4
Max
“It’s nice to see you out after dark, man,” Noah wisecracked.
“Just because I don’t go out much doesn’t mean I’m no fun,” I argued. “I just finished season four of Doc McStuffins with Sadie. It was wild.”
“I know you’re a great dad, but it wouldn’t hurt you to go out more.”
“I’d rather spend time with my kid, give her the kind of upbringing I didn’t have. Earlier she was painting the bench I made for her dollhouse, and she said she loves having supper with me. She said Cassie’s daddy is never home at suppertime.”
“Cassie Winslow? Her daddy’s probably out losing money at the video gambling machine at the convenience store. He’s a jackass,” Noah said. “Hired me to fix his garage roof last fall and still hasn’t paid me.”
“Sounds about right,” I said. “I thought he was just a workaholic like I used to be back before I had Sadie.”
“No, I don’t think so. You’d be the first person to ever say Joey Winslow worked too hard,” he chuckled.
“So, how’s the fancy cabin coming?”
“They keep adding stuff to the plan. A media room, a balcony, maybe a sauna. If they don’t make up their minds soon it’s gonna be the weirdest looking structure ever.”
“Have you told them this?”
“Yep. But I’ll need some more pine, and cedar if you can get it.”
“Just text me what you need and when.”
“That’s why you get so much business from me. You don’t make excuses. The guy at the lumberyard in Overton is so full of shit about some order didn’t come in or he gave me exactly what I asked for even though I wrote the order down too and it’s wrong. I do not miss having to deal with him.”
“So you just remember to send me flowers and tell me I’m pretty,” I said. “Or you might find yourself out in the cold and stuck with that loser from Overton.”
“You’re so pretty, Max,” he laughed. “And you have the best lumber. No one else’s wood is as good as yours.” He was cracking up.
“You’re weird,” I said.
“No, you are, you started it.”
“Can you blame me? I’m pretty and I do have the best lumber,” I said sternly, and managed to keep a straight face for about six seconds before I cracked up too.
I downed the rest of my beer and waited for Noah to get himself together. About that time, I saw some drunk guy with a beard stumble out from the bathrooms dragging Rachel, the waitress from the diner. It didn’t take me two seconds to get off my seat and cross the bar to them. I wasn’t a man to watch anyone manhandle a woman, and this felt personal, a violation.
Maybe because I wasn’t used to seeing her outside the diner, or maybe because I had a strange, panicked thought that this could be her abusive boyfriend. Maybe because I just didn’t like the way he had his hands on her when she was clearly trying to get away, trying to keep quiet like she didn’t want to attract attention. But they had my full attention. I dealt with him easily, quickly. Then he tried to slink away like the snake he was. Once I knew Rachel was okay, I turned back to him. I’d wanted to walk her to her table, but I wasn’t letting that little shit get away with that kind of behavior.
I closed the distance between us and loomed over him, height on my side as well as righteous rage. “You’re going to the bar to pay the bill for her whole table. Then you’re leaving. You’re not driving drunk either. Get a cab, unless you have a friend who can drive you. Don’t come back here tonight or I’ll show you out myself. I assume you’re still sober enough to know you don’t want your teeth knocked out by a man who swings an ax for a living.”
He shrugged and said he didn’t mean nothin’ by it. I watched him, followed him with my eyes as he went to the bar and then swiftly out the doors. When I got back, Noah looked like someone had just given him a winning lotto ticket.
“What?” I asked.
“Rach is a fantastic girl. I’ve known her since we were kids. You should ask her out. She sure looked at you like you were Jamie Fraser.”
“Who?”
“The guy from Outlander. Don’t you watch anything good?”
“Cartoons with my kid, survival shows. Not girly time travel crap,” I scoffed.
“If you know it’s about time travel you’ve watched it,” he said.
“Maybe I saw a preview. I don’t know,” I said.
“The way I just saw her look at you—I mean, she let you help her. I’m pretty sure if I’d tried to step in, she would’ve kicked me in the nuts.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s a tough nut to crack. Real independent, hard worker, funny as hell. But she doesn’t let a lot of people get close. She and Laura have always been friends, but that’s about it.”