Page 46 of Third Time's the Charm

I sat quietly while she texted with Cynthia. I scanned the crowd, expecting Ryker to appear at some point. He was always appearing at the worst possible times.

“How’s the dig?”

“Good.” She tucked the phone away. “I’m doing a paper on the quality of life Mistletoe Key residents had from prehistory through today. I’ve already been booked by a dozen historical societies to come and talk.”

“Any schools?” I knew that was her real goal. People already interested in history were always exciting to visit, but reaching kids, people who think they don’t like history? That was Berlin’s real passion.

“I’m going to use the historical societies as guinea pigs. Fine tune the talk and materials, make it as fun and interesting as I can before I put that package together.” She examined me as she spoke, like I was a stranger she was trying to figure out.

Because I was a stranger.

“Game tomorrow?”

“Yep.”

“Tell Mr. Andrews I said hi.”

I laughed. “Riley will want to know so many details.”

We fell silent. Doing that wordless conversation thing we used to do. Her eyes said thank you for letting me go. My sad smile said I hoped she was happy. She returned that with a sad smile of her own that told me we were really friends now.

“Well,” she huffed, rubbing her palms on her jeans. “I need to meet Cynthia for a drink and let her vent. Have a good night, Jack.”

“You too. I hope Cynthia feels better and the Pirate King works things out.”

The crowd thinned as the youngest kids grew sleepy, then the older kids and adults. Ma and Antonio turned in, reminding me not to stay out too late. When the movie ended it was basically just teenagers making out.

I wheeled away the popcorn machine and stowed the projector before deflating the screen. Berlin and Cynthia shuffled out of the brewery, Cynthia leaning heavily on Berlin, who gave me a funny look when she saw me cleaning up extension cords.

I waved. “Do you need any help?”

She grimaced. “Actually, yeah.”

I got to them just as Cynthia passed out. “Whoa there.” I scooped her up.

Berlin frowned. “I didn’t know she hit the bourbon before she came out.”

“That bad, huh?” I was a big, athletic guy, but an unconscious woman is heavy to carry, no matter how tiny. Luckily Cynthia only lived two streets over.

“Apparently the Pirate King is on a bender. He grilled her new boyfriend, made their lunch a really uncomfortable disaster, and then he pulled the whole stunt with the Mermaid Squadron. She’s had four city council members on her back ever since.”

“That is pretty bad.”

“Here.” Berlin opened a screen door to the duplex. Cynthia lived on one side, her parents on the other. She unlocked the door and held it open, guiding me to the bedroom. “Can you get some water? I’ll get the pain meds.”

The apartment was in disarray. Mostly clothes flung everywhere. But I managed to find the glasses, a sports drink in the fridge, and a sleeve of crackers.

“Oh, thank you. This is excellent.” Berlin put the items on the nightstand.

“I’ve had a few hangovers.”

We traded a look, remembering the ones we had together. “Yeah, well, I need to get back to storing the movie screen.”

“I’m going to sleep here and keep an eye on her.” She walked me to the door.

I stepped onto the porch. “Goodnight, Berlin.” I pushed open the screen door.

“Hey Jack?”

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