AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Beau frowned, still holding his wallet out and open. "I don't..."
"Justine, the other girl who works here, told me it was your mom's funeral today."
He glanced up to see Justine Harris—a girl he'd gone to elementary school with—wave at him from the other side of the bar. He waved back absently and put away his money.
"I'm sorry for your loss," the young woman said, sliding the drinks closer to him.
Beau took them with a nod and moved back toward John.
"What's up with you? You look like someone just took a piss in your beer," John said, taking the drinks from Beau's hands.
"Sometimes I hate living in a small town," he muttered.
With the bottle already at his lips, John asked, "What?"
Beau looked back toward the bar briefly. "Nothing." He took a sip of his bourbon, eyeing his friend over the rim. "Did you really think I got back together with Lisa?”
John stilled and stared at him. “No, but if you had, I would’ve told you you were a fucking idiot. She wasn't right for you.”
One of Beau’s brows lifted. "And who is?"
John took a sip of his beer. "Do I really need to answer that for you?"
He got busy looking at the table. He thought about her all the time—Evangeline—but he would never see her again. "That's never going to happen," he said, feeling the sting of his words in the center of his chest. He rubbed at his sternum.
John studied his face. "You never ever told me what really happened between you two."
"What's to tell? I left college to look after my mom. I tried to contact her, but she never answered any of my calls.” The lie rolled off his tongue easily; the truth, however, was much more difficult to say out loud.
“I still find that really strange," John replied. "Something must have happened to her."
Beau shrugged, absently sketching out the shape of a house in the condensation on the table. "I don't know, but it doesn't change the fact that I haven't seen or heard from her in four years." He drained the rest of his bourbon and placed the glass on the table. "We should go, otherwise I'm not going to stop."
John placed his own drink down and stood up. He dug around in his pocket for his keys then spun them around on his finger. "I'm ready when you are."
As they walked out of the bar, John asked, "So, what are you going to do now?"
"About what?" he replied, thinking about everything he had on his plate right now.
"Everything, I guess."
Beau ran a hand through his hair. "Starting tomorrow, I'll clear out Mom's house and put it on the market."
"Let me know if you want some help.”
Beau nodded. “Help would be good.”
“Deal. Do you have some place to stay after that?"
"Yeah, your place."
A smile eased its way onto John's face. "As long as you cook every meal."
Beau laughed. John had always been a terrible cook in college. It seemed things hadn't changed. "You got a deal."
3
Evangeline Webster pickedup her drink and swirled it around absently, thanking whatever god was up there that she didn't do relationships. In front of her, her friend Chastity was ugly crying into her drink; her boyfriend had just broken up with her after four long years of blissful couple-happiness. Evangeline took a sip and let the straight bourbon burn on the way down.
