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younger version from the ER days.”
    When the tongue-tied men didn’t respond, she continued, “Can I get you guys something to drink? You look hot.” The double meaning was as see-through as the thin material on her tight shirt. She knew how to get a tip.
    “Corona would be great, eh.” Chuck stuttered.
    “Make that two,” Billy seconded.
    “Two cool drinks for two hot guys, coming up,” she flirted some more, flashed her tip-maker smile, then drifted gracefully toward the mariachi music in the distance.
    “I work with her,” Chuck explained, “She’s a…”
    “Guilty pleasure?”
    “No, she’s…”
    “A divorce lawyers dream?”
    He shook his head. “She lives down the street from us. Goes to Duke—it’s her last weekend before returning. A little spoiled, but a nice kid.”
    “Well, with her…umm…assets, I doubt she has trouble picking up some extra spending money for school.”
    “I don’t think she needs the money. Her father is Carl Scroggins.”
    “As in Carl ‘Kat’ Scroggins, the music producer?” Billy asked with surprise. “You’re neighbor is Kat Scroggins?”
    “Not bad, eh?” Chuck said with a big grin.
    “Then what is she doing working in a dingy bar on a Saturday night?”
    “She dates the owner, Sal Durazzo. He owns a chain of these places down the east coast and is worth a mint. He’s this wannabe mobster twice her age. In other words, he has the most important element any ultra-spoiled twenty-one-year-old is seeking.”
    “Money? Power?”
    “No—he really pisses off her father,” he replied with a chuckle.
    Billy remembered being the guy who pissed off Kelly’s father. And the more he despised him, the tighter Kelly gripped onto Billy.
    Chuck dug into the complimentary chips parked in the center of the table. “So where were we?” he asked, dipping a chip into guacamole and jamming it into his mouth.
    “I think you were going to tell me why Beth blames herself for Carolyn’s behavior issues and fevers.”
    “No, I think I’m all talked-out about my family. I believe I was about to ask you why you still carry around photos of your ex-wife. Seems a little strange for someone who doesn’t look in the rear-view mirror to avoid the past.”
    Billy felt the lump coming on. He reached for a beer that wasn’t there. His voice cracked, “Even if you hide the past away, it’s always lurking.”
    Then, like a blonde life raft, Kaylee magically re-appeared, holding Corona bottles with green slices of lime attached to their spouts.
    “So I hear you go to Duke,” Billy made mindless conversation, attempting to avoid any discussion of the aftermath of Hurricane Kelly.
    “ Shhh —don’t tell anyone I’m smart. It’ll ruin my image,” she said playfully. “I leave Monday to go back.”
    “According to Billy’s secret photos, he went to Ohio State,” Chuck said with a grin. “I, myself, am a proud graduate of the School of Hard Knocks.”
    “That was a really long time ago,” Billy deflected.
    “I love older guys,” Kaylee replied with an alluring smile. “Do you like smart girls, Billy?”
    “I’m not that old.”
    “Well, I’m not that smart,” she said, flirtatiously tapping him on the arm. She then sauntered back to the bar and Billy couldn’t help but watch.
    Billy never had a problem attracting the opposite sex. But he was never the aggressor. Problem was, he usually ended up with the most aggressive one, not the best one. Kelly popped into his mind once again.
    The cold Corona went down smooth on the hot, sticky night. Billy drank two for every one Chuck consumed. He figured if Chuck even gave a distant hint of being hung-over for his daughter’s birthday, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Which would be a moot point anyway, since Beth would kill him.
    Chuck then said, “Your fan club is approaching at twelve o’clock, George Clooney.”
    Billy looked up to see Kaylee heading back toward them. He wasn’t sure if Chuck was