Damn it, why was Dottie so stubborn? I'd spent the entire time before opening trying to talk her out of her "I'm not worthy" funk. Nothing worked. I'd pointed out that AJ didn't seem to be the type of guy to look down on someone because they didn't have an education. I'd pointed out that even though she didn't have a diploma, she ran her own business, read all the time, and listened to NPR. She answered that she was only running a bar, she only read for enjoyment, and that Car Talk didn't count as culture. As much as I hated to see her hurting, I was ready to smack her for not seeing that all of this was unnecessary. All she had to do was look at the man to see that he was crazy about her.

"You know, your boss might get upset if you scrub all the finish off the bar."

I looked up to see the grin that had started all of this commotion. "Hi, AJ."

"Is Dottie around?"

"Um, yeah, somewhere. I'll go see if I can find her." I knew exactly where she was, and I'd had enough of her anxiety tonight.

She didn't look up from her desk until I'd slammed the office door behind me. "What the hell are you trying to pull by hiding in here?"

"Go away, Rachel."

"Go to hell, Dottie. I can't believe you ran in here and hid as soon as you saw AJ coming. What is wrong with you?"

"I can't face him right now."

"Look, you've got two choices. Either you go out there and talk to him, or I will. What's it going to be?"

"You'd do it too, wouldn't you?" When I nodded, she stood up, glaring at me. "Fine."

She stalked past me and out the door. I don't know what they talked about because I kept myself busy on the other side of the bar, and tried not to eavesdrop. God, it was hard, but I seriously tried. Then, about a half hour later, the coward came over to me.

"Rachel, I think I'm getting a migraine. I don't think it's going to be busy tonight, so I'm going to go home."

"Fine." I waited until she had turned away to mutter, "Chicken shit."

She turned back around. "I heard that."

I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head. "Fine. Run home." When the tears welled up in her eyes, I couldn't help softening some. "I really do hope you feel better."

I waited till she was gone then walked over behind the bar. AJ and I were the only ones in the whole place. "You want another beer?"

"Make it a scotch." He shoved his empty mug toward me.

I poured a glass full for him and passed it over. I searched for something to say that wouldn't touch on sore subjects. "So, AJ, what can you tell me about Clayton Webb?"

"Probably nothing you want to hear. Why are you interested in him anyway?" he growled.

I shrugged. "I don't know, he's good looking," AJ snorted. "He's apparently loaded, and he seems like a really nice guy. What's not to like?"

"Nice? Clayton Webb?" He looked like he was going to say something else, but he apparently changed him mind. "Let's just say I haven't exactly seen that side of him."

"You know him from work, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, sometimes people act completely different when they aren't on the job. I bet the people you work with are sort of intimidated sometimes, aren't they?"

"They'd damn well better be."

"Well, I'm not intimidated by you, so maybe you act differently when you're not at work. Don't you think Clay could be the say way?"

He just shrugged.

We sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. "Do you think that maybe Dottie's still not over Travis?"

That surprised me. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she told me that she felt guilty about his death. I thought that maybe she wasn't over him yet."

"Damn her."

"What?"

"She made excuses for him while he was alive, and it sounds like she's still doing it. What did she tell you about him?"

"I got the impression that she didn't think she'd been a good enough wife to him."

"That's bullshit! What did she tell you about the day he and Emily died?"

"She didn't really talk about that day. All I know is what you told me, that he'd picked Emily up at school and they were killed by a teenager in a stolen car."

I looked away for a moment, debating how much to tell him. The hell with it, Dottie would forgive me. Hopefully. "The day they were killed, Travis was leaving Dottie for his latest girlfriend. He was picking Emily up at school because he was going to take her with him when he ran away. He cheated on her the entire time they were married, probably even before."

"Shit."

"Exactly. Now she's built this whole fantasy marriage up in her mind. I'm going to kick her butt."

"No. Butt kicking won't help right now."

"I guess you're right. AJ, I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do."

"So do I, Rachel. So do I"