Larry sighed loudly as he looked at his watch. “I’ll take it.”
“You’re not much better—”
“I said, I’ll take his shift.” Larry spat out the words and waved the bartender over. He pulled out his wallet, but shot his brother a hard stare. “You’ve got his.”
“I told him I wasn’t going to cover his tab again,” Jake growled.
Larry shrugged. “You’re the only one who can.”
Jake cursed under his breath, but he fished out a credit card and handed it over. Hank hesitated, his expression kind.
“You taking just tonight or his whole tab?”
I could see the debate going on in Jake’s head. On one hand, if Jake paid his father’s bills, it wouldn’t help the man become responsible with his drinking. On the other hand, it was probably too much for Pops to pay off easily.
“Tonight,” Jake said, his jaw tight. A half measure. It wasn’t going to solve anything, but it would at least get us out the door.
Beside him, his brother snorted, his condemnation clear. Meanwhile, Pops was looking at me, his expression misty-eyed.
“My son saved your life. I saw it. He caught you right out of the air.”
“Yes, he did,” I answered, my heart beating high in my throat, just like it did every time I thought about that moment. “He’s a good man.”
“He’s a great ballplayer too. Number 32. Bobcat.”
“I know.” I held up my charm bracelet. He touched it reverently.
“Did he give you that?”
“Yes. I haven’t taken it off since.”
Pops grinned. “What do you do, pretty girl? You got a job?”
I laughed. “I do. I’m a nurse.” I leaned forward. “And I need to get to bed soon, too. I have a shift tomorrow.”
“Nursing is a good thing. Good profession. Means you have a big heart. Doctors get all pissy and won’t give you the time of day. But a nurse, she’ll stand by your side, hold your hand, and give it to you straight. Nurses have all the heart. Doctors just have the brains. But people ain’t nothing without a heart. I’ll take a nurse any day over those piss-shit doctors.”
I smiled because I could tell that he meant it. Not about the doctors. Obviously, some doc had been a little hard on the guy. But because I knew he’d been helped by a nurse. And right there, in his words, he made me remember why I’d wanted so badly to go into nursing. I wanted to be the one who held the hand, who eased the pain. The one the patient could rely on when all the doctor stuff came too fast or too hard.
So I patted his hand and urged him to stand up. “Come on, Pops. I can’t get to my bed until you get to yours. And I really hate being tired at work. I know you firefighters spend a lot of time sitting around waiting for the calls, playing cards, talking smack. But me, I’m always on the run. I don’t get to sit down until my shift is over.”
Pops straightened off his stool. “It ain’t all talking shit.”
“’Course not,” I laughed. “And believe me, I’ll take sore feet over walking into a burning building any day.”
“Damn straight.”
“But for the sake of my aching feet, can you let me take you home?”
“Anytime, pretty girl. Anytime.” Then he winked at me, in case I missed the fact that he was flirting. Again, I laughed because it was hard not to. He was charming, and he clearly loved Jake. Meanwhile, the brothers took care of the bills and quickly met up with us at the door. Jake held up the car keys, and at my surprised look, he whispered, “Hank always holds their car keys. It’s the only reason I keep paying the tab.”
“Some of the tab,” his brother muttered. “With the money you make, you’d think you could help us out more.”
Jake shot the man a sour look, but didn’t comment. Obviously, there was no point in arguing with an angry drunk. Besides, it looked to me like he was helping out plenty.
Jake held it together, not commenting though I could see the tension in his face and body. But he didn’t say a word. And then Larry kept walking, while the rest of us headed for a big, very manly truck. Jake’s hand shot out to grip his brother’s elbow.
“Where you going? The truck’s over there.”
