“Yes,” Kate said. “Sally’s not coming back for a week.”

“You’re doing a great job,” Jake said. “A couple of people mentioned it last night.”

“Thank you,” Kate said.

“I’ll beat you at pool again tonight.”

“No, thanks,” Kate said. “I’m going over the books with Nancy.”

“Oh, right.” Jake drank some of his beer. “So you’ve found a way to save the bar from the Yankees.”

“ Nancy ’s not worried about the Yankees,” Kate said. “She’d just like to make a little more money, and I can show her some ways to make the bar pay better.”

“You and Valerie,” Jake said, and then spilled his beer when Kate surged up from her seat.

“I am not Valerie,” she said through her teeth.

“Damn it, Kate! That was good beer,” Jake said, sitting up and trying to blot the beer up with his shirt. “Of course you’re not Valerie. Will you please snap out of it? So you’re not getting married this week. You’ll find some sucker in the city and be married before the year’s over.”

“I don’t want to marry some sucker,” Kate said. “Stop trying to get rid of me.”

“I’m not trying to get rid of you. Hell, I gave you beer.” He glared at her again. “Why are we fighting?”

“I don’t know.” Kate sank back down into her cushions. “Maybe Penny had the right idea.”

“What right idea would that be?” Jake asked, opening another beer.

“She’s getting married and having twelve children and not working.”

“So she’s up here looking, too? Maybe I should mention this to Will. Could be a whole new slant to our advertising.”

“No, she’s already engaged,” Kate said. “He agrees absolutely that she shouldn’t work. I can find men like that. Maybe I’m just asking too much.”

“I thought Penny was the little blonde who was dating everybody in the hotel,” Jake said, confused.

“She is.”

“And she’s engaged?”

“It’s all right. She’s just dating, and he knows about it.”

Jake frowned. “And I thought only you got engaged to weirdos.”

“They weren’t that bad,” Kate said, staring up at the sky. “I left Terence because he didn’t want me to work.”

“What a fool he must have been,” Jake said. “You won’t catch me stopping a woman from supporting me.”

“I can’t believe Penny doesn’t want to work.” Kate shaded her eyes and looked at Jake. “She wants to be a housewife.”

“So?” Jake tilted his can and drank. “It’s not prostitution. Leave her alone.”

“Women fought for years so we could have careers,” Kate said. “She’s throwing it all away.”

“I thought women fought for the right to choose to work,” Jake said, putting his can back in the cooler. “I thought it was all about choice.”

“You don’t understand,” Kate said.

“Sure, I do.” Jake leaned back on the cushions. “In the bad old days, men kept women from choosing to work. In the bad new days, women keep women from choosing to stay home.”

Kate opened her mouth and then shut it again.

“Come on,” Jake said. “Tell me I’m a sexist pig.”

“I’m a sexist pig,” Kate said. “And a snob. And I’m not too bright.”

“Oh, hell,” Jake said, lying back down. “I like you a lot better when you’re calling me names.”

“I’m trying to do better,” Kate said.

“Well, stop it.” Jake pulled his hat over his eyes. “You were fine before.”

Kate watched him try to fall asleep. He was right. Self-pity was boring. So she’d made a few mistakes. A lot of mistakes. She still had more than a week of vacation in front of her. She had Penny to laugh with, and Nancy to plan with, and Jake to drift on the lake with every morning.

She nudged him with her foot.

“What?” he said.

“Can I come out on the lake with you again tomorrow?”

He tipped his hat back. “Depends. Are you going to be over this poor-little-me fit by then?”

“I’m over it now. Thanks for the sympathy.”

“You need sympathy like you need Derek and Terence and Paul. Are you playing pool with me tonight or not?”

“Yes,” Kate said. “But I’m going to win.”

“Oh?” Jake looked amused. “And what makes you think that?”

Kate batted her eyes at him once. “I’m not going to wear any underwear.”

Jake looked at her for a moment and then pulled his hat back over his face. “Me neither,” he said.


Wednesday night, things were always slow, Nancy told her. They used the time to clean and restock, talking and laughing together about disastrous dates past and future, and she gradually forgot to feel guilty about Rick. The bar was quiet with the low murmur of voices and the faint click of the balls from the pool table. As the time drew close to ten and all but the regulars had filtered out, Kate looked around and realized she knew everyone in the room by name.

She leaned on the bar and smiled at them all. Nancy, Jake, Will, Ben, Thelma, Henry, Early. Friends. Her eyes swept again to the back of the room where Jake was playing pool with Ben. He always looked taller and broader from the back. He was so easygoing and he always seemed to be just a minute away from laughing, and she’d look at his face and forget he was so big. But he was.

Then he bent over to make a shot, and his jeans stretched tight across his rear end. Nice rear end. She remembered how warm he’d been on top of her. If he were anybody but Jake…

“Don’t lean over the counter like that. You’re giving Rollie Beamis a heart attack,” Nancy said.

“I love it.” Kate turned around. “I know it’s unliberated of me, but I love being a hot blonde in a low-cut top. I especially love it because I’m thirty-five. I figured sexual magnetism had passed me by, and now here it comes when I least expected it.”

“I don’t see why it’s unliberated,” Nancy said.

“I think the idea is to use your mind for power, not your body.”

“Why? Men use their bodies to intimidate people every day.”

“I don’t think it’s the same thing.”

“Honey, use what the good Lord gave you, and since he did give you plenty, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t give others the pleasure of the scenery. Besides, the profits are up considerably since you started bending over the tables.”

“Well, hell, let’s shorten our skirts, then.” Kate grinned at her.

“Is that part of this plan?” Nancy said, pulling Kate’s notes out from under the bar.

“No,” Kate said. “This plan is boring and practical. For instance, did you ever think about buying your liquor in bulk with Will up at the hotel?”

“No,” Nancy said. “Why should I?”

“Major savings,” Kate said. “Look…” She pulled her notes around and showed Nancy her figures.

“Where’d you get these numbers?” Nancy asked.

“From Will.” Kate jerked her thumb toward the back of the bar where Will was sitting. “He’s enthusiastic about the idea. And he said there’s no problem with storing your overstock up there.”

“You talked about this with him?”

“Shouldn’t I have?” Kate looked uneasy. “He had the numbers. It’s just a suggestion.”

“No,” Nancy said. “No, it’s great. I’m just not used to having somebody else doing things about my bar.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Kate said. “I just asked him.”

“Kate, it’s all right. In fact, it’s great,” Nancy smiled at her. “In fact, it’s more than great, it’s wonderful. It’s just that I’ve done everything by myself for so long, I was surprised.”

“Well, you’re going to do this by yourself, too,” Kate said, turning to the back of the bar. “Let me get Will, and you can work this out.”

“No, wait.” Nancy caught her arm. “Show me the rest of the stuff you’ve cooked up first.”

They bent over the plans again.

Half an hour later, Nancy leaned on the bar and said, “This is amazing.”

“Well, if you like that, look at this,” Kate said, and pulled out her master plan. “If you doubled the size of the bar, put in a stage and dance area, and added another twenty tables, you could handle the hotel overflow crowd. Your profits should-”

“Wait a minute,” Nancy said, laughing. “Where would I get that kind of money? And how could I manage that big a place?”

Kate sighed. “I had a feeling you’d say that. I have this tendency to look at the bottom line and see profits first.” She smiled. “I may have caught Will’s employ-the-universe disease, too. This would create a few more jobs around here, give local bands some exposure, and bring more people down into town to see the shops. I just never stopped to think that it would also make life a lot more complex for you.”

“Let me see that plan again,” Nancy said.

Kate handed it over and shook her head. “You’re right. You couldn’t do it alone.” She hesitated. “Do you suppose maybe Ben might help you manage the bar?”

“Only over my dead body,” Nancy said absentmindedly while she studied Kate’s notes. “One of the reasons we’ve been married for twenty years is that he has his life and I have mine. Twenty-four hours of togetherness would break us up in no time. And besides, I like running this place by myself. I don’t need anybody else in here confusing me.”

“Oh,” Kate said. “Well, it was just a thought. I’ll go get Will and you can talk over the liquor problem.”

“You know, if I had the money for this…” Nancy began, but Kate was already gone.


At ten-thirty, Nancy called last drinks, and Kate dropped her tray on the bar.

“My feet are killing me,” she said.

“Well, if you hadn’t spent the morning hiking…” Nancy began.

“Is there anything that escapes this town?” Kate asked.

“Nope,” Nancy said. “Who’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”

“No one.” Kate shook her head. “I’ve maimed enough hotel guests. I’m retiring. Besides, watching you and Ben has spoiled me. I’m holding out for love, and I don’t think that comes with my plan.” She leaned her back against the bar. “Although I’ve got to admit, I love being a local sex symbol. I can flirt with everybody and not get in trouble.”