Chapter 2

Jon had a good little buzz going on, the game was getting good and Colleen kept his glass filled.  Though he was beginning to suspect that she was starting to water them down by about the sixth JD and Cokes. 

As part of her usual routine Colleen put on a pot of coffee.   Robert should’ve been back by now, but a vibration in her back pocket, proved that he wasn’t coming back tonight.  She watched Blue Eyes and could tell he was ready for some of her strong coffee, granted she had started to ease up on the Jack Daniels and the last one was mostly coke and not even a splash of Jack.

She poured the coffee into the cup and brought it over to him.

“Here ya go Blue Eyes, nice and strong.”  She leaned on the counter and watched him take a small taste.

Soon it was closing time, she called cabs for some of the regulars she knew had dropped their keys into the designated driver box on the bar.  She kept Blue Eyes coffee fresh as she flashed the lights for the regulars.

“Okay gents time to head on home. I got five sets of keys and there are five drivers waiting.”  She came up to Blue Eyes.  “I take it you’re okay to drive home Blue Eyes?”

“Name’s Jon and I don’t have far to go, just down Beach road.” Jon told her, waiting to see if the location would give him away.  She hadn’t let on she knew who he was.

“Nice to meet you Jon, just be careful, the police will be out in droves down here in the club area.”  She walked him to the door so she could lock it up.  Pulling his Black Card out and handed it back.  She watched him hesitate at the door.

He didn’t want to leave, going back to that empty house made him feel cold inside.  He stopped with his hand on the knob.

“Want to join me for some early breakfast? I know a place nearby that has the best omelets in town!”  Jon shocked himself in asking.

“I need to clean up first, Robert won’t like coming in tomorrow to a dirty bar.” Colleen told him.  She had an idea once he came in who he was. There was talk around the bar that he had been seen around town with his sons. 

“I can help.”  God, did that sound as needy to her and it did to him?

“You can start in here.”  Colleen told him as she carried a pan load of dishes to the kitchen.

While Jon put the chairs up on the tables, she loaded the dishwasher.  Soon she was coming back in, he was sweeping up the floor.  She had heard through the grapevine that he and his late wife had a restaurant here at one time, but manual labor?

She had filled the mop bucket and started going behind him, nice view.

Soon they were walking out of the bar, Colleen locked the door, and the only cars in the lot were theirs.

“I’ll follow you, it would save me from coming back here for my car.”  Colleen pulled out her keys. 

“Okay, it’s not far.”  Jon smiled.  He waited till she got in her car before getting in his.

The drive wasn’t long, and in a few minutes they turned into a private driveway.  Colleen figured this was where they would end up, she knew most of the diners down in town, and she had worked many of them since she finished high school and gone to college.  The house was really grand, as most of the houses on Lilly Pond were. 

“Nice place.”  She said as he let her in.

“Too big now,” He never admitted it before, but with it being just him and his younger two, they didn’t need six bedrooms. “The kitchen is through here.”  They walked through the living room and family room to the kitchen. 

Colleen was looking around the house, nice but big.  “What can I do to help?”  She asked as she stopped in the doorway to the designer kitchen.

“You don’t have to do anything, you’ve waited on people all night.”  Jon told her as he raided the fridge. 

“Let me at least make coffee.”  She felt strange sitting at the bar watching him load his arms with stuff to cook.

He smiled and set the coffee bag for the fridge on the counter near her. 

“Okay coffee, because you make it the way I like it.”  Jon laughed as he placed the other stuff on the counter by the stove top.  Pulling out bowls, cutting board, knifes and frying pans.

Colleen walked over to the spaceship he used as a coffee pot and measured out coffee and started the brew, as Jon mixed the chopped veggies in with the eggs, pouring the mixture into a sizzling pan.

Coming back to sit at the bar, she watched him flip the eggs in the pan.

“This kitchen is to die for, do you like to cook?” she listened to him hum as he cooked.

“My former wife had a decorator come in and do this place decked out like Architectural Digest Magazine kitchen, this is not my choice.”  He turned the huge omelet out on one plate and cut it in two. 

“That looks yummy.”  She watched him put half on another plate.

“We can take this out to the patio if you like?”  He asked her as he came around the counter.

“Sounds nice, you take the plates and I’ll bring the coffee.”  She told him as she grabbed the two mugs and followed him out the doors. 

The crashing waves were all the music they needed. They talked about their families, he talked about his kids, and she told him about her brother and her soon to be born niece or nephew.

“You don’t have to work tomorrow do you?”  Jon asked her as they took their plates back into the kitchen.  She started to wash the plates and mugs.  “Leave those, I can wash them later.”

“I’m just about done.  I have to be at the bar tomorrow, another child birth class.”  Colleen told him.  She was going to get her brother to hire a bartender when she went back to her day job.  “I go back to my seven to six job in about four weeks.  He’s gonna have to hire another bartender.”

“They won’t be as good as you, those men won’t be too happy not to have you there.”  Jon told her as he helped her by and put the plates and mugs in the dish drain to dry.  She had grabbed the frying pan and had it waiting to be dried.  This was something he missed, doing the dishes with Dot. They would talk about the day’s events and upcoming school projects.

“Oh, I’ll still be around. Maybe not every night, my day job starts back up soon.”  She leaned on the counter.

The kitchen got quiet as they had nothing to do.  They were saved by the cell phone ring, his.

“Yeah,” Jon knew from the caller ID it was Jake.

“Hey Dad, Do you want Mrs. Green to bring us home?” Jake asked his dad.

Jon looked over at Colleen, he really didn’t want the day to end.  They had talked the rest of the night away and the sun had come up while they did the dishes.

“Sure Jake, if she can.”  Jon watched Colleen gather her purse.  He held up his hand to keep her from leaving.

“Okay Dad, see you soon.”  Jake said as he hung up.

He ended the call.

“That was my son, Jake, he and his brother have been spending the night with friends.”  Jon said as he walked with her to the front door. 

“That’s great, that they have friends here.”  Colleen told him.

“Yeah, we used to spend the summers here.  Besides school friends, they don’t have many close ones.  So it’s great that they have them here.” Jon answered her.

They had spent most of the early morning talking, but she really didn’t know him or he her.  They got to her car and he helped her in holding the door for her.

“You going to be okay driving?” he asked Colleen as she got in and rolled the window down.

“I’ll be fine, I’m staying right in town till I head back home.”  She told him, looking up into his eyes, damn he had such gorgeous blue eyes.

“Okay, be careful.”  He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss goodbye.  He had thought of it all night.

“I will.”  She started the car. 

“I’ll see you before you leave.”  He told her as she put the car in reverse.

“I hope so.” She said as she headed back to her rented apartment over the bar.

Her brother finally hired a new bartender, and she was all packed and ready to head back to the city. She would miss the beach and all the regulars that came in every night.  She had hoped to see Jon before she left.  She looked for him to come to the bar, sad that he hadn’t.  Oh well, maybe she saw more into their one night that he didn’t see.

She had her back to the bar when a voice asked.

“Can I get a Jack and Coke?” 

Without turning around she smiled.

“Sure Blue Eyes.”