This set off another round of laughter.
“Whiskey is so funny!” Larry Tan said.
“I love her,” Charles Martinez said, who was seventy years old—no ageism in Logan’s office. “She’s a legend. As famous as they get in Montana.”
“It’s like watching a movie star walk down the street,” Larry said. “Have you seen her when she’s mad at some drunk in the bar? She hauled one out in a headlock once. I saw it!”
“Bellini’s done the same thing,” Charles said. “Remember that time two men were fighting, and she stood in the center of them with her arms outstretched, holding beer steins in each, and yelled that if they didn’t get out right that second, she was going to smash the steins over their heads?”
“That’s a story that went down in the books,” Coralinne said, slapping both hands on the table.
“They wouldn’t stop, and she cracked them both on the head, and they hit the ground, and beer went everywhere.” Charles hooted.
“Bellini flipped a table when two rich, privileged men came to the bar and didn’t treat Stacy, the waitress there, right. One of them, old and balding, told Stacy, who was only twenty-three at the time, that he could ‘show her a good time,’ and his buddy, another entitled creep, told her she had nice, uh, well, I won’t say it out loud because it’s rude and inappropriate. He followed that up with what he wanted to do with them. Stacy told Bellini, and Bellini stalked over like the devil was beside her and flipped their table straight over. Their meals and their glasses crashed to thefloor, and she told them to get the hell out or she’d start flipping out.”
“Classic,” Fred said. “She flips the table and then warns those jerks she’s going to ‘flip out.’ They were baffled. No one flips out at rich men! What the hell was she doing? One of them started to argue with her, saying he was going to sue her and Whiskey…”
Everyone started to laugh and pound the table—they knew what was coming! It was part of the lore of Lady Whiskey’s.
“…Bellini grabbed two forks from the floor, held them straight out at the men like swords, and yelled, ‘Sue me! Try it! Now get out before I show you what I think of you, you lazy lumps of lackluster leeches!’”
Several people at the table repeated the line, “Get out before I show you what I think of you, you lazy lumps of lackluster leeches!”
“I will never forget that phrase.”
“So damn clever.”
“It’s famous.Famous!”
Oh, they all agreed that had been an epic night! Totally epic!
“And remember when Bellini stood in front of our table and reeled off the exact drink that we had all had the year before at our holiday dinner?” Bre’Anna asked. “She was home for a visit, and Whiskey put her to work.”
“Photographic memory,” D’Shawn said.
“My grandma comes to visit me once a year,” Bre’Anna said. “Every time Bellini’s here, she remembers my grandma’s drink. She knew it even when she was a little girl. Too young to serve, but no one told. Bellini always makes my grandma feel special.”
They all agreed that Bellini was her mother’s daughter, and they were glad she was organizing the Lady Whiskey’s T and A Christmas Burlesque Show.
And, they agreed, it was too bad that Bellini didn’t live here full time. She was so much fun. Such a good friend. Hada temperamental streak, though, like her momma and all her momma’s sisters!
“Those O’Donnell sisters!Don’t mess with any of them!”
Logan gritted his teeth, a black feeling of doom settling on his shoulders.
Fred glanced at Logan. “Uh, guys, let’s move on.”
An uncomfortable silence settled. Shoot! They’d all forgotten that Bellini and Logan had dated in high school. It was a long time ago, though…
He waved a hand. “Don’t worry. I like Bellini, too. She’s a fantastic woman.”
Once everyone left the meeting, Logan returned to his office with a view of the Rockies. The stories about Bellini had hurt. He had a hundred more. The truth was, there was no one like Bellini. There never would be. She was original to the core. She was a children’s book writer and illustrator. She wasn’t officially an accountant, but she could outdo any accountant. She’d been keeping the books at the bar since she was a kid. She was a bartender with an impeccable memory who served drinks with flair to make others feel important.
She was deeply empathetic, an introverted cat lover, a crossword-puzzle fiend, a solid chess player, and a book lover who watched documentaries and romance movies.
She didn’t care how she looked and rarely wore makeup.
She talked to herself. She ran miles and miles to calm her mind. She wrote books that brought joy and laughter to thousands of kids.
