Page 10 of Pour Timing

Chapter5

Matt

It’s Friday night and I’m sitting with Danny at Big Chowder. The place is right on the water and fits the idea of a perfect small-town restaurant. I got a lot ofwelcome homesas I walked in, and other locals have sent drinks our way. It’s only been a few weeks since I’ve made Starlight Bay my home again, but I’ve slowly become accustomed to the neighborly way of everyone all over again.

“So how has it been being back in town?”

The bartender slides fresh beers our way. I tap my bottle to Danny’s and we each take a drink. “In some ways it feels like I’ve never left and in other ways everything has changed.”

“I get that. I went away to school and expected things to be so different. But when I graduated and came back here to teach in our old high school,” he chuckles, “I just kind of moved along with the town, never missing a beat.”

“I see how easy it is to fall into that now.”

“It was the same old, same old. Everyone still loved to be here on Friday nights, at the winery on Saturday nights, and then gossip about it at church on Sunday. Only this time? We were allowed to be a part of it because we were finally legal to drink.”

I laugh behind my beer. “Sounds about right.”

“So what happened? You weren’t good enough to make it pro?” He elbows me and I chuckle.

“In the back of my mind, I always knew I wouldn’t make it, but when you’re a twenty-one-year-old punk, being told you’re the hottest thing out there, getting laid every night, you can’t help but think you’re always going to be on top of the world. You start thinking you’re untouchable. Then when it all gets taken away,” I shrug, “reality hits hard. That’s when humility set in. And honestly, that’s the biggest reason I didn’t want to come back home.”

He nods while drinking his beer. “You seemed to do all right in the end though.”

“I did, for a while. Right after I graduated, I landed a great coaching job with the high school team just outside the college I went to. That’s where I met my ex-wife. But being married to a small-town coach wasn’t enough for her. Even after she landed a top executive position, it still didn’t seem like anything I did for her was good enough. Eventually, I realized nothing ever would be. When she was offered a high-profile job in California, she wanted us to move. I said no.” I shrug and pick at the label on my beer bottle. “Things had already been falling apart long before that, but her saying she was going whether we followed or not was the final nail in the coffin. So she left, and my son and I stayed for a couple more years. I didn’t really have a clear direction, no real plan. Looking back, I guess I owe my uncle for giving me purpose again.” I finish off my beer and signal to the bartender for another. “What about you? No girlfriend?”

A vacant look passes over his face before he answers, “No. No one who’s really grabbed my attention I guess.”

I nod and accept the fresh beer from the bartender, lost in our walk down memory lane. Until he hits me with the next question.

“How was it with Kylie the other day?” I snap my head toward him with narrowed eyes and he laughs, putting up his hands. “It’s a small town. Everybody knows she’s getting married in the place you now own. They’re waiting for gossip and fireworks.”

I shake my head. “No fireworks. We’re friends now, if you can really call it that; it’s been so long.”

“Man, you were high school sweethearts! You’re the perfect movie right now.” He slides his hand across the top of the bar. “It’s been fifteen years and you’re back in town. She’s marrying a guy nobody likes, and you’re the hometown hero. Sounds like a perfect setup to me.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I guffaw. “The timing was never right and there’s nothing to change that. I was ready to move on from this town. She tried but couldn't do it. We connected over social media a few years after graduation but I was with my ex-wife. Now I'm single and she’s getting married. The world just never aligned for us.”

I hear the bell above the front door ring and when a girl walks in, I realize it’s Kylie‘s sister and give a nod. I notice Danny looks twice then turns his head back to stare at the TV and lets out a breath. I notice her stare lasts a moment longer than it should before she walks to the other end of the bar. There’s definitely a story there.

“Want to explain what that was about?” I ask.

He answers with a clipped, “No,” and I laugh at his response.

“Something about those sisters, isn’t there?" He gives me a side-eye before letting out a nervous laugh.

“She’s hot. But she’s a know-it-all.”

I chuckle. “She does like things her way.”

He makes a humming noise. “There’s got to be a little give and take, ya know? I mean, I’m an easy going guy, but I don’t need a run down on every item in my fridge and why it’s bad for me.”

“She put you on a diet, big boy?” I joke with him.

He rolls his eyes. “Rigidity is not my thing. Even her schedule has a schedule.” He lowers his voice. “Including sex.”

I nearly choke on my beer. “That doesn’t sound romantic at all.”

“It wasn’t.” He finishes his beer and taps the bar top for another. “The only time she’d let her guard down was when I’d pick a fight. So it became our thing. How fast could we piss off the other person, ya know?” he shakes his head. “I shouldn’t have to pick a fight to get a blow job.”

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