Mako (The Mako Saga: Book 1) (7 page)

Mac paused reflectively for a moment, and Lee didn’t have to wonder why.

“Anyway,” she said after collecting her thoughts. “I’m just ready to come home is all. I miss my family, I miss my friends and at this point in my life, those are kinda what’s most important to me, ya know?” She paused with a light, throaty chuckle. “… Because god knows it’s not a real career!”

“Danny says you just need a GM and you’re outta there,” Lee offered.

“You’d think that’d be fairly easy, right?” she mocked, “but apparently not. I’ve spent the better part of six months looking for a qualified candidate to run this place so I can come home, but I have yet to meet someone I’d trust with my grocery list, much less the bar’s payroll and inventory books.”

“What about Tom?” Lee asked. “He’s been with you guys in Tally for years and he’s always wanted to go management, right?”

“He would’ve been the ideal choice, for sure,” Mac agreed. “He was next in line to run the Tally location before I came back from L.A. and we’d have definitely made it worth his while to move up here to run Athens—relo, salary, benefits, the whole nine—but he’s moving to Pittsburgh at the end of the year.”

“Pittsburgh?” Lee wondered aloud.

“Yeah. He got engaged a while back and his fiancée’s family apparently has some sort of cushy gig waiting for her up there. So he’s sticking around to work one more football season, and then he’s headed for PA.”

“Ouch, major bummer,” Lee muttered, a little saddened at the thought of losing one of his favorite bartenders, not to mention a good friend. “Hey, how’s Joel? He still workin’ security?”

“Joel got redeployed last summer,” Mac answered. “He’s supposed to be back sometime next spring, but who knows if he’ll even come back to Tally after that?”

“Hadn’t heard that. He say where he was headed?”

“Nah,” she shook her head. “But then again, those SEAL boys rarely ever do, so it’s anybody’s guess. All I know is he still owes me a cool 50 from the Bucs/Jets game last season, so he’d better make it back long enough to pay up—the bum!”

Lee flashed a smile and slumped back in his seat. He’d had some good times with those guys, and as much as he loved the Pourhouse, the place would never be the same without them.

“Garrett’s still there though,” Mac noted, drawing an eye roll from Lee.

“Shocker,” Lee grumbled. “That guy’ll be there until the day he dies. He still a big fan of the undergrad girls?”

“You know it!” she laughed. “Tom tells me that a few of the dayshifters have tagged him with a new nickname too… Dom.”

“Dom?” Lee asked, the reference failing to register.

“Yeah Dom, as in D.O.M… Dirty Old Man.”

Lee bellowed a laugh, almost knocking the water bottle onto his keyboard.

“I’ll give the guy credit, though,” she added once the hilarity had faded. “Younger girls or not, Garrett’s about the closest thing I have to a reliable staffer down there right now—outside of Tom, that is. He always shows up, always does his job, and never complains. D.O.M. or not, I need more of those.”

“So other than that, how’s business?”

“Eh, not bad” Mac shrugged. “Our numbers so far this year are definitely down, but if there’s an upside to this particular line of work, it’s that for the most part it’s as close to recession-proof as you can get. You know as well as I do—people are gonna drink. Be it because they’ve got money and want to spend it or because they’re broke and want to forget the fact, they’re gonna drink.”

“Bein’ down there on the strip next to campus doesn’t hurt though,” Lee observed, recalling the countless number of parental credit cards that could always be spotted piling into the Pourhouse register.

“Amen to that,” she grinned. “American Express… don’t leave Daddy’s home without it!”

Chapter 5: Virtual Reunions

“Evening, kids,” Danny said as his face appeared next to Mac’s in the upper left corner of Lee’s webcam screen. “Hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Negative, chief, just catchin’ up,” Lee said. “Come on in.”

“Hey Danny, you just get back in from a date or something?” Mac asked, eyeing his freshly shaven face and neatly styled blonde hair.

“No, why?”

“Because your hair… it’s like… all spiky!”

“Neah,” Danny shrugged, inspecting his rifle controller. “Just been bumming around the house all day, why?”

“Good grief, son,” she crowed. “I know chicks who spend less time in front of the mirror than you do. Seriously, how long does it take for you to get it to stick out like that, anyway?”

“And can it pick up ESPN Radio?” Lee chided.

“Both of you can kindly
bite me
,” Danny declared, though his expression quickly morphed into a sly grin. “Besides Mac, one never knows who might be stopping by later.”

“
Skanks!
” she gagged with a finger in her throat.

“Whatever,” said Danny. “So how’s life up there in Bulldog country?”

“Not bad,” Mac huffed. “Be a lot better if Ted Danson would step through the door of my bar and offer to run the place, though. I’ll give Athens this much; it blows the doors off of Tally when it comes to a local music scene.”

“That’s not hard to do,” Lee noted, remembering the town’s overabundance of mediocre cover bands.

“Yeah, tell me about it. Anyway, I finally got a night off last weekend and headed out with another one of the girls from the bar to this little dive off of Clayton Street, and the band there was absolutely fantastic. Lee, you’d have loved them. Very southern rock—but with a harder, power chord edge and a sort of folky lyrical twist. Between the sticky floors, the hot waitresses in halter tops, and the band, you guys would’ve been right at home.”

“Speaking of home, any news on when you get to come back to yours?” Danny asked.

“Hopefully sooner rather than later. The staff up here is pretty much set, so now it’s all about the GM. I’ve got three candidates interviewing later this week, so cross your fingers.”

“Sweet,” Lee replied. “If that works out, Danny’s been talkin’ about makin’ a trip over my way, and you oughta load up and come with if he does.”

“No argument here,” Mac agreed. “Oh, speaking of roadtrips… Danny, one of the girls from the bar up here is getting married in late November, and I need a date. Seeing as how you’ve got nothing better to do—tag, you’re it.”

“Yeah,” Danny droned, “I don’t do weddings anymore so you’re gonna need to find a Plan B on that. Sorry hun.”

“Oh c’mon, Danny,” Mac persisted. “I don’t have anyone else up here to go with me. Link’s flying home to Denver that weekend to visit his Dad, Hamish is bogged down with work, and Lee’s got class, which means you’re it. So get your unemployed butt off the couch, tell your stripper girlfriend that you’ve gotta wingman up for an old friend, and hit the road for Athens.”

“Whoa, what? Stripper what?” Lee blurted, firing an inquisitive eye at Danny through the webcam. “Girlfriend who?”

“Oh he didn’t tell you?” she cooed.

“Maaacccc!” Danny warned.

“Apparently not,” said Lee, “which is funny considering that, oh,10 hours ago, we had a lengthy conversation chronicling all the many loves of Danny’s life these days.”

“And he didn’t mention Solstice?”

“Nope.”

“Her name’s not Solstice, damn it,” Danny grunted. “It’s Salest, and she’s not my girlfriend… not anymore, anyway.”

“Awwww,” Mac whimpered. “Little Danny couldn’t take it that he wasn’t the only one touching her lady parts every day?”

“Okay, seriously people… she was an exotic dancer, not a prostitute, alright? And for that matter, she wasn’t even a real stripper because she refused to work at an all-nude place.”

“Which makes her a what?” Mac snickered. “A classy hooker?”

Danny raised a brow. “I’m sorry, Princess, but how bad do you need that wedding date again? Because right now I’m staring into my little crystal ball here, and as it stands, ‘stag and pathetic’ is about all I’m seeing in your future.”

Annoyed, she shoved a hand over her webcam.

“Let’s be real here, Danny,” said Lee. “You dated a stripper… did you honestly think you’d get outta this without takin’ at least a little heat from your friends?”

“What do you people got against strippers?” a gruff voice interjected as Link Baxter’s pale face appeared in Lee’s monitor, smiling devilishly through the thick black whiskers of his goatee. “I’ll have you know those young ladies work just as hard for their money as anyone else in any other profession,” he proclaimed, “and damn it, they deserve your respect for the endless hours of hard work and tireless dedication that they pour out on that stage—year after year and night after night—all across this great nation of ours! God bless ‘em, I say! And
god bless America!
”

“Inspiring words from a man who rents his dates by the hour,” Mac sniped through giggles from Lee and Danny. “Seriously, Link, it’s too bad your career in politics flamed out. Between your taste in sleazy women and your ability to deliver a speech, you were born for the Hill.”

“Yeah, well,” Link deflected.

“Link, we were just weighin’ in on the new love of Danny’s life,” said Lee. “Apparently she’s a… dancer,” he concluded with a pair of air quotes.

“Really?” Link replied, impressed. “Danny, my boy! Finally decided to step up out of the Badge Bunny Bush Leagues and swing for the fences! I’m proud of you, man!”

“Relax Short Round, I’m not seeing her anymore.”

“Oh, whatever, Danny,” Mac groaned. “I’ve seen this girl. She’s hot, blonde, and exactly your type. Don’t lie to us just to try to save face over the fact that your new quickie-dial option happens to make her living sliding up and down a pole.”

Link snickered darkly.

“Truthfully, it wasn’t her job that bugged me,” recalled Danny.

“Let me guess,” said Link, “it was the uni-brow! Or maybe the knife wound… or the monstrous C-section scar from her fourth kid! That was it, right?”

“Woooowww,” Mac groaned. “That was just plain wrong, dude.”

Link dismissed her with a wave. “I hear what you’re sayin’ over there Mac,” he balked. “But seriously, how great looking can this girl be? With all due respect Danny, I’ve seen what passes for exotic dancers down there in the Panhandle, and believe me, it’s a far cry from the Cheetah, ya dig?”

“Link?” Danny said calmly. “5-4, 115, tan, blonde hair to the small of her back; and oh, by the way… she’s a yoga instructor on the side.”

Link’s eyes went wide.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” Danny concluded. “The defense rests.”

“Okay Danny, for the sake of discussion, I’ll play ball,” Mac said. “If it wasn’t the job that ran you off, and we’ve clearly established that it wasn’t a uni-brow, then what was it? I mean, was she just a little bit more than your usual brand of crazy or what?”

“No, she was fine,” he said grudgingly. “To be honest, she was actually pretty cool. Great taste in music, big sports fan, got along with the guys… the whole nine.”

“Soooo… what then?” Lee prodded, and Danny pursed his lips.

“It’s just that… well… she had a kid—a three-year-old son.”

Evidently no one had expected this response because the line fell silent for a moment after that.

“Okay… soooooo, what?” Lee’s voice hung with the question. “So she had a kid. I hate to break it to ya, partner, but you ain’t gettin’ any younger, and it kinda comes with the turf that a lot of the girls your age are probably gonna have those.”

“I know, I know. I just… I just don’t do the kid thing, ya know? I mean, it’s one thing if I date a girl and things go bad—”

“Which is pretty much every relationship you’ve ever been in,” Mac jeered. “Yes, go on.”

“Normally I’d have a remark for that,” said Danny. “But since it further illustrates my point, I’ll roll with it. Anyway, it’s one thing if things go south between me and her. Even if it ends nasty, we’re both adults. We deal with it, and we move on. But kids? Kids don’t have that perspective. All they understand is that yet another guy—who they may or may not have gotten attached to by that point—has just bailed on them like every other guy before him, including their dad. So I’m sorry. I might be a self-serving, promiscuous a-hole, but at least I’m honest about it.”

Surprisingly, no wisecracks followed his explanation, not that there was much opportunity for one.

“
ALRIGHT, WANKERS!!!
”

Lee winced as a loud baritone voice, drenched in a thick Scottish accent, boomed through his earpiece.

“Everybody can relax! The Big Man has arrived and he’s ready to chew bubblegum and kick arse, and he’s all out of bubblegum!”

“
They Live
?” Lee said, rolling his eyes at the round, dark-skinned face that now filled the last corner of the webcam monitor with a wide, toothy grin. “Roddy Piper? Seriously?”

“Aye, and a bloody masterpiece of filmmaking that was. Truly a classic!”

“Holy god, that movie sucked,” Mac murmured.

“Amen to that,” Danny agreed.

“Sorry I’m late,” Hamish apologized. “Got hung up at the shop with a last-minute appointment. Some pansy with his knickers all in a twist because his sportster, and I quote, ‘sounded funny.’ His
sportster!”
Hamish grimaced with disgust.

“What was wrong with it?” Lee asked.

“Absolutely, nothing!” the Scot bellowed. “Aside from being in dire need of a basic tune-up, it was perfectly fine. But Mr. Fancy Pants in his prissy red leathers wasn’t about to accept that. Oh no, no! In his expert opinion which, mind ya, was probably derived from
American Choppers
reruns, something was very wrong; and thus, he demanded in his infinite wisdom that we run over every cubic inch of the engine until we could diagnose the problem. Whatever, just more money for us in labor… bloody sportster,” he huffed, retrieving a bottle of oddly labeled beer from a nearby mini fridge. “What self-respecting man with a halfway detectable pair of testicles rides a sportster, I ask ya? I swear… I hate posers.”

“Whatcha got there, Hamish?”“ Mac wondered aloud, leaning into her monitor to inspect the unfamiliar bottle.

“Oh right, sorry. I call it Iron Highland Ale,” he said proudly, holding the bottle up to his webcam. “I made it ma-self.”