Real Good Man (Real Duet #1)

I push the shot glass across the bar toward her. “You better pour me another.”

She reaches to refill the shot. “You’re the one from up north that apparently rode Logan Brantley’s dick all last night.”

I choke on the liquor as I toss it back. Her lack of filter reminds me of me.

“You pay a lot of attention to gossip?” I ask when I’m done coughing.

“I can’t avoid it, working behind this bar. But that’s only part time. I work swing shift at the furniture factory too. I pick up as much extra work as I can, including sometimes changing oil for Logan at the garage when he needs an extra set of hands.”

An older man sidles up to the bar wearing a VFW trucker hat, a flannel shirt, and wrinkled black slacks. “I need another beer, Nicole, and Rosie is MIA.”

“Sorry, Joe. Her kid’s been sick lately, so she’s had to leave a lot. I’ll fix ya right up.” She pulls a pint glass from behind the bar and slides it under the tap.

The old man takes the stool next to mine, but ignores me completely. “So you heard about the house that blew up on County Line Road tonight? It was next to Millie Freeman’s place, and she’s raising a stink. Cops can’t keep ignoring this shit much longer, because Millie ain’t having it.”

“Another meth house?” Nicole asks.

“That’s what they’re saying.”

“Such a shame. We keep losing employees here and at the factory because they come in high as a kite, tweaking, and can’t barely string five words together.”

Joe nods. “Same everywhere. I swear, it’s a damned epidemic. Someone’s getting rich off it while they poison this town.”

“Do the police have any leads?” I ask, interjecting myself into the conversation.

“Who the hell are you?” Joe asks, swinging his head toward me.

I hold out a hand. “Banner Regent. I’m new in town.”

Old Joe looks me up and down. “Shit, I can tell you’re not from here. What the hell brings you to Gold Haven?”

Isn’t that the million-dollar question?

“I think she’s here to lock down Logan Brantley,” Nicole offers.

I cut my gaze to her. “Really? You’re just going to throw me under the bus like that? And by the way, I’m not here to lock anyone down. I needed a change of place and a change of pace. I’m friends with Holly Wix’s sister-in-law, so she let me use the house in exchange for keeping an eye on it.”

Joe accepts my explanation at face value and nods. “It’s a good thing, because I think these meth houses that’ve been blowing up are usually vacant or abandoned. It would’ve been terrible to see Rosemary’s place go up next.”

That thought, while horrible, actually makes me feel a little better about this whole deal. Maybe I really am offering a useful service to Holly and Creighton.

“That would be a shame,” Nicole says, setting the beer in front of Joe.

“Damn right. f*ckin’ tweakers don’t have a single thought in their head to the damage they’re causing.” He leans forward and whispers to Nicole. “But the cops don’t think it’s possible that it’s just a few random individuals cooking this shit. There’s too much of that shit moving around this town, from what I overheard.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

Nicole answers instead of Joe. “It means we’ve got someone in this town running a drug operation while they’re living right under our noses.”

“Shit’s gonna get bad if we start pointing fingers at each other,” Joe says.

She nods. “I suppose that’s best left up to the cops to figure out before people start throwing accusations around.”

“Things are bound to get messy either way, in my opinion. Not that anyone gives a shit what this old man has to say.”

Nicole wipes the towel along the bar again, covering the same spot for the third time. “You better not get shit messy in here, old man.”

Joe takes his glass with a jerk of his chin and heads back to a table filled with men his own age, all sporting hats with names of various ships or VFW posts on them. Several canes lean against the edge of the table.

Nicole follows my gaze. “VFW is closed today, so the whole crew shows up here. It’s a regular thing.”

As soon as she finishes explaining, one of the old men gets up for his turn at karaoke and begins to belt out “Proud to Be an American,” and I can’t help but smile. This is more along the lines what I figured Small Town, USA, would be like. Like a John Mellencamp song.

“So, you want another shot, or are you going to make me google some fancy shit?”

I smile. “What if I just make it myself? I’m not a half-bad bartender. It was my night gig in college.”

Nicole rears her head back. “College girl worked?”

“Shocking, right? I needed money to pay rent and party after my parents cut me off. I got really good at slinging cocktails and getting tips.” I look at her man’s work shirt buttoned all the way to the top. “You said you’re always picking up extra shifts for cash? What if I could teach you how to maximize the shifts you’ve got here?”

She gives me a skeptical look. “You want to work the bar in a bowling alley to teach me how to make more money?”

“Is your boss going to care? You’re short a pair of hands, right?”

Nicole glances in what I assume is the direction of the office. “He’s only going to care if you show up asking to get paid.”

“Nah. But I’m keeping my own tips.”

The door to the bowling alley opens, and Nicole’s attention swings toward the group of six guys walking in.

“Shit. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

I reach for the top button of my blouse and undo all of them before shimmying it off. “Is there somewhere I can put this where it won’t get dirty? There’s no way I’m trusting it to any dry cleaner here if it gets beer on it.”

She takes it from me and opens a cupboard where I see a purse stashed. “This good?”

“That’ll work.”

I hand her my tiny clutch too, and she tucks it inside. I make quick work of my own drink and suck it down while the men put in orders for food at the window across the way from the bar.

“I’ll play cocktail waitress while you watch and learn. These skills are just as easy to implement behind the bar, I promise.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

I throw her a wink and get to work. The skills I honed in college come back as soon as I take my first order.





Chapter 30


Logan


After I finish with my haircut from Julianne, I head home to shower and change into something that doesn’t smell like my shop.

I sent a reply to Banner as I left the house, telling her to meet me at Pints and Pins so we can talk, but I’ve gotten no answer. I drove past Holly’s gran’s place on the way here, and it was dark, so maybe Banner beat me here. The parking lot is packed, which usually never happens unless Holly is in town singing, or the state bowling tournament quarter-finals are going on.

Holly hasn’t been back in a while, and I know there’s no tournament tonight. So, what the hell is going on to draw such a crowd?

I walk inside and stop just beyond the door.