Strawberry Wine (Strawberry Inn Book #2)

Chapter 9

BLAIR

 About six months ago, Angela convinced me to download Tik Tok so we could begin a page for the inn as part of our social media presence. I didn’t understand it at first, the videos were either funny animals, straight women curious about the love lives of lesbians, or half-naked men doing thirst traps. Once I learned that the app uses an algorithm to determine what the user is most likely to want to see, I felt a little embarrassed. The point of the story is a certain song became popular for a time being and I’ve never felt so seen by a song in my life.

The song is all about feeling numb and not really present in a room or situation that you’re in. My life is as great as it has been in a long time. I finally feel like I have a place where I belong and I’m not just existing in this town, but sometimes that isn’t enough. Some days are great. I get to work with my best friend and have plenty of girl nights. She invites me over to her place for family dinner, Hayes as well, and the night usually ends in our sides hurting from all the laughing at her mom’s jokes.

My cousin Harrison has not only made my best friend’s life one straight out of a fairy tale but he’s been a great role model for Hayes. Yes, he has a dad, but I know he’s leaned on Harrison more than once when he needed in-the-moment advice. I no longer feel like a social outcast floundering through this small town, but that isn’t always enough. I still have those moments when I just don’t know my place or where I belong. I just feel like I’m existing and nothing more.

I hate that tonight is one of those nights. Harrison has this weekend off, which hardly ever happens since he is the captain of the fire department, so the two of them are spending the weekend away. I’m sure I’ll hear all about their escapades when they get back, even if it gets to be too much because Angela has never shied away from telling me about her sex life, even though it is with my cousin.

Normally, I would push Hayes out the door and force him to hang out with friends. He’s too young to be holed up with his mom for too many weekends in a row. I didn’t have to worry about that tonight, Cody finally got in touch with him and the two of them are having dinner at Trudy’s. I could have sat at home and had a drink in the privacy of my own sanctuary, but the walls felt like they were closing in on me. Rather than dealing with that mess of emotions, I made my way to the local bar, simply named The Strawberry Pub. Sol, the main bartender, isn’t the most talkative person, but he pours an excellent strawberry margarita and that is just fine for me right now.

“You need to eat something, darlin’,” Sol says as he slides my second margarita in front of me.

“I’m fine, Sol. I’ll just keep eating the free pretzels.”

He shakes his head, “No way, you said that the time you were here with Miss Angela and I had to call the fire department to come to pick your drunk asses up.”

“That happened once, Sol! Plus, I’m drinking alone so I won’t have the bad influence of Angela to keep me going.”

Sol’s brow rises with suspicion, “I might not know much about Angela yet, but I’m pretty certain you’re the bad influence, sweetheart.”

“I’m hurt!” I say as I let out an exaggerated gasp, “How could you possibly think I’m the problem? You’ve known me my entire life!”

“That is exactly the reason I know you’re trouble. I’m going to put a chicken sandwich on for you and if you don’t eat it I’m not giving you a refill.”

“That’s blackmail,” I mumble, but Sol has already left the main bar area and headed to the back where the kitchen is located. A chicken sandwich isn’t the worst idea, the only other thing I had to eat today was a bag of chips.