Her eyes lit up. “You’re the big shot tattoo artist. Visiting? Opening a shop? I have a tattoo on my shoulder that could use some covering up.”
If Firefly could sustain a liquor store of this size, then who knew? Would the veterans come in droves, filling their chests with medals? The ladies from the quilting guild would get cute stitching or swatches of fabric. I shook the thought from myhead. Nope. I remained on the outside, the only one willing to become a human canvas, at least openly.
“I know some folks in Bangor if you need a referral.” It dodged the question in the friendliest manner possible.
Instead of stewing and giving me curious glances, the woman spun about. “What are we looking for?”
The question didn’t register as I glanced at the two men standing over a barrel, whispering. Every few seconds, they burst into roaring laughter. The volume would have been irksome if they weren’t cackling grandpas. If they were natives, I should have known them. Decades of wrinkles and gray hair made it impossible.
My paranoia set in. I couldn’t tell if they were laughing because of me, but every few seconds, they stopped jostling one another to glance in my direction. I could only imagine the rumors they had heard about Ellie’s son.
“Whiskey.”
“You mean whisky.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Whiskey with an ‘e’ is from America. No ‘e’ is from Scotland.” I raised an eyebrow. She turned back with a smile. “It’s a joke. Have any preferences? Rye? Spicy? No, you strike me as a sweet kind of guy.” She gave me an elbow to the belly.
“It’s not for me.”
I waited for the inevitable follow-up question. She’d ask who. I’d sheepishly reply. She’d say “A-ha” and begin a thirty-minute monologue of how she knew them. The owner had probably befriended Grace. On the weekends, she shot rifles with Seamus. Every week, she met Patrick for… okay, so I didn’t know anything about him.
“It’s for Seamus.”
“Plenty of men come in here shopping for him.”
Shit. I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. “It’s a dinner party.”
“And he didn’t invite us?” The grandpa on the right waved about his glass. “I’m going to take it personally.”
Julie hid her face in her palms. “Please ignore Walter and Harvey.” I said nothing, but I’m sure my expression spoke for me. “Stop acting like you’re drunkards. Three of those glasses are water.”
Both men feigned confusion.
Walter stared at his glass. “You said it was your finest bourbon!”
“I need to speak with your manager,” added Harvey.
Shaking her head, Julie couldn’t hide the smile. “Tell Audrey if she wants me to babysit the two of you again, I’m expecting her to buy more wine.”
Walter suddenly sobered up. “It’s a friendly hangout, not babysitting.”
“She gives me five bucks an hour,” Julie snapped back. She leaned closer, whispering from the side of her mouth. “And it’s not nearly enough.”
Decades later, and nothing about the two men had changed. They laughed as if they had escaped the asylum, a deep belly roar that infected all within earshot. As a teenager, I assumed they were in a relationship. Seeing them now, I still couldn’t tell. Was Audrey a wife? Daughter? Caretaker? I wanted to ask, but it’d turn into a story, and I didn’t want threads connecting humorous moments. With enough threads, Firefly would have the rope it needed to keep me tied down.
“How much do you want to impress Seamus?”
She walked toward the whiskies, gesturing for me to follow. The collection was impressive for any store, but especially for Firefly. Ivy & Cask had taken displaying alcohol and turned it into an art form.
I mulled over the question. I hardly knew the man, but he had always been cordial to Pops. That alone made me want to do something special. It didn’t hurt that winning his favor might also charm a certain cub. If the night went to total hell, then we’d at least have good alcohol.
“Extremely impressed.”
Her right eyebrow crept up her forehead. “You can’t afford extremely.” She turned to the wall, her fingers dancing along several bottles. I stopped at the price and let my jaw drop. Extremely impressive would have been as much as a full color back piece. I couldn’t afford that kind of admiration.
“Here.” She grabbed a bottle. “This is how you get yourself invited to the next dinner party.”
