Page 21 of Second Chance

Could it have been any more uncomfortable?

The letter. I tried to cover for myself when I told her outright I wanted to see her. I shake my head as I lift the house beer to my lips. It’s a fall brew, pub special, and it’s good. Much better than the piss whiskey I drank a few nights ago over Chris’s grave.

I’m swallowing down a mouthful when I’m slapped on the back. People sure do want to touch me in this town. I’ve been hugged by every old lady, given sympathy and prayers for my mother, and patted on the back by all the men who remember my father as the mayor. I cringe with each reference to him. I’ve also been approached a few times by teens and adults old enough to remember Chrome Teardrops although we were popular more than a decade ago.

As I turn to see who has smacked me, a hand cups the back of my neck.

“Where you been, fucker?” I’m astonished to see Charlie Harrington, the new mayor of Blue Ridge. He looks nothing like I remember, and yet his eyes are one-hundred percent Harrington. Soft brown, like bark on an old tree. He tightly smiles, like he’s practiced the move more than once in his life. His hair grays at the temple and I chuckle with a thought. We’ve all grown older, only my memory holds us back.

“Is that how the local politician speaks to his constituents?” I scoff.

“Considering you aren’t a local, I’ll speak to you any way I like.” He’s teasing me as he takes a seat on the stool to my left. A warm hand still holds my neck, and I twist as much as I can to see a giant of a man standing next to me.

George Harrington the Second, nicknamed Giant as a kid, stands up to his name. He’s huge. Solid shoulders, dark messy hair and a bushy beard with specks of gray in it. His eyes are all Harrington as well but they’re harder, guarded, and I remember what Dolores told me. He lost his wife some time ago. His thick hand holds my neck a moment longer, before giving it a squeeze and releasing me. The force pushes me forward a bit, and for a second, I feel like we’re kids again.

Giant is six years older than Mati, which seemed like a lifetime when we were children. He was in the military when we graduated from high school.

“Welcome back,” he mutters, his voice deeper than I remember, and somber, like the weight of the world sits on those broad shoulders.

“Thanks,” I mutter as he leans against the bar to my right. Anyone else surrounded by two Harringtons might be a little intimidated. I know I am as I’ve been sitting here having dirty thoughts of their little sister, who isn’t little anymore.

Holy shit. Mati is all woman, curving like the backroads I took to get here. Her breasts are still large, and her hips round out to match, but her waist dips inward. She’s an hourglass and I want to tell time by her. I take another gulp of beer as a distraction from my thoughts and the semi in my jeans. Sweat trickles down the back of my neck as if the two brothers know what I’ve been imagining.

“When did you get in?” Giant asks, taking a pull of his beer as if he doesn’t really care for an answer, just making small talk. I hate small talk.

“Two nights ago. It was late, or rather, early in the morning.” I’d slept like the dead—no pun intended—when I got to the Conrad Lodge. In fact, I’d woken up shortly before I went to the diner to see my sister and have dinner.

“I heard about your mama. We’re real sorry in Blue Ridge, Denton. She was a respected figure of this community.” If it had been any other person than Charlie who spoke, I might have laughed in his face. Respected? She was a joke. She let her husband smack her, belittle her, and cheat on her. For what purpose? She didn’t love him. She could have left him. But Charlie has a role to play. He’s the current mayor and he needs to honor his predecessor, even if he didn’t agree with his marital practices.

“Thanks, Charlie. I appreciate that.” I inhale, calming my nerves at the mere mention of my mother.

As if I weren’t already bookended by Harringtons, Billy walks the length of the bar and stops behind it in front of me.

“Holy shit. I wondered when you’d come in here. Heard you were back,” Billy jokes. He’s got a twinkle to his eye, akin to his brother Charlie, but he looks nothing like either of his brothers. Streaks of silver fill his hair while his thick scruff remains jet black. I bet he dyes it.

“This place is amazing, Billy. Congratulations.” From the modern, rustic interior to the pulsing crowd, this place is no match for the diner. While I called it competition, it’s nothing close. This place is in a totally different stratosphere than the rundown greasy spoon my sister owns.

“Yeah, well, about time you show your pretty face, man. How long has it been?”

Mati’s words ring in my head. “Twenty-seven years.” Saying the number out loud sounds like a long time, too long.

Billy lets out a low whistle. “Lot’s happened since you’ve been gone.”

I nod in reply, knowing there is so much he’s suggesting as he leans forward to rest his elbows on the solid wood bar top.

“Gonna stick around a bit?” Giant asks. His eyes shift sideways to me, but his face remains forward toward the wall of televisions and beer taps behind his brother.

My first thought is the truth—nope—but I hesitate. “Been considering it.”

“Don’t be making promises you don’t intend to keep,” Charlie offers.

Oh boy, here it is. The road trip.

“And don’t be going after something that could have been yours, but you tossed aside.” With his insinuation, my head rolls to Billy. What the fuck?

“And don’t be listening to either one of them,” Giant adds under his breath with a deep chuckle.

“Good to have you back,” Charlie jokes, tapping the edge of my tallboy with his and then taking a long pull of his beer. They might be teasing me, but there’s something underneath their comments. A brother warning of don’t hurt Mati again.