I make a sound of agreement.
“I know they wouldn’t do that. You should be comfortable at their place all the same, and not worry about intruding on them.”
“But if I didn’t hide out here, how would we have these wonderful conversations?” she taunts playfully.
I snort out a laugh.
“It would gut me to not have these conversations, hide out here as much as you want.”
She shimmies in her seat with satisfaction at my answer, shooting me a little smile of her own. Then her face grows more serious.
“The housing market is bonkers, it’s so hard to find anything affordable,” she says quietly. “I need to find something soon so that I can get out of their hair.”
“I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, okay?”
“Thanks, Gage,” she says with a grateful nod.
“Enjoy your drink, I’ll be back to check on you.” Giving the bar a little tap, I take care of the next customers and make sure everyone has what they need. I tense as I watch one of the softball players approach the bar, looking like he’s going to hit on Celeste. Joke’s on me, because he turns and approaches Carly and Amanda, pointing toward his table and smiling at them as he seemingly asks them to join the group. Within a few minutes, the women are in the laps of the guy who invited them over and his friend. Good for them.
Thinking about why I got tense when I thought he was approaching Celeste is not a path I’m going to go down, especially in the middle of a busy time. Telling myself it’s only because I feel protective of her is the story I’m sticking to. I continue churning out drinks and cashing out tabs, making sure everyone who comes into my bar is always well taken care of. In my periphery, I see Celeste down the last of her margarita and wave to me while throwing down a few bills. I jerk my chin at her and head over to say goodbye.
“So do you like the strawberry basil better or the lemon hibiscus?”
“I love them both, don’t fish for compliments on your bartending skills,” she teases. “See you around, Gage.”
I huff a laugh.
“Get home safe, Celeste, and come back soon. Say hi to Carlo and Tania for me.”
She turns with a wink over her shoulder and heads out, while I pick up the cash she left. There’s more than enoughfor her drink and a very generous tip, when I know she needs to save as much as she can for her own place. Iggy is taking care of the few people who need it, so I move out from behind the bar and walk toward the front window. Celeste gets into her car safely, which makes me let out a breath of relief. Then she pulls away, something tugging in me at her absence. I shake it off and get back to work.
Once we close, I go into the sparse back office to finalize the daily numbers at the dark wood desk, and send them to my brother Wayne. He’s an accountant, and has been handling our books since forever. The bar isn’t his passion the way it is mine, and this is his way of being part of the family business. All of the paperwork swims in my vision after a long shift, and I take off my reading glasses to rub my eyes when I’m finished. Then me, Iggy, and one of my servers Chloe, finish the cleanup and get the place ready for tomorrow.
The sky is clear, full of stars, and glowing with pale moonlight when we lock up at two in the morning to finally head out. A light breeze ruffles my hair, while the crickets and other nighttime critters play a melody of low background noise. Iggy and I walk Chloe to her car, and make sure she’s in safe before getting to our own cars. Iggy lingers to chat with her through her window, and her bright eyes as she looks at him make me smile. I’ve suspected something might be going on between them, I just hope it doesn’t spill over and make things difficult at work.
Losing myself in my thoughts and the classic rock playing through my speakers makes the twenty minute drive home in my blue SUV feel like nothing. The bar does really well, so I’m lucky to have a tidy little three bedroom house with a small, easily maintained yard. The dove grey siding lets the brick red trim of the shutters and door standout, while a few Eastern redbud trees line the front of the house. I laugh when I’m immediately greeted with a familiar voice as I walk through the door.
“Gage is home!” Then I hear his loud rustling as he moves around.
“Yes, Gage is home! Work is all done, Hermes.” I move down the short hallway past the powder room, into the living room where the croaky voice is coming from. It’s a generous space, with large aviaries along the back wall, a grey microfiber couch and loveseat, TV stand with a 50 inch flatscreen, short bookcases stuffed with my thrillers and mysteries on either side of it, and my reclaimed wood coffee table.
It flows into the kitchen with a center island and breakfast area, followed by my home office off of the breakfast room. I’m pretty sure it was the formal dining room, but that is something I would never use since I only eat at the breakfast table. Everything is in shades of black, grey, white, with red accents. It feels hollow and screams bachelor pad, but it’s mine. Hermes lets out a whistle of irritation.
“Want snack,” he declares.
“You earn a snack with a trick. Do you want to do a trick?”
“Trick for snack,” he answers like the smarty he is, clicking his beak in anticipation.
I grab a bag of his favorite pistachios and my training clicker before I go to open his cage. This is our nightly routine, because I found out the hard way that if he doesn’t get enough mental stimulation, he gets destructive with his feathers. He picks up words alarmingly quickly and can identify so many objects. My hyper intelligent African Grey parrot looks at me with his big knowing eyes and waitsas I move back away from his cage. His wings rustle impatiently.
“Hermes, come.” He flaps onto my forearm, and I press the clicker to reinforce his behavior.
“Good job, buddy,” I tell him as I offer the pistachio. He devours it.
“Want pistache,” he tells me, moving up and down my forearm in a little dance. I love his way of saying pistachio.
“You get another pistachio if you tell me three things, okay?” Reaching for his toy cube on the table with my free hand, I hold it up for him to see.
