Page 37 of Baby, It's You
“Follow me to the men’s restroom,” I tell him and lead the way.
He chuckles from behind me. “Oh. This should be good.”
I walk into the men’s bathroom to the wall by the sink and point to the scribbled writing in blue marker next to the soap dispenser.
Last time I was at this bar, I got arrested. - Ted
Hunter reads where I am pointing and then looks up at me. “Sounds like an interesting one.”
“I know. When I saw it the other day, I was so curious. Now I need to know what happened.”
“You don’t know the story?” he asks me.
“Nope! I never come into the men’s bathroom other than to pop my head in at the end of a shift and make sure there aren't any drunk stragglers. Rob usually always stocks and cleans it; it’s been that way ever since Seymour passed. He didn’t want Jane to have to deal with the nasty men’s room and it’s just always stayed the same routine,” I tell him, thankful. “ButTripp yelled at me, saying the bathroom needed toilet paper and more soap the other day before Rob was here so I went in and voila…I saw it.” I make a chef’s kiss motion with my hand. “Our next story for the series.”
“Do you happen to know what Ted’s last name could be? I feel like there are at least a hundred Teds in Clairesville.”
“I don’t, but don't you worry because Ididtalk with Johnny about it, and hedoesknow the right Ted.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. “Apparently, they are old friends, so he made a call for us. Ted is expecting us at his home in the next thirty minutes, so we better get going.”
I smile at Hunter and hand him the address that Johnny scribbled down on a piece of paper for me.
“Look at you, quite the little journalist,” he teases me in response.
“That’s me!” I hold my phone under my chin as a pretend microphone, and joke, “If I lose my job at the bar, at least I will have a backup career.”
He looks at me with a serious expression. “You won’t lose the bar.”
“Okay, okay.” I nod and lead the way to walk out of the bathroom.
I rush to pick up my keys and Hunter grabs his equipment as I flick off the lights.
“Ready?” he asks.
“Yup!”
As he opens the bar door, I shout, “To the Old Fart!” and walk past him. Then I turn back to look at him and say, with an eyebrow raised, “You’re right, itisa good name.”
Chapter 26
Hunter
We drive through an old money neighborhood with matching brick houses one after another, like someone copied and pasted them on the land. All the lawns are perfectly manicured, not a single weed to be seen. My old diesel truck sticks out like a sore thumb on this upper-class street.
“So, you thrift shop?” Olive asks from the passenger seat.
“Yeah.” I glance over at her. “My dad, uh, passed away last year.” I stammer and pause for a second, hating that the words are true. “We used to go thrift shopping together. He had a huge vintage model car collection that I now have so I want to keep the shelf growing. Thrift stores are always a good place to find them.”
Olive reaches over and touches my right hand, which rests on my thigh. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
I'm taken aback by her physical gesture of sympathy and just want to grab on to her hand and hold it. When she moves it away a moment later, my own hand feels cold and empty.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “I mean, it’s notokay, but it’s not going to change. I feel the saddest for my mom, who lost not only her husband but also her best friend. My dad was her everything.”
“That must be so hard for her. But that’s also beautiful to hear, that they were so connected,” Olive explains. “Marriages where the couple actually continues to like each other are rare. In my opinion at least.” She laughs a little when she says it, but I can tell there is more meaning behind her statement.
“Yeah, they were meant for each other.” I think over if I should say anything and then decide to pry a little. “What are your parents like?”
I see her shrink into herself. I regret saying anything immediately. As if I’m saved by the bell, my phone alerts me that we have reached our destination.
