Step into the Sunlight by Mary K. Tilghman

Author:Mary K. Tilghman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Published: 2023-12-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Blue Kangaroo

Before tonight, Paul had never set foot in the Blue Kangaroo. During the season it was packed with college students trying their best to appear cool. Or hot. Or something. He could never figure out what they expected of a beat-up dive bar. After all, the rest of the year the main clientele belonged to the mostly senior citizen motorcycle clubs. People who wore leather. And had tattoos. And a lot of gray hair.

Founded in the 1960s, which sort of explains the odd name, it grew in popularity among bikers who hung out on the Boardwalk all night and slept on the beach all day. The original Blue Kangaroo logo continued to blink on the sign out front, the same hazy blue glow from the tinted light bulbs and the same leather and chrome bar stools, although now the leather was torn, the stuffing was spilling out, and the chrome was more rusty than shiny. Pabst Blue Ribbons, though, only cost a buck.

When the rest of the Boardwalk bars were closing up for the night, the ʼRoo was still packed. Every stool had a butt on it. Tables against the wall were crowded with vacationers, their noses burned and peeling, while around the bar the regulars nursed warm beers and argued politics. Their seats stayed empty only for the occasional five-minute cigarette break in the parking lot.

Open to the elements, the room in summer was humid and hot and in winter, freezing cold, though no one seemed to care.

Paul glanced around, searching for Ava, who asked him to come. He’d agreed after she explained that she and her mother were catering Charlie’s beach barbecue. Paul had turned down his own invitation to the party, deciding his time was better spent at the museum. He wanted to paint the walls the carpenter had just finished so the place would be ready when the exhibits were delivered in the next week or so.

For some reason he couldn’t explain, he couldn’t say no when Ava suggested stopping there after the party. Though it wasn’t a date—she’d been clear about that—he was happy to grab any chance to spend time with her. He didn’t want to rush the summer away but their Labor Day appointment was worth looking forward to.

It was a big step, a positive one. Maybe he’d finally grown out of that awkward adolescent stage when Ava looked past him to gaze at his twin brother. He couldn’t bear that kind of humiliation then. The thing was, he didn’t worry about it now. She was the one, after all, who cajoled him into coming.

Only one spot was left open at the crowded bar when he entered. On the stool to Paul’s left, a man dressed in a black T-shirt and torn jeans peeled the label off his bottle of Pabst. A shiny black motorcycle helmet rested at his elbow.

The man glanced over then slapped Paul on the back. “Hey, Paul.”

Paul did a double take. “Father, what are you doing here?”

Sean took a pull on his PBR.

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