Page 3 of Roar & Lizzy: A Forever Kind of Love

"Let's do it." Coco tilted her head. "If the new owner turns it into a bar, we'll be the best damn servers this side of the railroad tracks."

"I've never had any desire to serve drinks. The whole atmosphere will be different in a bar." Lizzy blew out her breath. "A bunch of men drinking, looking for a good time. It could get rowdy."

"We don't know for sure that it will be a bar. I don't think Mr. Reeves knows. Maybe it'll be turned into a classier dining experience and serve wine and beer with dinner." Coco picked up the television remote. "Let's not worry about it tonight. What do you want to watch?"

"Nothing." She stood. "I'm going to dive into that half-gallon of ice cream. Want a bowl?"

"Sure." Coco sat down on the couch. "Oh, put a spoonful of strawberry jam on it, will you?"

She laughed softly. Coco always asked, knowing every night she had ice cream and jam. And, every night, she had ice cream with root beer poured over it.

Scooping up the dirty pair of jeans in the hallway, she tossed them into the laundry room on the way to the kitchen. The old Portland style home with all its small rooms and extra built-in cabinets provided a spot for everything but Coco could never put her clothes in the hamper or even in the room with the washer and dryer.

She opened the freezer and grabbed the vanilla ice cream. Indulging made her feel better about her life. Focused on working and saving money to pay off her bills, she'd pushed her social life to the side. A night at home with ice cream and television were the highlight of her week.

While it wasn't much, losing the little things would make her focus on what her life lacked.

At thirty years old, she was caught between giving up the goal of finding and maintaining a life-long relationship and believing men took too much of her energy.

She looked out the kitchen window. The sun was already going down. After living in Portland, Oregon for ten years, she'd learned how to appreciate the sunshine when it showed up, but today the normal doom and gloom weather would've fit her mood better.

She scooped ice cream into two bowls and doctored them both. Halfway back to the living room, she yawned. One good thing going for her was she'd be able to sleep past seven o'clock in the morning since she wasn't required to get up early and go to work.

The only way she'd get through the stress of the situation was if she looked for the positive.

"What time do you think—?"

A loud rumble filled the house. She gawked at Coco as the floor underneath her feet vibrated.

Coco shifted on the couch. "Is that an earthquake?"

Her first thought was a train was going by, but the tracks were two streets away, and while they heard the whistles, they only felt the wheels rolling if they paid attention. But the trains had never shaken their house before.

"I don't think so." She set the bowls down on the end table and walked over to the window.

Pushing back the curtain, she peered outside. "What in the world?"

Hundreds of single headlights lit up the whole street as far as she could see. She scooted over as Coco came up to look.

"It's motorcycles," she said.

"What are they doing?"

"I don't know." She looked the other way. "They're turning on Kaiser Street."

"Probably trying to find the interstate."

For several minutes they watched the bikers until only a few headlights were left and the noise and vibrations went away. Lizzy closed the curtain and walked over to the couch, picking up her bowl. The soda had melted the ice cream.

Coco turned the volume up on the television. Lizzy ignored the spoon and lifted the bowl to her lips and drank, too lazy to go to the kitchen and use a glass she'd need to wash later. The chef on the cooking show barked orders to the wanna-be-chefs.

"I'd never work for someone like that," said Coco.

Lizzy licked her upper lip. "Me, neither."

Caught up in the show, she forgot about the life-changing news she'd received and enjoyed thinking about what she'd do if she won the reality show.

---