Page 76 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend
“Thought you could get away without me noticing, huh?” I said slyly.
Laura looked a little shy. I’d expected her to smile or take the joke in good faith.
“Everything all right?”
“Sure.”
I frowned.
“Hey, I’ve got to go over to Freetown tonight to get some records from the city planning office.”
“Okay,” said Laura. “Hope it doesn’t rain.”
“Yeah, me too. Look, I’ve got an hour before I need to go. Do you feel like doing something? We could go for a walk, or…”
There I went, tempting fate again.
“Sure,” Laura brightened up a little. “That could be nice. I just…”
“Gotta get home to Kyle?”
Laura shook her head. “He’s not talking to me at the moment. Not since I grounded him last week.”
“Again? Well, sorry to hear that.”
“Not as sorry as me,” she sighed. “Try having a moody teen around your house. Trust me, it’s not an experience I recommend.”
I smiled. But though I sympathized with Laura, I had no idea what it would actually be like to look after a kid. I’d never wanted kids as a young man. And now? Now it seemed much too late somehow. I thought again about the father of Laura’s child. I wondered who he was. Why he wasn’t there, fulfilling his responsibilities to Kyle?
“Well, come on,” I nudged. “Let’s get a drink. Who knows? Maybe I can take your mind off it. Where’s good in this town?”
Laura thought about it for a moment. “How about The Fir Tree?”
“Sure,” I replied. It was time to tempt fate again.
The Fir Tree was where I’d met Laura. Despite the cheery name, it was nothing special, just an old bar on the other side of town. Back in our day, it was a bit of a rough spot where locals came to drink underage or local bikers hung out. But there was a bowling alley too—and it just so happened that I’d taken Laura there on one of our first dates. And that didn’t even begin to include the countless times we’d made eyes in the bar.
These days, The Fir Tree was deserted. I’d slipped off my jacket and tie which I’d worn for my appointment in town, and even changed from my dark, shiny shoes into a pair of brown moccasins. But even so, I still felt out of place as I pushed open the door, my hand feeling sticky against the wall of old posters for bands.
“This your usual hangout?” I frowned.
“Not for a long time,” she replied weakly. “Somehow I remember it being…nicer.”
“Me too,” I murmured.
“Huh?” Laura looked at me closely.
“Never mind.”
We walked through the door and into the bar. In my mind’s eye, it was just as I’d known it, smoky and crammed full of the local kids, all talking and bowling, or dancing to the jukebox. But the bar in front of me was completely deserted. I went to the bar and ordered us a pair of drinks. The waitress behind the place looked me up and down. She clearly had no idea what two smart, well-dressed old folks like us were doing in here on a Tuesday.
“So,” I said, settling into one of the booths and handing Laura a beer. Around the bar, I could see a few patrons. Two guys in leather jackets were relaxing in one corner. A girl who looked about sixteen and her boyfriend were bowling in one of the alleys. At the other end of the bar, a couple of guys in bowling shirts stood around a table, eagerly waiting their turn.
“So,” said Laura. “How did it go at the town hall?”
“Fine. Well, nearly fine. Except for this creep. He took a photo of me and started asking about whether I was planning to rip up the nature reserve.”
“Huh, must be from out of town. There’s no way Erwin would send him around. The guy’s practically your biggest fan. He wants me to interview you.”