“It’s all trashed.” His voice went low with the rest of it. “And some not nice words were painted on the side of the bar.”

“Fuck,” I hissed. “How fucking long is this going to go on for? It’s been eight fucking years.” I didn’t wait for him to answer. Instead, I got my ass in her truck and made my way to her.

Now I’m standing in the middle of the bar, and my heart breaks for her. “Why don’t you go wash your face, and we can go grab something to eat at my house?”

“Okay,” she mumbles, and her voice just sounds defeated. She walks to the back of the bar where the bathroom is, and once she’s out of earshot, I pick up the phone and call Tony, the town’s contractor.

“Hey there, Mr. Mayor,” Tony answers right away, laughing. “One day in the office and you’re already on my balls.” I have to laugh now. Tony has been in this town for over twenty years. He moved here when he was just twenty and out of school. He started his business slowly, and over the years, he’s gotten all of the town’s contracts. From the looks of everything that I’ve seen, he does his job, and he does it under budget, which is what you want.

“I’m not calling on official business,” I say and then look to make sure that Savannah hasn’t come back yet. “It’s more of a personal favor.”

“That sounds like a favor I want,” he says. “It’s always a good day when the higher-up owes you instead of the other way around.”

I laugh now. “I need you guys to come out to Savannah’s bar and fix it. Someone broke in last night and vandalized the place really good.” I take a look around, and my stomach sinks again just as it did when I stepped in and assessed the situation.

“Um …” His voice goes low, and then he lets out a deep breath. “I can’t.”

My shoulders snap up, and my neck gets tingly. “What do you mean, you can’t?”

“Listen, I don’t want to be put in the middle,” Tony says.

“In the middle of what?” I ask, and somehow what he tells me isn’t a surprise.

“Got a call from your father about twenty minutes ago,” he starts. His voice goes even lower, and I have to wonder if he doesn’t want people to know he’s on the phone with me. “If I so much as step foot on that property, my contract bid for the rec center is going to be passed to someone else.”

“Motherfucker,” I hiss. “Listen to me and listen to me good, Tony. My father has no say anymore. He has zero say in how I run my office.”

“I didn’t mean any disrespect.”