Page 64 of About Time

If all that wasn’t bad enough, we discovered that not only did Liam fuck around on his wife, but he was also stealing from the garage. He was charging customers for our usual parts, then finding cheaper, lower quality parts, and pocketing the difference. Wren leaving Liam would never have been enough to make Griffin betray his son, but being betrayed by his son first might be what pushes him over the line.

I understand the appeal of a Parker woman. All three of them look so much alike it’s freaky. That’s why seeing Wren is like rubbing salt in an open wound. She looks so much like her mother and her aunt that the loss of my friend and my wife can’t heal. She’s got the same gentleness of her mother. It’s nice to know that grace and kindness isn’t completely gone from the world.

The best thing she could do for all of us, Griffin, Liam, me, and herself would be to leave this town and never look back. She should go before this town digs its way under her skin and poisons her. She can’t resist it like her mom did, because she sure as hell didn’t marry a man like her father. Liam doesn’t have Martin’s goodness and loyalty. Without someone like that behind her, this town will eventually destroy her. Maybe when I no longer have to see those familiar big green eyes, and hair the color of spun gold, I will finally be able to move on.

Enter plan B. Since ignoring the problem didn’t make it go away, now I just have to keep Griffin preoccupied long enough for Wren to get some things together and leave. No doubt she’ll follow Hattie to Florida. I’m not sure where she lives in Florida, but it’s far enough away that it might as well be another country. I’m afraid if Griffin gets to her first she will never go anywhere, and he will lose his son. That is the other reason she needs to go, because eventually he will resent her for coming between them, and she doesn’t deserve that.

When I finally get to the bar Griffin is scowling at people. So it’s a normal Friday night. He hates being forced out among people. Even with his surly expression women are watching him. Since I haven’t started drinking I skip over the blondes. I only end up with a blonde when my drunk brain uses them as a substitute for Hattie.

A couple of women down the bar are checking me out as I wait for Donovan to fill a pitcher with beer. He still makes me wait longer for service than other people, but I ignore it just like he mostly ignores me. I can’t say I really blame him for the way he treats me. I did run his best friend out of town.

He sets the pitcher down hard on the table in front of me. Enough that some of the beer sloshes out onto my hand. Then he sets four glasses next to it and nods his head toward the women at the end of the bar.

“Those two seem like your type,” he says.

“Hot?” I know that isn’t what he means, but every few weeks he makes a snide comment or two about the women I flirt with, and I rise to the challenge.

“Easy,” he replies, as I expect.

I give him a huge smile, showing lots of teeth. It doesn’t really matter if inside I’m a tangled mess of self hatred and loneliness, because no one sees that. Everyone thinks I’m just carefree Charlie Storm, a simple guy who spends all his time fixing cars and hooking up with women. I could only wish to live so shallow a life. What a relief it would be to not carry around all of this baggage with me.

It’s funny how no one has done the math. If I were really getting around as much as they think, there would be no women in this town that I haven’t slept with. They don’t really want to know the truth though, not when the fiction is so much more entertaining.

Still, Donovan’s idea has merit. I need to dangle something shiny in front of Griffin to distract him from drooling over his daughter-in-law. At some point I’m going to have to sleep with a woman when I’m actually sober enough to remember it. Or I guess I could always become religious and join some kind of monastery or something.

Moving down the bar I give them a much different smile. It’s a bit forced, but they don’t seem to notice. I lean on my elbow against the bar and slowly look them up and down. It should really be creepy, but some women eat this shit up.

“Hey ladies. What brings you out tonight?” They’re local. At least they’ve lived here for a while. Their faces blend into the scenery for me. This town is small enough I should really know who they are, but that would take effort I don’t care to put in.

“We had a night off work, and thought we’d let off some steam,” The dark haired one says.

“What do you do?” I don’t actually care, but that seems like the logical next question someone asks.

“I’m a nurse,” the same woman says.

I’m able to control my expression, barely. If her friend is a nurse too then I’m going to have to move along. She’s cute enough, I guess, but I can’t try this with anyone who even remotely triggers any kind of reminder of Hattie.

Physically she won’t be a problem. Her hair is kind of a dirty brown. She’s tall and skinny, not in a gym body kind of way, but like someone who can eat their weight in Cheetos and lose pounds. Really, she’s unremarkable, but that could just be me. No woman holds a candle against Hattie in my eyes.

“I’m in HR. We went to school together and got jobs at the hospital when we graduated, so here we are,” the friend says.

I hold my hand out. “I’m Charlie, and my friend over there,” I point at Griffin when she lets go of my hand, “that’s Griffin. I know he looks like an asshole, but that’s just because he’s had arough day and could use some cheering up. Would either of you like to help with that?”

The skinny one giggles. “We know who you are.”

Her friend nods. “Everyone in town knows who you are.”

My smile falters for a second. I’ve heard the talk. I’m an indiscriminate manwhore, a town merry go round that if you wait long enough I’ll come back around to give them a ride too. It’s all bullshit.

The brunette rolls her shoulders back and pushes out her tits. She has no idea that he’s unlikely to be swayed by her, even if she does have an impressive rack. “I think I could help brighten his night. I’m Brandi.” I reach out and shake her hand as well.

Then I stare at the friend and silently encourage her to introduce herself. Just because they know my name doesn’t mean I know theirs, a fact I don’t bother hiding from her. “Beth,” she says after a long moment.

I grab the pitcher and the cups. “Follow me, ladies.”

Griffin scowls at me as I gesture for Brandi to slide in on his side of the booth. This makes my smile a little more genuine, but only because I like fucking with him. The less he likes this, the more enjoyment I get out of it.

That joy is short-lived. I find myself pulling inside and letting my mind wander. It’s harder than I expect trying to stay engaged in the conversation. My mind keeps wandering off. I’m more focused on Brandi’s failing efforts to get Griffin’s attention than I am on Beth. Truthfully she’s kind of whiny and annoying, but I don’t really expect to form a connection with a woman like I had with Hattie.

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