That Blue Gibson

CH 43

An hour later, Dan had taken Liz's spot at the fire when she left with Andy to find Sarah.

"Liz told me you built her guitar," Dave said. He had admired the guitar in her bedroom that morning when she was putting on her makeup and wanted to see the workshop Krist had pointed out.

"I'm in the middle of a build right now, actually," Dan replied, excited that Dave was interested. "I can show you...," he laughed when Dave jumped off the log and headed for the steps.

*

"This is beautiful," Dave turned the neck piece over in his hand and ran his fingers over the pearl inlays set in the frets.

"Thanks, man," Dan replied, pulling the body down from its drying hanger. "Just finished the first varnish a couple days ago. She should be ready to play in a couple weeks."

"And you sell these?" Dave looked over at a rack of finished acoustic guitars.

"Yeah, it's the main income," Dan replied, "but the bar has health insurance."

Dave spotted an enduro-style motorcycle in the corner of the garage and tipped his head toward it. "Are you in the club?"

Dan laughed a little, "Fuck, no. I was never into group activities," he paused and thought for a moment, "They're all nice guys, but they take that shit too seriously. Once the old man died, the whole thing shifted into this bizarre Liz and Meghan cult thing. 'Protect them at all costs!'" he mocked, waving his hands in the air. "No wonder Liz never does what she's told."

Dave smiled at that and set down the guitar neck.

"It's great to see her happy again, though," Dan added quietly, sitting on a high stool at his workbench and looking down at his hands, "She had a rough go for a long time."

"Yeah?" Dave asked, trying to keep him talking.

"She doesn't..." he paused again, looking up at a picture of him and Liz holding her green guitar, "She doesn't let a lot of people in."

Dave leaned against the workbench, "So I'm discovering."

"Just...," Dan leaned back to ensure the door to the workshop was closed before continuing, "Don't confuse her wanting to make new memories for caginess. She won't tell you this, but she's quitting Hollywood because Kyle's mom is a higher up at one of the studios. Liz is a fan of the 'slash-and-burn' method and doesn't want to bring any of that old shit forward if she doesn't have to. She's worked really hard to make a life away from Kyle and the club, and she's a pretty fierce protector of it so if you've gotten this far-"

The door to the workshop flew open and Liz ran in, "Can I hide in here?" she asked, frantically looking around the room.

"What the fuck? Why?" Dave bolted off of the workbench with Dan right behind him as Liz darted to a large pile of scrap wood and ducked behind it.

"Shut off the lights!" she waved her arm at the door, her voice a harsh whisper.

Dan ran to the door and flicked the lights off while through the crack in the door.

"Liz," Dave picked his way through the dark towards her, "What's going on?"

"Get down!"

He finally got close enough that she grabbed his shirt and yanked him behind the scrap pile with her. "They'll see you," she whispered, a security light outside the workshop's small window cast a small yellow square onto her face

"Who are they? Liz, you're freaking me out," Dave tried to look back to Dan, but Liz pulled him back by practically climbing onto him to keep him still.