I wasn’t sure if he heard me. He was still focused on his phone as he jogged across the grass back uphill, leaving me behind with no clue as to what had just happened.
35
BECK
“Do you smell it?”
Spence and I stood at the back door of the bar in the alley. From here, the smell was unmistakable.
“I do. Head back in and tell Jenn to stop taking food orders. I’m calling the fire department.”
“Got it, boss.”
He was a good kid. I called it in, talked to the cook and prepared the staff for a possible night off. We weren’t messing around with a gas leak, if that’s what it was. Just as I headed out front, the fire truck arrived. Already people were gathering, the sight of the big truck on the small street the most exciting thing that would happen today in Cedar Falls.
Mae asked:
Everything ok?
Yep. Maybe gas leak at the bar. Fire dept. here.
I hadn’t wanted to burden her. She’d dealt with plenty of headaches throughout the years because of O’Malley’s Pub, and it was my problem now.
Of course customers stared as I walked through the place with two guys I’d known my whole life, one I’d played football with in high school. Waiting for them to check it out, I thought back to before we were interrupted at the lake.
It was good we got cut short.
Spilling my guts to Mae would only put pressure on her, and as much as I wanted our story to end here, hers wasn’t written yet. It was selfish of me to think otherwise.
“Beck?” My old teammate snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Sorry. What’s up?”
“Thankfully you don’t have a leak. It’s a faulty pilot line.”
“Meaning?” I had no clue about this shit.
“There’s no imminent danger, but it’s gonna require a shut off. Unfortunately we have to tag the system until it’s fixed.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, glad it wasn’t a leak, but the outcome would be the same. “Alright, thanks for coming out so quick.”
“No problem. So I hear this place is yours now?”
“It is. Come back with your buddies, meal on me as a thank you.”
“We’ll take you up on that. Give Nate Coops a call. He should be able to get out pretty quick.”
“Will do.” I shook his hand and got to work. Unfortunately, Nate couldn’t get out until tomorrow morning since he was out of town for the night. I called around but Cedar Falls wasn’t exactly crawling with licensed gas techs.
I texted Mae back, told her we were shutting down and then took care of the staff and customers. By the time the place was empty, it was well into the afternoon. But since Mae and I were both supposed to be working tonight, I had an idea.
Plans tonight?
Nope. Not anymore.
She texted back right away.
Perfect.
