the location.” He knew exactly what she meant, she thought. “Look at that view, Kev.” Her voice took on almost a reverent tone. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”
“Breathtaking,” he agreed. There was no denying that. But what would that same view look like, buried in snow? He bit back the urge to ask. Instead, he smiled at his sister. “Just like the look in your eyes.” Impulsively he hugged her. “I’m happy for you, Lily.” He looked at Max and Jimmy, who’d just joined them. “For all of you.”
His comment sounded so exclusionary. As if they were on two sides of a fence and they were happy, while he wasn’t, Lily thought. It had a very familiar ring to it. This was just the way she’d felt when she first came up here, running away from heartache without realizing that she’d wound up running to something.
An idea came to her. Lily looked up at her main reason for smiling these days. “Max, don’t you think we should be getting ready?”
Max had no idea what she was talking about, but he played along gamely. “Ready? Are you sure it’s supposed to be now?”
Max really was her soul mate, she thought and she dearly loved him for that and a million other things. “I’m sure.” She looked at her older brother. “We’re taking you to the Salty.” She could see that Kevin was going to beg off. But being around people was just what he needed right now. Especially if she could orchestrate a few things. “It’s tradition, you know. Whenever anyone comes to visit for more than a week, he has to have a party in his honor at the Salty.”
“I came up for Jimmy’s wedding,” Kevin reminded her. “There wasn’t any party at the Salty then.”
Undaunted, Lily pressed on. “You came up for the ceremony and flew back right after it was over. There wasn’t time for a party. But there is now.” She gave him her most beguiling smile. “This way, we can really show you off.”
He didn’t want to be shown off. He wanted to take a quick shower and kick back for the evening. Maybe just bask in being in the same area as the rest of his family.
“I’m kind of tired, Lily.”
Lily wasn’t about to let him back away. She threaded her arms through his.
“No excuses, big brother. You wouldn’t want to buck tradition, would you? It’s bad luck. The miners are a very superstitious bunch. They wouldn’t take it kindly if you turned your back on tradition.”
Kevin sighed. “Wouldn’t want to annoy the miners,” he murmured. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. “Who’ll be there?”
“Everyone,” Max told him. “There isn’t enough room inside for everyone at the same time. But it’s still warm enough for them to mill around outside.”
They all knew that temperature here was a temperamental thing. It was August, but even if the sun didn’t go down as it should, the temperature did at times, dropping down into the mid-forties without warning.
Despite the town’s sudden growth spurt and new enterprises, the Salty Saloon still held the title as the favorite gathering place for the residents of Hades and its outlying regions. Owned by Ike Le Blanc and his cousin, Jean Luc, Alison’s husband, it had been the beginning of the two cousins’ business venture. Its success was indirectly responsible for their eventually buying the general store, restoring the town’s defunct movie theater, beginning renovations on the town’s one hotel and, now, investing in Lily’s proposed restaurant.
Her mind racing with details she needed to take care of, primarily cornering Ike to let him know what she was up to and having Luc spread the word around town about the party, Lily quickly brushed a kiss against Kevin’s cheek. “Jimmy’ll drop you off at the house and then I’ll come for you in half an hour or so.”
Kevin’s eyebrows drew together. Why couldn’t they just proceed on to the saloon and be done with it?
But he knew better than to ask Lily for an explanation. She’d always had her own unique way of doing things and hated being questioned. Besides, he welcomed the few minutes to himself so that he could work on his enthusiasm about this so-called party in his honor. While he was happy to see everyone, the nagging thought that this was only temporary, that all too soon he’d be returning home alone after Lily’s wedding, adhered to him like a slow-moving slug leeching at his happiness. He had to work his way through that before he went to the Salty.
He nodded at her compliantly. “Whatever you say, Lily.”
“See?” She turned her face up to Max. “That’s how it’s done.”
Max merely grinned as he took her hand and walked back to their vehicle.
Kevin envied them their happiness, even as he was glad for them.
There was an entire wall of people in every direction. Noise assaulted him as voices mixed with music. The smell of alcohol and smoke was everywhere. Kevin turned to the woman who had been sent to fetch him when Lily failed to turn up as promised.
“Are you sure this isn’t a fire hazard?”
June grinned and shook her head as she elbowed her way in, cutting a path for him as well. “Most of the volunteer fire fighters are in here already.” She raised her voice as the din went up a notch. “They don’t seem to have any objections.”
He had no idea who the firefighters were, but the mellow, tolerant mood that generally permeated the crowd was very apparent.
“That’s because most of them are probably feeling no pain,” he guessed.
June looked at him. Was that a judgmental tone? Because of the noise, she couldn’t quite tell. She tried to recall if she’d ever seen him with a drink in his hand, other than toasting Jimmy at his wedding. She couldn’t remember. The details of the last wedding were blurry, except for the fact that she’d thought he was one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen. With his jet-black hair, worn a bit long, his piercing green eyes and high cheekbones, he looked like Jimmy, only better.
“You don’t drink?” she asked.
Right about now, he thought, a drink sounded like a pretty good thing to him. “I never said that.”
“Then follow me.” Taking his hand, she began to weave her way through the sea of bodies to the bar. “What’s your pleasure?” she tossed over her shoulder.
The words were eaten up by the din. He raised his voice. “What?”
June stopped. Turning, she leaned in to him. Her hair, worn loose tonight even though she hadn’t changed her clothes from earlier today, brushed against his face. “What’s your pleasure?” she repeated.
You.
The silent response caught Kevin completely by surprise. Where the hell had that come from? He didn’t think about her in those terms. In comparison to him, she was a child, for heaven’s sakes. Why had he even thought that?
Simultaneously clearing his mind and his throat, Kevin said, “Scotch and soda,” a tad too loudly.
She nodded. Her hair seemed to shimmy as it flowed about her shoulders. Kevin stifled the urge to thread his fingers through the strands and push them away from her face.
June
