“Would that we could all be a little younger,” said Eva.
Charlie walked out from around the bar and greeted Owen with a hearty handshake. “Hi, Owen. It’s been a while.”
“It has, Charlie, it has!” said Owen as he took the handshake. “I think you were still tearing around the alleys doing your BMX stunts, the last time I saw you.”
Charlie chuckled at the memory. “And don’t think I didn’t get switches aplenty for it. There’s no solace for a hooligan in an Irish neighborhood.”
Owen laughed from deep in his belly. It made Eva laugh a little bit from behind the bar. She hadn’t expected the man to be in such a bright mood, considering the circumstances.
“You kids have no idea how much I appreciate your help,” said Owen as he made his way over and dropped into one of the bar stools. “There is no blasted way I would be able to maintain the bar long-distance and still be there for your Aunt Geri. Together, we are going to give her the best shot possible at beating this thing.”
Eva crossed her arms. “How is she?”
Owen pursed his lips and opened his hands. “She’s in pain, but getting comfortable. Whatever happens, at least I can rest knowing I did all I could to help.”
“And we are happy to contribute,” said Charlie, clapping a hand on Owen’s shoulder. “I promise, this place will be just like you left it once you return.”
“Well, if you could make it better somehow, I wouldn’t stop you,” said Owen with a laugh. “How’s the house? Any problems getting in?”
Charlie shook his head. “No, it’s quite comfortable.”
Eva almost interjected about the mattress, but she decided against it. She and Charlie could fix that without bothering Owen. “It’s a beautiful place,” she said instead.
“Did you take the master bedroom?” said Owen, looking at her. When Eva nodded, Owen let out an exasperated breath and adjusted his hat. “Don’t mind telling you I’m glad to be out of there for a minute. Geri loves those little dolls she keeps around, but they just give me the willies.”
Eva smiled broadly before she could stop herself. She flushed red a bit around the cheeks as she said, “Yeah they… they are a little creepy.”
“The things we do for love, eh?”
Owen’s response and his soft smile made Eva ache somewhere inside her chest. She cleared her throat and nodded with a smile. “Aunt Geri obviously picked the right man.”
Owen patted Eva’s hand on the bar and then stood up, stool squeaking on the floor. He led Eva and Charlie around the whole of Swashbuckler’s and introduced them to the ins and outs of the place, and the strange quirks of operation that always seem to come with any building—even the new ones. He warned them about making sure the dumpster lids were always closed and latched, so the forest’s bolder scavengers didn’t make a zoo out of the place in the night. He sat down and showed them the shipment schedule and how to work with all the bar’s vendors to keep everything stocked and ready for customers.
“Oh, the customers,” said Owen with a snap of his fingers. “I suppose we should talk about them a bit.”
Eva and Charlie both looked up from the scattered logs Owen had spread out along the bar. “We’ve both worked customer service jobs before. I don’t think it will be much of an issue.”
“Well, now,” said Owen, adjusting his hat. “That’s part of it, and I’m sure you’ll be fine there. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that you may find yourselves dealing with some characters of the rough persuasion, from time to time.”
Eva’s heart skip a beat. “What do you mean, rough?”
“Nothing too terrible—nothing that should be a problem. But, well, this ain’t exactly a ritzy joint, as you may have noticed. It’s clean, and we try to keep it as free of hysteria as anyone can. But your uncle here is not a soft-handed businessman from some penthouse high-rise, so of course, my establishment is going to be a little bit more on the unpolished side.” Owen put a finger in his own chest as he spoke, without any shame or guilt. “So sometimes, you’re going to have some fellow roughnecks hanging out. Quarry workers, industry folk, truckers… and of course, the bikers.”
“Bikers?” asked Charlie with just a hint of concern.
“The town next door—LeBeau—is a bit of a nest for the vipers, if you will. They don’t cause much trouble, and I hear tell they actually do some good around here occasionally, but they stop in pretty often, and they aren’t always gentle boys.”
Charlie looked over at Eva with a worried look on his face. Eva knew what he was thinking—she was thinking it, too, but with less alarm. “Should I keep Eva from interacting with these guys? I can have her doing back-office duty alone, if…”
Immediately, Eva felt a bit of shame come over her. “Oh, Christ, Charlie, I’m not made of glass. I was married, remember? It’s not like I’m totally clueless about this stuff.”
“Yeah, and the guy you married was a piece of shit, just like a ton of these bikers are going to surely be. I don’t want them giving you a hard time,” said Charlie.
“Oh, Charlie, it’s not all like that,” said Owen with a raised hand. He looked suddenly worried that they would back out of the deal.
“Don’t mind him, Owen. Charlie’s very protective of me,” said Eva with a heavy glance to her brother. “I’m sure I can handle serving beers and rebuffing advances of big, tough bad guys.” She looked down at her comfy, worn, pastel sundress and added, “I don’t get the feeling I’m their type, anyway.”
“She probably has a point there,” said Owen.
Charlie’s mouth twisted like he wanted to say something in argument, but he just shook his head and pushed away from the bar. “Yeah, I’m sure it will be fine.”
“If anything should ever get too hot to handle, there’s a wall panel in the back that opens up into a gun cabinet. Got a shotgun in there for emergencies,” said Owen, pointing to the storage in back.
Charlie folded his arms and gave a nod. “That helps.”
“I owe you kids everything for taking care of this for me,” said Owen. “You’re sure you can stay a while?”
Eva patted her uncle’s forearm with a smile. “We’ll be here as long as you need us.”
They walked Owen outside to his worn Ford pickup and gave him parting wishes for Geri, and he promised he’d be in touch soon. Before he hopped in his truck, Eva remembered her question.
“Owen, why is the parking lot so big compared to the bar? Seems like a lot of wasted land,” she said.
Owen looked around, squinting, like he hadn’t thought about it in a while. “Oh, that’s because of the bakery.”
“Bakery?”
“Yeah, the place that used to be here before was a lot bigger than mine, one of those old two-story outfits from the fifties with apartments on top of the storefronts. It took up a lot more space.” He adjusted his old John Deere hat. “I got a great deal on the parcel of land, and there weren’t a point to building an enormous bar—I just wanted something small. Leaves plenty of room for the truckers to come hauling in.”
Eva looked around the gravel and tried to imagine a building of the size Owen described on the land. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“All right, you kids take care now. You call me if you need anything, you hear?” said Owen through the open window of his truck.
Charlie promised they would. Eva stood next to him, waving, as they watched Owen turn out onto the highway.
~ TWO ~
The world spun, glittering and deafening with noises Will couldn’t make out. It was all one big cloud of pressure trying to get in his head. He fought it. He fought all of it.