As I drove, thoughts of my great aunt swarmed my mind, memories wiggling behind my eyes. She was the kind of woman that drank at least one glass of wine at family functions. Nothing stopped her from telling people what she thought, and I loved that about her. I didn’t see her more often than a few times a year, but she always made me laugh for some convoluted reason.
More than a few times Aunt Rachel had to fight not to go into an old folk’s home. Remembering the last incident always brought a scowl to my lips, and now was no different. She brought her grandchildren to court over it and didn’t even get a lawyer. Her defense was all her, and in the end, she won. Needless to say, her grandkids were not happy.
Although I don’t know why anyone would put their grandma in a place like that.
“And now, here I am. In Alaska with a brand-new car and a cottage that very well might’ve been Auntie Rachel’s most prized possession.” There were plenty of people my Aunt could support with all her money, but I wasn’t one of them. I had a perfectly well-off job; Hell, I was the only one of my cousins that had employment enough to live off comfortably.
But Kyle doesn’t count because your first job is never the one you want, and working at McDonalds is basically just to get your foot in the door.
“Listen to me - I even grumble like her now.” My scowl lessened at my realization, and I sighed as the road took a deep bend. Ever since Auntie Rachel’s death nearly five months ago, I found myself thinking of our similarities more and more. She was the person I aspired to be in any and all aspects of my life.
It was really a shame I couldn’t say the same for my cousins - her grandchildren. To them she was just a giant, walking, scolding dollar sign, and now that she was gone they had free reign. It was disgusting to me that someone related to me would think a person could only have monetary worth.
“I hate that… why couldn’t you just not give them anything…?” Even as I proposed the question to an empty car, the answer instantly popped into my mind. My aunt hadn’t been the kind of woman to say ‘no’ or create hardships based on her personal views. Her grandkids never had to work right out of high school like Kyle and I. No matter what my aunts and uncles did, my cousins never took responsibility seriously.
That was why Auntie Rachel gave them her wealth; it was enough to keep them up without having to work several times over if they spent it right.
But of course, they won’t. In a few years, a decade at most, it’ll be gone, and they’ll all be broke. That was probably Auntie Rachel’s plan - to give them the means but not be responsible for their downfall.
The entire ride to this tiny town by the name of Marble, which wasn’t even on a generalized map, was clouded. I didn’t bother to stop from getting sucked into my thoughts. My awareness only stretched far enough to not miss a turn, and even that wasn’t hard. There was only one road that didn’t branch off.
By the time my Jeep came crawling to a stop, my high beams were the only source of light. I pulled up the emergency break to sink into my seat. The GPS pinged, and a mechanical voice told me I would reach my destination in three miles. Peering through the windshield, all I could see were trees and shadows. Leaves rustled in the light summer breeze, but I couldn’t hear it over the soft thrum of music flowing through the car speakers.
“8:22p.m. … The sun sets early right now.” It wasn’t cold outside the jeep - barely light jacket weather. Still, I knew the sun must’ve retreated at least an hour and a half ago. “Whatever. A night in a car will do me some good. Keep me humble.”
The first building I saw for more than a hundred miles was a huge, tall brick structure. It wasn’t anything more than four walls that stretched up at least two hundred feet. With the darkness looming in and my headlights focused on the road I couldn’t see a door, but there had to be one. Nestled behind the tree line, it might have poised as a marker or something, but I didn’t think too much about it.
Despite the moonless night, the town was easy to make out. Along the main causeway, closed shops were illuminated by electrical street lamps, and there was even a bar that was still open. Very few cars sat parked against the sidewalks, and I slowly rumbled past the beam of yellow light spilling from the open bar door. Even with my windows up, my music playing softly, I could hear the chatter, and I bit down on my bottom lip.
I was just barely old enough to drink, but a vivid image of my graduation party after college flashed through my mind’s eye. Plus, I haven’t eaten since before I boarded the plane.
That thought made me push the breaks, and my stomach rumbled loudly. Sitting there in the middle of the street, I hit the steering wheel gently with a low groan.
“Right…” I pressed down on the gas to swerve into a long stretch of empty parking spaces on the side of the street. “That’s why it’s a terrible idea to think too much, Sylvia. God-”
For a moment, I picked at my clothes, wondering, and worrying about what I was wearing. Like a proper woman should, my mom liked to say. My navy-blue shirt was classy, with flowers dotting the hem and modest neckline. The three-quarter sleeves were a little annoying, continually moving as fabric flared out at my elbow. Still, it was a nice, comfortable shirt - not too risqué but still short of being considered restricting.
Climbing out of the car, I shoved my keys into my purse and hiked up my jeans. They were faded and spotted with small rips at the knees, stretched from years of use.
“I hope they have something good… like a tomato grilled cheese.” I hummed in appreciation of my own suggestion, and my chest lightened. Starting across the street, my eyes fixed on the bar, and my ears picked up loud drunken conversations. It wasn’t a particularly small place, either; it certainly wasn’t a hole in the wall type. There was a huge display, windows covered in spray paint to depict a moose and a bear. Hopping up onto the sidewalk, my eyes caught the sign that hung above the door in what looked like hand burned wood.
The Bear’s Den. My lips upturned into a smile, and I took a deep breath before stepping through the threshold.
Instantly, the smell of beer wafted up to my nostrils, and my eyes scanned the bar that was big enough to be a restaurant. Every table was occupied by people that were clearly well past tipsy. Racks of antlers and heads littered the walls, and between them were countless photographs. The dark stained hardwood under my feet had seen so many shoes that it creaked with each step. It was a bright place, nothing like the bars in Maine a person went to just to get sloshed and start bar hopping.
Wandering towards the wide, long bar that took up an entire wall, I scanned the length for an empty seat. I could feel eyes on me, but my alien presence wasn’t enough to draw too much attention. Planting my butt on a well-worn, crackling leather stool, I leaned against the wall that marked the end of the bar to wait. My eyelids drooped, and I could feel the backlash of driving for three hours begin to creep up my back.
It was too noisy to nod off, but I was sleepy enough that everything buzzed like static in my ears. The only thing that really stood out was the occasional, boisterous laughter that forced me back into full awareness.
“Long day there, Goldie?” My gaze flickered to the owner of the deep, masculine voice, and my head bobbed absently in a nod. It took my sluggish brain a second to actually see the man leaning on his elbows across from me. The respite my mind had found outside the car was almost too much to resist.
The key word there was almost.
Large hands were clasped together, and my eyes trailed up incredibly defined, muscular arms sleeved in tattoos. A sleeveless black shirt did nothing to hide the ropes of muscle that wound under taut, tanned skin. For a moment, I couldn’t do anything but stare, with only one thought running through my mind. The bartender was absolutely monstrous, even with his broad shoulders curled to make him seem smaller.
It didn’t. Instead it gave him this air of a predator coiled and ready to strike.
Flickering to his face, my eyes drank in the sharpness of his features even as his jaw hid behind thick stubble. It was somewhere between a shadow and a beard, and my fingers tightened around my glass. Thick eyelashes framed swirling, chestnut brown eyes the matched the shoulder length hair he hadn’t bothered to tie up.
Rugged, mountainous… just downright sexy… The thought made me blink, and heat crept up my cheeks when I realized he was still waiting for a reply.
“Yeah, pretty long. Do you have a menu?” My gaze followed the man as he nodded, ducking under the bar to pull up a card no bigger than 5x8 inches. Flickering to the laminated menu as he slid it along the width of the bar, my eyes narrowed when all I saw was a wine selection.
“You can order pretty much anything, but we don’t have a food menu. Todd’ll cook something up for you if you’d like. If you want to drink, I’ll need to see an I.D..”