Chapter Forty-Nine
The morning shift at the bar was usually the quietest time of day, but today the silence felt lighter. Bear’s warning to Clara and her friends had clearly traveled fast through the compound grapevine. None of them had dared to set foot in the clubhouse since the incident in the garden, and the few prospects who slunk in to restock the ice chest kept their heads down, treating me with a quiet, almost nervous respect.
I stood behind the counter, the sleeves of Jake's gray sweatshirt pushed up to my elbows as I polished the copper beer taps. The physical exhaustion of the past few days was still weighing on my shoulders, but the tight, suffocating panic in my chest had eased into a dull, manageable ache. I was determined to follow Tessa’s advice. I was going to stand on m
