She watched him cross to the driver’s side. He couldn’t be out of his twenties, but there was something about him that made her think of him as much older. He seemed far more mature than men she usually met at the bar, but that wasn’t saying much. “How old do you think I am?” she said as she settled in the huge pickup.

“Eighteen.” he glanced in her direction as he pulled the keys from the sun visor. “Maybe nineteen.”

“I’m twenty-two, old man.”

He smiled as if knowing she was teasing him. “I’m twenty-six, so you can stop calling me mister or old man.”

“And you can stop calling me kid.” As he backed out she added, “You think we could be friends?”

“Why?”

The rain seemed to cocoon them as they pulled away. “There’s something about you, Ketch, that makes me think you might be a good friend to have.” She laughed. “I don’t know why. You’re a heavy drinker, a friend of brain-dead Wynn, and you have a tendency to topple over.”

“Sure. I could use a friend who’ll patch me up and watch over me.” He winked at her. “Why not. If you grow a few inches up and out, you’ll be just right.”

When he glanced down at her breasts, she caught what he meant by “out.” She hit him hard on his shoulder and noticed he hadn’t even flinched.

“Look at it this way, old man. You saved me in the bar’s parking lot, I doctored you, and we slept together. I guess that bonds us for life.”

“Damn straight. Where would you like to eat, friend?”

Looking down at her clothes, Tuesday knew going into a restaurant was out. “How about we drive through someplace and eat after you drive me home?”

“Sounds great.” He turned into the bar’s parking lot.

She jumped out before he could tell her to wait and tossed her old bike in the truck bed.

When she climbed back in, shoving her wet hair out of her face, Ketch smiled. “You look like a drowned rat, kid.”

“I know, mister, but at least I didn’t have to dig you out of the mud. The way you topple over, you’d never be able to stand in water.”

They both laughed, knowing that the nicknames would stick.

“I know a barbecue stand a block away, but with this rain I have no idea where we’ll eat.”

She sat silently, facing straight ahead. Last night she hadn’t thought much about helping him get home, or patching him up, or even staying with him watching him sleep. But now, in the daylight with him sober, she felt strange. He was a stranger who had broken through her defenses. He was right. They were friends now, and the strangest thing was he appeared fine with it.

“Barbecue OK?”