Beyond Ordinary

He was taller than she’d remembered, and lean. For a nerd, he walked with a surprising athletic grace.

When he got close enough for her to see his eyes behind the wire-rimmed glasses, she realized they were chocolate-brown. He wasn’t fast enough in masking his look of admiration of her.

It warmed her. It shouldn’t have.

Timm fit into this town too well.

She didn’t.

“Hi,” she said. Brilliant. Wow, it wasn’t like her to be tongue-tied. But she didn’t want to say anything that would make her look stupid in front of this guy. He was too smart.

“Sheriff Kavenagh saw your bike out on the highway,” he said.

Angel swallowed. Shit. All she needed was to be fined or arrested for starting a fire during a drought.

“So you told him I tried to burn it?” She couldn’t help the aggression in her tone.

“No,” he said. He shifted his gaze away from her, studied the shops across the street, wouldn’t look her in the eye.

“You didn’t? Why not?”

He shrugged. “I was there to stop the fire, so no problem.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled. There was a whole lot more she should say, but the words wouldn’t come out. “Well. I gotta go.” She stepped toward the Roadhouse door.

“The bar’s not open for another hour.” Something in his voice—disapproval, maybe—set her hackles on edge.

“I’m heading in for a job.”

“You don’t want to do that.” The helpful man of a minute ago was gone, replaced by a hard-edged judgmental prude.

“How is it any of your business?”

“I plan to close this place down.”

“Why would you close Chester’s?”

“You saw the bikers last night. They’re ruining the town. Decent people stay away.”

The implication being that she wasn’t decent. Surprise, surprise. The town’s attitude hadn’t changed about her. Why should it have?

Timm had always seemed different, though—smarter—and she was disappointed to find he was no better than the rest of Ordinary’s residents.

Obviously, attending college made no difference in how the townspeople viewed her. They still had her pegged as the trailer-trash girl with the slutty mother.

“Great talking to you,” she said, her sarcasm tainting the sunny day.

Without a word, his expression flattened, and he turned and walked away.

Angel opened the door of Chester’s Roadhouse, irritated by Timm’s assessment of her. Seemed that, in his eyes, the bar was exactly where she belonged.

Stepping into the dark interior, Angel shook off her funk. She gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness. It was at least ten degrees cooler in here than outside, thank goodness. Must cost Chester a fortune to air-condition, though.

The place smelled like beer.

Chester had spent his money freely decorating the huge room. Red leather and oak booths lined two walls. The center of the room housed chairs padded with the same upholstery surrounding large round tables.

Angel approached the bar.

Chester was doing well for himself. The bar must bring in good money.

“Hey, Freddy,” she said to the bartender, recognizing him from school. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?”

“Hi, Angel.” Freddy was a good guy, not too handsome, but not ugly, either. He leaned on the bar and assessed her. “You’re looking well. College treated you okay?”

Angel ignored her spurt of guilt for not finishing and smiled. “I did all right there.”

“What can I get you? Bar isn’t open yet, but I can pour you a soft drink.”

“Thanks, but nothing. I’m here to see Chester.”

Freddy indicated a nearby archway. “Down the hall, last door on your left. Should be open.”

Angel made her way to Chester’s office, where she found him sitting in a leather office chair behind a huge desk covered with piles of papers.

She rapped on his open door. “Hey, Chester.”

He looked up, startled, and smiled. “Angel. I didn’t have a chance to talk to you. When did you blow back into town?”

Angel smiled. “Last night. I’m here for the bartending job in the paper.”

Chester leaned back in the chair and wrapped his fingers behind his head. It made his biceps look huge. Angel totally understood Mama’s crush on him.

“How’s Missy?” he asked quietly. He always asked about Mama.

“As good as can be, considering who’s living with her right now.”

“Yeah, I hear you.” He frowned. “Hey, I thought you finished college. Is the economy so bad you can’t get a job even with a degree?”

Angel sat in the chair in front of the desk. “I’m hanging around for the summer. To help Mama with the wedding and to take care of her place while she and Phil take a honeymoon.” The lies rolled off her tongue easily. If she felt any guilt about lying to a good friend like Chester, she ignored it.

Chester shuffled papers on his desk. He blushed the way he always did when Missy was around.

“So, I see you’ve got Freddy working behind the bar. What hours do you need me for?”

“Freddy’s going to night school.”

“No kidding? What’s he studying?”