23. Sentiment Is For Suckers

TWENTY-THREE

SENTIMENT IS FOR SUCKERS

Dessa

I miss Garrett. When did I become that girl? The one who wants to bury herself under the covers and never come out because she misses her… I don't know what we are, but I miss him. It's been two days since he left, for real this time, but he kept his promise to call and text. He even called me the second the wheels touched down in Seattle. Luckily, it was a slow night at Porter's, so I had a few minutes to chat with him.

"I still can't believe you slept with two brothers!" Nora exclaims.

"I didn't sleep with them at the same time or back-to-back, so the situation is a little different." Stupid Garrett and not being able to keep his lips to himself gave it away that we were together. Since he was unable to keep his vampireness below the belt, when I walked into work yesterday, Rylee immediately zeroed in on the hickey on my neck. Within five minutes, everyone knew I had sex with Garrett. Granted, they were all super happy about it, but now I'll never hear the end. Which is fair, I guess, since we all razzed Rylee when she got together with Trey. Payback's a bitch, and Lach and Nora will get theirs. It's all a matter of time. Jake's the only innocent one here, but he's always kept himself on the outside. He likes to play the ignorance-is-bliss card, at least, when it comes to his employees' relationships. Or sex life, in Nora's case.

"You'll be thinking, ‘That's not how your brother does it.' Or even comparing styles and size." Nora moves the palms of her hands back and forth to show a difference in length.

A warm blush washes over my cheeks. "Shut up. I hate you so much right now."

"I'm only pointing out the obvious. So, which is the better brother?" Nora leans on the bar top, wiggling her eyebrows.

I laugh. "I'm not going to pit them against each other in the sex department. What kind of person do you think I am?"

"I would totally compare them. I'd have charts and pie graphs. You can't sleep with brothers and not compare them." Nora stares at me with the Cheshire grin on her face.

Garrett. It's Garrett. He wins by a double-digit shutout. All those years ago, I picked the wrong brother. I want to tell her that, but instead I keep it to myself and only give her a smile.

"This is why you don't hook up with an ex's sibling. And don't think about hooking up with a best friend's sibling because they're practically family, and that's one line you shouldn't cross. It leads to nothing but bad news. Shit gets ugly. Feelings get complicated. Friendships collapse," Lach says as he strolls past us.

"But you can't help who you fall in love with," Nora counters.

I throw my hands in the air. "Why are we talking about love? No one loves anyone."

"Either way, I'm not going to be a dick to my best friend," Lach rebuttals.

I'll give it to Lach. He's one of the most loyal friends I've ever had. He would never be a dick to me or anyone else working at Porter's.

"I think this is different," Rylee says. "Yes, they're siblings, but Garrett and Dessa were friends before all of this happened. What if they were meant to be together? It's fate that Garrett came back to town for the wedding."

"The universe wants them together," Nora chimes in.

"If she wants to bang him out of her system, that's cool. Just know things will only get weird." Lach pulls out the step stool from under the counter.

"Please continue talking about me as if I'm not here." I prop my hands on my hips.

"Feel free to chime in at any time." Lach waves his palm in front of him, urging me to say my piece.

"It's hard to explain. It's like we're two opposite ends of a magnet. We're instantly drawn to each other. It's a force you can't fight, so I just let it happen. All I can do is wait and see where it goes."

"And by the blush on your cheeks, you're having fun while it's happening," Rylee sing-songs.

"That's beside the point. We're getting to know each other again and enjoying each other's company."

"While also enjoying the company of his dick. It's a win-win in my book." A wide smile covers Nora's face. " But speaking of Tony, what happened between the two of you all those years ago? Why'd you breakup?"

I cross my arms over my chest, propping my hip against the cooler. "We just sort of… drifted apart, I guess. At the three-year mark, we grew distant. Both of us were busy with work and a year later we agreed to part ways."

"Which clearly was the universe telling you he was the wrong brother." Nora lifts a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"You need one of those cute couple names like…" Rylee taps her chin.

I spin to face Rylee, who's sitting on a stool on the other side of the bar. "Why? You never got a name. No one called you Tylee."

"That's because no one thought of it. You can be Gessa."

"Or Derrett," Lach adds.

I roll my eyes and huff. "One: those are terrible names and two: we're not even dating."

Lach shrugs. "Get better names and you'll have a better couple name."

I shoot daggers in his direction.

Jake storms out into the bar from the hallway, his eyebrows forming a deep V. "What is going on out here? There's more talking than working happening." He drops a stack of papers in front of Rylee. "Inventory lists. Double check it."

Rylee nods.

"Oh, we're only discussing Dessa's new man," Nora says.

"And that's my cue to leave and for all of you to do some work around here." Jake hoofs it toward the front door.

"You don't want all the dirty details?" Nora yells to his retreating frame .

"Nope!" Then Jake disappears through the doorway.

"The other day, I tried to talk to him about vibrators, and I actually saw his cheeks turn a dusty rose." Nora throws her head back in laughter.

"I'm going to need a replay of that conversation." I hike my purse higher on my shoulder. "I'm going to put my stuff away."

"And I'm out for the night. You kids have fun." Rylee pushes her stool out and rises to her feet. With the stack of papers in hand, she's out the front door, and I make my way to the employee room, dropping off my purse and coat.

When I return to the bar, Lach is standing on the step stool in front of the chalkboard. "What do you think?"

Nora and I twist our heads at the same time. Nora laughs and I shake my head, but I can't hide the smile on my face as I read the words "Dessa Needs A Cocktail Minus The Tail."

Sadly, he's not wrong, but there's only one cock I need. I miss Garrett.

"You're missing a person." Nora tugs Lach off the stool and moves it a few inches to the right. Underneath she writes, "Garrett's Cocktail."

For the rest of the night, I steal glances at the board and think of Garrett. How can I not? His name is front and center. He told me I can always call him when I'm off work. My 2 a.m. is his midnight, so it's not so bad for him, but also I have work hair and that's just not always sexy.

After a few hours, the crowd quiets. Lach restocks the coolers while I run a rag over the bar top.

"So, Garrett's convinced he lost the game because he didn't have his lucky penny."

Lach peers at me. "Lucky penny?"

"Yes. Apparently, players have superstitions when they take the field. Some have a routine, or in Garrett's case, he had a lucky penny he's always had with him. The day of the game, he lost it."

"What's so lucky with his penny?"

I give him all the details about where the penny came from and the machine that made it.

He closes the cooler and breaks down the box. "I've seen those kinds of machines. They make like a little souvenir trinket."

"Yeah, he got it at Earl's Logging Camp just north of Harbor Highlands. After the wedding, we went there, and the owner said he got rid of the machine because it was broken." I toss the rag under the counter and refill a pint glass for a customer. "It would be a pretty bad ass present if I could get it for him," I muse as I stare off across the bar.

"That seems like a fun task, trying to track down that machine."

An older man, well into his sixties, clears his throat at the end of the bar. "I know someone who's done a lot of picking for antiques and collectibles throughout the years. There's a chance he might have what you're looking for, or maybe knows someone who does."

My eyes widen. A tiny glimmer of hope sparks inside me. "Are you serious?" I stroll to the end of the bar where he's seated.

"I can give you his number."

"That would be amazing and better than what I had, which was nothing." I grab a coaster and a pen and pass it to him.

He scribbles a name and number and passes it back. "You can tell him Otto told you to give him a call."

A delighted smile lights up my face as I stare at the number on the coaster. I hold the key to possibly the best Christmas present ever. "Thank you so much. This means a lot to me." I tuck the coaster into my back pocket.

The next day, I called Jack and describe the penny machine. He knew exactly what I was talking about, and he's pretty confident that he has one. The only caveat is I'll have to come out and rummage through his five storage buildings, hoping to find it. Since I'm making it a habit of visiting strangers' homes who live in the middle of nowhere, I convince Lach to come with me. Plus, he also has the day off.

"Thanks for coming with me. I really appreciate it," I say, glancing at Lach in the driver's seat. I did a little research on penny machines, and I wasn't sure if we'd be able to fit one in the rear of my SUV, so I asked Lach to use his truck for easier hauling.

"No problem. I'm glad I could help. Even though I was your second choice." He smirks.

While at Porter's, I asked Jake to come with me, but he had plans. No one knows if Jake ever actually has plans or if he says he has plans to avoid doing things. Either way, Lach was standing right there, so he became my second option.

"It's not that I didn't want you to come. Jake's just a little more intimidating if things go… awry."

He tears his gaze from the road to turn toward me. "Hey, I can handle my own."

"And I don't doubt that, but Jake has an intimidation factor. Plus, he has a little more muscle than you."

He chuckles. "Thanks for the boost of confidence."

"That's what I'm here for." I smile brightly .

A short while later, we're pulling into a desolate driveway out in the middle of nowhere. A giant white farmhouse with various sized buildings scattered across the property comes into view.

Lach slows his truck to a crawl as he peers out the window to scope out the various buildings. "Well, this shall be fun."

"I'd appreciate a little more enthusiasm because this will be fun. Do you want to get lunch afterward?"

He parks his truck close to the house. "This is worth way more than lunch. Just know you owe me. I'll figure out the details later."

"Ugh! Fine." We both climb out and stroll up the shoveled sidewalk. At the front door, I knock while Lach stands behind me. A few seconds later, a man with white hair and a bushy beard to match greets us. If he doesn't moonlight as Santa Claus, he really should.

"Hi, are you Jack? I'm Dessa. I called about the penny machine."

"Yes. I am. Let me grab my coat and I'll be right out." He closes the door while Lach and I retreat down the sidewalk. A few seconds later, he emerges wearing a black and gray flannel jacket and a walking cane.

"Thanks so much for letting us come out here," I say.

"No problem." His voice is a little weathered and rusty. "You'll be doing all the work trying to find it, though. As you see, I can't get around that great anymore. The snow makes it even harder."

"Of course. I brought a helper. This is Lach." They shake hands.

Jack gives us the rundown of the various buildings. He opens the garage door and pulls out a shovel, passing it to Lach.

"You'll need this." Then he walks past us and down the driveway.

Lach leans over and whispers, "You owe me. Big time." He lifts the shovel to rest against his shoulders and trots after Jack.

"How long have you been collecting, Jack?" I ask.

"Close to twenty years. At this point, I don't even remember what I have anymore."

"You hear that, Dessa? Twenty years." Lach's voice is dripping with sarcasm.

I flash him a wide thank-you-for-helping-me grin.

Jack points off into the distance with his cane. "I suspect it's in one of the medium size buildings. The red one has a really tricky door. You need to wiggle and jerk it at the same time."

Lach glares at me and mutters, "That one way over there, completely buried under the snow?"

"Yep. That's the one. That's the reason for the shovel."

"You so owe me," Lach mutters before he steps over the snowbank and trudges through the shin-deep snow. Following his footprints, I embrace the "work smarter, not harder" motto.

I'm praying his memory is as sharp as a tack because it's cold and I don't want to spend my afternoon digging through buildings full of junk. When we reach the large metal sliding door, he grips the wooden block handle and slides it halfway across. My eyes widen as soon as the bright light floods in through the opening. I underestimated how much junk a person could cram in a storage building. Every inch of the dirt floor is covered with stuff. Not only that, but it almost reaches the ceiling. This was a stupid idea. Garrett doesn't need a lucky penny.

Lach turns to me. "Let's get digging."

Luckily, there are a few pre-made paths to meander through. It's like a corn maze but constructed out of junk. Lach goes right, and I go left. I click on my flashlight and scan everything, praying it'll be out in the open and easy to see.

"Holy shit! No way!" Lach's voice echoes through the steel structure.

"What is it? Did you find it?" I'm crossing my fingers and toes he found it so we can leave.

"He has the exact bicycle I had when I was a kid!"

All my hope dies a junk-filled death. "That's great, but not why we're here." I continue scanning everything my flashlight beam passes over. I lift a box and set it down on an unsteady stack of other boxes. A cloud of dust and dirt plumes into the air. Covering my nose and mouth with my sleeve, I swat the cloud away with my other hand. It's going to be a long day. Once the dust settles, I resume moving boxes, praying I find it buried, but I come up empty-handed.

After an hour and still no penny machine, we moved on to the next building. Then the next. And the next.

Standing between two piles of junk, Lach wipes his brow with the back of his hand. "It's getting dark, and as much as I would like to find this machine, I also don't want to turn into a human popsicle."

"There's only one more building. We'll make it quick," I plead.

He blows out a deep breath. "Did I mention you owe me?"

A wide smile covers my face.

"Good. Just checking."

Ten minutes into the search, and I'm ready to call it quits. All my adrenaline has worn off, and I'm tired and cold. I tug my knit beanie farther over my head. My shoulders slump, and I blow out a deep breath. A silvery cloud forms in front of me before dissipating. "Lach? "

"Yeah?" His voice carries from the other side of the steel building.

"I think we should?—"

"I think I found it!"

I perk up, rising to my full height. "For real?"

"Yes!"

I race past stacks of boxes, several old cars, and even more boxes until I find Lach. I shine my flashlight through a gap in several boxes, and I spot a brown rectangle with Souvenir Penny written in script across the top. "That's it! That has to be it."

Adrenaline surges through my body as we frantically move boxes, buckets, and other scraps of metal out of the way, piling everything on the sides until we have a clear path.

When it's finally exposed, a wave of elation washes over me. It looks like the exact machine from years ago, including the mallard stamp. I can't believe we found it. This entire trip was a crapshoot, but we actually found it.

I wrap my arms around Lach's shoulders. "Thank you so much for coming with me and helping me find it."

"Of course, but remember, you still owe me." He smirks.

"Yeah. Yeah. Let's get this thing out of here."

Lach borrows a dolly from Jack to move the penny machine out of the storage garage. I use the shovel to widen the path through the snow. Once we're next to his truck, Lach sets the dolly down. We exchange hopeful glances before turning our attention to the machine.

"I wonder if it works," Lach says.

"Earl said it was broken, but maybe this is a different machine. Do you have two quarters on you? And a penny? "

Lach exhales a deep laugh. "After all my hard work, you're now asking for money?"

I cross my arms over my chest and pop my hip.

He laughs again and digs into his pocket and pulls out a couple quarters and a penny. Taking them from his palm, I place them in the designated spots on the machine. I push in the quarter tray, the quarters clanking inside as they fall into the coin hopper. I grip the hand crank, but it doesn't budge. "Shit. It's not working."

"Let me try."

I step out of the way, and Lach jiggles the crank, but nothing happens. "Something must be broken."

"What do you want to do? I mean, we can fix it, right? Maybe?"

He shakes his head. "Don't look at me. I'm better at breaking things than fixing them."

I wrack my brain, trying to think of who I could ask. Trey's half brother, Ledger, is a mechanic, so he must be good with his hands. He could possibly fix it. Two phone calls and ten minutes later, I'm disconnecting the call.

"Ledger says we can drop it off at the shop and he'll check it out, but he makes no promises." Frankly, that's all I have, so I'll take it. I pay Jack two-hundred dollars and we finish loading it into the bed of Lach's truck.

During the ride home, I stare out the window, imagining Garrett's face when he sees it. He's going to freak out.

"I can't believe you paid two hundred dollars for something that doesn't even work."

"It's the sentimental value, and that's worth way more than two hundred dollars."

"Sentiment is for suckers."

I bark out a laugh. "You're such an asshole. I know Garrett will like this. "

He glances over at me. "What's going on with you two, anyway?"

I suck my lower lip into my mouth and shrug a shoulder. "We're rekindling our friendship?" Aside from the friendship, everything else is up in the air. "Right now, we're taking it day by day. Seeing what happens. Garrett and his brother, Tony, had been a part of my life for so many years, and then we all went our separate ways. It's nice having everyone back together again."

"Including the sex."

Heat creeps up my neck. "Then there's that."

"Either way, you deserve all the happiness."

"Thanks. What about you? When are you going to find your happiness?" I shift to face Lach. "Or have you been holding out on me?" In the several years I've known him, I've never seen him with a steady girlfriend.

"My happiness is being single."

"Just wait. Your turn is coming. You're going to meet a woman who sweeps you off your feet."

"It's like the movie Scream . ‘But wait, there's more!' Because it fits with the whole relationship idea. They come back for one last scare before trying to kill you. That's what relationships do. They kill you."

I roll my eyes. "You're being dramatic."

He shakes his head. "We all can't find baseball players to sweep us off our feet."

After our laughter dissipates, only the rumbling of the tires on the road fills the cab and I stare out the passenger side window at the dark sky.

Lach breaks the silence. "By the way, you also owe me fifty-one cents."

I smile and shake my head. "Yeah, you're definitely an asshole."