Page 11 of Another Last Call
Chuckling, I met her eyes as I handed her the credit card machine. “I remember.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Do you?”
“I used to spend summers here as a kid,” I said, tucking my credit card back in my wallet. “I, uh, knew Maggie, actually.”
Her face changed as I said her daughter’s name. “Did you? I have to apologize, hon, I don’t recognize you.”
“That’s okay. I’m Caleb Vaughan. My family used to—”
“Caleb!” she exclaimed, interrupting me as she clapped a hand onto my shoulder and then stared at me with her mouth half-open. “Well, shit.”
I forced out an awkward chuckle, wondering if Maggie had ever told her mom… well. I mean, I wouldn’t have toldmymom, but my mom wasn’t anything like Josie Myers.
“Is that, uh, a good ‘shit’ or a ‘get the hell out of my bar’ shit?” I asked.
She burst out laughing, a bright, musical sound. “It’s a ‘oh shit, am I getting old’ shit.”
“Old? You don’t look a day older than you did the last time I was here,” I replied.
She clapped her hand against my shoulder again. “Always the charmer, weren’t you? Jesus, Caleb.” She shook her head as she stared at me. “You look like an actual grown man now.”
A smile spread across my face. “Thanks, Josie.”
“Well, welcome back to Marble Beach.” She finally took her hand off my shoulder, though she was still looking at me. “What brings you in this late in the season?”
“Renovating the cabin. I’m going to sell it in the spring.”
She looked slightly put out. “Well, that’s too bad. You folks have been coming here for… well, decades. Your dad used to come here before I even bought this place.Shit, I’m old.”
“You’re not old,” I said again, laughing.
“Still.” She sighed. “How is your dad? I didn’t see him this summer, come to think of it.”
Fuck.
My heart did that thing every time I had to break the news to someone. It was a small ache, but a sharp one, like someone had literally taken hold of the organ and tugged on it just a bit, just enough that I wanted to wince in pain.
“He, uh, passed,” I said, my voice dropping a bit. “About six months ago.”
Josie’s lips parted and her eyes shone, just a bit. “Shit. Hon, I’m so… Oh, God. I’m so sorry to hear that. He was a good man, your dad.”
I nodded, blinking as I looked down at the table. “Yeah. But, uh, how’s… how’s Maggie doing? What’s she up to these days?”
Josie graciously recognized I was trying to change the subject. And by “graciously recognized,” I mean she let out another bright, amused laugh.
“Well, ask her yourself,” she said. “Mags is over in the corner. She’s playing right now.”
Eight
Caleb
Iwhippedmyheadtowards the girl playing the guitar, straining to see her. “That’s Maggie?”
Josie laughed. “Yeah, hon, that’s her. She’ll be a while yet, but I’m sure she’d love to say hello when she’s done.”
Another customer called her away just then. Sipping my beer, I tried to look past the throng of people surrounding the back corner, hoping to catch a glimpse of Maggie. But aside from the occasional hint of movement peeking through the gaps between tables, I couldn’t see her; there were far too many people there listening to her play.
She deserved the attention, honestly. She’d always been talented like that.
