Chapter 13
The previous week’s trivia night had gone pretty well, but having Keely there sent him right back to feeling as anxious as he had then.
Scot had used his time in the hospital to write a whole stack of questions and answers for Travis to use that week, completely ignoring the suggestion that they could take a week off from trivia night at the Bottlenose.
To Scot, canceling trivia night was unthinkable. It was a Pelican Point tradition, part of the backbone of the restaurant bar that was his whole life. So Travis had gone along with it. Anything to keep the old man happy.
He had pushed back again when Scot said that he intended on coming, but eventually he relented. Better to drive him there than to have Scot try to make his way down to the bar himself, half-healed and probably still feeling the effects of his concussion.
So Travis brought him to the bar early, and he overrode Scot’s protests enough to install him in a makeshift throne using an old leather armchair from a corner of the bar and a table with a pillow of clean bar rags so that Scot could elevate his injured ankle.
The bar filled up early with teams and pairs of people eating dinner before trivia night kicked off. Keely was there in the corner, sharing a platter of nachos with Nick and Chloe. Travis was tempted to take the empty seat at the table, but just when he had worked up the courage, Ali came in and joined her team. Travis retreated behind the bar and busied himself with his usual work, even though there was another bartender on duty that night.
Just before trivia night kicked off, he made good on his promise to make Keely her own mocktail. He remembered that she had loved mango juice as a kid, so he made her a sparkling drink with mango simple syrup and a generous squeeze of lime, then garnished it with a thin slice of lime and added a bright green straw.
He walked across the restaurant and handed it to her silently as the conversation at her table continued. When she looked at him and took a sip, the rest of the crowd faded away. All he could see were her leaf-green eyes and the light dusting of freckles that adorned her nose and the tops of her cheeks. Then she gave him a look of such surprise and gratitude that he nearly floated up to the front of the room.
”Trivia night starts in five minutes!” he announced. ”Claim your table, claim your buzzer. Let’s go!”
Nat and her boyfriend were there, sitting at a table with her landlord and another familiar face, someone that Travis had seen around the bar and at CPR projects but whose name he couldn’t place.
He knew the names of nearly everyone in the bar. The same people came to trivia night week after week. It was always a fun mix of regulars and newcomers, which kept things interesting. And of course, the same trivia questions were never asked twice. There were no repeats, not on Scot’s watch.
”Okay, first question,” he said once each team was settled at a table with their own buzzer. ”The Pulitzer Prize winner Demon Copperhead is based upon what classic work of–”
Keely slammed her hand down on the buzzer before he had even finished his question, hitting it so hard that the smack of her palm on the oversized plastic button was as loud as the buzz itself.
”Pretty Pelicans?” Travis smirked again at the name that Chloe had chosen for this week’s team, and Nick glared at him. He hardly noticed. He was looking at Keely, at her bright green eyes and perfect smile.
”David Copperfield!” she shouted.
”That’s correct!” He grinned at her. ”First point to the Pretty Pelicans.”
The tables around them twittered with laughter, and Nick glowered at them. Then Chloe smiled up at him and put her hand on his arm, and his grumpiness faded into an affectionate smile. He shook his head and took a sip of his pale ale.
”For two additional points,” Travis said, ”where does each novel take place?”
This time Ali was the first to the buzzer. ”Demon Copperhead takes place in Lee County, which is located in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.”
There were groans from the surrounding tables and irritated mutters of librarian.
Ali just smiled and continued, ”David Copperfield takes place in several English locations including London, Suffolk, and Plymouth. The titular character also lives in Switzerland for a time.”
Travis chuckled. ”I would have accepted Appalachia and England, but yeah, sure. Two points to the Pretty Pelicans.”
Chloe cheered and high-fived Ali across the table.
”Next question,” Travis announced. ”Which state do the characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn hail from?”
Keely had hit her buzzer halfway through the question.
”Pelicans?” Travis said.
”Missouri!” she and Ali said in unison.
”Correct!” He met Keely’s eyes with a grin. ”Another point to the Pretty Pelicans.”
A general groan went up from the other tables, and Keely cackled with laughter. Travis forced himself to look away from her and read the question on the next card.
”Which year was Missouri admitted to the Union?”
This time another table was first to the buzzer, and a trivia night veteran rattled off the year.
”Eighteen twenty-one!”
”Correct. One point to The Big Bang.” He moved to the next card, read it, and glanced at Scot. His boss winked at him, and Travis turned back to the waiting crowd. ”Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise. Who wrote those words?”
This time, Mrs. Bucheski was the first to the buzzer.
”Fireflies,” Travis said.
”The immortal bard,” she sang out. The other teams muttered, and he held up a hand to quiet them.
”By the name of?” he prompted.
”William Shakespeare!”
”Correct! Point to the Fireflies.” He moved to the next card, and then looked at Scot.
”What?” Scot said.
”Is this right?” Travis showed him the card, wondering if the hospital pain meds could have caused him to scramble some of the questions and answers.
Scot glanced at it and grinned. ”Yep.”
Travis blinked at him for a second. ”If you say so.” He straightened up and turned back to the crowd. ”What was the name of Shakespeare’s wife?”
Mrs. Bucheski hit her buzzer again.
”Fireflies,” he said with a nod.
”Anne Hathaway,” she said with confidence.
Some of the other tables twittered with laughter, which transformed into mutters of indignation when Travis said, ”That’s right! Point to the Fireflies.”
”I knew that,” Ali muttered, sounding frustrated. Travis allowed himself a glance at Keely. She was sparkling with fun and laughter. Again, it felt like it took acute physical effort to tear his gaze away.
”Another Shakespeare question,” he announced. Several tables groaned. ”For two points, name William Shakespeare’s shortest and longest plays.”
This time, a college student was the first to the buzzer.
”The Banana Slugs,” Travis said.
”Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors,” the girl answered.
”Correct! Two points to The Banana Slugs.” He read the next question aloud, frowning slightly in confusion. ”Give or take a few years, when did Shakespeare write his first play?”
The same girl hit the buzzer.
”Banana slugs,” he said.
”The exact date is unknown, but The Taming of the Shrew was written around the year 1590.”
”Correct. Point to The Banana Slugs.”
Scot tapped his arm, and Travis bent down to hear him over the crowd. He nodded, straightened, and announced, ”And an extra point for naming the play!”
The Banana Slugs cheered as the tables around them groaned. Several teams hadn’t even touched their buzzer yet, and who could blame them? Travis wouldn’t have been able to answer a single question that he had read so far; luckily he had Scot’s answers right there in a carefully legible yet shaky scrawl.
Why had Scot’s handwriting changed recently? Why did he seem to be getting old before his time?
Travis pushed his worry away and moved to the next card.
”Okay, next up is a speed round! Ten questions of this or that, which came first. One point each.”
”Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” shouted a college student who was on his fourth beer.
”The egg, stupid!” someone said from the next table. ”Dinosaurs laid eggs!”
”One point for us!” his teammate said.
”First one!” Travis shouted over the din, and the bar quieted. ”Which game was created first, Clue or Monopoly?”
Several hands slammed onto buzzers, and he had to choose which one had been first. But he had been looking at the card, and he had no idea. He looked to Scot for guidance, and Scot pointed to the table on the far left.
”The Echidnas,” Travis said.
”Clue!” one of them shouted.
”Incorrect,” he replied, and the whole table groaned. He read from the card: ”Clue was released in England in the year 1949. Monopoly was released under that name in 1935, and similar games by other names had existed for three decades prior.”
”Boo,” someone yelled from the back. Travis ignored him.
”Okay, who came first? Beethoven or Bach?”
He kept up the rapidfire questions, then took a break between rounds. After chugging a glass of water, he made a second mocktail for Keely. He had noticed her first one go empty early in the first round. He thought about making the same drink again, something that he knew she would like, but instead he decided to take a chance on something new. The surprise and delight on her face had been the best part of the night so far, and he wanted to see that again.
Working quickly, he grabbed a simple syrup that he had made using a mix of warming spices and blended it with a local ginger ale. He garnished the drink with three fresh cranberries and a curl of orange zest.
When he presented the drink to Keely, the look on her face was everything he had hoped for. She held his eyes for a long moment while she took a drink. The air between them was charged, and there was no need for words.
It was a moment so intense that he almost - almost - didn’t notice the other people at the table. Chloe’s knowing smile, Nick’s glowering glare, Ali’s raised eyebrows. Studiously ignoring the three of them, he winked at Keely and retook his place at Scot’s side.
”Round two!” He repeated himself twice, raising his voice to a shout before the bar quieted.
He worked his way through the questions that Scot had crafted, and it was a close race between three teams. In the end, though, Ali and Keely took the lead. Nick contributed a single answer to a baseball question and Chloe answered a couple as well, but the win really belonged to the librarian and her assistant in equal measure.
”And the Pretty Pelicans take the win!” he shouted. Chloe squealed and pulled all three of her teammates into a hug.
Travis watched them with a smile. For the first time in a long time, his heart sped with joy instead of anxiety. The smile on Keely’s face was the highlight of his whole night.
Reluctantly, he looked away and crouched down next to Scot. ”What’s the prize for tonight?”
”You decide. You did good, kid.” The rare praise from his boss lifted Travis’s mood even further. He grabbed an old menu and used a sharpie to scrawl four cheeseburgers with sweet potato fries. That was what Keely ordered nine times out of ten.
He walked through the crowd and presented her with the prize. She read his hasty scrawl and looked up at him, her eyes bright.
”Doesn’t trivia night have famously crappy prizes?” she asked quietly.
”Trivia night is under new management,” he said with a wink. ”Anyway, you earned it.”
”No arguments here.” She smiled and turned to show her teammates their gift certificate.
That night, Travis slept soundly. All the way past dawn without a single nightmare.