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“Hey, just checking in,” I said. “Are you sure you don’t want a drink?”
Becca shook her head and stood, pulling her purse close to her.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I was about to head out. I’m really tired.”
“Yup,” Melissa said, seeming to realize the new direction in the conversation and downing her new drink quickly to make up for what looked like suddenly lost time. “Just heading out.” She punctuated each word with a mild cough that suggested that perhaps she wasn’t as much of a rum drinker as she might have thought.
“Really?” I asked, frustrated. “But you just got here.”
Becca looked at me direct in the eyes and pulled her purse to her chest. There was something in her expression I couldn’t decipher, but it was most certainly there, like she was trying not to say something. Melissa seemed to know what it was and was playing along, but whatever it was, I thought it might have something to do with me more so than her family at that point. Why would she leave so early?
“I think,” Becca said in a calm, cool voice as she avoided my gaze, “I’m going to stay at Melissa’s tonight.”
Before I could protest, they were already heading to the door, not looking back, and were gone, only empty glasses, napkins, and twenty-dollar bills on the bar near where they sat. I swiped the money off and stuffed it into my apron. I was confused as hell as I watched them leave, and Ava came up behind me, having finished the trivia portion of the evening.
“Hey, Tyler, you can take a break if you want,” she said behind me. When I turned around, she could clearly read the look on my face, and her expression turned to concern. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Becca and Melissa were just here,” I said. “Not that you would have had time to notice.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“They were here for like ten minutes, tops. I made them both drinks when they got here, but Becca refused to drink either one,” I said. “She was kind of rude about it, actually.”
“She didn’t want to drink?” Ava asked, putting her head to one side as she listened.
“Yeah,” I said. “Then, when I asked her about it, she got all weird and said that she was going to stay at Melissa’s place again tonight. Like, what the hell, right? All I did was offer her a free drink, and she just jumped down my throat like I was the bad guy.”
An expression crossed Ava’s face that was faint, and nearly imperceptible, but I just caught it before it vanished, leaving a wide-eyed but perky look.
“Oh, well, I’m sure it’s fine,” she said. “Whatever it is, I bet you’ll find out sooner or later.”
“Like what?” I asked. “What was with the weird look on your face?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Ava said, tapping my arm. “Don’t worry about it. Why don’t you head to the back and grab a snack or something? I have a feeling we’re going to be in for a long night of crazy people and terrible decisions.”
She brushed by me and began taking care of newer customers, many of whom had followed her from the trivia stage over. In fact, a couple of them sidled up to where the girls had sat and took their place. I had to shake it off and get on with the evening, though, and since Ava mentioned it, I did want a sandwich. Knowing that Ava would let me know if Becca suddenly showed back up at the bar, I went to the back to get that order of buffalo wings and take a load off for a few minutes.
But try as I might, I couldn’t enjoy the food or the silence. Something was up with Becca, and I needed to figure it out.
30
Becca
“Not that I’m complaining, because I’m all about having all-day access to my best friend, but hasn’t anybody found it strange yet how much time you’re spending here?” Melissa asked the next day when she came into the guest room with a cup of hot tea.
The nausea was hitting me hard that morning, and she told me to just sit still and sip for a few minutes to get it to settle down.
“No,” I said, taking the tea and sipping it gratefully. “They know how much I missed you and that we haven’t had a whole lot of time to hang out just the two of us since I got back. Thank you for letting me be here.”
“Of course. Like I said, I’m happy that you’re here and we get to spend more time together. I would be up for regular slumber parties like the old days even if you didn’t need to hide from the world because you’re pregnant,” she said, climbing up to sit on the bed beside me.
