Chapter Twenty-Six
Honey sat in the Bar None with her three closest friends, Lacy, Beth, and Candice. Country music poured from the jukebox. Loud enough to hear, but quiet enough for decent conversation. The ambiance was amazing, local ranch brands stamped into the tables and walls and quaint country decorations gave it an upbeat, if somewhat redneck vibe. It wasn’t that the Bar None was a dive, it wasn’t. It was clean and neat and very casual. The perfect place for a date or girl’s night out.
“Girls’ night out is exactly what I needed,” Beth exclaimed, making Honey laugh. “Mom and Dad are driving me nuts. I cannot wait to move into a place of my own. Seriously, I’m twenty-three years old. I don’t need a chaperone.”
“I envy you,” Honey said. “I’d give anything to have my parents back, getting in my face, demanding I get married and have kids. Criticizing my choice of career.” Her words were heartfelt, even if she did understand her friend’s light complaint.
“I never thought of that. My folks drive me nuts too.” Lacy rolled her eyes and flipped her long dark brown hair over her shoulder dramatically.
“I second, or is it third, that,” Candice agreed. “Parents are a pain in the butt, but I’m glad I have mine. Lucky for me, right now they’re all caught up in their new son, nagging Beth, and my baby sister Jennifer, who doesn’t have a real job or any career options. She’s nineteen and going nowhere fast, so the folks are hounding her. It feels great to be out of the spotlight for a while.”
“Jenn’s time will come,” Honey advised. “It takes some of us longer to decide what to be when we grow up. One day, something will trigger a yearning and she’ll be on her way.” She thought it odd that Candice mentioned her new brother in such an offhand manner. She was doubly shocked when Lacy didn’t notice.
“You sound pretty certain of that,” Beth commented. She waved her hand toward the bar, trying to get the bartender’s attention.
“I wasn’t always a waitress or into computers. I took a computer lab in high school, just for the credits. Turns out, I have a knack. I was hooked. It’s why I work two jobs. Computers are a solitary career for the most part. Waitressing gives me people.”
“Hey, me too,” Candice piped up. “I love nature, and people. Activism helps me have both. Now, if I could figure out how to get the world to love nature without getting arrested, I’d be laughing. I don’t think Justice is going to bail me out anymore and I don’t dare ask the parental units for bail money.”
Honey laughed at the quirky name for Candice’s parents.
Frank, the owner of the local watering hole, wandered out from the bar and over to their table. Tall and muscular, he had dark brown hair, blue eyes and the body of a former MMA fighter. Totally swoon worthy if you were into that type.
“Evening, ladies. What can I get you? I see Jennifer is missing tonight.”
They placed their orders for paralyzers and chicken wings after assuring him they had a ride home. Ira was on tap for picking them up and taking everyone home later.
“Will Jennifer be joining you?” Frank asked.
“Not tonight,” Candice answered. “At least I don’t think so.”
“Cool. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
“Is it my imagination, or is he disappointed Jenn’s not coming? Isn’t he too old for her?” Honey asked.
“Probably, but she’s so totally hot for Frank it’s insane,” Lacy groaned. “I barely know either of them and it’s ridiculous how they pine over each other.” He was in for lunch last week and couldn’t keep his eyes off her.” She chuckled. “Either that or he has the hots for Robert.”
Everyone chuckled.
Abruptly, Lacy sobered. “And you, Honey. What’s up with you and Ira? Are you a thing or what? He’s stopped coming around and you don’t talk about it, but he was quick to zoom in on you when you were with your other boss.”
Heat flooded Honey’s face. She did not want to get into her relationship with Ira. Her own dishonesty was making her uncomfortable around him. He’d asked some pointed questions about Cameron, questions she wasn’t able to answer. “We’re good. Dating. Having dinner now and then.”
“Are you sleeping with him?” Lacy asked with her typical lack of filter.
“How is my love life any of your business?” She wanted to be cool, unaffected by their relationship, and the questions, but gee whiz. A girl needed some privacy, and some secrets.
“The red in your face tells me you’re totally doing him. Is he good? All that hot, hunky military muscle? Yummy.” Beth proclaimed, then shuddered. “Ugh. He’s my brother. I remember when I first met him and had no idea who he was. That’s a whole different ballgame. Mother Nature, the universe, someone, has a cruel sense of humor, making me think my own brother is hot.” She shuddered again. “Ick.”
“Isn’t that the truth.” Honey chuckled wryly thinking about her own situation. She finally met a guy she could fall in love with, and he couldn’t accept her as she appeared to be, and she couldn’t tell him the truth.
“Ira tells me you took off like a shot after seeing those terrorist attacks on TV,” Beth said. “He, sort of, confided in me by accident. What’s that all about? I mean they were tragic. Luckily there was only property damage and not any death or serious injury. And so many, all over the world, all at the same time. It must have taken incredible planning.”
“I don’t know why I rushed out,” Honey lied, “The devastation just kind of hit me.” She shrugged the question off. Now was not the time to go into her secret life and all it entailed.
“You sure it isn’t anything to do with your secret life as a spy?” Lacy blurted and slapped a hand over her mouth.
Beth and Candice roared with disbelieving laughter.
