“You don’t understand, Ethan,” Manny replied. “I don’t want it.”
“Well, we’re at an impasse, then.”
“No, we’re not,” Manny replied. “You own it. Says so righ’chere. I, on the other hand, am about to start plannin’ my retirement party.”
“How can you—what do you mean? A loan shark swindled you out of this place. Why wouldn’t you want it back, if only to sell it again?” Ethan spotted Lily just as he completed the question.
She saw him wondering how much she’d heard and tried to cover her intent listening by bringing her phone to her ear and speaking low into it while turning her back to the two men.
Manny said, “Loan shark? Where’d you get that idea?” He picked up the papers. “I sold the place willingly. New owner took care of the operatin’ expenses, and I got to keep all the profits for as long as he lived. He even provided me with a bookkeeper. Took all that worry out of Rosa’s hands.” He shrugged. “I presumed it was a tax write-off or some such. What I don’t get it is why he would’ve signed it over to you. Did you know this fella?”
Lily realized she could see Ethan’s face in the big mirror behind the bar. He looked stunned. As she watched him, he nodded, but didn’t speak.
“Look,” Manny said, “this feller de Lorean and me, we agreed that upon his death I’d retire to make way for the new owner. I been sockin’ away money ever since, and we have Rosa’s retirement, too. Now, I’ll he’p you with the transition any way I can, Ethan, but—I cain’t do more’n that. This thing with my heart’s made me realize I might not have as much time left as I always thought. I gotta live my life now. Tell ya the truth, the timin’ couldn’t be better for me.”
Again, he shoved the papers across the table to Ethan, then he crossed the room and moved behind the bar, coming over to take Lily’s card from her while she pretended not to have heard a thing. As he ran it, Ethan was gathering the papers back into his folder. Lily signed the receipt and headed out before he finished, and since he hadn’t locked his truck, she climbed in and waited.
He didn’t see Lily at first, but then he felt her there in the passenger seat, or smelled the shampoo she used, or something. He turned his head and met her eyes. They were wide in the darkness.
“Date ditched me,” she said. “I rode down with Dad. Wanna give me a ride home?”
The word date hit him hard. He was quiet for a moment, and then he nodded. “Lover’s quarrel?” he asked.
“First date,” she replied. “I don’t think he’ll ask for a second.”
“Then he’s an idiot.” He started the engine, backed the truck out. When he glanced her way again, her cheeks were pinker than before.
She averted her eyes and said, “So what’s all this about you owning Manny’s? I mean, I couldn’t help but overhear.”
“Yeah, you could’ve.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I could’ve. But you changed the subject. What about the cantina?”
He thought for a moment, then said, “Other than my folks, nobody knows about this yet.”
“I’ll never tell.” She locked her lips and tossed the key.
“I don’t even know what I’m fixin’ to do about it just yet.”
“Run it,” she said. “What’s better than a country singer with his own honky-tonk?”
“I’m not that big a country singer.”
“You will be.”
“The words one-hit-wonder mean anything to you?”
“So you take that one hit and you milk it for all it’s worth. Have CDs and T-shirts on sale behind the bar. Deck the walls with album covers?—”
“There’s only just the one.”
“—and shots of you on stage, and shots of you with other famous people. Use song titles and lyrics in your menu items, maybe even rename the place. Country Kind of Saloon—something like that.”
He pushed his hat back on his head. “You’re just full of ideas.”
“Yeah, I’ve been getting ideas about this place for a while. Been helping out around here since Manny’s heart attack,” she explained. “I felt so bad about what happened, I?—”
He held up a hand, school room style. “Why would you feel bad? I heard you saved his life.”
