16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

"Happy St. Patrick's Day."

S t. Patrick's Day was one of the busiest nights at the bar, so there would be four of them making drinks. Cooper would play his usual part as bouncer and give Paxton, Gage, Cabe, and Rand their breaks. Both Becca and Londyn would come in to help after the restaurant closed at seven. Rand would help Remington and Brynlee in the kitchen before moving to the bar. The kitchen would be serving Shepard's Pie, Soda Bread, and Irish Apple Cake to mark the holiday.

Gage left the newspaper office at four and went to the tavern to help Paxton prepare for the night. It was already getting busy when he arrived. He went behind the bar and Paxton shook his hand.

"Are you here to stay?"

"Yeah. What do you need me to do?"

"Catch up on the dishes. Top off the fruit trays. Stock the beer cooler." He smiled. "That's a start."

Gage nodded. "I'm on it. How's Elaina?"

"Not too happy."

"I imagine. But you're off tomorrow. You just need to make it through the night."

Gage started in on the dishes, but never quite reached the end of them. When he figured he was at least ahead, he stopped and took care of the fruit. They were short on limes, so he cut several. Then he cut up a few lemons. When the three fruit trays were filled, he went to the back room and picked up a case of beer. They'd sell a lot of Guinness tonight. But they also had Murphy's Stout and Harp Lager in stock.

When the beer cooler was full, he poured two shots of Jameson and took one to Paxton.

"Happy St. Patrick's Day."

"Thanks, brother."

They tapped glasses and drank the shots.

Paxton set his glass next to the sink. "We should eat before it gets crazy."

"I'll go get us a couple plates of Shepard's Pie."

"And bread."

"I'll be right back."

Gage left the bar and went through the dining room to the kitchen. It was busy with the dinner crowd. He went through the swinging doors and almost ran into Becca, coming through with an armload of plates.

"Whoa, sorry."

"Stay to the right."

"Got it."

Remington and Rand were busy at the grill while Brynlee was making salads and putting bread into baskets. She was six months pregnant now and tried to stay in the prep area rather than at the stove.

She looked up from her work and smiled at Gage. "How's the bar?"

"Starting to fill up. Pax and I were hoping to get a couple servings of the Shepard's Pie if you're not too busy."

"No problem."

Rand handed her two servings of the pie and she put some bread on the plates before passing them on to Gage.

"Thank you." He pointed at her. "Don't work too hard."

"I'll try not to."

Remy glanced over his shoulder. "Save me some Jameson. I'll be in after we close."

"You got it. See you soon, Rand."

Rand waved a hand over his shoulder as Gage left the kitchen with the two plates. He met Becca coming through the door again. This time, she was on his side.

"Hey. Stay to the right."

She laughed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"See you in a bit."

"If I survive the next two hours."

"Just think of all the money you're going to make."

"Sometimes, I wonder if it's worth it."

Gage spotted a few people he should talk to in the restaurant, but there really wasn't time. He gave them a nod and a smile and kept walking.

Gage and Paxton ate while they served beer and poured drinks. He would've like to sit down and enjoy it, but that wasn't going to happen. It was delicious though, and he wanted seconds. That wasn't going to happen either.

By the time Cabe showed up at five-thirty, the bar was full and most of the tables were occupied. The first thing Cabe did was refill the beer cooler and wash some more glasses. The dirty glasses would be a never ending battle tonight.

At nine o'clock, Paxton got a call from Elaina. He went to Gage and Cabe. "Elaina's in labor."

Gage put a hand on his shoulder. "Shit. Go. We've got this."

"Okay." It seemed Paxton couldn't quite make himself move.

Cabe gave him a light shove. "Go on, man. You're about to become a father again."

Paxton nodded. "Shit. I'm about to become a father again."

Rand came up to them. "We really don't have time for you boys to chitchat."

Gage smiled. "You're about to become a great-uncle for the sixth time. Elaina's in labor."

Rand touched Paxton's arm. "Get out of here, son. We've got the bar."

Paxton nodded. "Right. I'll call you when I can."

As Gage watched him go, he was surprised by the tinge of envy he felt. It seemed everyone but him was moving on and starting families. He never thought he wanted that for himself. But it was hard not to be affected by the love his siblings felt for their spouses and their growing families. He shook his head. He had to get back to work. This wasn't the time or place to reflect on his life choices.

With reports of the weather getting worse outside, the men were all worried about getting home once the bar closed. At eleven, things started slowing down a little and Gage suggested at least two of them should go home. It was decided Rand and Cabe should go. Gage could always sleep in his office if he had to. And Cooper felt he should stay just in case there was any last-minute trouble with the customers. So far, the night had been uneventful. But if trouble happened, it usually occurred at closing time. Some guys just didn't want to call it a night.

So Rand and Cabe left for the ranch, and Gage and Cooper stayed to close up in an hour. They hadn't heard anything from Paxton other than the fact they were at the clinic. Their plans to deliver the baby in the hospital in Richfield were thwarted by the storm and the fact the ferry stopped running at eight. They knew it was always a possibility, and Corbyn had been kept updated by Elaina's doctor. It seemed he'd be delivering his niece or nephew tonight.

There were still ten customers in the bar at eleven-forty-five, so Cooper approached each of them and told them it was last call. Half of them took him up on one more drink. The other five left.

As they started the closing process, Cooper came up to Gage. "So how goes it at the newspaper without your Lois Lane?"

"Not great, actually. Clem's been helping me a couple of days a week. But she can't do what Sydney did. Sydney can write and layout the paper. She could run the place herself if she really needed to."

"Sounds like you need to get her back."

"Not that easy to do. She won't come back. She came in today to help me get the paper ready to distribute tomorrow. Otherwise, I'd be going there when I leave here."

"Well, that's something anyway."

"I'm having trouble keeping up with all the mayor stuff I need to do."

"You're not even in office yet."

"I know. I don't know how I'm going to make it work."

"Lyric could probably spare a few hours a week when the boys are in school. She checks on the boarded horses every morning. But her afternoons are generally free."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

The last of the customers left and Cooper cleared the tables and wiped them down, then swept and mopped the floor. Gage cleared the bar, washed glasses, and closed out the register. Then together, they restocked the bar. Rand would be working tomorrow and he would've been fine with them leaving him something to do. But Gage liked to leave the bar ready to go for the next day's business.

They were finished by one and went out the front door together. The snow was falling in big wet flakes and the road had gathered two inches of fresh snow since the last plow.

Cooper whistled. "Man. This doesn't look good. Do you think we'll be able to get up the road to my place?"

"Maybe. But beyond that, probably not."

"You're welcome to my couch."

"I'll just hike the last mile."

"At this time of night?"

"Sure."

"Dude."

"You know I like to sleep in my own bed. Or my office couch. Which I would sleep on tonight. But I want to make sure you make it home."

"Alright. You follow me home and we'll discuss it further when we get to my place."

They had both parked behind the restaurant, so they circled the building and got into their trucks. Cooper left first and Gage followed close enough behind him to see him through the snow. But not so close that he'd run into him if Cooper lost traction and skidded.

Highway Three, like the roads in town, had a couple of inches of new snow. But their four-wheel-drive was handling it okay. The road to Cooper's barn was worse, however, with nearly four inches of snow. Cooper slowed down and drove the mile to his house. He parked in front of the house, then walked over to Gage, who was stopped on the road.

Cooper shook his head when Gage rolled down his window. "Don't even try it, man. Take my couch."

"I'll leave my truck here. But I'll walk to my house."

"You are so stubborn."

"It's a beautiful night."

Cooper looked up at the falling snow. "Right." He backed away as Gage parked his truck next to Cooper's. Gage got out, and they shook hands.

"I need to get to town in the morning, so I hope Cory plows the road for you."

"I'm sure he will."

"I'll see you in the morning, then."

"Call me when you get home, please."

"I'll try. But you know how my service is. Especially in this weather."

"I won't worry if I don't hear from you, then."

Gage started walking, and after twenty minutes, he was second guessing his decision. Without the snow, he would've been there already. He should've just stayed in town. Ten minutes later, he could see the dark shape of his house. He went inside, started a fire, then went to bed.