Page 77 of The Bartender Special

He just hoped the bartender worked better under nautical pressure than he did.

FOURTEEN

Carol giggled, held up a finger, and became a pageant contestant vying for world peace to her peers.

A fitting image considering her first statement.

“I won the Arbor Bay Little Miss Pageant three times. I have a sun hat for every day of the week. I have been to France.”

Marcus immediately snorted.

Jack had no fucking idea which one was the lie. To him, all three sounded like a Carol Robertson special. Benny kept quiet too.

Ruby spoke before Marcus could answer.

“The lie is that you have a sun hat for every day of the week!”

That was surprising.

Marcus shook his head and leveled a severe look at Jack. “She has a sun hat for every day of most months. I know this because when we went to France after graduation, I had to make my carry-on one of the hat bags just in case they lost our checked bags that had all the others.”

Jack laughed at how ridiculous that was.

Carol waved off her brother and shrugged.

“Keeping my face protected from the sun and being fashionable at the same time is a skill I'm not ashamed to have.” She ran her finger across part of the brim of the giant blue thing currently on her head before pointing to the person to her right. “Your turn, Felicity!”

Felicity ran her hand through her hair and furrowed her brow in thought. Her engagement ring caught the light just right for a glare to skitter across the boat.

Jack found himself wondering how Golden Boy had proposed.

“Okay,” she said, wiggling in her seat like Carol had done. “One, I have a bachelor of arts degree in design. Two, I don't watch network TV. Three, my dog's middle name is Borg.”

The players weren't as quick to answer this time.

Marcus tried first.

“Your dog's middle name is Borg? He doesn't have a middle name?”

Benny backed him up. “Or maybe he has one, but it isn't Borg?”

“You don't watch network TV has to be the lie,” Carol decided.

Ruby agreed with her favorite person.

“Yeah, because who doesn't at least watch The Bachelor nowadays?”

Felicity smiled a little. They were all wrong.

Jack didn’t like her winning.

“You have a bachelor of arts degree in design is the lie,” he answered.

And that’s what it was.

The real answer.

Felicity's little smile turned into a frown.