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.She can’t take care of you then she nods at me, and believe me, I can.If the lady says she don’t want another kiss from you, I reckon you’d damn sure better not kiss her again.”Cathy was shocked.She had never heard that many words from Tinker all combined, much less at one time.Travis shot her a dirty look and stormed out of the joint.He hadn’t gone into the beer joint with intentions of making anyone angry.He’d thought the kiss was a damn fine one.Why was she so angry? Was the good lookin’ redneck woman married? Shit, was she married to that bouncer? What in the hell had he done?* * *Cathy kicked off her sneakers and propped her feet on a table as she tilted up a longneck bottle of Coors and downed a fourth of it before coming up for air with a big healthy burp.“And that is proof positive that I’m a redneck woman.Happy New Year’s to me.” She raised her bottle high and looked around at the mess.It would take most of the next morning to clean it, but that was the life of a bar owner.Daisy had taught her that in the beginning.Have a beer to relax and go to bed after closing.Get up the next morning to sweep up the mess and mop the floors, restock, and prepare for that night’s business.The Honky Tonk phone sitting on the bar rang and she ran to answer it.Caller ID let her know it was Daisy calling from northern Oklahoma.“Daisy, I survived,” she shouted excitedly into the phone.“I made it through the first big holiday and everything went good all except for one incident.Tinker only had to break up one fight and that was between two women who bared their claws over an old boyfriend.Tinker put them on the porch to cool off and they’d come back inside a few minutes later giggling like schoolgirls with their arms around each other.”“I knew you’d do fine,” Daisy said.“What are you doing still up?” Cathy asked.“Party ain’t over yet here,” Daisy said.“I just wanted to tell you Happy New Year.”Cathy sighed.“I miss you.”“Me too.Now what about the incident?”“I’d love to see your face when I tell it but here goes.” Cathy told her the story of being kissed on the dance floor by Travis Henry.“Did you deck him?” Daisy asked.“No, I didn’t.I was too damned shocked.Remember when we were sixteen and you loaned me that old junker to go to the football game so I could watch Bobby Cole play? Remember he was the quarterback and I had a horrible crush on him?”Daisy giggled.“I remember that you totaled my car.Seems like I do remember you were going to a football game.”“Well, Travis Henry reminded me of that quarterback.I swear the devil sent him here to tempt me.He’s evidently a friend of Angel’s and just passing through.The way his kiss made me go all gushy it’d be better if he wasn’t around.The temptation might send me right into another messy relationship.My lips are still burning like hell from the kiss and that was more than two hours ago.”“Think Chigger’s momma has been praying to God to knock you off the wagon?” Daisy asked.“What wagon? I’m not an alcoholic,” Cathy said.“The WPSA wagon.You know, the Wild Passionate Sex Anonymous wagon,” Daisy teased.“I hadn’t thought of that.I figured she’d be trying to fix me up through Chigger, not praying for me.But one kiss isn’t going to make me fall off my wagon, yet.”“Got to go.Jarod is kissing my neck and, honey, I’m not on the wagon.” Daisy giggled again and the line went dead.Cathy slumped down on the nearest bar stool.Everything changes; everything stays the same.The Honky Tonk hadn’t changed a bit since she’d inherited it.The building was the same old weathered wood saloon it had been for more than forty years.The two jukeboxes still stood on the south wall with the pool tables.The bar still stretched out across the length of the back of the big rectangular room.The neon sign still flashed HONKY TONK from eight o’clock until two.But the customers had changed and yet they stayed the same, if that was possible.Human nature didn’t change with time, blood, or tears.Folks who liked to party and shoot pool stayed the same from one year to the next.Only their faces changed.A picture of Chigger back in her glory days flashed in Cathy’s mind along with her mother and the curse she’d put on the unmarried folks at the reception.Cathy moaned out loud.“I do not want a husband.A nice long affair might be nice, though.Say about six months worth of romping around with Travis Henry in a big king-sized bed or a fancy motel with a Jacuzzi.”She fanned her face with the back of her hand.Get thee behind me, Satan.I’ve sworn off men and besides, the way he kept looking at me says he damn sure wouldn’t be interested in a bartender for anything more than a quick one-night stand.She tipped the bottle back again.She missed Daisy even if she did enjoy having a bed and not having to pull out the sofa bed every night like she did when she and Daisy shared the apartment.She couldn’t wish that things would go back to the way they were because Daisy was so happy.But sitting there in the deafening quietness, she wished she had someone to share the rest of the night with.She looked across the dance floor at the door into her apartment.She didn’t even have to go outside and drive to her home, but the distance from the table to the door looked to be about twenty miles to her sore, tired feet.Back eight years ago when Daisy inherited the apartment with the job, it came with one rule.No men in the apartment.Ruby had told Daisy that she didn’t care if she got laid but to do it in a hayloft or a motel.Somewhere away from the Honky Tonk so she’d have time to think before she acted.Daisy had abided by it and told Cathy that it would save her a ton of heartache if she did the same.The question of whether she would or not had never come up until that moment.Would she let Travis into her apartment if he showed up?A cold breeze waved over Cathy and made her shiver.Does Ruby’s spirit still live in the Tonk? she wondered as she forced her tired legs to stand up and turn off the Honky Tonk lights.Yep, I think it does.It has to be the spirit of the Honky Tonk or else I’d done have that cowboy’s jeans down around his ankles and he’d be on his back in my bed.I’m a grown woman.I don’t pine after what I can’t have.I go after it or I let it go.I’ll decide later which one I intend to do.Probably won’t have to decide though, because he won’t ever come back here again.The living room still had the same leather sofa Daisy had left behind and the entertainment unit that housed a television and a CD player.Cathy had added a rocking chair with bright yellow cushions and a grouping of pictures of her family on the wall behind the sofa.Scented candles were scattered everywhere, aromas blending to give the whole apartment the smell of a candle shop.Cathy looked at the picture of her mother and father on their wedding day.They’d both been gone for several years now, but time hadn’t erased a longing to talk to them.There was an old black and white photo of her grandparents and several of her and Daisy when they were kids: when they went fishing in Grandpa O’Dell’s pond; making cookies with Granny O’Dell; camping out at the foot of the mountain with the whole family.Perched on the television and the end tables were photos of the happy times in Mingus: Cathy and Daisy at Daisy’s wedding the previous fall; one of Cathy just seconds after she caught the bride’s bouquet
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