Page 52 of The Other Half

“Well, I won’t go if you promise to start coming back to the Ox. Jo’s gonna kill me if you don’t come back. And you know Jo. She can mess me up.”

A small chuckle started and just like it had when I first met her, it startled me.

“So, will you come back to the Ox?”

I nodded. “I suppose. I don’t want Jo to kill you. And she’s got a hell of a right hook. I’ve seen it.”

“And a left I bet.”

We laughed together, and just like before, her icepick chipped a little piece away again.

“So, you’ll come back?”

“I’ll come back.”

“Good. I’m getting pretty good at this bartending thing. You ought to see me in action.”

“Yeah? I see you figured out how to drink beer, even. Impressive.” I gestured to the cup in her hand.

“Yep. I drink beer and I do shots of... wait for it... Jägermeister.”

“Holy shit! Not shots of dirty martinis, straight up, extra cold, extra dry, extra dirty?”

“You remembered!”

She laughed and her eyes sparkled. When that happened, it felt like all my loneliness and pain could evaporate. And I’d be whole again.

“Yep.” Of course I remembered. I remembered every moment I’d spent with her.

“You doing okay, though?”

The answer was no, but I nodded anyway.

“Good. I’m finally getting the hang of things around here. I’ve made some friends. They’re up for the summer working as well.” She gestured to the group of girls she’d been talking to I hadn’t met before. “They’re really nice and we’ve been having a lot of fun. They’ve shown me the beaches, and I even started stand-up-paddle boarding. It’s my therapy.”

“Like my fishing.”

“Exactly. Now I need a coffee cup that says, ‘I SUP so I don’t choke people’.”

A laugh exploded out of me and I felt the warmth returning to my soul. She was like sunshine breaking through the darkest storm clouds. Feeling her light shining on me melted away another layer I’d worked so hard to construct in her absence.

“So, I’ll see you tonight?”

“Sure. Why not. And I really am sorry, Cassie.”

“Hey. You’re not the only one who got hurt and did some screwed up stuff in the aftermath. I get it. I could write the book on taking a bad situation and making it worse.”

“Thanks, Cas. I’m trying. I just need to find my way back.”

“You will.” She reached out and touched me. This time I didn’t recoil. “I did.”

We exchanged a smile.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she said. When her fingers drifted off my shoulder, I had to force myself not to reach out and take her hand.

“I’ll see you tonight.”

She turned and walked back to her friends, tossing a smile over her shoulder before the crowd swallowed her up.