Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar Read Online Free PDF Page A

arrival curiously. Cam greeted them individually with a high five.
    “What kind of name is Cam?” Olivia asked.
    He shrugged. “It’s my name,” he answered. “A little weird, I guess. But not so bad as it could be. It’s short for Campbell. Not camera, if you were wondering about that. Or camouflage. Or chameleon. It would be tough if my name was short for camel or something like that.”
    The two kids shared a quick, this-guy-is-kind-of-fun glance.
    “I’m Olivia and that’s Daniel. He’s not speaking English today.”
    Cam nodded. “Sometimes I don’t want to speak it, either,” he said to the boy. “So, are you talking at all today?”
    “Solamente español,” he answered.
    “Okay,” Cam answered, and then continued painstakingly. “Mi español no esta buena, pero hablo con mis manos.”
    “You can talk with your hands?” Olivia asked. “Like sign language?”
    “Not exactly sign language,” Cam said. He held up both hands facing each other and flapped the fingers against the thumbs like mouths. “Hey, what are we gonna do? Daniel doesn’t want to speak English and we don’t speak much Spanish…. We can talk to each other in front of him and he can overhear us…. That could work. But what if he wants to say something? He could whisper it to us and we could say it aloud for him…. Yeah, that could work…. Well, let’s get Daniel’s opinion on that…. Could that work for you? What do you think?”
    Both children were laughing.
    Daniel stepped up close to Cam and whispered to one of the hands. “I think this guy is crazy.”
    “Very astute, Daniel,” Cam told him. “You’re pretty smart, huh? Why don’t we get into the van and get your dear granny out of the sunshine before she turns into one giant freckle?”
    The kids giggled again as they hurried to the van. Cam got them inside and admonished them to buckle-up before turning his attention back to Red.
    “Well done,” she said to him.
    Cam shrugged, feigning modesty. “What can I say, kids like me.”
    “Because they sense you’re one of them.”
    He clutched his heart with a groan of pain. “I’m wounded!”
    Red shook her head, refusing to be amused.
    “Just drive my car home,” she said, exchanging keys with him.
    “I get to drive the CRX? Your baby? Oh wait, I guess I’ve uncovered the secret that it’s not your only baby,” Cam said.
    “Oh, kiss my a—”
    A quick glance toward the kids stopped Red in midsyllable.
    “Your armadillo?” Cam finished for her. His mention of her tattoo would not be something that the children could pick up on. “Thank you, maybe some other time.”
    His smile was sardonic and although his tone was still light, Red knew him well enough to recognize foreboding. But she’d already accepted the inevitable. No hot young guy would want to be hooked up with a granny.
    “See you at the bar,” she answered and headed for the driver’s side of the minivan. Deliberately she didn’t look back. She’d learned long ago that was the best way to move forward.
    Red seated herself behind the steering wheel and fitted the key into the ignition. Before turning the engine over, she glanced at her two passengers. Daniel was buckled in, but had pulled his knees to his chest and was hiding his face behind them. Olivia was glaring at Red, but surprisingly, she detected the vulnerability behind the mask.
    “Look, kids,” Red said to them. “This is not going to be perfect, but I think if we all do our best to get along, we’ll make it through this.”
    Neither child seemed buoyed by her pep talk. Red sighed and started up the engine. She didn’t say another word during the entire trip, but the ride couldn’t have been accurately described as quiet. Daniel began whispering to his sister in Spanish. She answered him similarly. Red had no idea what the discussion was about, but she could recognize the tone.Daniel’s whispers were urgent. Olivia’s replies were initially dismissive, followed by