Tracie was always as bubbly as a glass of Walmart-brand champagne, and today was no exception. Normally I enjoyed her friendly demeanor because it made my shift go by faster, but today I just wanted to put my head down and focus on pouring beers.
“Heya, Tracie.”
“How’d your thing go? It must have goneso wellif you’re back so soon!”
I checked the list of open tickets and then drew two beers from the tap. “It went fine.” I placed the beers on the side of the bar where the serving staff could retrieve them. “What’s new with you? Give me the gossip.”
She scoffed and gave me a weird look. “Youwant to hear gossip? Normally you tell me not to be such a nosy Nelly!”
“I could use a distraction today,” I said.
Tracie took an order from a gentleman at the bar. “Let’s see. I heard the Phi Beta Beta chapter is getting put on probation for partying too much. Did you hear about their rager last weekend? A dozen windows were broken!”
“Wow,” I said. This was exactly the kind of mindless gossip I needed to take my mind off things. “Did the cops get called?”
Tracie bobbed her head. “My little brother managed to slip out the back door. He had to hop two fences to get away! I remember those days.”
“That’s crazy.” My phone buzzed with a text message.
Lizzy: Are you going to be gone much longer? The old lady came back to your table and has some questions for you.
Erica: Tell her to take a flier. My contact info is on there. I won’t be back.
Lizzy: Is everything okay?
Erica: I’ll explain later. I hate to ask, but can you gather my stuff from the booth and bring it back?
Lizzy: I don’t mind at all! Consider it done. I’m closing at the brewery tonight, so I’ll see you then.
I put the phone away and turned back to Tracie. “So Phi Beta Beta is getting put on probation. What other news do you have?”
“Oh,” she said. “Here’s somereallygood gossip. Hunter Cade is back in town!”
I froze with my hand on a beer tap. “How did you know?”
Tracie looked around and lowered her voice. “I started taking shifts at the Lazy Moose on weekdays. They’re hurting for serving staff, and the tips arereallygood. Don’t tell Charlie, though. He asked the other day if I wanted to take on some serving shifts here and I had to lie to him.”
“I won’t say anything. What about Hunter, though?”
She leaned in conspiratorially. “Like I was saying, I was working bar at the Lazy Moose last night. Good crowd for a Thursday. And then guess who comes through the front door? Well, I suppose you don’t have to guess since I already told you. Hunter Cade walked in, sat at the bar, and ordered a beer. Just had the one. He nursed it for over an hour while looking around the bar, like he was waiting for someone. Then he got a phone call. It sounded like an argument. He closed out and left right after that.”
So Hunter had come back into town last night. And he had gotten into a fight with someone on the phone. Interesting.
Tracie cocked her head at me. “Hey, didn’t you know Hunter in high school?”
“He was friends with my brother,” I said absently.
Charlie moved Tracie over to serving tables. I fell into a groove serving drinks to the customers at the bar by myself. We only served beer, which was the perfect kind of mindless work I needed to zone out and stop thinking about my problems.
But Hunter still lingered in the back of my head.
Lizzy arrived for her evening shift at six, relieving me of bartender duties. “Your stuff is in my car,” she told me while clocking in.
“Thanks, I owe you.”
“I gave away most of the fliers!” Lizzy said hopefully. “Lots of people seemed interested. Maybe you’ll get some calls.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Sorry I panicked and ran away like that.”