here? Do I need to put Murphy on standby?"

"No. The guy won't make a scene. But I might."

The smile Bill greeted me with did absolutely nothing to smooth my ruffled feathers, and I didn't bother to fake nice. It would be all business, just like him. "What brings you to our little slice of paradise, Bill?"

"I heard the bartender at this place pours the best drinks in the state. Being a skeptic, I had to come down and see for myself."

Talk about cheesy. "Okay. What can I pour you?"

"Whatever you think I'd like." He offered a smirk, and it took me back to the night I met his son. It was not a welcome memory.

"You're the boss."

I headed for the Cognac. I knew that's what he preferred, and because my conscience wouldn't let me use a well brand, I chose Hennessy. Then I grabbed the Don Julio Resposado, a cocktail shaker, and a lowball glass.

Bill watched me create his drink. It was clear from the subtle head bob that he was impressed, but this wasn't some special of the house. Just another drink for another customer. I slid a lime wedge around the rim then salted it before pouring the cocktail over ice, delivering it with a garnish and a forced smile. "The Cognac Margarita. To your health."

I turned around but didn't get far. "Please, June. Can we talk?"

"I'm working."

"Can you take a break?"

I sighed. "My break is at ten."

He nodded and I filled a few more drink orders. Carol and Jackson watched me carefully, as if they understood the torture I was enduring. But neither of them knew about the email or the condition of my heart. At ten o'clock, when Curtis and the boys had the bar filled with music and happy drinkers, Bill and I stepped outside.

"I know you're angry, June. So, I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to explain. By the way, that drink you poured was excellent."

"Glad to hear it." I stared straight ahead. My head had started pounding about thirty minutes after Bill arrived and was steadily building in strength.

"First, I want to apologize for behaving like an insensitive ass. For what it's worth, it's not the first time it's happened. I've been at the properties acquisitions game for thirty-five years. It requires a degree of separation . . . business versus sentiment. A lot of people become emotionally attached to their businesses, which I'm sure you can appreciate."

I turned to look him in the eyes, trying not to see the similarities between him and his son. "I hope you didn't drive all the way down here to talk about the bar. If so, you made a trip for nothing."

"I'm not here to talk about the bar. I'm here to apologize for being the cause of discord between you and Cabe. He told me you read the email I sent to Jeffrey Mann about this place. I wasn't straight forward with you from the get-go, and that's all on me."

I nodded. "Keep going."

He offered a small smile. "Cabe was never on board with it. In fact, he's been pulling away from the family business for a number of months now. Ever since he and Nikki split up."

"Nikki?"

"Oh. He hasn't told you about her?" Bill glanced at his shoes. "Damn."

"It's fine. I assume she's the long-term relationship he had last year."

"Yeah. We thought they were going the distance, but Cabe has been wrestling with a few demons. The business is to blame for that. The business . . . and me. He hasn't been happy for a while, and I've been in denial about it. I think this Daytona job pushed him over the edge. He was against it from the start."

"So, Cabe's your foot in the door. He goes in first to sweet talk the clients, then you swoop in to close the deal."

"Not every deal is like that. In fact, most aren't. But as a team, Cabe has youth on his side. Whereas I can communicate better with the baby boomers." He must have seen me clench my fists because he hurried to continue. "Cabe is not like me. As much as I wanted him to be. Whatever opinion you had of him before Jeffrey showed you the email, that's the guy who has fallen in love with you."

"Excuse me, what?"

Bill smiled. "It's the only reason I can think of for why he quit the company and disappeared on his bike."

"He disappeared? As in, you don't know where he is?"

"I have a pretty good idea where he is. He always heads up to the cabin when he needs to sort things out."

"How long has he been missing?"

He looked at his watch. "About twenty-eight hours now."

"And nobody has heard from him?"

"Nobody who's talking to me about it. Don't worry. I'm sure he's fine. The point is, Cabe told me he wasn't playing any games with you or your mom when he returned from Daytona the weekend you met. His intentions have been pure from day one."

"What about the Manns? That still happened."

"Because I pushed."

I remembered the first conversation I'd had with Bill. He made the comment about Miami being nice this time of year. Yet, Cabe still left the door open for me to decide how to spend our time together. It was me who had suggested Miami. Would he have argued against Carthage, Texas?

I scanned the parking lot and located the yellow Corvette. It was a stupid thing to do because it only made my chest hurt. "I need to get back inside, but I appreciate you trying to fix things for your son. It shows that you care about him."

"Of course, I care about him. And he'll never know how much because I'm an insensitive ass. I'm broken beyond repair, but Cabe still has a chance."

The fact that I actually believed him confused me. Or maybe it shouldn't have. I'd seen a lot of emotional meltdowns during my years as a bartender, and I'd learned that everyone had a sensitive side. Even the insensitive asses.

Sighing, I reached out and patted him on the arm. "If you were completely broken, you wouldn't have driven all the way down here to try and repair things. And now I can stop cursing myself. I thought I'd lost my asshole radar."

He laughed. "Then the drive was definitely worth it. Can I talk you into making me another Cognac Margarita? I think I've found my new favorite beverage."

Bill stayed until closing time, spending the remainder of the evening chatting up Carol. While I spent most of that time talking myself in and out of texting Cabe. I didn't want to start a conversation that deserved my full attention. After Jackson and I locked up, I sat in my car and stared at the screen of my phone for a while. Then I headed home and poured myself a strong drink.

The alcohol helped me feel better about the situation with Cabe, but I was still having a hard time making the call. I had tucked myself into bed when the phone rang, and my stomach squelched when I saw Cabe's name light up the screen.

"Hey."

"Hi, June. Did I wake you up?"

"No."

"I know you didn't want me contacting you until you'd had time to cool down, but this couldn't wait."

"Are you okay? Your dad said you quit and disappeared on your bike."

"You talked to my dad?"

"He came into the bar tonight."

"Shit. I'm sorry about that. He's always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."

"It's okay. He wanted to tell me that you had good intentions from the start. He was trying to fix things between us."

"I rest my case." I heard him sigh and pictured him shaking his head.

"He made a good case for you. So, all is not lost. What did you want to say that couldn't wait?"

"It has to do with your mom. She uploaded a new vlog tonight after she caught Jennifer Lopez on camera."

"No kidding? She's been after Jennifer for a while. So, that's the news that couldn't wait?" I smiled. He didn't have to make up something like that to get me talking; now that I didn't want to slap him sideways.

"No. It was something else that caught my eye. She was at a marina, and she censored the name of a boat in the background. At first, I thought maybe Jennifer had asked her to blur it out. You know, if that was her boat and she didn't want the paparazzi after her. But because I'm curious, and because I have the technology to do it, I removed the censoring. And you'll never guess the name of the boat—Moody Junie. Does your mom have a boat with that name? If not, just ignore me and my suspicious mind."

What the hell? I switched on the light and climbed out of bed to start pacing. "She never told me about a boat in Miami, and I'm pretty sure I'd know about something like that. I manage both of our accounts. Unless it wasn't bought with bar money. I assume you recognized the name from the video of Jackson asking me on that pseudo date?"

"Yeah. I know it annoys you that I watch your mom's videos, but I think my morbid curiosity has paid off. What are the odds that this isn't significant? I mean, she wouldn't have censored it otherwise."

"Maybe it's Anthony's boat. She might have talked him into naming it that. My mom can be pretty persuasive."

"But why censor it? I know she doesn't always respect your privacy, so I don't think she would be worried about that. Or . . ."

"Or what?" My pacing had increased, so I directed my feet to the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was just nerves. I wasn't hungry.

"Or she really is trying to hide something. I'm not going to speculate because I don't want to upset you for no reason. But if you want to find out what's going on, maybe you should investigate it for yourself."

"How? By confronting her? I can tell you right now that rarely works. If she is hiding something, she will have an ironclad alibi for it."

"You could go to Miami. How long will she be there?"

"I don't know. She usually stays a week. And I don't have an address for her there."

"You wouldn't need one. We could investigate the marina and the boat itself. Maybe she's staying there."

"We could investigate?" I grabbed a soda out of the fridge. I didn't really want it.

"Yeah. I could get a flight out in the morning and meet you there."

"Are you saying I should drive to Miami by myself? I'd like to live to see my twenty-eighth birthday, thank you."

"Why don't you fly there? I'll pay for the ticket."

I cracked open the can and chugged the soda until the burn had me coughing.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a small drinking problem. I need to sleep on this. The last time I accepted a spontaneous invitation to investigate a parent, it bit me in the ass. Not literally, of course."

I couldn't say why I felt the need to explain the obvious to him, probably alcohol and exhaustion.

"Alright, June. I'll leave this up to you. But I'm on standby if you need me."

"Thanks."

"So . . . you said all is not lost. I'd really like the chance to redeem myself. If that's even possible now."

"Anything is possible."

"Can we FaceTime? You're probably tired, huh?"

"I don't think FaceTime is going do the trick for something like this."

"Oh. Okay."

"If things go well, I'd like the option of makeup sex."

"I can be there by nine AM. Save me a seat at Easy Eddies." 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I couldn't think of anything to chat about after posting this chapter. It may have something to do with my daughter giving birth to my granddaughter last night. She has wanted to be a mommy since she was too young to be thinking about such things. Now she has her own little precious, and my mind is elsewhere imagining all the fun I'm going to have.