Chapter Thirty-Two
Like the Sheriff had thought when he'd looked at the bar from afar, the girls had managed to win over new clientele quite quickly with some of the changes they made. The bar was no longer a dark, dingy looking bar, suitable only for men nursing their whiskeys or chasing bourbon. They'd brightened the inside with some more stylish décor pieces and had added other spirits to their inventory, in the hope to attract the men's women as well. They were pleasantly surprised to see old classmates coming in, some for the first time.
"If we can keep this up, we'll be openin' that kitchen up sooner than I thought," Tatum said triumphantly, holding out the takings for their first almost-two months in business for her half-sister to see. Isabella reached over the desk to take a look.
"You sure this is right?" she asked, struggling to believe that they could've done this well this quick. The redhead gave her an eye roll.
"Course I'm sure it's right," she said, digging into one of the folders that she'd sorted and re-filed on their first weekend. "Especially compared to the same period last year," she added, handing that spreadsheet over as well.
"We done better than Grayson did that whole quarter?" Isabella asked surprised.
"Oh yeah, we nailed it," her sister responded as she held out her hand for a high five. The brunette slapped her hand against hers triumphantly.
"This is amazin'. But we need to make sure we keep this up," she said realistically.
"I know. If we do decide to open the kitchen up though, we can open slightly earlier. You can do the earlier afternoon and evenings, and I'll focus on the later nights for as long as I can. We might even need to get someone to help Sue. She wouldn't be able to do all day," Tatum said, taking the spreadsheets back to file them away. Her half-sister's suggestion about opening the kitchen that first day made so much sense now.
"Maybe let's just see how we do before we do anythin' like that," Isabella reserved her enthusiasm. The last thing they needed was to take on another member of staff only to have to fire them almost straight away if things didn't work out, especially with Tatum now expecting a baby, which they hadn't known when she'd made the suggestion to open the kitchen.
The redhead gave a conceding nod. "Yeah okay. But you'd better start thinkin' of dishes we can start servin' as a trial, even if we take our time introducin' it," she instructed her. Tatum was happy to help serve and possibly even cook things, but there was no way she could put a menu together.
"Leave it with me," the brunette said with a smile. This was one thing she was quite confident in and loved doing. It would also give her something more positive to focus on than just fearing her boyfriend and what else he might put her through. The smile faltered a little when she suddenly remembered his threat; either Tatum moved out, or they moved back to the city. David would not be happy to hear that they were considering this expansion in services unless they included him in the work and therefore pay. Isabella wasn't particularly keen on that idea, as it would reduce her opportunities of taking space from him and she was pretty sure her sister wouldn't be impressed with the suggestion either. "There's no real rush though, right?" she checked, seeing the redhead look up a little surprised, it having been her idea in the first place.
"I suppose not," Tatum said with a small shrug, wondering what had dampened her sister's enthusiasm from less than two minutes ago. "I mean I guess, with this one on the way, we probably don't want to take on too much too soon," she added slowly, gently patting her bump that was becoming more visible, especially when she was sat down like she was now. Isabella gave a small smile at the gesture before she got up a little nervously, seeing her sister look at her pensively.
"I'd better get back behind the bar," she said and left the office, hoping she hadn't just made the redhead more suspicious about things.
Austin slammed the door to this truck closed and made his way into the bar. It had been a while since he'd dropped by, and it was always good to remind the regulars of his presence in case they were even just thinking about drinking and driving. Plus, he felt a little awkward knowing that he'd let Vivian take him back, while his thoughts were still on the curvy brunette who was currently serving customers from behind the bar.
"Hello beautiful," he said, trying to get back the care free teasing tone he'd used not so long ago. Isabella glanced up, surprised to see him, and she realised straight away from the look on his face that this was the first time he'd seen the remaining shiner on her left eye. "Who did that to you, are you okay?" Austin asked, almost demanding.
"Don't worry Sheriff, it was the staircase and door, and sadly you can't arrest them," Isabella tried to joke, not wanting him to keep questioning her in front of her customers. "That'll be 5.50 love," she returned her attention to the customer she'd been serving, hoping he'd drop it.
"I could try, if you told me you wanted me to," the Sheriff offered now with a small smile of his own, trying to disguise the genuine offer of arresting her boyfriend if that was what she wanted him to do. The brunette chuckled a little nervously as she shook her head. "Can't say I didn't offer," Austin said as he sat down.
"That's mighty fine of ya," one of the other customers said, only slurring slightly, as he held his pint up in a cheers gesture.
"Exactly, and I appreciate it," Isabella quickly thanked him, passing him a large water and lime before he could ask her for one. "Anything else you want, it's on the house," she told him, hoping that would be enough to get him to drop the topic.
"Shame I'm on duty, with an offer like that," the officer of the law chuckled, giving her a wink. He'd question her further some other time to find out what had really happened to her eye, as all he could think of was that it was a shame he couldn't ask for her instead of the drinks she was actually offering.
Austin stayed at the bar for up to an hour, chatting with some of the customers, as well as Tatum, Sue and Isabella. Eventually he regretfully informed the bar's owners that he needed to be off and get back to protecting the rest of the town; only Tatum and Sue seemed disappointed at that announcement. Isabella was relieved that she didn't have to be on her guard for the rest of her shift. He gave all three of them winks and a 'night ladies' before he left the bar, feeling a little disappointed himself. He'd been hoping to repair his relationship with Isabella a bit more, but he felt like the gulf between them had only widened further as she'd tried to keep his questions at bay. The Sheriff gave a sigh as he took his Stetson off and headed towards his truck.
"Austin, what were you doin' in there?" a shrill voice demanded, and he closed his eyes in annoyance, feeling like he'd been caught.
"Hi Viv, nice evenin', huh?" he tried cheerfully as he turned towards her. She almost stomped over to him, stopping just short of jabbing him in the chest.
"Don't get smart with me," she cut him short. "What were you doin' in there?" Vivian emphasised now, her blue eyes almost icy with anger.
"I was just checkin' everythin' was alright, as part of my rounds," Austin answered innocently, because essentially that was what he'd been doing.
"And you couldn't send one of the deputies?" she asked, and he was surprised to hear she sounded jealous, more than annoyed. He shrugged a little nonchalant; he didn't have to explain his work practices to his 'girlfriend'. As the sheriff, he should be able to run this town as he saw fit. "At least tell me you made life awkward for them?" the skinny brunette grasped at straws, confusing him.
"Why would I make life awkward for them?" he asked, seeing her sigh impatiently at his stupidity.
"The feud, hello?" Vivian said as if that should've been obvious.
"The feud's between you and them, not me," Austin said firmly. He knew that, to a certain extent, his allegiance had to be with the Millers because of their history together and the fact that they owned most of this and the next two towns. But he couldn't be seen to be actively enacting the feud on their behalf.
"Don't be so naïve," she snorted, and he had never found her less attractive in his life as he did right in that moment. "Of course, you're involved with it too," she added, making him want to recoil away from her and her family. "Regardless though, I don't want you goin' there anymore," Vivian said now with her spoiled tone, used to getting her way no matter how ridiculous or silly.
"I'm sorry Viv, but you can't tell me where I can or can't go. I'm the Sheriff, it's part of my job," he stood firm under her gaze. He knew she didn't hear 'no' very often, but this was one thing he would not bend over.
"What?" she asked, her voice going shrill again, as her hands rested on her hips to make herself more intimidating.
"I have a job to do, and that includes Bellum," Austin paraphrased. "Look, I need to go back to the station. I'll see you around, okay?" he said with a sigh, continuing his way to his truck.
"This ain't over," the spoiled Miller granddaughter yelled after him. He ignored her attempts at continuing the discussion and pulled away. "He is gonna regret this," Vivian muttered to herself, already trying to think up ways to ensure he did. No one, not even the man she loved, crossed her.