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“It can be judgey at times,” she said.
“It can, but I think if you’d stayed in town, we’d have all forced you to write. There wouldn’t have been times for you to turn your back on your writing.”
“We’ll never know because I can’t rewrite the past, Rusty.”
He smiled. “I thought you’d be the only one to call me Daniel.”
“I don’t know. I think Rusty really works for you.”
“It’s good to have you back, Casey, it really is.”
In the back of her mind, she knew it was really good to be back.
Chapter Three
“I don’t know if you’d be used to something a bit fancier,” Rusty said as they entered Cole’s place.
“Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know. You being in the big city. I bet you’ve been to plenty of bars and clubs and restaurants.”
Casey smiled. She couldn’t believe it, but to her, Rusty sounded nervous. What did he have to be nervous about?
“You’d be surprised at what I actually did.”
“You didn’t go on fancy dates?”
“I did go on dates, if that is what you’d call them, but the men, well, some of them felt like a hot dog was just as good as a meal.” She climbed out of the car and looked up at Cole’s place. The last time she’d been here, she hadn’t even been allowed inside as she’d been underage, and whenever he was in town, she always heard him talk about refurbishing it. Cole had big ideas but rarely saw them through. In the time she’d been away, he’d done something about it, and it looked amazing. “Wow,” she said.
“Yeah. He stopped doing the whole ‘what ifs’ and just went for it, you know. I wonder if you inspired it.”
“Me?” she asked.
“Not long after you left, he started to make some changes.”
“I wonder why.”
“You always said you wanted to go and pursue your dreams, and you did. You left all of this behind to go and do that. It’s admirable.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t feel that way.
“Let’s go and check it out.”
“Do you come here often?” She wondered if he was on a date every single Friday night or if she was the special one.
“No. You’d be surprised. Come on.” He took her hand, leading her into the bar. Loud music was playing, but the moment she entered she saw a wall chart with fancy writing stating what new band was playing and when. She didn’t recognize them, but Cole had always said he wanted to play unknowns just in case one of them made it big.
It was how the first bunch of real bands was made, he’d always say.
The place was busy, no denying that. Most of the tables were full, and the scent of greasy fried food, beer, and sweat filled the air.
It wasn’t offensive, far from it.
The energy was incredible. People were laughing and partying, having fun.
She couldn’t help but smile from everyone. This was being back home. In the city she couldn’t enjoy something like this. This was what it meant to be back home. To relax in company.
Rusty took the lead, taking her to the bar.
She spotted Cole instantly. He had greying hair at the temples and ink all down his arms. Normally he had a cigarette dangling from his lips, but this time, nothing.
“Well, well, well, if it’s not little Casey Jones standing right in front of me. I heard you were back, and as always I’m the last to know,” Cole said, putting down the glass he’d been cleaning.
“Hey, Cole. How have you been?”
“I’ve been doing good, you know. Can’t complain. This little twerp called me and asked if he could have a table reserved for the two of you. Didn’t exactly wait around this time.”
“We’re not dating,” she said.
“This isn’t a date?”
“It’s a date,” Rusty said. “Did you get me my table?”
“You know it’ll cost you in time to come.”
“I know, and I’ve got no problem on working on any machine you want me to work on. You know that. I’m the best damn mechanic in town.”
“I’ve told you once, and I’ll tell you again, you’re the best damn mechanic around and you should be broadcasting that shit to everyone.” Cole slapped him on the back as he came from around the bar.
“I got you a table in the corner near the window. Once you eat, I can’t promise anything though. This place is full of animals, and none of them know any boundaries.” Cole led them to their table, and Rusty surprised her even further by pulling out her chair for her to take a seat.
“Let me know what you guys want. Just give me a shout,” Cole said, leaving them alone.
The moment they were alone, she felt incredibly nervous, which was crazy. They weren’t children, and she’d been alone with him in the car. This made no sense to her.
