2. Dante
CHAPTER 2
Dante
If that woman’s cheeks had turned any redder, she might have spontaneously combusted on the sidewalk right in front of me. I smiled as I shifted the briefcase to my other hand. I’d enjoyed teasing her a bit. Probably more than I should have. But she’d been so embarrassed, it had been too easy to make her blush.
I shook the vision of her out of my head. Too bad I hadn’t caught her name. It might be fun to follow up with her and find out what she thought of her new reading material.
I passed the entrance to the library and turned the corner, making my way toward the riverfront a few blocks down. I didn’t mind the short walk from my office to my apartment, especially at this time of year. I’d lived in northern Indiana all my life, and fall could be a fickle season in the upper Midwest. May as well get the fresh air before the snow started to fly.
As my shoes thudded on the sidewalk, my thoughts turned back to the blushing redhead. Women’s studies, really? Throughout my undergrad program and into grad school, I’d never heard of the Kama Sutra being required reading material, especially at a conservative school like Tempest. I’d only become familiar with the position during a weekend fling with a particularly limber yoga instructor. My lips twitched at the memory of exactly how flexible she’d been.
I ducked into a doorway and pulled on the large brass handle of a massive wooden door. It had been a while since I’d seen any action. Newbridge was pretty much a college town and tended to shut down over the summer. Now that classes had started up again, Tapped ought to be hopping.
I’d only been working at the bar for a couple of weeks. Maybe during my shift tonight, I’d try out a few lines on one of the eager female grad students. They always seemed to be making eyes at me and leaning over the bar to ask for a free drink—one of the few perks of my new part-time gig.
“Hey, Dante. Can you stock the cooler and help me switch out a couple of kegs?” Wyatt, the owner, stood in the doorway, hands on his hips, a half apron with the Tapped logo on it tied around his waist.
We were both from the same small town of Hinkley, Indiana. Wyatt had been a couple of years ahead of me in high school. Now he and his new wife, Lindsey, had made the move to Newbridge to try their luck with the bar.
“Just let me run up and change.” I cruised through the empty high-top tables to the staircase in back.
Tapped had barely been open a month. I’d lucked out when Wyatt offered me the job. Located a little farther from campus in the riverfront warehouse area of downtown Newbridge, Tapped drew more of the grad student crowd as opposed to the car-less, beer-sloshing, sloppy-drunk undergrads.
The fact that Wyatt discounted my rent on the second-floor apartment in exchange for working the late-night shifts had been the primary attraction of the gig. Although, the ability to get a head start on my massive student loans ran a close second.
As I opened the door to my place, my cell rang. I glanced at the screen and smiled. No matter how busy I was, I’d always make time for my grandmother.
“Did bingo get canceled this afternoon, and you needed someone to entertain you?” I teased.
Meemaw’s voice crackled through the phone. “They ran out of prizes. That Irene never gets enough prizes when they put her in charge. Why, if it were me, I’d make sure I had extra. And she calls the numbers way too fast. Half the poor folks couldn’t even keep up. I ought to just take over the bingo?—”
“That’s all you need, Meemaw... to be in charge of one more thing.” I kicked off my shoes and made my way to the bedroom. I might put in twelve-hour days at the office, but I could guarantee that between all of her volunteering, my grandmother had me beat.
“Well, it gives me something to do all day. I can’t just sit around here and twiddle my thumbs now, can I?”
“Nope, no twiddling. You don’t sit still long enough for that.” I could feel her grin through the phone.
“I just wanted to make sure you can still come down for dinner on Sunday. Bugsy finally killed that hairy, old hog and I’ll have a nice pork roast with potatoes and gravy.”
My mouth watered at the thought of a home-cooked meal. “I’m counting on it. Any chance you’ll have time to make one of your famous apple pies?”
“Rolled out the crust this morning, my boy. What time can I expect you?”
I chuckled. She knew me better than anyone. “Should be there by two.” I was scheduled to close Saturday night. That would give me time to sleep in and get a little bit of work done before making the ninety-minute drive back home to my grandmother’s farm.
“I’ll see you then. You know it’s always okay with me if you want to invite a friend. I’ve got plenty.”
Here we go again. “I think Murph’s got plans. Plus, then I wouldn’t have as many leftovers.”
Meemaw clucked her tongue. “I meant a lady friend. It’s high time you start thinking about giving me some great-grandbabies. I’m not gonna be around forever, you know.”
A lady friend... that would be the day. The only girl I’d ever invited over for a Sunday dinner had played me for a complete fool, and I had no interest in ever putting myself out there like that again. “Just me this time.”
“Sugar, you know I love seeing you. Just wish you’d find a smart, sassy, young woman to spend some time with.”
I cleared my throat, my signal for an immediate change in topic.
Having raised me all my life, my grandmother picked up on it right away. “Oh, all right. Think you’ll have time to help me put up some Halloween decorations at the center while you’re here?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. No such thing as a free meal where Meemaw was concerned. She’d always figure out a way to get some manual labor out of me. It was worth it, though. If I could spare the time, I’d be willing to work all weekend just for a few bites of one of her melt-in-your-mouth pork roasts.
“You bet. Nothing too spooky, I hope. Don’t want to give Mrs. Blake a coronary.”
“Oh, pshaw. That’s not funny. You know she gets bouts of the angina. She’s taking two different kinds of pills.”
“Sorry, Meemaw. I was just kidding.”
“I know. You stay out of trouble now and drive safe. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
At eighty-two, my grandmother should be taking it easy, not single-handedly running the senior center in town. With a seemingly endless supply of compassion and energy, she seemed a helluva lot younger than most of the people who frequented the place.
She always said she felt sorry for them. “Those poor old folks, no family around to look after them.” Pretty ironic seeing as how she was older than all of them and didn’t have any family left to look after her. “I have you,” she’d tell me. I just felt bad that I didn’t get back to see her often enough. She was a spunky ole gal that was for sure.
It was about time she stopped bothering me about settling down, though. I’d told her a million times—my focus needed to be on my career for the foreseeable future. But Meemaw had always had ideas of her own where I was concerned, especially after we attended my cousin’s wedding in Tennessee awhile back.
For a split second, I wondered about the woman from the sidewalk. Who would she be practicing all those moves on? What lucky guy or girl would be on the receiving end of all that newfound knowledge? Whoever it was would definitely have a better start to their weekend than me.
I tossed my phone on the bed and changed into some jeans and a flannel shirt. Much better. I didn’t mind dressing the part at the office, but would much rather live in a pair of worn-in jeans.
After shoving my phone into my pocket, I locked up and made my way back downstairs, ready for whatever another Friday night behind the bar might have in store.