Fortunately, I’m able to get myself under control quickly and return to the bar. Lizzie is slinging beers and mixing drinks, while Emberlyn is sitting at the end of the bar, her eyes wide with excitement as she watches, right next to the regulars. They’ll protect her for sure, like she was one of their own.
As the night starts to wind down and the crowd thins, I move to where Lizzie’s sister is sitting. She’s on her laptop, typing away, and curiosity gets the best of me. “Whatcha doing?” I ask, wiping down the bar beside her.
“Well, I made myself an admin on the bar’s social media pages and scheduled a bunch of posts and videos. Now, I’m saving video clips of the band coming next Saturday so we can use them throughout the week to promote.” She meets my gaze. “They’re really good. Not completely my style of music, but I grew up listening to it at my dad’s place. What do you like to listen to?”
“I love classic country, but enjoy the cassette tape era too,” I tell her.
She looks confused. “The what?”
I bark out a laugh. “Cassette tapes. They came before CDs.”
She wrinkles her nose just like her sister does. “Oh, those weird little rectangles that you had to stick a pencil in to rewind them.”
Chuckling, I nod. “Not always, but yeah. Those.”
“Anyway,” she says, her bubbly personality showing brightly in the dimly lit bar, “Lizzie also had me look for paint night ideas, and since the next one is the first part of June, I found this really cool water scene with the setting sun and prairie grass. It looks very summery and calm, perfect for her June event,” she states, turning her laptop screen around and showing me the image.
“Nice,” I confirm.
“And I’ve already started her a sign-up sheet. Notice the name at the top?” she asks, smiling widely when I see her name, followed by her mom’s. “I’m going to text the aunts tomorrow morning and see if they want to come too, and if so, that’ll be five of the twenty spots already reserved.”
“I’ll have to tell my sister to get up here soon and get her name on the list.”
“Oh! The one who likes the little coffee spot down the block?”
“Yeah, Charli. Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t show up tonight. Hell, none of my siblings did. That’s odd.”
“Why so?” she asks, cocking her head to the side a bit.
I lean forward, elbows on the bar. “My siblings love to torture me, and they usually drop by when I’m working. Especially Cade, my twin brother.”
Her eyes widen. “You have a twin?”
“Yep. Identical.”
“Cool. Do you ever twin swap?”
I snort and shake my head. “Not anymore, but we may have done it a few times when we were younger.”
“Oh my God, I bet that was epic.”
“It was quite entertaining. Of course, when we’d get in trouble, my parents weren’t very impressed.”
She rolls her eyes. “Are they ever when their kid is in trouble? I have two older brothers, remember? Between those two and our cousins, there was always trouble.”
“When I was younger, me, my brothers, and a group of our friends would ride our bikes to this swimming pool just outside of town. It was inside this campground, but they let anyone use it for a small fee. Anyway, when we’d get there, the woman who worked the counter would always grumble and say ‘Here comes those Cooper Town boys.’ It only fueled our need to cause a ruckus.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t get kicked out.”
“Oh, we did. Often. But it was always for the day, and they’d make sure to call our parents, so we got a proper ass-chewin’ when they got home from work.”
She snorts and nods. “Yep, you and the boys sound a lot like my brothers and cousins. You’d probably all get along well.”
I smile, wondering if I’ll get the opportunity to know her brothers and cousins. I met both of her brothers when they helped Lizzie move stuff in, and even though I’ve heard a lot about the large family she has behind her, I have yet to meet the extended family. Well, besides the aunts and uncles.
“I’ll let you get to it,” I reply, tapping on the top of the bar and moving down to start washing the remaining dirty glasses.
By the time midnight rolls around, last call has been announced and we’re pushing those few customers who remain out the door. Everyone appears to have a ride, something Lizzie has been adamant about from day one. If someone looks to be too drunk to drive, we take their keys and make them call a ride. I can’t help but notice the final patron out the door is the douche who kept hitting on Lizzie all night. I don’t know him, so he’sclearly not from this town—or at least he’s never frequented this bar much before.
