Billy grinned.“I’m always up for fun.”
“Speaking of which…” He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out tickets.The old man’s eyes sparked when he saw them.“These are for when the series starts up again in the spring.I figured you and Lola would be up for some traveling now that you’re retired.”
“Whoa.”Skeeter leaned over his boss’s shoulder, and his eyes bugged out as he read the print.“The Brickyard 400?Are you serious?”
Billy pointed.“VIP passes.”
Charlie got a bit choked up.“Aw, you didn’t need to do that.”
Billy gave him a firm poke in the chest.“But you’re glad I did.”
That got a laugh out of Charlie and the bouncer.
“Damn straight, I am.”The bar proprietor signaled for more drinks.He was still owner for one more night.“Drinks are on me.”
Billy cast a look across the room.The place was busy, but he spotted Roxie heading for a corner booth.She couldn’t get much further away from him than that.“Yeah, I could use one.”
Charlie saw the direction of his attention, and the smile on his face faltered just a bit.“I hope I didn’t stir the pot.”
Billy shook his head and accepted the beer Skeeter passed to him.“Don’t worry about it.”
That pot had been stirred so many times, it was forever running in circles.
Still, that didn’t mean that beer couldn’t help.He took a long pull on the cold liquid and downed half the bottle before he realized what he was doing.Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he took a deep breath.He let go some of the weight that was draped all over him and looked around the place.
The bar hadn’t changed much in the past few years.Two, to be exact.He’d managed to stay away from her that long this time.
Finding an open spot, he propped himself up against the wall.The tables were still old and pockmarked, and the Bud sign in the window was still burnt out.But that was a new sound system he heard, and fresh paint had been slapped onto the walls.
He wondered what changes Roxie would make.
He shook his head.Probably tiger-print shades on all the lamps and black leather seats throughout.
Reaching up, he rubbed the back of his neck.He couldn’t believe she owned the place now.He glanced across the room again, unable to help himself.Or that she’d found sisters.Two of them.
Holy hell.
“Blows the mind, doesn’t it?”Skeeter was working tonight, but he wasn’t on the door.What the guy lacked in book smarts, he made up in people smarts.He knew exactly where Billy was looking.And why.
“How long have they been around?”Billy asked.
“Few months, maybe a bit longer than that.”
“They treat her okay?”
“They’re like peas in a pod, man.”
Billy’s eyes narrowed.He supposed they would be.If they really were identical triplets, they’d started out life that way.How the hell had this happened?
“They’ve even got that silent talking thing going,” Skeeter continued.“Like they can sometimes read each other’s minds.”
Now, that was a bit harder to believe.Nobody knew what was going on in Roxie’s head but her.
He’d learned that the hard way.
“Did they have tests run to verify everything?”he asked.
“Hell, yeah.Roxie’s got hers posted on the wall in Charlie’s office.”
