I got into the habit of stopping at Blondie’s for a beer on my way home. It was a small neighborhood bar located next to the municipal airport. The blue collar clientele was about a sixty-forty mix of men to women, and the owner looked nothing like you might expect. She had short gray hair, and wore squeaky, rubber-soled shoes, and thick-lensed glasses. When she wasn’t simply abrupt, she could be downright rude.

No wonder she hired attractive bartenders.

Rain wasn’t working the first few times I was in. The first night she was, I ended up sitting at the wrong end of the bar, and the old lady waited on me. Still, it gave me a chance to check out Rain without appearing obvious. She was definitely the girl from the sandwich shop and the same one I’d run into outside the bathroom at Wally’s wedding.

She was even more beautiful than I remembered, as well as a bona fide flirt. She smiled and fawned all over her customers, and they practically drooled whenever she walked past.

They probably went through a lot of napkins in this place.

On Wednesday, I went straight to Wally’s after work to tune up the car for Saturday. It was almost eight thirty by the time we finished. When Wally suggested we grab a beer, I told him I was going to pass since I hadn’t had a chance to grab dinner.

“C’mon. I’ll buy you a beer. If we get there before nine, the kitchen should still be open.”

“Is the food any good?”

“What do you care?” He gripped me by the shoulder and gave me a friendly shake and a wink. “I think your favorite bartender’s working tonight.”

When Wally and Bobby and I walked into Blondie’s fifteen minutes later, it was like an episode of Cheers. Cries of “Walter!” and “Wally!” went up around the room, and Wally waved like royalty greeting the masses. I trailed behind him and Bobby to a seat on the far end of the bar.

“Evening, gentlemen.” Rain flashed a smile that I could feel all the way down into my boots. “Bud, Bud—and you?” Her perfectly shaped eyebrows formed a question.

“Heineken.”

“Oh, a big spender.” She winked, then grabbed a bottle from the cooler and opened it before filling two glasses from the tap for Wally and Bobby.

Wally wrapped his big mitt around his glass. “Rain, sweetheart, this is my friend Chase. He’s on the pit crew now.”

She held out her hand, showing long, slender fingers and bright pink nails. She clasped my hand a bit longer than I expected. When she did, I could have sworn she not only looked into my eyes but deep inside of me.

She narrowed her gaze a bit, then shook it off and released my hand slowly.

“Nice to meet you, Chase. So you’re new around here.”

It sounded like she was telling me instead of asking me. I nodded. “A couple months.”

“You know Dylan Holgate?” Wally asked her. “Owns the Sunoco? Chase is his brother. They’re partners now.”

“Right.” She nodded. “I don’t really know Dylan, but I remember Lorraine from high school.”

The way her smile faltered, I got the distinct impression she wasn’t a fan of Lorraine’s. My brother’s wife was an acquired taste, one I had to admit I hadn’t developed yet—but hey, if my brother was happy, that was all that mattered. I hadn’t been too lucky in that department, so I wasn’t one to talk.

“Sweetheart,” Wally said. “Chase hasn’t had dinner yet. Is the kitchen still open?”

The clock hanging on the wall near the restroom must’ve been on bar time and showed it was a little past nine. According to my watch, it was ten till.

“Not really, but I can make you something. What would you like?”

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble,” I said, even though I was starving.

“It’s no trouble. Irena’s probably closed the grill down already, but I can probably whip you up a cheeseburger real quick in the frying pan. That okay?”

“If it’s no trouble.”

She touched my hand. Again, she lingered—not that I minded. “No trouble at all.”

As I waited, the owner stuck her head out of the kitchen and glared at me. I hoped she paid Rain well, because without her, I couldn’t imagine the place would still be in business.

“How’s your hamburger?” Wally asked a little later. Rain was on the other side of the bar, waiting on customers who’d just walked in.

“Delicious.” I was actually a little surprised. She’d added sautéed mushrooms and onions, melted some Swiss cheese on top, and then hit it with a little barbecue sauce.

“See anything else you like?” he asked.

I smiled as I chewed, pushing the food to one side of my mouth so I could speak. “Definitely.”

“Listen, Diane’s having a surprise birthday party for Rain on Friday at the house. You should come.”

“What about her boyfriend?”

He shook his head. “Not coming. Although it killed Diane to invite him, he said he couldn’t make it. Come. What’ve you got to lose?”

“I don’t know. I’m not much for parties these days.”

“C’mon . . . If nothing else, you get a free meal. Diane, her mom, and Rain’s mom have been cooking like crazy all week.”

“Yeah, but a birthday party? That’s kind of weird. I don’t really know her to go out and get her a present, and I’ll look like a jerk if I don’t get something.”

Wally shook his head. “That’s not my area of expertise. How about I ask Diane and see what she says? If she says you should get her a present, I’ll just tell her to pick something up she thinks Rain will like. Okay?”

I wanted to see her again, so this was a no-brainer. I nodded.

“How much would you want to spend?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. A hundred?”

“Jesus. You’ll scare the shit out of her! She’ll think you’re some kind of psycho. A hundred! How about twenty?”

“Yeah, whatever. I don’t know. Whatever Diane thinks is best.”

“Then you’ll come?”

For another chance to spend time with Rain? I smiled as I reached for my beer. “I wouldn’t miss it.”