Chapter 30
The Shamrock wasn’t as terrifying as she’d imagined.
It was clean and well lit, wholesome-looking folks eating at polished tables, and the food smelled good.
There was a stage in the back set up for a band, but no one was playing yet, maybe waiting for the dinner service to finish and the older crowd to head home.
The whole place had less of a masculine vibe than she’d been expecting, but Anna didn’t relax until she’d hurried, head down, to the small booth in the corner where Melissa sat in jeans and a tee, her smudged kohl and bracelets a grungy trademark, four bottles of Bud Light lined up and an empty bottle beside her already.
She grinned. “One to down, one to sip. Figured you needed it.”
Anna slid into the booth, back to the wall so she could see out, and spotted Suzy behind the bar polishing up some glasses. She’d give Suzy her due, she worked hard at two jobs, but maybe this was as much about her social life as money.
“If it’s any consolation, Jamie was an overdose waiting to happen.”
“That’s what everyone says.” The beer fizzed in Anna’s chest as she swallowed. “So I guess it must be true.”
“Spoken like a born cynic. But you’re allowed to be messed up.
I’ve been there, remember. It’s shitty, right?
Finding a dead body?” She paused, eyes glittering.
“You see it every time you close your eyes and you think it’ll never stop.
Like they’ll be with you. But it’s not the case.
Life takes over.” She held up her bottle.
“So cheers and welcome to the Body-Finder Club, and let’s not talk about corpses or dead friends tonight, deal? Tonight is for fun.”
“God, yes.” Anna felt a rush of warmth. Of course Melissa understood.
In the madness of her day she’d forgotten that Melissa was the one who had found Bonnie out on her farm.
She knew everything Anna was feeling. The shock of it.
She understood what Anna had gone through.
She clinked her own bottle against Melissa’s and they drank deep, Melissa letting out a belch so dramatic it made Anna laugh.
A waitress who wasn’t Suzy brought a big basket of barbecue chicken and fries and they both dug in, Anna hungrier than she’d realized.
Melissa tore at the chicken. “This is so good. You’d think in this drought there’d be nothing to do on a farm, but I swear I’ve been working all day.
My dad does his best, but his bones are feeling the life of it, you know? Farming ages you fast.”
“What happened to your mom? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“Oh shit, my mom.” Melissa snorted. “She’s in Omaha, we think.
She found religion of all things, on a weekend there when I was little.
Some group. A cult, really, like a commune.
She kept it secret for a while, but then it came out in the open and she wanted my dad to join up too.
Guess she thought she could convert him if she tried hard enough, but she couldn’t, not really.
He loves God as much as anyone, but he was never going to sell the farm and sign up to hand over all his money.
And I wasn’t the malleable child she’d expected.
Always into things I shouldn’t be. Lots of foul moods and screaming matches. ”
“I can see that.” Anna smiled.
“No surprise, huh? But anyway, she left us. She wanted that whole life, and I guess me and Dad and Uncle Zach couldn’t compete. She’s probably some kind of sister-wife now.” She pulled a face.
“You don’t miss her?”
“Not enough to look for her,” Melissa said between bites of chicken.
“My dad went off the rails drinking, but my uncle and the doc and the town helped us. Helped me. I may bitch about this town, but it’s a good place.
” Melissa wiped her mouth and looked up, curious.
“What happened to your dad? Death or divorce?”
Anna gave her a rueful smile. “Abandonment would be closer. But there was no church involved, just the age-old story of a coworker and motel afternoons. No idea where he is now. Vanished after Callie was born. I don’t really even remember him.
” That wasn’t true. If anything, unlike the black hole that was the thing, the memories of her dad were almost too bright sometimes.
“My mom’s on a date tonight.” She groaned. “With Lucas. The handyman. So gross.”
“That’s no surprise.” There was the hint of a mischievous smile back on Melissa’s lips. “Lucas can zero in on a single woman like a great white shark with a drop of blood in an ocean. The more desperate and lonely, the better. No offense to your mom.”
“None taken. She is no doubt both of those things.” Anna leaned back in the booth, full. “He’s a player?”
“Well, he made his way through a fair amount of moms when he worked at the school, that’s for sure. Handsyman as much as handyman.” She smiled at her own joke. “Lot of thirsty women in this town. Pretty sure he slept with Bonnie’s mom while her parents were on a break.”
“Oh god, double gross.” Anna half laughed, but she felt a little sick. She and Mom might be like sandpaper, rubbing strips off each other, but she didn’t want her to get hurt. She’d had a rough enough ride already.
“Maybe he’s changed.” Melissa drained her bottle. “Maybe she’s the one,” she added, sarcastically.
Anna felt immediately protective of her mother. Melissa might hate her own, but Anna’s mom had been the one to stick around. “Maybe,” she said. “But if he’s trouble, she’ll break up with him when she’s gotten over the attention. She’s not stupid.”
Melissa shrugged and her eyes lit up as the doors opened and a breeze of women came in, all denim miniskirts and tanned bare limbs regardless of age, fully made up and looking for a good time.
At the bar, Suzy was already lining shots up for them, and Anna realized that while they’d been talking, the place had filled, cowboy hats here and there, and the band was moving about the stage, getting ready to play.
“Look at those women and look at us,” Melissa said. “You’ve got sauce on your chin.”
“Girl.” Anna laughed. “I think you’ve got sauce in your hair.” She wiped the greasy paper napkin across her chin while Melissa looked down at a glob of brown on her T-shirt.
“You ever see The Stepford Wives?” she asked. “The original one? With Katharine Ross?”
“Sure. I love an old horror movie.”
“We’re like those two women who rebel, and they’re the robots.
” She nodded at the incoming crowd. “The Harper’s Creek women, out to snare a cowboy to beat them up and disappoint them for the rest of our lives.
” Onstage, the guitarist strummed out a loud chord to test the amp level and the gathering crowd whooped.
“That is not for me. I come out for a good time, not to source a disappointing lay,” Melissa finished.
Relief flooded Anna and she drained her beer.
“Amen to that, sister,” she said. “Although Stepford Wives didn’t end so well for those two rebels.
” The last words were lost in the sudden noise as the band kicked in, the floor humming with the music, full-throttle country rock, and Melissa let out her own whoop. The party had started.