Jake takes the chowder bowls from me and turns to the other customers. “Sorry about that folks. Nothing more to see here. Have a great night!”
They leave and I turn back to the blonde woman. Her delicate hands are now covering her open mouth. “Oh my God. Are you seriously his twin brother?”
I nod and reach for the napkin dispenser on a nearby table, grabbing a few more and patting my damp shirt. “Unfortunately.”
As if on cue, the bells above the door jingle, and Finn walks in. He shakes the snow off his coat and smiles innocently. “Hey Deidre! What are you…” he starts to clue in when he kicks an ice cube with his foot and steps in a small puddle of gin and tonic that missed me and hit the floor. “Umm…everything okay?”
Deidre turns and does a double take from me to him to me again. “Oh my God, you must think I’m such a psycho. I amsosorry! I am truly, deeply sorry.”
“It’s a misunderstanding. Don’t worry about it,” I give her a small, but tight smile. “I’ll just head to the restroom and clean up.”
Finn’s eyes widen and he starts to grin as I turn and head to the bathroom. Then I hear his belly laugh so I flip him the finger before swinging open the door to the men’s room. When I come back out a few minutes later, Dierdre has left, Finn and Jake are at the counter on stools, both with fresh beers in front of them, and Nova is behind the counter. She’s the only one with a sympathetic look on her face. There’s a third open beer in front of her, and she holds it up to me.
“Your assailant felt bad and asked me to give you this before she left in shame,” Nova says.
“Did you tell her I don’t drink?” I ask and walk up to the counter next to Jake.
“I wanted to but then Finn interrupted and accepted the beer on your behalf,” Nova says and her eyes slide to my brother.
Finn grins at me. “Free beer for me.”
I lean across the counter and take the open bottle from Nova. No one blinks, they know without a doubt I am not about to drink it, and that makes me feel good. There was a time in my life, not so long ago, when my family and friends worried incessantly about me being within ten feet of alcohol. I’ve earned their trust back, and it feels so good that my mood lightens again. I hold the bottle above my head and say, “I bequeath my free beer to Nova Escalara Hawkins. You can buy me a Perrier though, Finn, since you’re the reason my simple shift turned into a gin and tonic shower.”
I hand Nova the beer, and she grins, takes a sip, and walks over to grab a Perrier out of the fridge. She hands it to me as I sit down. Finn leans on the counter. “She’s really a nice girl. Just a little…overzealous.”
“You think?” I reply with an eyebrow arched by sarcasm.
“You usually keep your love life away from the business,” Nova says and I watch my brother’s face darken for a second. No one else would notice it. I am acutely aware of all his facial expressions because they’re mine too. And his moods. I can read him almost before he walks into a room. It’s not some weird psychic twin thing, it’s just that we have always spent a lot of time together, and I know him as well as I know myself. Plus he’s told me all his secrets.
“I don’t usually tell people where I work,” Finn admits, his tone serious. “I’ve been out with her a few times, so I guess it just slipped out.”
“So it’s serious?” Nova questions and her big brown eyes grow even bigger. Her shock is normal. Finn hasn’t had a serious girlfriend since high school.
“No,” Finn replies flatly and I can feel his discomfort growing. He hates talking about his love life because it’s not a love life, as Terra once pointed out. It’s a lust life. He turns to me. “So, how’s the new place?”
His eyes are pleading with me to change the subject, and I shouldn’t bail him out because he’s the reason I’m covered in gin, but I give him a break. “It’s great. Everything is new and clean. It’s not a big place, both bedrooms are small, could barely fit a queen in mine. And the ceilings are low. But it works for me and Chewie.”
“And River?” Nova asks, eyebrows raised.
“Hopefully, yeah,” I nod, sip my Perrier, and think of my son’s freckled cheeks, sandy hair, and big blue eyes. “He hasn’t seen it yet but I bought him a cool bed shaped like a boat and hung up some hockey posters in his room.”
She frowns. “So Bethany hasn’t let River spend the night?”
I shake my head. “She will. Eventually. The social worker has to come check out my place first and make sure it’s suitable, and then I’ll get overnight privileges.”
Nova lets out a string of Spanish expletives. Finn laughs at that. He loves when she gets pissed off about something and explodes. “Or Bethany could just say she’s okay with River spending the night at his dad’s place and save everyone unnecessary hassle. That woman makes me crazy. Argh!”
She disappears into the kitchen again, letting another set of Spanish expletives fly.
“How our robotic older brother ended up with that ball of fire will remain one of the biggest mysteries of my life,” Finn says under his breath. The statement is more to himself than Jake or me.
“Nova is right though. Bethany’s pulling typical Bethany bullshit,” Jake says, scowling. “She could keep the courts out of this if she didn’t want to be petty. Your record with River has been impeccable.”
“It has…since I sobered up,” I agree confidently but don’t allow myself to feel the indignation he and Nova do. I made my bed and I will continue to lie in it. “I’ve never been late with a pick-up or drop off for my day visits.”
“Never late with your child support payments either, which are more than the court said you had to pay,” Finn adds.
“But I was an alcoholic who missed River’s birth and a good chunk of the first few months of his life because I was black-out drunk somewhere. I spent his first birthday in rehab and then broke up with Bethany the second I came home,” I remind everyone of the pertinent details I can’t ever forget. “So I’m willing to jump through all the legal hoops.”
