could catch a nap. She assured her
overprotective brother that she wasn’t harmed and maybe she had just overreacted,
but she couldn’t admit to him how frightened she had been. She also didn’t want
to admit to herself how the adrenaline charging through her veins made her feel
more alive than she ever had. Instead, she took a slow walk through the forest
and back to the house, made herself some tea, and promptly fell asleep,
surrounded by her aunt’s creepy porcelain doll collection. Even the lumpy bed
didn’t stop her.
It did a fine job recharging her.
When she woke, Eva didn’t feel the fear anymore. She told herself she had
misinterpreted the exchange with the men. Maybe it was all some joke she and
Charlie weren’t in on. Maybe Laura was right—she was seeing things like she was
in a story, dramatic and larger than life. Those men probably wouldn’t even
come back. She took a shower and grabbed a book before she headed back to the
bar, snacking on an apple as she walked.
Someone had started up the jukebox in
the corner, which held a fine selection of old outlaw country, and a few
classic rock songs. Two men that Eva suspected were farmers talked lowly at one
of the tables, sharing a pitcher of cheap beer. One of the regular bar flies
claimed his seat at the end of the long oak bar, just next to the video poker
machine that went ignored most of the time.
Charlie stood behind the bar, leaning
over a book he had spread open on the glossy surface.
She looked down at the small, uniform
text arranged around complex-looking diagrams. “Christ, what are you trying to
fix now?”
“There’s an emergency generator out
back,” said Charlie, thumbing over his shoulder like she didn’t know where “out
back” was. “Owen didn’t say anything about it, but it looks like something’s
wrong with it. It hasn’t been used in a while.”
“Yeah, probably because something’s
wrong with it ,” said Eva in a mocking tone. She nudged him out of the way
to grab herself a pint glass and filled it carefully from the draught. “You
don’t have to repair every little thing broken around here, you know. You can
just relax… read a real book.” She shook her own at him.
“This is how I relax,” said
Charlie without looking up.
Eva gave him a face that he ignored.
She felt a little sting of pain that she recognized as loneliness. She wished
her brother could find even some pleasure in the company of others, and not
just his constant problem-solving.
She took her beer and her book and
settled into the small two-person table just next to the bar, closest to the
back room, where she would be least likely to be disturbed should they get some
sudden rush of customers. The thought made her smirk as she looked over the
perpetually empty room.
It didn’t take long for her to settle
in and surround herself in her typical comfort zone. The music of the jukebox
floated just soft enough to provide background fodder for her busy brain while
it devoured page after page, stopping only for occasional sips of beer. She was
five chapters deep when the door to the bar swung open.
For a second, Eva’s heart jumped. Was
it the strangers returning? She held her breath until the new arrival walked
across the floor and straight for the bar. When Eva saw him, her heart jumped a
second time, but it wasn’t from fright. The man was deeply handsome, an
unblemished face full of boyish charm juxtaposed with a jawline square and cut
like marble. Rust-colored scruff grew in a short beard and moustache, and
matched the loose curls on top of his head that looked like they hadn’t seen
scissors in a while. His white t-shirt fit snugly over his chest and arms,
revealing lean muscle lines. Despite that leanness, he nonetheless exuded a
strength that reminded Eva of the strangers from before. Something predatory.
A surprising heat rushed through her
chest and into more intimate places. It only
overprotective brother that she wasn’t harmed and maybe she had just overreacted,
but she couldn’t admit to him how frightened she had been. She also didn’t want
to admit to herself how the adrenaline charging through her veins made her feel
more alive than she ever had. Instead, she took a slow walk through the forest
and back to the house, made herself some tea, and promptly fell asleep,
surrounded by her aunt’s creepy porcelain doll collection. Even the lumpy bed
didn’t stop her.
It did a fine job recharging her.
When she woke, Eva didn’t feel the fear anymore. She told herself she had
misinterpreted the exchange with the men. Maybe it was all some joke she and
Charlie weren’t in on. Maybe Laura was right—she was seeing things like she was
in a story, dramatic and larger than life. Those men probably wouldn’t even
come back. She took a shower and grabbed a book before she headed back to the
bar, snacking on an apple as she walked.
Someone had started up the jukebox in
the corner, which held a fine selection of old outlaw country, and a few
classic rock songs. Two men that Eva suspected were farmers talked lowly at one
of the tables, sharing a pitcher of cheap beer. One of the regular bar flies
claimed his seat at the end of the long oak bar, just next to the video poker
machine that went ignored most of the time.
Charlie stood behind the bar, leaning
over a book he had spread open on the glossy surface.
She looked down at the small, uniform
text arranged around complex-looking diagrams. “Christ, what are you trying to
fix now?”
“There’s an emergency generator out
back,” said Charlie, thumbing over his shoulder like she didn’t know where “out
back” was. “Owen didn’t say anything about it, but it looks like something’s
wrong with it. It hasn’t been used in a while.”
“Yeah, probably because something’s
wrong with it ,” said Eva in a mocking tone. She nudged him out of the way
to grab herself a pint glass and filled it carefully from the draught. “You
don’t have to repair every little thing broken around here, you know. You can
just relax… read a real book.” She shook her own at him.
“This is how I relax,” said
Charlie without looking up.
Eva gave him a face that he ignored.
She felt a little sting of pain that she recognized as loneliness. She wished
her brother could find even some pleasure in the company of others, and not
just his constant problem-solving.
She took her beer and her book and
settled into the small two-person table just next to the bar, closest to the
back room, where she would be least likely to be disturbed should they get some
sudden rush of customers. The thought made her smirk as she looked over the
perpetually empty room.
It didn’t take long for her to settle
in and surround herself in her typical comfort zone. The music of the jukebox
floated just soft enough to provide background fodder for her busy brain while
it devoured page after page, stopping only for occasional sips of beer. She was
five chapters deep when the door to the bar swung open.
For a second, Eva’s heart jumped. Was
it the strangers returning? She held her breath until the new arrival walked
across the floor and straight for the bar. When Eva saw him, her heart jumped a
second time, but it wasn’t from fright. The man was deeply handsome, an
unblemished face full of boyish charm juxtaposed with a jawline square and cut
like marble. Rust-colored scruff grew in a short beard and moustache, and
matched the loose curls on top of his head that looked like they hadn’t seen
scissors in a while. His white t-shirt fit snugly over his chest and arms,
revealing lean muscle lines. Despite that leanness, he nonetheless exuded a
strength that reminded Eva of the strangers from before. Something predatory.
A surprising heat rushed through her
chest and into more intimate places. It only
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