“Did you read that in a book somewhere?” She watched me while I poured a glass and carried it to her.
“Not what you want?”
“Oh, I definitely want it. I’m not going to turn any of it down.” She took a sip and sank back on the couch.
I pulled out my phone. “Pete’s for dinner? I’ll walk over and pick it up. You can hang out here. Relax.”
“Pete’s sounds good. I want an enormous cheeseburger. Tell Mac to pile on the fries too.” She rested her feet on the end of the couch, shoving a pillow out of the way.
I placed the call and ordered two plates to go. “I’ll be right back. Enjoy the quiet. We’ll figure this out, girl. There’s always another deal along the way. We only have to find the right one for you.”
I left her sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in hand, the wheels spinning in her head about her job. I knew to her it seemed as if the bottom had fallen out, but I knew better. She was smart and talented. There would be another job. When I returned with dinner I‘d have to tell her how many times I had been fired. It sucked, but it made me stronger. She would bounce back more resilient, more experienced.
Grey was standing next to the bar when I walked in.
“Hey,” he greeted me.
“Where’s Eden?” I looked around but other than a few guys playing pool, Pete’s looked slow tonight.
“She sent me to pick up dinner. What about you?”
I chuckled. “Same. Sydney’s back at the condo.”
“Think we have time for a beer?” Grey checked over his shoulder as if Eden was about to walk through the door.
The cook was still prepping the orders. I didn’t see anything pass through the kitchen window.
“I think we could have one.” I sat next to him at the bar.
The wood surface was worn and faded from years of people smoothing their fingers over the waxy coat. I traced the paths their fingers had taken. It hit me my father had probably done the same thing.
Mac slung a towel over his shoulder. “How are you boys doing? The orders are going to be a few more minutes. There was a problem with the fryer, but cook’s got it going now.”
Grey and I exchanged a look. “Two beers, Mac. We’ll sit for a minute.”
“You got it.” He turned to pour the amber liquid into pilsners.
One of the pool players tapped on the jukebox to change the song. I never heard anything other than country music play at Pete’s. Sometimes there was live music. Mac had arranged a squatty stage out of plywood, but Monday night the place was practically dead.
Mac deposited the drinks in front of us. “I’ll check on your orders.”
“No problem, Mac. We’ll sit for a while.” I realized I had half a beer back at the condo, but this one tasted good. Cold. I needed to give Sydney a few minutes.
My fingers rubbed into the grooves on the bar. “Did you and Dad come here a lot? I mean, Pops.” Hell, I didn’t know what to call the man anymore.
Grey’s head bobbed. “We did. Sometimes we’d close up the office at the Palm and walk over. But he was more of a whiskey man. Not big on beer.”
“Whiskey? Really. Huh.”
“I usually left early. He was a talker. He’d run into someone he knew and they’d start on something, and I let him close down the place.” Grey shook his head. “He had a way of convincing people to do things even when they didn’t want to.” He looked at me. “I guess that’s where you got it.”
I didn’t take it as a jab. “We didn’t have much in common.”
“I think you’re wrong about that.”
“It wasn’t like we spent that much time together. He’d drive in for a night maybe two at the most. And I never felt like he was really there to see me. My mom came first.” The bottom of my glass clanked against the bar. “I’m glad he put her first though. She needed him. I don’t think he ever realized how much.”
Grey adjusted his barstool. “I always thought Pops was a simple man. He worked hard. He lived in the same place his entire life. Took me in. But ever since you showed up, I realized he wasn’t simple at all.”
I tried to picture the two of them sitting here like this. Stones of jealousy hardened under my skin. Grey knew my dad in a way I never would. Half the people on the island saw something in him I didn’t know existed.
“I don’t know which one of us gave up first.” I swallowed another gulp of beer. “I guess none of that matters now. He’s gone.”
“What do you think he’d say if he saw us sitting at Pete’s drinking a beer?”
I laughed. “No telling. Either run because he got caught.” I paused. “Or join us.”