Chapter 56

Dan slipped into the bar at Third and Main. His attempt at being discreet was not very successful. A sudden silence descended upon the room as every eye in the bar turned to stare at him. It took a few seconds before people recognized who he was. The volume of the conversations taking place at the various tables slowly returned to normal levels. Without exception, the topic of conversation changed to include the rather unusual presence of a man in the place.

Ignoring the few eyes that continued to stare at him, Dan walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the many free stools. He was the only one who was seated at the counter. He turned to look at the women gathered together at the bar. None of them would meet his gaze.

He turned back to stare at Betty for a moment. Her red eyes gave ready testimony to the fact that she had been crying.

In a very soft voice, he asked, “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Betty answered collapsing onto a bar stool that was behind the bar. She started crying. One hand snaked out to grab a tissue from a box of tissues that she had placed on the counter.

“Sue said that you and Pat had a fight,” Dan said when she calmed down a little.

Betty shook her head and said, “I woke up one morning and she was standing there in the bedroom staring at me. The next thing I knew, she was yelling at me. I still don’t know what I did to provoke her anger.”

“What happened next?” Dan asked with a frown. There was something wrong with the whole situation, but he didn’t know what it was.

“She left. I haven’t seen her since then,” Betty answered collapsing in on herself. Her world had fallen apart and she didn’t understand why. She couldn’t think of anything she could have done wrong.

Dan frowned trying to make sense of Pat’s actions. He felt sorry for Betty. His tall friend didn’t look like a Viking warrior woman at the moment.

He asked, “Have you heard from her at all?”

“This morning I got a letter in the mail giving me her half of the bar,” Sally said.

Saying it aloud was too much for her and she started crying again. There was only one way to interpret the letter — Pat was dissolving their relationship permanently.

Dan wanted to hug her, but there was the counter between them. When she calmed down a little, he said, “Sue is outside waiting for you. She’ll give you a ride home. Go with her and I’ll watch the bar.”

“What about your pizzeria?” Betty asked.

“This is my night off,” Dan answered. It wasn’t his normal night off, but she didn’t need to know that. He had asked his sister to take care of the pizzeria for the evening.

“Oh,” Betty said. She looked around the bar and said, “I don’t know if I should.”

Dan got up and went around the bar counter. Going over to Betty, he took her arm. Gently, he guided her out from behind the bar and over to the front door. In a soft soothing voice, he said, “Sue is waiting for you.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without her. Pat and I have been together for almost twenty years,” Betty said looking at Dan. She couldn’t understand why Pat had left her.

“You’ll do what needs to be done,” Dan said softly. He didn’t know what to say to her that would help her find a little peace. There were no promises that he could make. He couldn’t tell her that all would turn out for the better.

After seeing Betty to the car, Dan returned to the bar. He looked around at all of the bottles. Frowning, he asked, “How hard can it be?”

He took a seat on the stool that Betty had just left and watched the roomful of women going about their version of the mating dance. He smiled when a new couple rose from their table and headed out the door holding hands. It was obvious to him that it was just the beginning of a relationship. He wished them luck.

Everything went well for about ten minutes. It all fell apart when a woman approached the bar counter and said, “I’ll have a Vodka Martini.”

It was at that moment when Dan realized there was a fatal flaw in his plan. He had never mixed a drink in his life. He looked in the cooler for a second to see if he could spot something with Vodka Martini on the label. Not finding one, he said, “We’re out of that. You can have beer or wine.”

“What kind of wine do you have?”

Dan reached down and picked up two bottles of wine. Holding them up, he answered, “We have these two. You can have green bottle or bluish green bottle.”

The woman laughed at his response and said, “You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“That’s right,” Dan said with a nod of his head. He wasn’t going to deny it.

“So what are you doing here?”

Dan answered, “I’m giving a friend a chance to cry on a soft shoulder.”

“Oh,” the woman said, “I’ll take a beer in a bottle.”

Dan looked down in the cooler and asked, “Brown or green bottle?”

“Hello, Granny Parker,” Dan said entering the hospital room.

“Hello, Dan.”

“How’s it going?” he asked. She looked a lot better today than on the days past.

Granny Parker answered, “They’re letting me out of here today.”

“I bet you’ll be glad to be home,” Dan said with a smile.

She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I’m going to stay with my son until I recover.”

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy that. It’s nice to have family around to watch over you,” Dan said.

“I guess.”

Dan noticed the slightly off tone to her voice and said, “You don’t seem too pleased by the prospect.”

“I don’t want to be a burden to them,” Granny Parker said feeling like a useless old woman.

Dan laughed and said, “You? A burden? Tell me another joke.”

A look of irritation flashed over her face at his reaction and then she laughed. She said, “You wouldn’t be saying that if I were to move in with you.”

“You’re welcome in my home at any time, for any length of time,” Dan said, taking her hand in both of his.

Granny Parker looked up at Dan and realized he was serious. She asked, “What would your girlfriends say?”

“They’d welcome you to our home and treat you like an honored guest. They all like you, you know,” Dan said.

She believed that they would welcome her with open arms. She said, “You’re a good man, Dan Parker. You do the Parker name proud.”

“Thank you, Granny Parker,” Dan said.

He covered his mouth trying to stifle a yawn. He wished that he had stopped to pick up a cup of coffee on the way to the hospital.

“You look tired,” Granny Parker said looking at the bags under his eyes. He had looked worse, but not in a long time.

Dan shrugged his shoulders and said, “I didn’t make it home until three this morning.”

“Was there a problem at the pizzeria?”

“No, I was helping a friend,” Dan said.

“You should have stayed in bed for an extra hour rather than come by here,” Granny Parker said.

It always amazed her to what lengths he would go to help out a friend. It was rather humbling to watch. It was even more humbling to experience firsthand how freely he gave his help.

“I wanted to see you,” Dan said.

The comment about seeing her reminded him that he usually saw Ernie here at this time of the morning. That was particularly true when the young man was supposed to help open the store with him.

He looked around and asked, “Where’s Ernie?”

“He was here earlier, but had to leave to take care of some family matter. It was something about taking his sister-in-law to the doctor,” Granny Parker answered.

Dan nodded his head and said, “I understand that his sister-in-law is pregnant.”

“He told me that, but the baby isn’t due for another seven months,” Granny Parker said.

“Really? It takes that long to have a baby delivered once you put in an order for one? You’d think that with the internet and just in time warehousing that they’d be able to fed-ex one to you overnight,” Dan said winking at her.

She laughed and said, “I’m going to tell your girlfriends that one.”

“They already know that I’m a hopeless case,” Dan said smiling at her.

Granny Parker leaned to one side and looked past Dan. In a voice that carried across the room, she said, “Come in, Kim.”

Kim looked at her grandmother and then over at Dan. She turned and ran away. Shaking his head, Dan asked, “What’s the matter with her?”

“She thinks you’re stealing her grandmother from her,” Granny Parker answered with a sad shake of her head.

“Really?” Dan asked looking at the door through which Kim had fled.

“She’s a very insecure young lady,” Granny Parker said. She hadn’t realized how insecure Kim was until she had ended up in the hospital. Kim had accused her of liking Dan more than her.

Dan didn’t feel comfortable discussing Kim. Out of politeness, he said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s not your fault,” Granny Parker said thinking that she would have to work on Kim while recovering from her heart attack. It was going to be a tough task building up the young woman to where she could function in life.

She glanced over at the clock and asked, “Shouldn’t you be getting to work?”

“Yes,” Dan said after a glance at the clock. He leaned down and said, “Promise me you’ll let us know how you’re doing.”

“I will. I promise. When I have a good day, I’ll try to swing by the pizzeria for some of those cinnamon twists,” Granny Parker said with a smile.

“Good. I’ll keep you to your promise,” Dan said.

“Now get to your pizzeria. You’ve got a business to run. Worrying about an old lady won’t pay the bills,” Granny Parker said.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Dan said with a wink.

“You’re a good boy,” Granny Parker said as he was leaving the room. He knew that was her way of saying that she loved him.

After stopping off to see Sally, Dan was walking towards the main entrance when Kim stepped out of a hallway in front of him.

She glared at him with her face twisted in rage and shouted, “I hate you.”

“I know,” Dan said shrugging his shoulders.

By all rights he should have hated her, but he didn’t. He tried to decide how he felt about her. The only word that came to mind was indifferent.

“Stay away from my grandmother, you bastard,” Kim shouted with her fists clenched by her sides.