Page 57 of Statler

Eliza looked downright panicked as she rattled off a response.

“Uh, Mr. Bothswait was just bringing me back to my car. And of course I’m going home alone,” she said, her voice taking on a subservient edge that Statler didn’t like at all.

It spoke of…abuse, if he were any judge.

And he wasn’t having any of that.

It was time for him to speak up.

“I didn’t mean to bother Mrs. Belle,” Statler interjected.

And since when was Eliza married? She hadn’t said a word about a husband, past or present, nor was she sporting a ring.

He’d checked.

But, duh. He’d also never questioned her marital status, or even asked for her last name so Sherb could do a deep dive on her socials before he’d suggested their fishing trip.

He’d have to remedy that.

Statler continued, forcibly putting on a jovial face this time.

“I’ve actually been trying to discover a few things me and my crew can do around here, after hours, and thought that fishing would be fun. It was nice of Mrs. Belle to show me the best spot.”

He wasn’t about to leave it at that, now that he had the guy’s attention. “I don’t suppose you know of any good places, locally, where we can relax and have a few beers, do you? Like, what establishments do you tend to frequent in your off hours?”

Statler was interested to see how the lunkhead would handle that.

The sheep-in-guard’s-clothing grunted and narrowed his eyes, not answering Statler’s question, but giving what Stat considered a veiled warning.

“If I were you, I’d stick to getting that new factory built, and not go wandering around.”

Eliza looked for a moment like she wanted to defend Statler, but after a moment’s hesitation, her shoulders slumped and she stared at her feet, instead.

All the joy and excitement Statler had seen in Eliza over the past few hours, seemed to have completely leached out of her, turning a vibrant young lady with whom he was becoming smitten, into someone who was clearly used to…being told what to do.

Again, Statler didn’t like it.

He used a convivial tone with the guy who was now thoroughly rubbing him the wrong way. “You do know we’re going to be here for the better part of the winter,” he chuckled. “And I have a crew of six who are going to get pretty darned tired of sitting in watching TV. I just thought you might know of some spots where we might find a bit of fun.”

“Do yourself a favor,” the guy growled. “Buy some beer at the packie in the next town over, and keep to yourselves. That’s how we like it around here.”

Statler wanted to continue prodding, seeing if he could get anything useful out of the man if he got him really riled, but Eliza looked so damned uncomfortable, Stat decided now was not the time.

He’d see Eliza on her way, then he’d grill her tomorrow on what the hell it meant that her father would be mad, and…

Dammit.

Was she married?

If so, it figured.

She was the first woman who’d caught his interest in years, and of course she was most likely taken.

He swallowed his burgeoning disappointment and addressed the guard again; this time with an innocent request.

“You want to help me transfer the equipment from my truck into Mrs. Belle’s car? That way, I can get out of your hair, quicker.”

The guy grunted, but walked with Statler to The Beast, and between the two of them, it took only one trip to place things in Eliza’s car, which she already had open and running.