I shook my head. “No, I don't think so. I’m sure I would remember you.” He looked different than he did in the DMV. That Friday afternoon, he had been scruffy and unshaven. Tonight he was cleaned up and I had to admit he looked much better, but he exuded an aura that left me feeling oily.
“I’m usually pretty good with faces and I’m sure I’ve seen yours, I just can’t figure out where. Hmm….”
Sloan returned with my wine and glanced at Daniel, then raised his eyebrows. My eyes widened and I hope I conveyed my concern. Sloan’s smile fell and he engaged in a stare-off with Daniel. “What can I get for you, Dan?”
I about fell off my stool when I realized Sloan knew him.
“I’ll take a draft beer, and if I can work it out, this pretty little thing.”
Sloan leaned forward looking into Dan’s face, all friendliness gone. If I had walked in and encountered this Sloan, I would have waited in the lobby instead of at the bar. “This here’s my little sister. I suggest you go pick up some other ‘pretty little thing'.”
Daniel Crocker’s body jerked, his face turning a bright red that I suspected wasn’t from embarrassment. He and Sloan glared at each other a bit longer. Daniel’s eyelid twitched. His face lit up with an evil grin. “It’s not like she was wearing a fuckin’ sign or anything.” He left without his beer.
“Thanks,” I said, humiliated that I needed saving. I had to admit I wasn't sorry he left even if I hadn't gotten any information out of him.
Sloan watched him walk away then gave me a half-hearted smile. “Well, since you told me you were new to drinkin’, that pretty much told me you were new to hangin’ out in a bar, too. You gotta watch out for guys like him. They’ll see you as fresh meat, no offense.”
“None taken.” I was clueless to the minds of men.
“You look really green. They’ll latch on and try to take advantage of you. If you’re gonna hang out in bars, you’re gonna need to be more assertive.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll keep an eye on ya. When you’re ready to go, just let me know and I’ll call a taxi.”
“Thanks, Sloan.” I took a sip of my wine while I tried to calm my nerves. I welcomed the warm tingly feeling, but decided I would only have one. I couldn’t risk acting like I had with Joe. Heavens knew that someone like Dan wouldn’t stop because I was drunk, making me appreciate what Joe had done that much more.
Melancholy washed over me thinking about Joe, bringing confusion with it. I thought he liked me until I found out he had a girlfriend. I tried to cheer myself up knowing I had just taken care of two more things, drinking wine and going to a bar. Five items done. Twenty-three to go. But sadness overshadowed my joy.
I asked Sloan to call for a cab.
I gave myself a pep talk during the short taxi ride home. First, Daniel Crocker was some weird coincidence and had nothing to do with Momma's murder. While I had to admit he was slimy, my overactive imagination tied him to her death. Surely, murderers didn't lounge around bars trying to pick up women. Wouldn't they be hiding out?
Second, it was Steve’s loss. I wasn’t the only woman to have an awful date, even an awful first date. I could do better. There were other fish in the sea. And all those other idioms. I actually felt better when the driver pulled up in front of my house. Until I discovered Joe still sitting on his front porch. I got out and walked to the side door, trying to pretend he didn’t exist.
“Where’d your date go?” Joe called out.
Ignore him.
“Did you kill him before he could bring you home?”
I wanted to tell him that murder was nothing to joke about, but had to admit that Steve being so scared of me was a tiny bit funny, especially since I was half his size.
“You’re goin’ to run out of rollin’ pins soon.”
I jerked my head around and glared at him. Don’t answer him! I fumbled in my purse, looking for my keys, cursing myself for not digging them out in the cab. I found them and hurried to open the locks, the locks Joe installed for me, before I did something I would regret. My heart was already beginning to soften. That wasn't good.
“Rose, can’t we just talk about it? Please?” His tone had changed, the teasing gone. I wanted to talk to him so bad, and do even more with him something fierce, but I couldn't trust him and I didn't trust me. I went inside, shutting the door behind me.
Joe McAllister couldn’t be part of my life.