Saeger kept his mouth shut and turned back to their friend. “Okay, so what’s wrong with him?”
Tucker pulled the whiskey away and took a swig. “Call in Jeff, ask him if he can tend the bar tonight.”
Knox immediately pulled out his phone and made a few calls. Within minutes, he was back. “Jeff is taking over the bar, and Sarah is coming in to cover for Tyla. So let’s get out of here and find some place to talk that is more private.”
All three of them agreed with that, but Creek glared at all of them impartially. “I’m not talking. It’s overrated. You guys go ahead and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Another slug of the whiskey and he leaned his head back.
Tucker looked at the other three and they all understood. A moment later, Knox and Tucker had one of Creek’s arms over his shoulder and the two were helping their friend out the door. When Creek was in the back of the SUV, they climbed in and drove off, straight to Knox’s house.
While they set up the table to play pool, Creek moved off to the corner chair and scowled at the other men.
“Yeah, you just sit over there and consider the error of your ways, idiot,” Tucker said, selecting one of the pool sticks.
Creek glared at the other man, but didn’t argue with him. He was an idiot. A fool and an idiot. He’d messed up big time, and he had absolutely no idea how to fix it. Violet had been right to slap his face.
A prostitute? He had no idea what was going on, but Violet wasn’t a prostitute. More likely, her stepfather was…
“Oh hell!” he muttered with fury. “Of course!”
The three men were in the middle of a game, and barely glanced over at Creek. “I’m guessing he figured it out,” Knox said and took his shot.
Tucker and Saeger stood back, waiting.
“I need coffee,” Creek grumbled. “I need to fix this.”
“Not tonight,” Tucker said and focused on his shot. A moment later, after the ball dropped into the corner pocket, he said, “Tyla is taking care of Violet.”
“That’s not going to be good,” Saeger grumbled and missed his shot.
Knox chuckled as he moved in to take his turn. “I love it when you guys get mixed up with women,” and he sunk his ball into the side pocket. “Makes playing pool with you so much easier.”
Tucker laughed even while Creek and Saeger glared.
Creek ignored them and walked over to the bar, making a strong pot of coffee while dialing Violet’s number. When there was no answer, he didn’t bother to leave a message. Apologizing for accusing someone of selling their body for money wasn’t something that could be done via voice mail. He knew that he’d have to go over there and grovel.
Well, after he bloodied her stepfather’s nose!
Chapter 11
Violet walked into the store the following morning, her head still hurting and her heart still aching. She and Tyla had driven back to Winthrop early that morning after several cups of strong coffee. Violet was able to retrieve her car and drive back to Appleton, and still open up the shop on time.
She might be a mess, she might feel like she wanted to fall apart, hide in her apartment under the covers and never see another human being again, but she wasn’t giving Creek that kind of power over her life. She wasn’t going to give in and let him win!
Kevin and his crew were in the back and Violet considered going to help them since it was a quiet morning, but she didn’t want to be around people right now. She wasn’t sure she could hide her feelings from her staff, and she was trying desperately to keep it all under control.
She suspected she was doing a pretty good job of just getting through the day when she heard the bell over her front door jingle. Pasting a smile on her face to greet the next customer, she turned around.
But George was standing in the doorway, looking pretty rough.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, furious that he would actually step into her store after what he’d done.
George’s big head swiveled in the direction of her voice and he grinned sloppily. “Hey, little lady! How are you doing?”
Violet was shaking so badly she could barely answer him.
He walked over to her and chuckled. “I guess that answers my question,” and he rubbed his lips.
“What question is that?”
George’s eyes narrowed on hers. “You’re in a rotten mood. That means you have been staying away from that man, like I advised you to.”
With his words, more of the puzzle pieces fell into place. She stepped back and crossed her arms over herself, needing to ward off his bad vibes. “George, you’re the one who suggested that I needed to have sex with the man in order to keep him. Why did you offer me that kind of advice?”