Page 31 of It Started at the Lake

“Go get dressed.”

I salute her. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m not old enough to be a ma’am.”

“The teen at Scoops thought you were.” I smirk.

She picks up a comb and throws it at me. “He was being polite.”

“Was he? I thought I saw a few gray hairs around your temples the other day. Maybe he’s right.”

Evie laughs. “Liar. But if I did, I’d own those grays. It means I earned them.”

I laugh too because she’s right. Evie’s the type of person who’d make having gray hair popular. And I love that she accepts who she is exactly as she is.

The bar is pleasantly nice. When we drove past the brown building when we first got to Stokesley, I pictured the interior being worn and dirty. I’m glad I was wrong. Smack dab in the center of the dining room is a giant square bar with seating around all four sides. Wood planks are on the lower half of the walls. The top halves are painted forest green and covered in photos, fishing and boating gear, and dart boards at the back. The lights are dim and “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi is playing loudly through hidden speakers.

I follow Evie, who’s following Henry. He leads us to an empty back corner booth, next to a hallway that leads to the bathroom. A dart board is to our right, along with a billiards table. Evie scoots to the middle. I slide in beside her, and Emerson takes the seat next to me.

Good. Being trapped on both sides means getting up is harder. I’ll sit here, sipping on a free water and chatting with Evie’s family. I’m safe from breaking my rules and hopefully with Cam splitting the cost of drinks, I won’t have to sell my kidney on the black market.

Cam and Henry take seats next to Evie. A waitress stops by, dropping off a menu. Browsing the options listed, I’m praying the others choose cheap drinks. They also serve food that, based on the photos, looks good, but is way overpriced. Fifteen dollars for a Caesar salad with no meat? Hard pass.

“I’ll put the first round on my tab,” Cam says, looking at the menu. “Mils, you can pay me back later.”

Later, like when I have a job? Or later, as in when we get home? “Okay.” I remind myself to work that out with him tomorrow. I don’t care for Evie’s family to know how broke I am. “What are you getting?” I ask Evie.

“Not sure yet. You?”

I shrug. “Most likely just water.”

Leaning toward me, Evie whispers, “I can cover for you, Mils. Order whatever you want.”

I shake my head. “It’s not that.” Entirely. “I haven’t been out since I vowed to stay away from guys. I really just want to take tonight easy, you know?”

She squeezes my thigh. “I’m really proud of you.”

I blink back sudden tears. My parents never told me they were proud of me. Nothing I ever did was good enough for them to notice, regardless of how hard I tried. Having my best friend say it means the world to me. She’s been supportive of me working on myself. I have no clue how or when I’ll determine I’m ready to try dating again. But until I have some sort of epiphany, the opposite sex and I are on a friends-only basis.

The waitress comes back, and we all order our drinks. We chat for a bit until the billiards table closest to us opens up. Emerson scrambles out of the booth. “I’m ready for some pool. Anyone want to play me?”

“I’m game,” Henry says.

For all the time Evs and I have spent in bars, I still can’t figure out how to hold a cue stick and hit the ball as hard as I want. “Cam, do you want to play darts?” I ask.

“Twenty bucks, Mils wins,” Evie bets.

Cam grins cockily at his sister. “Deal.”

Can these two do anything without making it a competition? We stand and Camden gets the darts from a metal cup bracketed to the wall. He hands me the blue darts, keeping the red for himself. “When was the last time you played 501?”

“It’s been a while.”

“I’m looking forward to winning Evie’s money.”

We had a dartboard in our garage growing up. I played a lot as a teen to escape being inside the house where my parents were. My skills might be a tad rusty, but once I find my groove, I’m confident he’ll be forking over money and not Evie. “I’m sure you are.”

Cam throws his first dart. It lands on the circle next to the bullseye.

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