Turn Over

“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.”

Grey pushed his empty glass out of the way. “Yeah, I think he’d join us.”

Mac appeared from the kitchen, holding up two white bags. “Y’all better get dinner back to those girls.”

“Thanks, Mac.” Grey took his order and slapped me on the back as he turned. “Have a good night. Uncle.” He said it light-heartedly and it made me smile.

“Tell Eden I said hi.”

“Will do.”

I stood to pay Mac for dinner before walking out of the bar. This had been one hell of a Monday.

20

Sydney

There was fidgeting. And then there was what I was doing. I crossed my ankles one way and then the other. I pulled the hem of my skirt so much I could see stress lines in the fabric. I didn’t know how long Alice was going to make me wait in the conference room.

The door opened and she walked in, only she wasn’t alone. Frannie from HR was with her. Shit.