Chapter 32

Bryant wandered downstairs and found Chuck sitting on the back deck. Chuck looked up when he heard Bryant descending.

"Is everything okay in there?" Bryant asked.

"It looks great!" Chuck enthused. "You even mopped the floor and cleaned the grill."

"I've been down here while you get thing set up for the next day," Bryant said. He handed over the deposit slip that he'd carried upstairs the night before.

"B'damn, boyo," Chuck said. "You had a $5,000 night! I've only had two of those in all the years I've been here. I saw the tip money in the safe. That's yours. The barmaids take seventy-five percent of their tips and put twenty-five percent in your jar. I'll give them the tip money from the credit cards after I count them in a while."

"A little more than $500," Bryant said. "Jan counted out. I think she said $513 in credit card tips and $428 in cash tips. We saw the barmaids slip some of their cash into the jar. Jan and I figured that Rosa and the girls could use it. We're still getting paid, you know. So give them all of it. We figured fifty percent to Rosa and the rest split between the four waitresses. Rosa worked her buns off in the kitchen."

Chuck shook his head but he smiled.

"That's going to make their night," Chuck said. "But you realize that you worked your ass off for fourteen or fifteen hours for nothing?"

"It wasn't for nothing," Bryant countered. "It gave you a night out and it gave us some low-stress entertainment. I'll bet that every city employee was here last night. We did almost a grand at lunch. Like I said, Rosa was hopping. We had a forty-five minute wait at one point. We had to have one of the waitresses act as a hostess for God's sake while I took her spot on the back deck."

"Damn, you know what?" Chuck said, his smile widening. "I know that you guys set up a 'Shop With A Cop' deal. We'll do 'Get Sloshed With A Cop!' Once a month, I'll drag you and Jan down here. Hell, if you keep going five grand nights, I could close for the next three days."

Bryant laughed along with him.

"On a good night, I bring in twenty-five hundred or three grand," he said. "A five grand night happens only during a perfect confluence of circumstances. When I first opened, one of those music channels had a weeklong bash down here during Spring Break. They set up not 500 feet away from my deck one of the days. I did five grand that day. I did five grand one other time – when a bunch of bikers were on their way down to Florida one winter. I was a little worried when they rolled up. I'd dealt with some bikers when I was on the job. These guys were the perfect customers, though: they treated my staff with respect; they tipped well and they drank and ate like crazy. One their way out the door, they handed one my barmaids $500 in cash to split with the other girl I had working. The guy said it was because the guys he'd brought along had foul mouths and the girls shouldn't have to listen to that stuff."

Chuck smiled at the memory.

"I'll admit I was a little worried last night," he continued. "I thought about coming down or calling you. Louise told me to cool it. It's not that I don't trust you ... it's just, shit, Bryant, this is all we've got left. If this goes down I'm stuck living on $700 a month, that's my pension from up in Boston and what little money Louise's old man left her. Now I feel like an idiot. This place looks better than if I'd have done it myself. How long did it take?"

"An hour or so," Bryant said. "Jan and I worked together. I did the mopping and vacuuming and Jan took care of the cash and kitchen."

"What happened to Kelly and Carmen?" Chuck wondered. The barmaids usually took care of the vacuuming and wiping down the bar while he handled the rest of the stuff.

"We sent them home early," Bryant said with a shrug. "By eight o'clock it was like a social club. Jan and I knew every single person in the room and they were coming up to the bar to get their own drinks. I told them I'd square the hours with you but I'd already decided that I'd give them my share of the tip jar to make up for any money they lost. We let them go at eight so they could spend some time with their boyfriends or whatever."

"What time did you close?" Chuck asked.

"Eleven-thirty," Bryant said. "I called last call right after eleven. The crowd that had been here all evening had gone home to bed. The same two guys who are here every night were here but neither of them was drinking. They were just watching TV and shooting the shit. I ran them off and shut it down."

Chuck sat and shook his head.

"I didn't think you'd mind," Bryant cut in. "I mean, we probably saved you money by cutting down on electricity."

"Oh, hell, I don't care when you closed," Chuck replied. "I'm just amazed that you did all that and still wrapped up by eleven. Then you did the clean-up and the bank drop. Maybe I should just sell you two the bar and go on my way."

"I don't think we're quite ready to give up our day jobs," Bryant chuckled.

"Yeah, I don't know that I'm ready to be put out to pasture either," Chuck responded.

"So did we get everything done that needed done?" Bryant asked.

"You crossed everything off the mental checklist I keep except for setting the timer on the coffee pot," Chuck told him.

"Crap!" Bryant said with a frown. "I didn't even think of that."

"Wouldn't have mattered if you had," Chuck laughed. "I got here an hour before the timer would have kicked in. I'd have been in the same boat whether you set the timer or not. Speakin' o' which, you wanna cup? It should be ready."

"I'll get it," Bryant said, getting up from the plastic chair.

Bryant was bringing out two cups of black coffee just as Jan was descending the stairs. She had pulled on a T-shirt and shorts over her nightclothes.

"Look at you two," she joked. "Sitting around doing nothing. Were you waiting for me to come down and give you orders?"

"Not hardly!" Bryant returned with a glance at Chuck. "I thought since she was the boss at our other job, I'd get to be the boss here. Fat chance on that."

"Did you just say I have a fat ass?" Jan asked, holding a cupped hand to her ear as though she was trying to hear better.

"No, Ma'am," Bryant said.

"I wouldn't have agreed with him even if he had," Chuck said with a laugh. "So, I got Bryant's take on last night. What's yours?"

"I think things went well," Jan said, first stealing Bryant's cup of coffee and then his chair.

"Thanks," she said absently as she turned her attention to Chuck. "I think your afternoon alcohol draw was probably a little lower than normal. But Rosa said we did about four times the normal food orders for Thursday. We probably made up for any lost alcohol revenue in food and soft drinks."

"Whoa, whoa," Chuck cut in. "I wasn't talking about the business part. I saw the receipts. You two brought in about two grand more than I make on a typical Thursday in the summer. I was talking about how it went for you."

"Oh, it was fun," Jan said. "I think part of it was because it was something completely new for me. I'd worked parties before but not in the past fifteen years. I think that almost everyone I served before four o'clock was someone I knew – so that helped. Plus, your wait staff is awesome. Kelly and Carmen are sweet as can be and Rosa is a hoot. I didn't get to talk much with David but I know he left the outdoor bar area immaculate when he left."

"He always does," Chuck said. "I wish I had some time to teach him to bartend. That would make my life a lot easier. But I don't have time and he isn't really interested in learning."

"If he decides he wants to learn, let me know," Jan said. "I can give him a quick course. I don't think I made more than half a dozen different drinks last night. Well, not for the college crowd. The locals seemed to want to test my knowledge. Linda Roberts probably has a hangover and a half. I think she was trolling the Internet to find exotic drinks to test my knowledge. She had everything from a Harvey Wallbanger to Long Hard Wet Screw last night."

"Getting a little personal, aren't you?" Bryant asked. "I mean, I'm sure Bill got lucky but you don't have to give commentary."

"It's a drink, Dork," Jan said.

"Oh," Bryant said, smiling and winking at Chuck. "I took her phone away from her before Bill had to take a second job. I hope the kids don't need braces anytime soon."

"She'll just have to start shaking her ass down here for tips," Jan cut in. "Put in her in a pair of short-shorts and the college guys would spend their trust funds to get her to bring them a drink."

"You're awful," Chuck said.

"Bryant suggested she wear a dental floss bikini," Jan pointed out.

Chuck shook his head.

"Did I ever tell you what I thought the first time I met this guy here?" he asked, leaning forward.

"No need to go into that," Bryant said quickly.

"Oh, I think there is," Jan said, laughing.

"Well, Boyo here comes wandering in and he orders up a black and tan," Chuck said. "You don't get an order like that very often in a beach town so I gave it to him on the house."

"Freeloader," Jan said, reaching up to nudge Bryant in the ribs.

"So we're talking for a minute or two and Linda comes rolling in," Chuck continued. "I could tell she'd primped in the car and she put her hand on his shoulder first thing. Then she snagged his beer and took a drink. I thought she was having an affair with him. Then I noticed how put out Boyo looked when he looked at his glass. I mean, there was a big lipstick ring on the edge. I've known Linda and Bill for a while. The way she was flirting with this guy, well, I got a little ticked off."

"You were just mad she doesn't flirt with you that way," Bryant said. Chuck frowned for a moment and then laughed.

"Hell, you're probably right," he said. "I didn't think of it that way. She's a nice-looking woman."

"You should have seen her last night," Jan said. "She had a pair of shorts that looked like they had been painted on and a T-shirt that was at least two sizes too small. I had to send Bryant out to handle the deck traffic to keep him from trying to hump her leg or something."

"Don't let her know this, but I just pretended so she would send me out with the college girls in bikinis," Bryant said in a stage whisper.

Chuck just laughed and shook his head. He had tried to figure out Bryant's relationship with Jan Elliot since the day he'd met her. Just when he thought he had it down, they changed. Still, he had seen Jan smile more in the past three days than he had in the last year. Bryant seemed happier, too.

"I have to run to my house to get some clothes for the weekend," Jan said, standing. "I'll leave you two to solve all the world's problems. I'll expect a full report when I get back."

She gave Bryant a kiss on the cheek before she leaned over and did the same for Chuck. The older man wasn't positive that Jan Elliot had ever even touched his hand before a day earlier.

"He and Linda can flirt all they want," Jan said, grinning. "I'll just flirt with you to make him jealous."

"Guess that leaves Bill to flirt with Louise," Chuck responded, getting his humor back quickly.

"How are you getting to your house?" Bryant wondered.

"Your car," Jan said. She fished his keys out of her pocket and shook them. "I'll be back in an hour or two."

She hustled through the street side exit and disappeared, leaving Bryant to shake his head.

Chuck and Bryant were on their second cup of coffee when Bryant's phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Probably Jan letting me know she crashed into a pole," Bryant joked. He pulled it out, looked at the screen and cursed.

"She didn't," Chuck said with concern in his voice. It took Bryant a moment to figure out what his companion was talking about.

"No," Bryant said. "Or if she has she didn't let me know. It's my old neighbors from Chicago. I forgot they were coming down here for vacation. That was the daughter. She sent me a text telling me they were in and wondering where I was. I completely forgot about them coming down."

Bryant sent Angel a text back asking where her family was staying. She replied by calling his phone.

"Hey, Kid," Bryant said. "How was the trip?"

"It was so awesome," Angel Jimenez told him. "We flew out at midnight last night, you know. We got into Atlanta at six this morning and drove over. This place is so beautiful. I mean, I saw the pictures you sent but to see it in person is just amazing."

Angel was talking with the rapidity known only to teenagers and Bryant couldn't get a word in for a full minute.

"What hotel are you in?" Bryant managed when Angel came up for breath.

"Ocean Vista," Angel said. "I think that's the name of it."

"Oh, that's good," Bryant said. "Are you on the beach side or the street side?"

"Beach," Angel replied, as if the very thought of having a room overlook the street was a sin beyond redemption.