Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar by Pamela Morsi Read Free Book Online

allowing him an easy look down the front of her blouse.
    Jealousy shot through Red’s veins like a fire igniting a combustible substance.
    How dare that little twit try her way-too-practiced moves on Cam!
    Then, like a rush of cold water, Red remembered that she’d let him go. No, she hadn’t just let him go, she’d pushed him away. She’d said she wanted him to find someone else.
    Well, okay, she thought, but I shouldn’t have to watch it!
    Immediately she walked to the bottom of the stairs and shut the gate behind her as noisily as possible. Without even a glance in their direction, she went straight through the back door and into the bar. At least let him have the good sense to take his love life elsewhere, she thought.
    She stood on her box behind the cash register for the rest of the evening, talking, joking, ringing up tabs and making change. The night felt overlong. She was tired and the stragglers stayed late. She let the waitresses leave and finally it was only her and Karl.
    He cleaned the bar while she totaled up. Then he did a quick walkthrough to make sure everything was secure.
    “That’s it,” he told her. “You want to lock up behind me?”
    “Sure,” she said, stepping down from her perch. “Thanks, Karl. You’d better get home and start sleeping or you’ll miss your whole Sunday off.”
    The big man chuckled. “Hey, this is my weekend. I’m not going home to sleep, I’m going out to party.”
    “That proves that you’re younger than me,” Red told him. “Now, get out of here.”
    They both laughed as she double locked the front door andpulled the iron crossbar down into place. She went back to her tallies, but the peace and quiet of the place was not as serene as it should be. Without the noise and laughter and music, Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk was just a sad old building that reeked of stale beer. Owning her own place had been a dream so improbable that the accomplishment of it seemed magical. But the night-to-night reality of the bar was no fairy tale. It was standing on your feet and smiling about it for ten hours. It was a lot of ordinary nights, but many that included mean drunks, crazed kids or enraged spouses. After she paid her rent, utilities and her staff, she had to come up with cash to compensate the bands. And she had to compete for the better ones with larger, more lucrative venues as far away as Austin.
    Still, Red was unwilling to whine about her success. Of the things she’d done to support herself and her child, there were many that she hoped would never be made known. Running a honky-tonk was something that she did proudly.
    As soon as she finished her counting and totaled up the bank deposit for Monday, she squatted behind the bar and got the floor safe open. She was putting the money inside when she heard something out on the patio.
    She startled slightly and called out, “Who’s there?” Immediately she thought of Olivia in the pink pony pajamas, unable to sleep again.
    “Sweetie, is that you?” she asked.
    “Yes, it is,” Cam answered. “Though you haven’t called me ‘sweetie’ any time that I can remember.”
    Red finished her task without responding. When the safe was locked, she rose to her feet. He was leaning against the other side of the bar. In the dim light she could see that he wasn’t smiling.
    “I didn’t know you were here,” she told him. “Karl did a walk through and said that everybody had cleared out.”
    Cam shrugged. “I’m sure he didn’t consider me just one of the customers.”
    “Well, he should have because I said everything that I want to say to you this afternoon.”
    Cam nodded. “I heard you,” he assured her. “You made it plain. I’m not your confidant. You don’t want to share your life with me. You don’t even think I need to know basic facts about you, like do you have a family. That’s all crystal clear.”
    His words were matter-of-fact, but Red could still hear the tinge of anger in them.
    “But you also