Burnt

by Lacy Hart

  “Ladies, this is Abby, my granddaughter,” she said introducing her to us. “She’s working here tonight bussing tables. Abby, this is Ms. Connors and Ms. Ingram. They are both teachers at the middle school here.”

  “Nice to meet you both,” Abby said politely as she gently placed the basket of bread on the table.

  “Nice to meet you, Abby,” Mary chimed in as I stared at Abby in awkward silence. I wanted to say something to her, but nothing seemed to be coming out of my mouth.

  Maggie could see I was a little taken aback. “Abby, Ms. Ingram is an old friend of your dad’s,” she said.

  “Oh yeah?” Abby said with interest as she turned her attention to me. “I haven’t met many people that knew Dad when he was younger, other than Grandma,” she said with a small smile. “So what was he like when he was my age?”

  “Well,” I managed to croak out. “We weren’t very good friends until we got older,” I said to her, feeling my face redden. “We did know each other when we were younger, but we didn’t hang out much. I do remember that your Dad was always friendly and nice to me though.”

  “Too bad,” she said to me. “I was hoping for some dirt on him,” she said with a bigger grin. I laughed out loud, feeling a little better.

  “Okay Abby, back to work,” Maggie said to her, hustling her back towards the kitchen.

  “Nice to meet you both!” Abby shouted as she moved away.

  “Well at least you know he’s still around if his daughter is still here,” Mary said to me, snapping me out of my haze.

  “That’s true,” I replied. “But I think that makes me feel more nervous because it means Travis is more likely to show up here.”

  Patty appeared at our table once again. “Would you ladies like some refills?” she asked us.

  “Yes, please” I whispered as I shakily held up my empty glass.

  “One more for me to Patty,” Mary said to her, handing her the Cosmo glass.

  Patty walked away from us towards the bar. I could see the place had filled up quite a bit by now, and there were even people waiting around at the front for tables. The bar was filled as well, making it harder to make out faces of who was here. Would I even recognize Travis if I saw him now? I had no idea what he looked like now, or if he looked the same. I kept looking around the room and then shooting frantic looks back to Mary.

  “You need to relax Sophie,” Mary said to me.

  Just then a tall figure appeared next to our table, casting a shadow over the table itself.

  “Patty was busy, so she asked me to bring the drinks over,” the voice said as I saw the hand place the Cosmo down in front of Mary. I looked up as I saw the glass of red wine coming towards me. I mindlessly took it in my hand as I was scanning the room. As I tried to pull the glass away, I felt some resistance from the hand holding it and looked up.

  “Hello, Sophie,” he said to me.

  I could see those green eyes and instantly knew it was Travis. I slowly drew my hand back, trying not to spill the red wine as I put the glass down on the table. He was taller than I remembered and seemed more muscular as well as he stood with his broad shoulders. He was wearing a blue dress shirt and blue jeans, and his brown hair was shorter now than I recall it being in years past, but there was no doubt it was him. He smiled down at me, waiting for some sort of response from me.

  I was stumbling for words, too shocked that he was really here, in front of me. I then felt Mary kick me underneath the table to jolt me back to reality.

  “Hello… hello Travis,” I said to him very quietly. I brushed the hair out of my face, wishing I had looked different somehow right now. “It’s been a long time.”

  He stood tall next to our table and smiled at me again.

  “It has. Way too long of a time,” Travis said.

  I could feel his eyes on me, looking up and down. I tried not to look right at him, feeling like I wouldn’t be able to handle it, to be strong like I should. Just having him next to me was making me feel weak. I wanted to just stand up and let him take me in his arms, and it was taking all I could to stop making a fool of myself. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Mary could see what was happening and intervened.

  “Hi, I’m Mary Connors,” she said to Travis, sticking her hand out to break the spell between Travis and myself.

  “Hello Mary,” Travis said politely as he shook her hand gently but firmly. I looked over at Mary and could see her making eyes at him, making me feel a tinge of jealousy right away.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you Travis,” Mary said with a smile as she looked at me now. I knew I was blushing deeply now, feeling embarrassed that she had revealed to Travis that I talked about him.

  “Really?” he said with a question, looking back at me, and then over to Mary. I thought I detected a slight blush on his cheeks as well. “All good things I hope,” he said with a laugh. He had crossed his arms over his chest now, I could see how muscular his forearms looked.

  “Oh yes,” Mary told him. “Definitely all good things.”

  “I would love to stay here and chat with you Sophie, but I’m tending bar tonight for my Mom, and it looks like they need me back there,” Travis said to me, with disappointment on his face. I glanced over at the bar and saw two of the waitresses frantically waving to him. “Do you think… do you think you could come over to the bar to see me before you left?” he asked me.

  My heart practically jumped out of my chest.

  “Sure, I think I could do that,” I said to him, trying to sound casual about it.

  “That would be great,” Travis said. I could feel him looking deeply into my eyes as I stared back at him. “I’ll talk to you later then,” he said to me. “It was nice to meet you, Mary,” he said to Mary as he tapped his hand on the table.

  “Great to meet you, Travis,” Mary said, trying to contain herself.

  I watched Travis walk away towards the bar. He met the two waitresses and took their orders right away, and I couldn’t help but notice he was staring at me the whole time he was making the drinks they needed.

  I looked over at Mary. Her mouth was hanging open a bit and then she broke out in a smile as I took a sip of my wine.

  “Oh my God Sophie,” she said to me in a hushed tone. “ He is so hot! How did you walk away from that?”

  I had to agree with Mary. Travis looked better than he ever had in the past. “Well, he was handsome back then, but now…” I heard my voice trailing off as I looked at him again. I could see him smile at me from behind the bar as he poured a beer for a patron. “Anyway, there were other circumstances involved back then. Things are different now.”

  “They sure are,” Mary said as she turned and looked over at the bar. She turned back to face me. “He can’t take his eyes off you, Sophie.”

  I don’t think I had ever felt happier in my life. Mary and I kept staring at him until Patty came over and broke up the party with our food.

  “Burger medium,” she said, sliding the plate in front of Mary, “and a Cobb salad with house dressing,” she said, placing the plate in front of me. Patty saw us staring at Travis behind the bar.

  “Oh yeah, the bartender tonight,” she said as she turned and stared as well. “That’s Maggie’s son Travis. He’s pretty hot, and a real sweetheart too. All the girls have been swooning over him all night long. I hear he is single too,” Patty said with more than a little interest. I could feel my jealousy rearing up again.

  “Is that so?” Mary said to Patty as she picked at her fries.

  “Yeah,” Patty said as she squatted down next to the table to talk to us more privately. “his daughter is working with us tonight too. She’s sweet. He’s raised her all on his own. He’d be quite a catch.” Patty sighed as she looked over at Travis.

  “Patty,” I interrupted her gaze, “ can I get a glass of water please?” I said to her curtly.

  “Sure Ms. Ingram, no problem,” Patty said as she rose from her crouch and headed off to the kitchen.
/>   “Looks like you have competition,” Mary said sarcastically.

  I slowly picked at my salad, finding it hard to concentrate on my meal at all. I kept glancing over at the bar to see what Travis was doing. Most of the time he was just chatting up the customers behind the bar, getting their drinks, keeping them happy. He would look over my way when he had a lull behind the bar, I would find myself quickly looking down at my food every time he did it.

  “You’re acting like you’re one of the girls in our classes,” Mary said to me as she finished polishing off her burger.

  “I… I can’t help it,” I said to her, admitting how I was feeling. I couldn’t get over the fact that he was here, he saw me, and he wanted to talk to me later. How was I going to manage to wait the whole time until there was a lull in the restaurant?

  “I guess we’ll be ordering dessert tonight,” Mary said with a laugh.

  “And coffee too,” I told her. “Lots of coffee.”

  15

  Travis

  The night couldn’t end fast enough for me. Every time I looked up from the bar, I could see Sophie sitting there, watching me, smiling at me. It made it difficult for me to concentrate on anything else, like making sure everyone got their drinks. It had been a long while since I was behind a bar outside of one of our firehouse parties, and the rust showed as people asked me for drinks that I used to know how to make without thinking about it. Thankfully, those moments were few and far between, and it was mostly a beer and wine crowd, so I was able to keep up pretty well.

  My biggest worry now was what I was going to say to Sophie. I had asked her to stay so we could talk, and clearly, she and her friend Mary were just trying to string the evening along until I was free to meet with her, but I had no idea what I was going to say. I had appeared pretty confident when I went over to bring them their drinks, and I thought I held everything together pretty well. We both seemed to be in awe of each other, and I saw that at one point as she struggled for words as well. But now, when she would decide to come over, I needed to come up with something.

  Sophie and Mary had been sitting there for hours now, having a slow dessert, coffee, more coffee, and then Mary started ordering drinks again. Even though the restaurant was thinning out, the bar still had few stools in use, so I was occupied. It was closing in on eleven, and I didn’t know how much longer Sophie would be willing to wait. Mom usually closed up by midnight at the latest so it might not be too much longer.

  A familiar face came in then and sat at the bar. It was Danny Seaver, a friend from high school who I hadn’t seen in many years. He still looked the same as he did back when we were both on the wrestling team. Danny had been better than I was, stronger and faster, and won a couple of state titles along the way. He even got a scholarship to one of those big Midwest powerhouse wrestling schools, but he blew out his knee in one match in his junior year, and that was the end of him. Mom had told me a while back that he had a successful contracting business in town now and everyone local used his services.

  “Travis?” Danny said to me as he sat at the bar and took off his ballcap. His brown hair was starting to thin a bit already even though he was my age. He stuck his hand out for me to shake it and I could feel he still had a very strong grip, and his calloused hands were a clear sign he worked hard each day.

  “Hey Danny, it’s great to see you,” I said to him as I poured a beer and handed it off to the guy two seats away from him.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked quizzically. “I haven’t seen you in Canon for years.”

  “Yeah I was back in town to see my Mom and take care of a few things, and she needed some help at the bar tonight, so here I am.”

  Danny indicated he wanted a beer, so I poured him a lager into a pint glass and passed it over to him.

  “How're things going?” he asked as he sipped his beer. “I heard you were a fireman over in Ridgefield.”

  “I was,” I told him. “I got hurt on the job a few months back, and I had to retire.” That was the first indication I had given to anyone that I was going to retire. It was odd to hear myself say it out loud, but I guess I had to get used to it.

  “That sucks,” Danny said. “Any ideas of what you are doing next?” He took another long sip of beer.

  “Not really,” I said, shaking my head. “I have my pension and disability, so we’ll be okay. I have some time yet. Besides, I have to do some work on my Dad’s house too.”

  “Oh that’s right,” Danny told me, looking serious. “I heard about your Dad; I’m sorry about that.”

  “Thanks, Danny.” There was a bit of an awkward silence between us as he sipped his beer some more.

  “What needs to be done at your Dad’s?” he asked me. “I may be able to help you out.”

  “Mom had told me you were a contractor and doing really well,” I said to him.

  Danny smiled proudly back at me. “We’re the best in town,” he said as he handed me a pen imprinted with Seaver Contracting Services on it. ‘So what does the house need?”

  “Surprisingly not that much,” I said to him. “it looks like it’s mostly exterior stuff. The interior looks practically brand new.”

  “Wow, I’m surprised,” Danny said, then felt a bit embarrassed about his comment about my Dad. “Nothing against your Dad, but he never seemed like the DIY guy to me or one that tended to house really well. I know that’s an older house, so I’m surprised it looks so good. I’d be happy to take a look around the place for you if you want, see what it might need.”

  “That would be great, Danny, thanks.” I was grateful for the help, particularly since I knew with my bum leg I might not be able to do much myself. “Should I call your office Monday?” I asked as I looked at the pen.

  “Nah,” he said to me. “I can meet you over there tomorrow morning if you want. It won’t take long just to check things out. Consider it a favor for an old wrestling buddy,” he told me with a smile.

  We spent a few minutes talking about our lives in between me pouring drinks for the few patrons left. Danny was single, divorced a few years ago from a girl he had met in college and brought back to Canon with him. They had two kids that lived with her a couple of states over that he rarely saw. I told him about my exploits with Brenda and how I had Abby now, pointing her out to him proudly as she bussed tables. It was then he noticed me staring over at Sophie.

  “Sophie Ingram, huh?” he said as he saw the look I gave her. “Didn’t you two have a thing years ago?”

  “Yes, we did,” I mumbled, trying to focus on the conversation again. I leaned closer to Danny. “Say, Danny, do you know if she has been seeing anyone?”

  “Sophie?” he said and laughed lightly. “I know plenty of guys who have knocked on that door, but she never answers. To be honest, it’s surprising to see her out around town. She pretty much keeps to herself. Why? You thinking of trying to start up with her again?”

  “I was thinking about it,” I said to him confidently. I looked over at Sophie again and saw her smile again.

  “Well, she seems interested in you,” Danny said with a laugh.

  Just then, Mom came over behind the bar.

  “Last call folks,” she said loudly, much to the disappointment of the few people left at the bar. Most of them headed out right away as Mom walked down to Danny and me.

  “Hi, Danny,” Mom said to him.

  “Nice to see you, Maggie,” Danny told her. “It’s hard to believe you were able to drag him back to town,” Danny said to her.

  “It was easier to get him to do his homework when you two were younger,” she told him with a smirk as she elbowed me.

  I looked up from the bar and saw Sophie walking over towards us. I stood up straight as she came over and stood next to Danny and me.

  “Travis,” she said to me nicely. “I think I need to go. Mary’s had a bit too much, and I’ll have to drive her home in her car and then walk home from there. Is there any time for a quick chat?” she looked at me hop
efully.

  “I’m… I’m not sure if I have to clean up around the bar,” I said as I tried to think fast to give myself to go over what I wanted to say to her.

  “I can take care of the bar,” Mom said to me as she smiled at me.

  I was out of excuses. Danny then stepped up and interjected.

  “I’d be happy to give Mary a ride home,” he said to Sophie and me.

  “Oh that’s sweet of you Danny,” Sophie said. “I don’t want to trouble you.”