Page 98 of A Moment In Time

“Yeah. But now I have to actually do the job.”

“We all have complete faith in you.”

“I guess time will tell.”

The meeting was boring, but everyone seemed happy Gage was a few weeks away from becoming mayor of Calaway Crossing. After the official part of the meeting was over, he spent another hour talking with the city council members and Mayor Bessler. When he finally got free, he decided he needed to go see Paxton to unwind a bit before heading home.

Being Tuesday night, the bar wasn’t very busy, and Paxton spotted Gage as he came in from the restaurant. Gage took a seat near the end, away from everyone else, and Paxton laid a napkin down in front of him.

Gage looked at him. “I know that you know. So don’t pretend you don’t.”

Paxton smiled. “Congratulations. You’ve finally joined the club.”

“I’m not a full-fledged member yet.”

“It’s only a matter of time. What are you drinking tonight, besides a shot to celebrate?”

“I’ll take a draft. Anything new I should try?”

Paxton nodded. “I have just the thing.” He left to pour the beer, then brought it, two shot glasses, and a bottle of scotch. He set everything down in front of Gage, then filled the shot glasses.

Gage nodded at the bottle. “Scotch?”

“Yeah. I’ve been drinking scotch lately.”

“Does it make you feel more grown up?”

“No. Fatherhood does, though.”

“How is my newest nephew doing?”

“He’s great. When are you coming over to see him?”

“Does Thursday work for you?”

“Perfect.” Paxton picked up his glass. “To new relationships.”

“And new babies.”

They both drank their shots, and Paxton poured a half-shot into each glass. “One more.” He held up his glass. “To you surviving your unfortunate and quite weird accident.”

“It was weird, wasn’t it?”

They drank their scotch, and Gage looked at the bottle. “That’s good. We should definitely drink more scotch. Not tonight. But in general.”

“I agree.”

Paxton went to serve a few customers, and Gage let the last three hours melt away as he listened to the country music coming from the jukebox, and the low murmur of happy customers. Paxon ran a good clean bar and there was rarely trouble. When it came, he was ready for it. There was usually a brother or two around to help. Or Booker was just a phone call away. Even the crowd who migrated over from The Oasis had adjusted to the way Paxton ran things. Good alcohol. Decent prices. And he didn’t take any crap. Gage was proud of him. His little brother was doing alright for himself.

When Gage heard someone come up behind him, he turned to see Becca. She smiled at him.

“I need some details, cousin.”

“Not going to happen,”

She sat next to him. “You’re no fun.”

“That’s nothing new. I’ve never been any fun.”

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