Hold Onto the Stars by Tracy Broemmer

Chapter 3

CJ rolledher eyes at Violet, still nodding in response to her father’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“Yes. It’s done. I did that outlet in Tuley’s new sunroom, too.” She nodded and watched Violet check her look in the mirror one last time. If she weren’t talking to her dad, she would have told Violet she looked perfect as always. Instead, she listened to her dad hem-haw around and worry about getting the Fitzgerald’s new house wired on time as she followed Violet out to her Prius.

Maren Morris’s voice pounded out around them as they climbed into the car. Violet winced and reached to turn the music down, but not before CJ’s dad heard it.

“Are you out somewhere?” he asked CJ now.

“Going out for a drink with Vi,” she answered.

“I’m never gonna have grandbabies if you keep going out for drinks with Violet,” he reminded her. His teasing never failed to sink her heart. She mustered up a sad smile and a soft laugh, but it got harder and harder to do so.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Daddy,” she promised him.

“Be safe.”

She dropped her phone to her lap and reached back to pull her seatbelt around and click it. She could still hear her dad’s voice in her head. Never gonna have grandbabies…

“You okay?” Violet studied her face for a moment before putting the car in reverse and backing out of her driveway. CJ avoided eye contact with her friend. She simply nodded, gulped a quick breath, and turned the attention back to Violet and her blind date.

“So. What’s this guy like?”

“Um.” Violet nibbled on her lip and shrugged. “Leslie says he’s super nice.”

“Well, there’s the kiss of death,” CJ mumbled.

“Nice guys are underrated.” Violet tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “No more bad boys for me.”

CJ pursed her lips and watched out her window as Violet steered her car down Carolina Street in the direction of The Rox. Violet’s ex had been the classic, good-looking bad boy who rolled in from Detroit, supposedly on his way to the West Coast. Once he met Violet, he had decided to stay.

“So, what else?”

“His name is Peyton.”

“That’s a point for him.” CJ nodded enthusiastically.

Familiar with CJ’s love of football and Peyton Manning, Violet rolled her eyes.

“He teaches third grade. Moved here from the big city. Has a golden retriever. And he’s smokin’ hot.”

“Smokin’ hot and big city are red flags,” CJ decided.

“Smokin’ hot is relative,” Violet announced. “Just because Leslie thinks so doesn’t mean we will.”

“Stop saying we.” CJ shot Violet a serious look. “This is all you.”

“Yeah, but if things work out with him, then we’ll find someone for you—”

“We don’t need to find someone for me,” CJ said sweetly. Eager to escape the conversation, as soon as Violet pulled into the already packed lot, CJ popped her seatbelt loose. The second Violet put the car in park, CJ scrambled out of the passenger seat. Between her dad’s constant mentions of grandbabies and Violet’s need to find her a boyfriend, CJ had had enough.

“So, I’ll be at the bar.”

“We need a safe word,” Violet mumbled as they walked across the lot toward the local hotspot. CJ used to love hanging out here. She could throw back beer, shoot whiskey and pool, and dance the night away just like the rest of them. But thirty was now in the rearview, and the whole scene was getting tired and old.

“Vi, I’m gonna be at the bar,” CJ said again. “If you need to shout a safe word so loud for me to hear it, it’s not gonna be all that subtle.”

Violet snickered and leaned into CJ. “I know. I’m just nervous.”

“It’ll be fine.” CJ threw her arm around her best friend’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “If Leslie likes him, I’m sure he’s a good guy.”

“Right.” Violet nodded, but the look she wore on her face screamed uncertainty. CJ thought she looked like a little girl talking herself into the high dive as they entered the bar. “Do you see him?”

“No idea.” CJ looked around the trendy hangout. She might have grown tired of the dating scene, but she had an eye for architecture and lighting, and she loved everything about The Rox.

“That’s him,” Violet whispered and latched onto CJ’s arm. CJ dragged her eyes away from the small crowd gathered around the bar.

“Easy, Vi.” She laughed softly and patted her friend’s hand that now encircled her wrist.

“Leslie said he has dark hair and dark eyes. Don’t you think that’s him?”

CJ followed Violet’s gaze to find a dark-haired guy alone at a high-top table for two across the room. Since they both knew every guy in Oak Bend and she didn’t recognize him immediately, she assumed he was, indeed, Violet’s blind date.

“Have fun.” CJ gave her a little push and watched Violet approach the guy at the table. When the guy noticed Violet, he stood and offered her a smile. Satisfied that her friend was okay for a while, CJ crossed the room on her heeled brown boots and sidled up to the bar between two guys she had known all her life.

“CJ!” Paul Coben lifted his hand for a high five when he turned to find her there.

“Hey, Paul.” She gave him the obligatory five and nodded when he tipped his head at his beer.

“You here alone?” Paul asked her. He wasn’t hitting on her; they tried that back in high school. Found out they made good friends and nothing more.

“I’m with Vi.” She reached for the pint glass the bartender nudged at her over the bar.

“Where is she?” Paul looked around. CJ took a big drink and eyed her friend with amusement. If she read him correctly, Paul had a thing for Violet. But he wouldn’t act on it, because of his short, almost non-existent history with CJ. Silly, but true.

“On a date.” CJ tipped her head toward the southern wall where she could see Violet and her guy talking over the table. Paul groaned and nodded.

“Is she still a little gun shy after the way things ended with Jack?”

“Can’t be too careful,” CJ mumbled.

“Who’s the guy?”

“The new third grade teacher.” CJ lifted her hair from her neck and twisted it into a messy knot. The bar was already crowded, she was hot, and she wasn’t looking for any male attention. Not that there weren’t guys who asked her out now and then. But after the same dates over and over again with some of the same guys and the same small-town gossip, she had decided she needed either a new life plan or a change of scenery. Since she worked for her dad, who fully intended to hand his business over to her sooner rather than later, a new life plan seemed more plausible than a change of scenery.

“Mmm.” Paul nodded. “Harlan and Joan think a lot of him.”

More points for the blind date, CJ decided. Harlan North was the principal of the elementary school, and his wife was the epitome of community. If they liked Violet’s blind date, CJ might be donning a maid-of-honor’s dress by this time next year. Suspecting what she did about Paul’s feelings for Violet, she didn’t share her thoughts.

“Shoot some pool?” he asked her over the rim of his glass. CJ took one last glance at Violet before following Paul to the pool tables.