Page 9 of A Much Younger Man
Chapter Three
The following night,Cooper’s partner, Shawn, stood with Jim on his side of the bar opposite Cooper and me. This made it easier for him to read our lips. Cooper used either ASL or speech, but I was glad Shawn could read my lips because what little ASL I knew was limited to asking questions about cats or dogs.
We’d been talking for a while, but then the subject turned to Beck and his dog. I asked if they had any ideas how we could help them.
“Is the room upstairs empty?” Shawn asked. “Could they use that?”
“I can’t have a dog in here.” Jim slung a damp towel over his shoulder. “Health codes.”
“Right.” That made sense.
“Besides, Tomas and Oscar are up there right now until they can move into their new place.”
“They’re moving?” Shawn signed when he talked. I wondered if it was just habit or if he did it for Cooper since he was still learning. “They never said. Where? Out of town?”
“Just to a bigger house,” Jim assured him. “I think Oscar has cousins from New Mexico who are going to stay with them, and they’ve been wanting a nicer yard for ages.”
Shawn smiled brightly. “Glad they’re staying. What would I do without Tomas’s carnitas?”
“Is there anywhere else Beck can stay?” St. Nacho’s didn’t have a homeless shelter, per se. The local police and sheriff’s deputies referred people in need to the appropriate county agency, who referred them to anyplace with available beds.
“What about the SeaView Motel?” Shawn asked. “Does Carl take pets? Maybe he’d discount a room, just until they get on their feet.”
Cooper spoke and signed. “That’s a big ask during tourist season.”
“There’s always our guest bedroom,” said Shawn. Ken Ashton flipped houses, and he’d recently helped them buy a place large enough to accommodate guests. “I could see letting them stay as long as they don’t take advantage.”
Cooper’s brows lowered. “I don’t know about having strangers—”
“You talked about the kid for hours,” Shawn teased. “He doesn’t feel like a stranger anymore. Do you want to help him?”
“It’s not the guitarist I’d have trouble with,” said Jim, “but his friend. Seems to take the kids earnings for booze. Gets him food like it’s an afterthought.”
“Wait, what?” The behavior wasn’t news to me, but I didn’t know it was a pattern.
“Don’t know about Beck’s friend.” Cooper nodded in agreement. “Hasn’t made a great impression so far.”
“Could we offer the kid and the dog a place without the friend?” Shawn asked.
Cooper tapped the bar absently. “What if that’s why they’re on the road in the first place? Parents didn’t like the boyfriend.”
“Obviously we need to know more about their situation before we can do anything to help. If I see Beck again, I’ll ask some questions,” I said.
“He’s probably out there right now.” Cooper nodded toward the beach. “Want to look?”
“You go.” Shawn came through the bridge and sat on one of the bar stools. “I’ve been on my feet since six this morning.”
Shawn’s work as a teaching assistant and the dance classes he led at Izzie’s gym kept him in peak physical condition, but enough was enough, I guessed. I tipped my drink back. Cooper gave Jim a nod. This time he left his violin behind the bar when he went in search of Beck, Callie, and their shady friend, who pinged my radar all wrong.
* * *
Outside,instead of a brilliant sunset, there were clouds moving rapidly inland. A waning moon played peekaboo as they scudded across the sky.
“Might rain,” Cooper observed.
“Smells like it.”
He pulled his collar up against the brisk breeze. “Hope the kids have a tent.”
