There isn’t.
Or maybe there is and I ignore it.
Same result.
The ride to Harlan feels shorter tonight.
The sky burns gold at the edges, then purple as the light drops lower. The wind cools against my face while the open road humsunder the bike. Farms and dark tree lines slide by on either side of me.
By the time I pull into The Rust Nail lot, there are more cars than there were last night. The Friday crowd is starting early. The neon sign buzzes in the window, and laughter bleeds faintly through the walls.
I kill the engine and sit there for one second too long.
Then I get off the bike and head inside.
The place hits me all at once again. The music is louder tonight, the room is more crowded, and the air carries more heat. Beer, fried food, perfume, dust.
And there she is.
Behind the bar.
Her hair is piled up again, glasses sliding down her nose while she moves between customers like she’s done it a thousand times. Tonight she’s wearing a black tank under an open flannel, and the sleeve has slipped just enough to show more of the tattoos running down her arm.
I didn’t notice those last night.
Or maybe I did and just didn’t let myself think about it.
She’s in the middle of handing over a basket of fries to somebody at the counter when she looks up and sees me.
Her whole face changes when she sees me. Not dramatically, just enough that I catch it. Recognition hits first, followed by a flicker of satisfaction, and then a slow grin that lands a little lower in my gut than it should.
Well, hell.
She says something to Wayne that I can’t hear, wipes her hands on a towel, and makes her way down the bar toward me without hurrying. The crowd shifts around her automatically, customers sliding their stools back just enough to give her space like they’re used to her running the place.
She looks small compared to most of the people in here.
Somehow that doesn’t make her seem less in charge.
I stop at the counter.
She plants both hands on the wood and leans in slightly. The bar light catches in the lenses of her glasses. “Well,” she says. “Look who didn’t disappear.”
I hold her gaze longer than I probably should. “Told you I’d be around.”
“Mm-hmm.” She eyes me over the top of her glasses. “I wasn’t sure if that was a promise or just something you tell all the girls.”
“You worried?”
“No,” she says easily. “Just curious.”
That damn word again.
My mouth twitches despite myself, and she catches it immediately. Of course she does.
Rae tilts her head, peering at me over the top of her glasses. “What?”
I reach for my beer and take a slow drink before answering. “Nothing.”
