"You know damn well we didn't do two thousand dollars' worth of damage here the other night." Jeremy waved a hand to indicate the shabby surroundings. "Hell, the joint doesn't look any different than it did before things got exciting."
"You ruined my walls."
"Right, the walls." Nick lounged on a bar stool and folded his arms. He glanced toward the far end of the room, where the Willis brothers were busy with a tape measure and a clipboard.
The brothers were fixtures in town. For as long as Nick could remember, they had worked as general contractors, doing everything from plumbing to roof repairs. They were identical twins, but no one in town had any trouble telling them apart.
From his cleanly shaved skull to his crisply laundered overalls, Walter Willis was as precise and polished as one of the gleaming tools he wore on his belt. Torrance, on the other hand, wore his thin, straggling hair in a greasy ponytail. His work clothes were stained with everything from paint splatters to pizza sauce.
"What color are you going to paint the place?" Jeremy asked.
Fred pursed his lips. "I'm thinking taupe."
"Taupe?" Jeremy stared at him. "You're kidding, right? Taupe isn't the color you use for a bar."
"What color is taupe, anyway?" Nick asked.
"Who knows?" Fred said. "Walt over there suggested it."
"Forget taupe," Jeremy advised. "I'd go with dark green and maybe a warm brown on the baseboards and trim."
"Listen to him," Nick said. "The man's an artist."
"Green and brown, huh?" Fred pondered that for a while. "Walt said he'd give me a special on the taupe. Said he had some left over from a job he and Torrance did for one of the summer people."
"Don't suppose it much matters what color you use," Nick said. "No one will be able to see it in here, anyway, what with the low lighting and all."
Fred scowled. "Gotta keep the lights low."
"Why?" Jeremy asked. "So folks won't notice the size of the roaches?"
"Gives the place ambience," Fred said.
The door opened. For a few seconds the glare of daylight silhouetted the distinctive figures of Eugene and Dwayne. Then the door closed again.
"Don't think you need a lot of ambience to attract those two," Nick said. "Just spray a little stale beer around the place and sprinkle some aged French fries under the tables."
Eugene came to a halt halfway across the room and staggered a bit, feigning astonishment. "Well, as I live and breathe, Dwayne, if it ain't our good buddies, Harte and Seaton."
Dwayne, who had been tailgating his companion, collided with Eugene's backside and ricocheted off a couple of feet. He regained his balance and peered at Nick and Jeremy.
"Oh, yeah," Dwayne said. "It's them, all right."
"Dwayne and me was just over at the station talkin' to Sandy," Eugene explained. He lumbered into gear again, making his way through the maze of empty tables. "Saw you guys come in here. We want to buy you a drink."
Jeremy straightened warily. "Much as we'd love to stay and chat, Nick and I have appointments today. Isn't that right, Nick?"
Nick did not take his eyes off Eugene. "You want to buy us a drink?"
"Sure. After all that fun we had together, it only seems fair." Eugene reached the end of the bar and gestured expansively. "Beers all around, Fred."
Fred shrugged and set out four glasses.
"Gee, Eugene," Jeremy muttered. "We don't know what to say, do we, Nick?"
"Speechless," Nick agreed dryly. "What's this all about, Eugene?"
"Hell, me and Dwayne figure we owe you two something for covering the damages Fred, here, claims he's owed for the other night. Ain't that right, Dwayne?"
"Right." Dwayne perched on the stool next to Eugene. "Mighty generous of you."
Fred put a full glass down in front of everyone.
Eugene hoisted his glass. "Here's to good times."
"Good times." Nick picked up his glass and drank some beer.
Jeremy hesitated and then followed suit.
Eugene beamed. "Never thought I'd see you in a bar fight, Harte. Or you, either, for that matter, Seaton. Who'd have believed that you two would turn out to be just a couple of regular guys, after all? You ever believe that, Fred?"
"Wonders never cease." Fred walked out from behind the bar. "I'm gonna go talk to Walt and Torrance. I kinda like the idea of green and brown on the walls."
Eugene waited until he had moved off into the pool room where the Willis brothers were now working. Then he looked down the bar at Nick and Jeremy. He stopped smiling.
"You know, Dwayne and me, we never thanked you two for getting us out of the car that night we went into the water," he said.
"Forget it," Nick said. "That was a long time ago."
"Yeah." Eugene took a long pull on his beer. "A long time ago."
No one said anything for a while. Eugene and Dwayne worked steadily on their beers.
"After it happened," Eugene said eventually, "we figured you'd go straight to Chief Yates, you know? Maybe tell him about that little game of chicken we were all playing."
"You mean, tell him how you tried to run us off the road?" Jeremy asked neutrally.
"Maybe things got a little outta hand," Eugene said. "Me and Dwayne were really pissed after you showed us up at the races that night. If you'd gone to Yates and told him your version of events, he'd have believed you on accounta you and Harte, here, come from such fine, upstanding families and all."
"I don't want to belabor the issue," Jeremy said, "but our version of events would have been the truth."
"We were just foolin' around," Eugene insisted. "Like I said, things got outta hand. But that ain't the point. Point is, Yates and everybody else would have believed you guys. Nobody would have even listened to our side of the story on accounta everyone around here figures me and Dwayne for trash."
Nick glanced at Jeremy. Eugene was right and they both knew it. Nobody in Eclipse Bay would have taken Eugene's or Dwayne's word over the word of a Harte or a Seaton, regardless of the circumstances.
Eugene looked at Nick. "The other night, I'd had a few beers. I maybe said some things about your girlfriend that I shouldn't have said."
Nick inclined his head. "True."
"You know, that Miss Brightwell always says something nice when she sees us on the street," Eugene continued. "Ain't that right, Dwayne?"