Silence had fallen around them, and Alex was aware that everyone nearby was tuned in to what was going on. “Get your things and get out. Tonight. You’re fired.”

“You can’t fire me!”

“I just did. Now get your stuff off our property tonight, or I’ll send my friend Chief Taylor over to help you along.” As the manager, she lived in an apartment behind the store.

“You’re as crazy as she is! Who are you going to get at this point in the season to take my place?”

“I don’t care if we have to shut down the store. I’m not giving you one more red cent of my money.”

She grabbed her purse and, with her wide-eyed friend in tow, vacated the bar.

As they walked away, Alex noticed that Jenny had witnessed the entire exchange when she’d emerged from the restroom. She stared at him with big doe eyes full of confusion and compassion. The last thing he wanted from her was compassion. He put his unfinished beer on the bar, dropped some cash to cover his beer, Sharon’s unpaid tab and a tip for his bartender friend, and walked out without another word to anyone.

Paul chased after him. “Alex! What the hell just happened? What did you say to Sharon? Why did she tell me I’d better have a good lawyer?”

Fueled by rage, Alex kept walking until Paul caught up to him, grabbed his arm and spun him around.

“What the fuck happened?”

“I heard her talking shit about Mom to her friend. She said she was bare-ass naked and batshit crazy, so I fired her.”

“Oh God, you fired her.”

“I fired her.”

“Okay.” Paul combed all ten fingers through his hair repeatedly, a gesture that indicated his brain was racing.

Alex could certainly relate. “I’m sorry, Paul. I know the hiring and firing decisions are yours, and this is the last fucking thing we need right now, but I refuse to pay someone who’s going to talk trash about our family in public.”

“I’m with you, brother. Hundred and ten percent.”

“But you’re freaking out.”

“Little bit.” He dropped his hands from his hair, looking wearier than Alex had ever seen him. “We’ll figure something out. Let’s go home before she has a chance to screw things up on her way out.”

Alex glanced back at the bar, wishing he had the balls to march in there and demand that Jenny come with him. But he didn’t have the balls or the right to ruin her date with a guy who probably came with a heck of a lot less emotional baggage than Alex was dragging around behind him.