Chapter 4
When I arrived back in Portland, the memories of the night at the Blue Moon Bar came back to me. I drove by the bar on a whim, and since I had time, I stopped in. It was happy hour, and Slick the bartender was working the crowd. Some things never changed.
As I walked up, Slick's face brightened. "Tequila Sunrise!" he exclaimed and winked at me. "Where have you been, Beautiful?" It seemed I wasn't the only one who had nicknames for people.
"I was back at home in Kentucky, but pretty soon I'll be a Portlandian," I replied, hoping I'd used the term correctly.
"Sweet!" He blinded me with his bright-white smile. "So, while you're here, can I get ya anything?"
I leaned against the bar. "Well, I had a stupid question... Do you recall that guy who took me back to my hotel when I was here before?"
"Yeah." He scowled as he straightened the glasses behind the counter. "What about him?"
"You wouldn't happen to have tucked away that photocopy of his license, by any chance?" It was a long shot, but it couldn't hurt to try.
"Oh, that? Nah." He idly tossed a glass up in the air. "Once I watched the news and saw there were no murdered beautiful ladies, I chucked it." Slick shook his head as he set the glass down. "Why, did he do something to ya?" His movie star smile faded and was replaced by a real look of concern.
"No, it's nothing like that," I assured him.
Slick's smile returned. "So, if he's out of the picture…"
I laughed before he finished his sentence. "See ya around. I gotta head out."
"Once you're here for good, come back and see me, Beautiful!" He started singing 'Tequila Sunrise' again as I walked out of the bar.
Well, that was disappointing. I was silly to think it would be that easy to find him. I got back in my rental and made my way to the realtor's office. A few hours later I was officially an Oregon home owner.
I stopped by the house, looking up at the tall, Victorian style home. It was a colorful golden yellow, with deep brown and forest green trim. I could always change the color later, but for now it fit my mood just fine. The front gable had two brown diamonds painted on either side of an oval window in the center. A large porch, which was begging for a few comfortable chairs, set in front of the picture window to the left of the stairs that led to the front door. The second floor had a balcony coming off the master bedroom. I'd planned on using the bedroom downstairs. Honestly, I hadn't decided what I was going to do with the upstairs yet. But it was better to have the extra space than to not have enough. Below the porch were basement built-in garage doors, which was in front of the modest driveway. Not many houses had a driveway on this street, so I was lucky.
There wasn't much of a front yard, which I wasn't too thrilled about. No space to plant hardly anything worthwhile. So disappointing since I loved gardening. A crude bush by the stairs was in dire need of some sculpting. At least that would be worth working on in the spring. The back yard had ample space to get creative with shrubs, plants, and flowers once it was warmer. Too bad no one would see it back there. Even in my jacket I shivered as I surveyed the rest of the front of the house. Between the drizzling rain and the wind, it seemed near impossible that it would ever get warm enough to plant anything.
I unlocked the door and found the porch light switch. Nothing. Maybe the bulb was burned out. I walked through the empty rooms, taking in the space. It was all mine. Next week was going to be crazy, but I was looking forward to it. I breathed in heavily and slowly exhaled, closing my eyes. The quiet was peaceful, but I couldn't stay here and enjoy it. I had to get back to the hotel. My flight was leaving early tomorrow.
A/N: Renée is getting closer to moving to Portland!
