My One and Only(29)
Chapter 9
The Brubaker’s crowd was still thin thanks to the early hour, though the place would be wall-to-wall bodies by eleven. Fifteen minutes after they’d arrived, Cooper noticed Lorelei watching the door. She continued to check the entrance as Spencer spun her around the dance floor. When the song ended and the couple returned to the table, the glances continued as the rest of the group was business as usual.
Curious, Cooper leaned close to Lorelei’s ear. “Expecting someone?”
She jumped, nearly dousing them both in Budweiser. “What? Me? No. I don’t know what you mean.”
Right. And a bear didn’t shit in the woods. “Is Tillman coming in here tonight?” Cooper asked. “Did you get some inside scoop you’re not sharing with the rest of us?”
Wes Tillman, once upon a time one of the most popular voices in country music, enjoyed his semi-retirement while living on the outskirts of their county and making occasional appearances at a local watering hole called the Second Chance Saloon. He’d never visited Brubaker’s as far as Cooper knew, but there wasn’t anyone else he could think of who would put that stir of anticipation on Lorelei’s face.
“How would I have an inside scoop on Wes Tillman?” she asked.
“Let’s see.” Cooper hedged. “Snow sings with him from time to time. You and Snow are as close as two fleas on a tick’s ass. I wonder how you’d know?”
Lorelei’s lips pinched. “That’s the grossest description I’ve ever heard.”
“Just fess up already.”
“No,” she answered. “I don’t know anything about Wes Tillman coming in here.”
“What’s up?” Spencer said, likely drawn by the tone of his fiancée’s voice. “We all good?”
Cooper shrugged. He’d only been teasing her. And Lorelei had been watching the door.
“No freaking way,” Lorelei muttered, ignoring the two men beside her. “I can’t believe she came.”
From his vantage point above most of the crowd, Cooper scanned the area near the entrance. At the end of the bar, he saw her. Blonde hair scattered around her shoulders. Brown eyes searching the crowd as if looking for a familiar face. His heart kicked in his chest.
She was gorgeous. And as skittish as a cornered rabbit.
Spencer spotted her, too. “I thought Haleigh didn’t like crowded bars?”
“I don’t know what she’s doing here,” Cooper said, unable to take his eyes off her.
“I invited her,” Lorelei said, snagging Cooper’s attention. She met his surprised gaze, looking very proud of herself. “Don’t just stand there,” she added with an elbow to his ribs. “Go get her.”
“Right.” Cooper set his beer on the table behind him. “I can do that.”
If Haleigh didn’t spot Lorelei in the next fifteen seconds, she was leaving. Though talking with Jessi had soothed the hurt from earlier, the closer she’d gotten to the club, the tighter her stomach had gotten. Two attempts to call Raquel had landed in voicemail. Hearing the familiar voice on the message had helped a bit, but in the end, Haleigh was standing in a bar facing her demons alone for the first time in several years.
Why in the hell had she thought this was a good idea?
“What can I get you?” asked a pretty brunette wearing the tightest pair of shorts Haleigh had ever seen.
Haleigh hesitated. She didn’t need a drink. She wanted one more than her next breath, but she didn’t need one. Resolved to stay the course, she said, “Water, please.” And then her mother’s glacial stare punctured her brain and Haleigh changed her order. “Make that a rum and Coke.”
“Coming right up,” the waitress replied, strolling to the bar a few feet to Haleigh’s left.
No way. She was not going to do this. If she swallowed that drink, not only would her mother win, but Haleigh would blow years of sobriety. And over what? Meredith Mitchner’s disdain? Her unreachable standards and failure to see her daughter as anything more than a paycheck and emotional punching bag?
Obviously, this had been a mistake.
If Spencer and Lorelei were there, Haleigh didn’t see them. And Carrie was shorter than she was, which meant finding her would be even more difficult. Haleigh took two steps toward the door before someone called her name.
“Haleigh Rae!” came the familiar deep voice. She spun in time to see Cooper barreling down on her, the crowd parting as if Moses himself had demanded it. “Are you okay?” he asked, concern etched in his tone.
“I’m fine,” she lied, determined to act as normal as possible. If Cooper so much as sniffed a problem, he’d roll into fix-it mode. “I didn’t know you would be here. Is it always this crowded?” she asked.