“I said I’m sorry!” Rose pushed another apology beer my way; I felt rather than saw it move towards me, as my head was face down against the bar top.

“How could you possibly forget that you live next door to the brother of my ex-boyfriend?” I moaned.

“Honestly, I don’t run into him very often! There’s basically a mini-forest between our houses, and we don’t have a lot of crossover when it comes to friends. We wave if we drive by each other or chat for a minute if I run into him at the grocery, but that’s about it.”

“Oh really?” I said, turning my head slightly to cast one accusing eye at her. “And what about your secret softball league?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes and in the spring we play in an adult softball league, not even on the same team. So if you add in all the ‘good games,’ then I guess yeah, he’s actually replaced you as my best friend.” She nudged the beer a little closer to me, frowning sympathetically. “I’m sorry it was painful, seeing him again,” she said as I picked myself up, taking a small sip of the peace offering.

“I’ve never met him before,” I replied. “I knew Riley had a younger brother, but he never talked about him and he was still away at college while we were…” I sighed. “Riley never wanted me to know anything real about him, and I knew that, and I thought I’d processed it. But then I guess meeting his brother was like a giant, human-shaped slap in the face. He’s a living embodiment of how little Riley ever actually wanted me.”

Rose frowned at me and took a sip of her own drink. “I really am sorry, Harp. I wish I’d given you a head’s up. And Riley is an ass for the way he treated you. But you know, him not introducing you to Reid might not be what you think. I don’t think Riley and Reid are particularly close-- part of the reason I don’t know him well is because Allen hates him, and I think it comes from some kind of drama with Riley. He won’t tell me the details, but I know Allen is annoyed that Reid is the one who stuck around.”

I stared into my drink, mulling her words over. “At least we can all agree that Riley’s an ass,” I muttered. She laughed, nudging my shoulder with her own.

“Cheers to that,” she said, clinking our glasses together.

Over the next few rounds my mood started to improve. Who cared if there was a guy running around who reminded me of my ex? Riley hadn’t been in my life for a long time and, provided I didn’t start any more kitchen fires, Reid wouldn’t be in my life at all.

“So now that you’re feeling better, should we talk about house rules?” Rose said, elbowing me. “I didn’t really think I had any, but I’d like to propose ‘no burning it down’ in light of recent events.”

“I’m sorry,” I whined, grabbing her arm and burrowing my head into her shoulder. “I swear I was trying to do something nice. This is why getting out of one’s comfort zone can be dangerous.”

“I mean, not to discourage your growth as a person but I’ve literally never seen you cook anything more complex than a grilled cheese sandwich.”

“Definitely should have stuck to my strengths,” I said with a nod. “I just thought it would be cool to like, contribute something, since I have no money to pay you actual rent.”

Rose cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at me.

“Why would you try to pay me rent? Wait, is this about what Allen said last night? Harper!” I blushed and looked down into my half-empty glass. “I begged you to come back! And you know Allen only said those things because when he’s drunk he likes to shit-stir. No one thinks you’re leeching off me. I’m clearly getting the better end of the deal because you are my unpaid wedding labor.”

“And the joy of my company is priceless,” I mumbled. She nudged my shoulder.

“There he is,” she said.

“I guess Allen just hit a nerve. It’s not lost on me that I’m twenty-seven and have basically no savings and if you hadn’t taken me in I’m genuinely not sure what I’d be doing right now.” I drained the rest of my beer.

Rose took a contemplative sip of her own. “Well, what if you got something around here part-time? Make a little cash to stick in savings while you figure out your next move?”

“That’s... not a terrible idea,” I said with a sigh. Miles loped towards us behind the bar, gesturing at my empty glass.

“Get you another?” he asked, tucking a strand of russet hair behind his ear, exposing the stubble of his cheek. I would not be opposed to exploring that jawline…

“What he really needs is a job,” Rose said with far too much enthusiasm. “You hiring?”

Miles cocked his head to the side, eyeing me. “You worked in the industry before?”

“Oh, uh, server for a year before I switched to bartending. Been doing that for… about three years now.” His sleepy eyes trailed over my face and I stopped talking before I tripped over my tongue.

“OK,” he said at last. “Why don’t you come in for a stage next week, like… Wednesday should be good. We’ll see how you do.”

“Cool,” I said with a nervous smile. “Thanks, man.” He shrugged and walked off with my empty pint glass.

I turned on Rose immediately. “Why did you do that?”

“Seriously? You literally just said you wanted to make some cash, and this is the most popular bar in town. It’ll definitely be your best shot at decent tips.”

“Yeah, but like,” I looked down at the far end of the bar, where Miles was greeting some new arrivals. “If he’s my boss then that means I probably shouldn’t try to sleep with him.”

Rose took a delicate sip, finishing off the last of her glass. “Oh no,” she said, voice light. “You mean I’ve somehow blocked you from having a meaningless fling that will end badly with the proprietor of my favorite drinking establishment? Well gosh do I feel bad about that…”

“You are devious,” I said, torn between irritation and awe. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Miles bend over to open the dish machine, affording me quite the view. I turned back to her with a smirk. “But don’t forget, I am too. And it’s not like I have the job yet…”

Rose laughed, smacking me on the back of the head. As I tried to catch Miles’s eye (purely to order another round…) Rose’s phone rang. She frowned at the caller ID before she answered it.

“Hey, Mr. Fairweather,” she said.

Allen’s father? I mouthed at her, and she nodded.

“Yes I-- what? He-- what? OK, oh… yeah, OK, I’ll be right there!” Rose disconnected the line then stared at me, her eyes round with fear.

“Someone broke into the store-- Allen’s been attacked!”