Page 32 of The Perfect Melody

I scoop up another forkful of pie and bite, thinking over my next steps as I chew. First, I need to pay off my debt at Bowman’s. Then I’m going to have some fun. If my secret comes out, I’ll manage. I can use my card to pay Gem for the car repairs right before leaving town. It won’t matter if my mother finds outI’ve been staying in Pine Grove. I’ll call Liam to come and get me in Bailey’s car or catch a train back to London. I’ll be out of here long before Miranda’s plane lands. Whatever comes next, Austin Bowman had better watch out because I’m done taking shit from anyone, including him.

Chapter Fourteen

Austin

It’sthe day of the bar’s soft reopening, and in a few hours, Bowman’s will be full of people again—just like it was always meant to be. The thought has me rolling out of bed with a smile on my face. Making the most of the calm before the storm, I whip up a cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, enjoying it in silence at the kitchen table. I’m meeting Dev for a run before he’s due to teach his first swimming class, but I’ve got plenty of time before I need to get ready. I take my time watching birds fly to and from the feeder my neighbours have set up on their front lawn.

The sky’s a pale grey, but we’re not due any rain until much later tonight, so I shouldn’t have to worry about bad weather putting people off coming out to Bowman’s this evening. Smoothing a hand over my short beard, I begrudgingly admit it doesn’t really matter that Cassie crashed into the beer garden. If the weather forecast is anything to go by, everyone will be driven inside by the rain long before closing. Still, I’m glad the fence panels arrived in time for me to fix up the most obvious damage to the outdoor seating area before today, even if it’s likely to go unused tonight.

Hopefully the weather will be better next Saturday. We’re expecting a crowd tonight since we’re running special offers on food and drinks all week while the team gets used to the new menus, but the grand reopening is going to be on another level. I even booked a band to play—adding frequent live music is just one of many changes I’ve made to help make Bowman’s the place to be again.

After cleaning up my breakfast things, I pad through to the living room and take a seat on the large navy corner sofa. It’s one of my more extravagant purchases for the house, but I’m a big guy and I don’t see the point in having a sofa if there’s not enough room for me to spread out on. Admittedly I thought I’d have someone to spread out and cuddlewithby now but with how busy I’ve been revamping the bar it’s probably for the best that I’m still single. I’ve barely had time for my friends, let alone a romantic relationship.

I’ve just switched on my laptop to search for more local musicians to book for Bowman’s when my phone rings, my sister’s name appearing on screen.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Don’t ‘what’s up’ me,” Aria says, doing a poor imitation of my much deeper voice. “Today’s the big day! How are you feeling?”

“You remembered.” I’m pleased she’s called to check in, and the corners of my lips tilt up into a small smile even though she’s not here to see it.

Aria scoffs. “Of course I remembered—it’s all you’ve talked about formonths. So, are you excited?”

“I’m… optimistic. We had a bit of an incident last week that threw me, but I got everything back on track. The staff training day went well, and this week is all about ironing out any remaining wrinkles before the big party next Saturday.”

“Fair enough, but please try to enjoy yourself at least a little bit. You’ve worked so hard for this. Don’t get so caught up in the finer details that you lose sight of what you’ve already achieved.”

Swallowing around a lump of emotion, I reply, “I won’t—thank you.”

Having my sister’s support is a fairly new development, and it’s something I’m still adjusting to. It’s taken us some time to get here, but now that she knows I don’t resent her for leaving Pine Grove and I know her leaving had nothing to do with her not wanting a relationship with me, we’re in a much better place. Since she came for her first proper visit in years last summer, we’ve been repairing our frayed sibling bond, and both of our relationships with Mum have improved immensely too. It’s amazing what a real, honest conversation can do. I only wish we’d all sat down and talked sooner.

“Good. Alright, I need to get going. Toby’s got a friend coming over this afternoon. I promised we could bake cupcakes together, but I just checked and we’re almost out of flour, so now I have to brave the supermarket on a Saturday morning.”

“Lucky you.”

“I know.” She chuckles. “Try not to stress yourself out all day worrying about tonight—you’ve put the work in. It’s going to go fine. Oh, Eric says good luck too, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

“Alright, I’m off, but I want to hear all about how tonight goes. Talk to you soon, OK?”

“Will do. Try not to murder anyone at the supermarket.”

“That’s more likely to be Rose, not me.”

“What?” I ask, wondering what her best friend has to do with anything.

“Gotta go. Love you, bye.”

She ends the call before I can catch up to her train of thought, and I decide it’s probably for the best that I don’t know.

Aria and her two friends from university have an incredibly close bond I don’t quite understand, nor do I want to. She says it’s because they all connected when they worked the same shitty job together, but I think it’s got more to do with the fact that they’re all creatives in different ways. From what I’ve gathered, their trio has only grown closer since they all graduated, and now that Aria’s with Eric, she and Rose are pretty much family, seeing as Rose married Eric’s younger brother last year.Rather her than me. I love my friends, but I can’t imagine becoming part of any of their families—they’d be even more up in my business than they already are.

* * *

To my immense relief, the soft reopening of Bowman’s is going smoothly. The kitchen team has been a little slower getting orders out than I’d like—the same goes for the bartenders making the new cocktails—but that will come with more practice. It’s what this week is all about—ironing out the creases before the grand reopening next Saturday.

Everyone’s aware that the next few days are a bit of a trial run for us, which is why meals and cocktails are half price all week. People are much less likely to complain about slightly slower service when they’re getting a bargain. It’s also a great way to encourage folks to try the new menu items so they can help spread the word about all the exciting new options before Bowman’s is officially back.