That Blue Gibson

CH 32

Liz turned the last latch on the brew tank and stood up. From her spot at the top of the tank, she could look out the attic window and see over the trees to the Pacific Ocean. She had arrived in town late the night before, well after the sleepy Oregon north shore community had gone to bed, and spent the entire night sitting on her deck looking out at the moonlit waves. Her brewery staff was surprised to see her that morning as she wasn't due in town for another few months or so, preferring the beach town's offseason when it was inhabited by the six hundred or so locals as opposed to the warmer months when the narrow streets swelled with thousands of beach trippers.

"Dan?" Liz called out, looking around for her oldest friend.

"Yeah," he yelled back, distractedly untangling a pile of clear tubing.

"We should go out later if the surf holds," she climbed down the wooden ladder that leaned against the massive tank full of her brewery's pale ale.

"Yeah," he repeated, not looking up from his task.

Liz watched him for a moment, thinking about how much better she felt when he was around. They had been paired up to break down and reassemble a lawn mower engine in their middle school shop class and had been friends ever since. Through high school, college, his two failed marriages and her one, they always knew they had each other to fall back on.

He looked up at the feeling of being watched and smiled at her, "You okay?"

Liz shook her head a little to clear her thoughts, "Yeah, just happy to be out of California finally."

Dan's smile faded a bit, "You ready to talk about that yet?"

Liz snorted, "No," she leaned against the IPA tank and patted it with her hand, "Give me an IV of this and I might be."

Dan finished winding the tangled tubing and hung it on the side of the tank. "Let's go unlock the doors."

*

"Hey, Krist is here," Dan called from the end of the bar as Liz set a money tray in the cash register. "He says it's too nice to come inside."

Liz chuckled and shook her head. It might only be 45 degrees out, but it was sunny so the Pacific Northwest natives would be emerging from their homes in shorts and flip-flops to welcome spring. She finished with the register, grabbed her sunglasses and turned to pour Krist a pilsner from the tap tower behind her. Nodding to a few locals filtering in for lunch, she pushed the bar's patio doors open with her back and stepped into the bright sunshine.

"Hey, Mama!" Krist called from a table in the far corner and stood to greet her.

"Hey, Krist," she set his beer down in front of his chair and hugged him tightly. "How's the farm?"

"Waking up, finally," he said as they sat together at the table, "The winters seem to be getting longer and longer."

Liz slid on her aviators and waited for the inevitable question about Dave.

"So...," Krist took a drink of his beer and held it to the light, watching the bubbles stream to the top. "How are... things?"

"Better now that I'm up here," she muttered and leaned back in her chair, feeling the warm sun against her face. "We don't have to talk about this, you know," she added bluntly.

Krist let out a whoosh of air, "Oh thank god."

Liz laughed at his obvious relief. She had dreaded this conversation as things had only escalated in the hours since Dave left her in the hotel room. Her interview had blown up online with everyone speculating what had happened between the rock star and the actress. Travis had shown her a TMZ video of photographers peppering Dave with questions about her as he took his daughters to school and she had run to the airport bathroom to throw up. She felt violated and angry, mostly for his girls who were caught in the middle of that nightmare.