I Love This Bar (6 page)

   Chigger claimed a barstool and watched the circus. "Hope she ain't got a big old fancy hairdo and a veil in mind for the weddin'. The way she's tossin' back those drinks she's going to have one hellacious headache tomorrow."

   "Maybe she needs them to marry the sorry sucker," Daisy said.

   "If that's the case I hope she takes off like Julia Roberts did in
Runaway Bride.
Ain't no man worth that and she's so damn young."

   "That's the truth," Daisy agreed.

   The policeman snapped velvet cuffs on her hands and led her to the door saying loudly that he was charging her with being too beautiful to be out in public. About the time he reached Tinker's chair he announced that he couldn't arrest a pretty little thing like her. He removed the cuffs and she ran back to her pack of giggling friends while he meandered over to the jukebox and plugged in "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson. By the time the words were out about never being the Barbie doll type, the policeman had jumped up on the girls' table and snapped off his uniform. He did a bump and grind in a skintight zebra print Speedo that had all the girls giggling and putting dollar bills in the waistband when he crawled across the table toward them.

   "Well, that's a first for the Honky Tonk," Daisy said.

   Chigger didn't answer. Her eyes were glazed over. Daisy could imagine Chigger's momma grabbing her chest and dropping dead with a heart attack if she ever saw that wanton look in her daughter's eyes.

   "Shy, my ass," Daisy muttered.

   "What about your ass?" Billy Bob asked when the show was over and the policeman grabbed up his clothing and disappeared out the door.

   "Nothing you'd be interested in." Daisy filled another Mason jar with Coors Light and carried it to the far end.

   "Honey, I'm interested in everything about you," Billy Bob said in his most seductive low country drawl.

   Daisy pretended she didn't hear him and kept working.

   "He could have done it twice. Hell, I'd a paid him double the rate to come over here and do it on the bar in front of me," Chigger all but panted.

   Daisy leaned over the bar. "I don't think you'll be ready to marry your cowboy in one year. The way you were salivating at the sight of that stripper you'll have a tough time straightening up your act in a single year. You might need to give it two years before you're ready to settle down with Jim Bob and play Monopoly on Saturday nights."

   "Whew! After that, I might ought to marry him tomorrow. That made me horny as hell. Wonder where I could buy him one of them uniforms and a zebra print bikini thing like that," Chigger whispered back.

   Daisy giggled.

   Chigger crossed the floor in a few long easy strides and pulled Jim Bob out on the dance floor where she hugged up to him so tight that the shadow they cast looked like one person instead of two.

   One minute Daisy was wiping a beer spill from the counter and the next she was looking into Jarod's gray eyes across the space of a two-foot bar. In that instant the bones dissolved in her legs and her insides melted into a gushy pile.

   It made her mad as hell that he'd snuck up on her, but by damn she would get over it instantly. It would never be said that Daisy O'Dell didn't learn her lessons and learn them well. Once upon a time she'd been in love, and happy-ever-after lasted until the first time her fiancé, Chris, got stinking drunk and mean as a grizzly with a toothache. Trust was something she guarded closely and she never gave it away carelessly. Other than Ruby Lee, she hadn't fully trusted anyone in years and didn't intend to start now. She inhaled deeply and stubbornly willed her legs to support her.

   "What can I get you, cowboy?" she asked in an even tone.

   "Two beers. Coors. From the tap." Jarod had hoped he had remembered her all wrong from the night when they'd slipped and fallen. But he hadn't. Her skin was like silk that begged to be caressed and those eyes belonged in a dimly lit bedroom, half open and begging.

   "Want them on a tray?" Daisy looked around for his date.

   "That would be nice." He cleared his throat. He'd been right. Seeing her again would make forgetting all about her impossible. "And make it five beers. I'll treat the Walkers to a drink while I'm at it. They deserve it since they're over there entertaining Uncle Emmett."

   Daisy tried not to look in that direction but she didn't have that much willpower. No wife. No girlfriend. Just a table full of men surrounding Emmett McElroy.

   "Will do." She hoped he couldn't hear the breathlessness in her voice. She drew up five beers and put them on a tray.

   He handed her two bills and their hands brushed in the transfer. The heat between them was like a fireplace blaze on a cold winter night. It wasn't fair to be attracted to a man who was most likely married or already branded. His wife or girlfriend must be waiting at home or had slipped into the ladies' room when no one was looking.

   She put his change on the tray with his beers and turned to the next customer to find Amos waiting. He wore his black leather biker duds that night.

   "Amos, where did you come from? I didn't see you come in. Thought you'd let the gang ride without you tonight." Daisy leaned across the bar as far as she could and hugged him.

   "I was talkin' to Mac on the front porch. Gang ain't goin' to ride without their leader. Put three longneck Coors on a tray and I'll carry them over to the pool table. Merle's got a bet goin' with Mac. One of these days he's goin' to learn she could whip him with crossed eyes and a hand tied behind her back. That feller who just got the beers, the one sitting back there in the corner with Emmett McElroy, who is he?" Amos asked while she took the lids off the beers.

   Amos Lambert had been Ruby's friend since they were kids in grade school. They'd been wild together, ridden in the Wild Breed motorcycle gang since they were in their twenties, and probably had more secrets than Daisy could listen to in her lifetime. When Ruby took Daisy under her wing, Amos did the same. If Ruby had been a surrogate mother, then Amos was the same as a father.

   "I can take care of myself," she said as she made change for him.

   "Don't doubt it for a minute. Taught you well, me and Ruby did. I'm just askin' who is that feller?"

   Daisy sighed. "His name is Jarod. He's kin to Emmett and helping him out from what I hear. Why are you asking?"

   "Just hadn't seen him around. Ruby said for me to keep an eye on you. He keeps stealing glances over this way. I might be old but I damn sure ain't blind and I know what he's got on his mind. He ain't respectful, you just motion and me and the boys will put him out of here on his ass."

   Daisy patted him on the arm. "He's just a harmless rancher, and puttin' people out on their asses is Tinker's job." She nodded toward the door.

   Ruby had always said that Tinker could toss a drunk out the door quieter than any bouncer this side of the Mississippi. Daisy believed it to be the pure unadulterated gospel. Tinker said very little but he had arms of steel and took his job seriously.

   Ruby had told her that he'd been wounded in Vietnam and lived in a trailer way up in the woods. He'd been working at the Honky Tonk since the day Ruby opened the doors and nobody messed with Tinker, Ruby, or now Daisy. And no one finished a fight in the Honky Tonk. They might have the balls to start one, but Daisy had never seen anyone brave enough to stand up to him.

   "You just mind what I say," Amos said.

   "Don't go shootin' a payin' customer, Amos. But if you want to shoot Billy Bob Walker, I wouldn't raise much fuss. He's been lookin' at me a lot lately too, and he's sittin' right over there." Daisy pointed.

   "Ah, honey, Billy Bob is playin' a game. That Jarod, when he looks at you it's different. He's serious," Amos said.

   "You better not have any more to drink. You're getting slap silly. This is only the second time Jarod has even been in the Honky Tonk. He doesn't even know me and I damn sure ain't interested in him." Daisy had heard the same thing from Amos about every man other than Billy Bob for the past seven years. If there was a serious look in Jarod's eye, it was the same kind that a jackrabbit had when it saw a Catahoula hound nipping at its ass.

   "I just call 'em the way I see 'em. I'll take these beers on over to the pool tables and watch Merle whip Mac's ass again," Amos said.

   Daisy did her best to ignore the McElroy party in the back corner, but when Chigger drew up a chair and sat down between Emmett and Jarod, a green jab of jealousy shot through Daisy's heart.

   
You had better stop this nonsense right now. He's one
hunky, hot cowboy but he's not for you.

   
How do you know?
That annoying little inner voice asked.

   She was quick to shoot off a silent answer.
Because
any man who'd have that kind of control over me could
hurt me and it ain't happenin' again.

   A few minutes later Chigger opened the swinging doors at one end of the bar and stepped into the area. "I'll bartend for a few minutes. Emmett wants to see you."

   "Tell him to come up to the bar. This is my job, not yours."

   Chigger picked up a white bar rag and wiped up a puddle of foam. "He's using a walker, for God's sake. Don't be hardheaded. I can do this job for five minutes and besides, I still owe you. Momma put you through the wringer even worse than I figured she would."

   Daisy finished the draw she was working on, took the customer's money, and nodded at Chigger. She was reminded of an old song that had been one of Ruby's favorites by Ray Price and was still on the antique jukebox. It had a line in it that said the longest walk he'd ever take would be across the floor. If it hadn't been Saturday night she would have unplugged the fancy new jukebox and plugged in the old one. But the young crowd came to hear the upbeat newer country music on Friday and Saturday nights.

   Ruby had always said that folks didn't give a damn if music came from a jukebox or a band. They just wanted a good time, plenty of beer, and room to wiggle around with their dancing or shoot a little eight ball. She'd been right. The Honky Tonk drew more business and had lasted longer than any other joint within fifty miles.

   "Miz Daisy!" Emmett exclaimed when he looked up and saw her at his elbow. "You still runnin' the Honky Tonk with a steel hand, I see."

   "That's right. Got my bluff in on them early and they're all afraid to test me. Besides, Tinker puts the fear of God into most of the rabble rousers." She laid a hand on Emmett's shoulder.

   "You keep it that way, darlin'. Want you to meet my nephew, Jarod. He's moved down here to wait for me to die so his family can inherit my place."

   "Good God, Uncle Emmett!" Jarod exclaimed.

   "Well, it's the gospel truth," Emmett said.

   Jarod's face lit up like a neon sign. "I'm not a golddigging bastard. You're making me sound like one."

   "Ah, we all know he's just joshin'," Billy Bob said. "He's goin' to leave his spread to me, ain't you, Emmett?"

   Emmett grinned. "Naw, Mavis said Jarod's dad was to have it and I wouldn't want that woman on my bad side for eternity. Miz Daisy, set a spell. Talk to me. I hear Jarod came visitin' last night. Did he behave himself or flirt with Chigger?"

   Daisy didn't sit down. "He was a good boy."

   "Something the matter with him, you reckon? Don't know of many men who'd come in the Honky Tonk and not flirt with Chigger. He didn't even flirt with her when she leaned down and give us all a peek of those big old honkers while ago. Tell me," Emmett lowered his voice, "did he flirt with Jim Bob?"

   Jim Bob slid his chair back so fast that he almost spilled himself out onto the floor. "Hell, no, he didn't flirt with me and I was with Chigger, so that's why he didn't get next to her."

   "I'd say you don't have a lot to worry about, Emmett. I think he's straight as a judge," Daisy said.

   "Well, halle-damn-lu-yah for that. Way he argues with everything I say, I'd begun to wonder if there was a bitchy little girl hidin' in him," Emmett said.

   "I'm sittin' right here," Jarod said through clenched teeth.

   "We can see you and we're just teasing so don't get your dander up, cowboy. So you are here to help Emmett?" Daisy asked.

   He wore his jeans just right, bunched up at the bottoms on top of cowboy boots that had been dusted off after a hard day's work. His blue knit shirt fit snugly over a broad expanse of chest and was tucked into the waistband of his jeans behind a silver belt buckle with a bull rider on the front. It was engraved but she didn't let her eyes linger long in that area.

   "That's the general idea."

   "Good. He shouldn't be out there alone," she said.

   "Why not?" Jarod asked. "He's too tough for anything to hurt him."

   Emmett nodded. "First thing he's said that I can agree with. Jarod's dad thought I needed help so he talked me into letting Jarod come on down here. God Almighty, ever since he got here he's been talking idiot notions about windmills and computers and the craziest thing is that he wants to bring a jackass on the property."

   "Settle down, Emmett," Daisy said sternly. "Don't be workin' yourself up into a frenzy that'll cause a stroke. Ain't never had a death in the Honky Tonk and I ain't plannin' on one now."

   Everyone went silent until Emmett chuckled. "She's a sassy little thing, ain't she? She's like my Mavis. Reminds me, Daisy. I looked on the calendar. You need to make a visit to the ranch. It's time. You can eat supper with us. Not tomorrow but the week after that. I'm going to hold you to your word."