“Too bad we can’t get through the door that way.” Cole gestured toward Jordan. “Ladies first.”
Her backpack over her shoulder, she led them in. Luis stood back and motioned for Cole to follow her. Time to get a little distance and become more observer than participant.
After going through the door, Cole paused and gazed at the raccoon trio over the bar. “I noticed that at lunch. Great decoration.”
The comment surprised him until he remembered the raccoons hadn’t performed during lunch.
Jordan turned around. “It’s more than a decoration. It’s animatronic.”
“You mean like Disney animatronic?”
“Yep.”
“Did they do something during lunch and I missed it?”
“No they didn’t, now that you mention it. Luis, why didn’t they perform?”
“I’m not sure.” He looked to see if Clem was around and spotted him behind the bar. “Hey, Clem, is there a problem with the raccoons? Is that why you didn’t turn them on during lunch?”
“No problem. I figured our visiting authors might want an oasis of calm while they ate.”
“Any chance you’d be willing to show my friend what they can do?”
“Be glad to. It’s way too quiet in here, anyway.”
“Great call, bro.” Rio stepped around him and addressed the scattering of customers. Mila and Claudie had secured a round six-top on the far side of the room, which was almost deserted. “Raccoon alert, folks! Get ready to sing!”
Cole grinned. “A sing-along? I love it.”
“Here we go!” Clem flicked a switch behind the bar, the raccoons sprang to life and most of the small crowd started singing.
Rio and Luis joined in. So did Jordan, who’d heard the tune several times the night before.
We’re rockin’, yes we are, and hangin’ in this bar, cause we are like family as you all can plainly see, so keep on rockin’ tonight! We’re rockin’, yes we are, and drinkin’ at this bar, come join us, near and far and keep on rockin’ tonight!
Grinning like a little kid, Cole watched the raccoons. “That’s awesome!” He looked over at Clem. “Would you be willing to play it one more time?”
“Why not?” Clem hit the switch again.
This time Cole joined in on the singing and managed well considering he’d only heard the lyrics once. When it was over, he turned back to Jordan. “Give me a minute with him, okay?”
“Sure.”
Walking over to the bar, he shook hands with Clem. Then he started asking questions.
Jordan chuckled. “Did I mention that he’s an electrician?”
“I heard construction,” Luis said, “but no specifics.”
“He can do all the things, but his passion is electricity and he’s fascinated with animatronics. We should probably go sit down. He might be a while.”
“Fine with me.” Luis followed her.
“Yeah, I’m ready for a beer.” Rio brought up the rear. “We can go ahead and order. I know what he wants. We talked about beer on the way over. Well, beer and women. We decided beer is way easier to understand.”
Jordan laughed. “That sounds like my brother. He hasn’t had the best luck finding the right person.”
Luis filed away that tidbit, although Cole wasn’t the only one with that problem. Finding the right person was tough. Even if you did they might not want you.
