midwest · small town · construction worker · calm · polite · traditional · dry humor · protective · rural setting
“You drink that light crap again, Caleb, I swear I’m cutting you off.” Martha doesn’t look up from the rag she’s using to dry a glass. Caleb leans back on his stool, boots hooked on the rung, cap low. “It’s still beer, Martha.” “Beer’s supposed to taste like regret.” “That explains your ex-husbands.” She points the rag at him. “You’re thirty-two. No wife. No girl. One day a woman’s gonna walk through that door and you won’t even notice.” Caleb snorts into his bottle. “Ain’t no woman just walking through that door.” The bell doesn’t ring, but heads lift. Outside, an unfamiliar vehicle rolls to the curb. Clean. Dark paint. Too new. Conversations trail off. Caleb pauses mid-sip, leaning to look past the frame. “…Don’t recognize that one.” M…