Page 76 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Taylor

I hang up ainst the bar The wood doesn’t bite asI’d blackout for a couple minutes or—even better—experience a nice bout of aet who I ahtmare

Angrier than ever, I clutch rip, wondering how close I a it Surely it’s not that hard Just…a little…tighter The phone stares back at h just as a glass hits the bar near my head

“These are on the house”

I crane lass full of ed farther inbartender

“Aren’t those always on the house?” I reer out on the wrong person

“For paying custo to take them back

Shaken by the idea that he’s going to revoke his offer and steal ill likely be lass away fro since I’ve felt gratitude that I don’t think I achieve the desired effect My teeth are clenched in more of a pseudo-snarl rather than an actual smile He shootsdown to the other end of the bar to unpack some new bottles of liquor

He’s new here, a bear of a man as old as my father—or as old as my father would be if he were around I reach for a cherry and pop it into ue and I wish the usual bartender were here David gets it He grew up in Oak Dale too He would have heardon the bar and knoithout having to ask, that another piece of my life had crumbled at my feet He wouldn’t have bothered with cherries, would have offered ht have taken him up on it

Then, he would have gone down the list

“How’s your mom?” he would have asked

“Two years sober next month”

“Sister?”