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“Mr. David Alexander Wilson?” A man asked as he entered Tropical Beach looking way too formal to want a tanning session.
On alert at hearing his full name, which only his mother used to call him, David hesitantly asked, “May I ask what this is in regards to?”
The man smiled. “I have a delivery that must be signed for by Mr. Wilson.”
There was still something about the man’s tone that had David on edge, but he didn’t see any reason not to admit who he was. “I’m David Wilson.”
The man handed him a clipboard with one of those thin sticky notes that said, “sign here,” next to a line. His gut told him not to sign, but with no other good options, David took the man’s pen and signed his name.
As the guy took back the clipboard, he held out a large manila envelope, which David took. “Mr. David Wilson, you have been served.” Without another word of explanation, the guy left, leaving David standing there, jaw hanging open as he stared at the envelope in his hands as if it were a snake ready to strike.
“Hey, David.” Tori came up front after cleaning the spraying room. “What’s that?” She pointed to the thing David was doing his best to wish away.
But no matter how many times he closed his eyes and reopened them, it was still there, glaring at him like some sort of condemnation. “I think I’m being sued,” he whispered.
Tori’s eyes got as big as saucers. “By whom?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea.”
She pointed at the envelope. “Then open it and see.”
“I don’t think I can.” He’d owned Tropical Beach for the past five years and not once in all that time had anyone sued him. What if he lost his business? Then what would David do? He’d tried to make it creating pottery, but that hadn’t worked out. This tanning salon was everything to him. The only other thing in the world he knew how to do.
Tori snatched the thick packet out of his hands and ripped open the flap. As she started to pull it out, she glanced up at him. “Do you want me to read it?”
All he could do was nod. Speaking was just no longer possible as the panic started to set in.
Tori scanned the front page until she got to what was happening. Her eyes widened before rage filled them. “That lowlife piece of shit. Who the hell does he think he is to blame you for what he did?”
Needing to know, David snatched the papers from her hand, but he didn’t have to read them because Tori cursed some more and said, “That asshole Otto is claiming you were responsible for the damages inflicted upon him while he was in Tropical Beach and wants you pay his medical bills.”
It didn’t take David long to find where Otto listed his medical expenses. David would go bankrupt. “That fucking bastard better pray I don’t come across him on the street or I will show him how much damage I can really do.”
David was pissed. No. David was ready to kill. Tropical Beach was his livelihood and this son of bitch wanted to basically take it from him. Even if he sold everything he owned, David would never be able to come up with the money Otto was demanding.
There was only one thing that could help him now. David grabbed his keys from behind the counter. “Lock up whenever you need to go and cancel any appointments you can’t stay for.”
“Where are you going?” Tori asked.
“To therapy.”
***
“Hey, David,” Andy said as he and Shine walked in less than thirty minutes after David arrived at Group Therapy, one of the many wine bars in Dahlonia. The reason he favored this one was because they served all the Twisted Vine varieties, which he would never admit to anyone but Andrew, were his favorite. They also served all the other local winery labels, which he also enjoyed, just not quite as much.
More importantly, on a day like today, they sell Grandpappy’s Shine, all the way up to a hundred and forty proof.
“I see you’ve gone straight for the good stuff,” Shine said as he and Andy sat on either side of David at the bar. “We heard what happened. Why don’t I buy the next round?” Shine held four fingers up to Kip, the owner and bartender of Group Therapy. “I’ll get me an extra so I can start to catch up with you.”
That was Shine, always willing to get shitfaced drunk for his friends.
“I’m not sure alcohol is what David needs to solve this,” Andy said.
Shine snorted before he tossed back the first shot Kip put in front of him. “You also don’t need running shoes to run, but it fucking helps.” Shine blew out a breath and tossed the second shot back, then held up two fingers to Kip for more.
David blinked at how fast his friend was able to drink something so strong. Hell, he’d been there a half hour and David had only managed to knock back two shots. He stared at what would be his third one that Shine had ordered for him.
Determined not to let anyone outdrink him when he was the one having the shitty day, David blew out, gulped it down, and blew out again. It was the only way to drink strong moonshine. Otherwise, it just burned the hell out of your throat and stomach, making it much more difficult to keep going.
As the room spun, David held up a finger to Kip for another. Or, at least he thought he did. How was he to know? He couldn’t even see his fingers. Wait. He looked around. “Hey,” he slurred. “Did I lose my fingers?”
Shine laughed his ass off, but grabbed the finger he was still holding up to Kip. “They are right here. Bless your heart, you are drunker than a skunk.”
David scowled as he thought about what Shine had said. “No, I’m not. I can still feel my lips.” He touched them just to be sure. “Do you know who has really great lips?” he asked as he picked up the shot glass Kip set down in front of him. “Mac.”
Then he held up his shot in the air along with Shine and Andy, who was eyeing the drink like it might kill him. “Cheers,” he said.
“Salute,” Andy said.
“Bottoms up until I’m the same,” Shine said.
Both David and Andy glanced at each other for a moment at that toast, but the swimming in David’s head didn’t let him ponder Shine’s unique saying long before he was once more downing another shot.
“You want to talk about it?” Andy asked.
“That fucking asshole is suing me for a million dollars.” It wasn’t until everyone in the bar was staring at him that David realized just how loud he’d been. Not that he cared if the entire town heard him at that point. “I could lose Tropici...I mean, Troci...wait, Tropbeach.” That wasn’t right.
David shook his head but that only made him dizzier and without even realizing it, he was falling off his barstool. Thankfully, his other friends, Kadyn, Nolan, Rollin, Jaleel, Hayden, Danielle, Dover, Tanner, Albee, Gabe, and Kori came charging into the bar and several of them caught him before he landed on his head.
“Exactly how much have you let him drink?” Kadyn, owner of the local bakery, Sugar Daddy’s, asked.
Andy pointed at Shine. “He’s had two with Shine and I have no idea how many he had before Kip called us.”
Kip wiped down the bar where David had tipped over his glass, which had been basically empty but still had a few drops of moonshine in it. “He had two before you got here.”
Jaleel, the owner of the ice cream shop, Scoops, shook his head. “Seriously, David? Four shots of the hard stuff. Are you trying to kill yourself?”
David waved him off. “What difference does it make? If Otto wins, I won’t survive anyway.”
“What are you talking about?” Kayden owned the only bakery in town and was way too happy of a person to have any idea what David was feeling. “You have us. You have the people of this town. We are all here for you.”
The all nodded in agreement.
“Asss muuuch ass I appreccciate...” Was he slurring? David couldn’t tell as he leaned heavily against Shine. “But you dunna underssstand.” Yep he was definitely not talking right. “Everything I own isss in Tropical Beasch...Basch...Beach.” There he did it. Proud of himself he gave a hard nod and instantly regretted it as once the room started to spin.
“Whoa there,” Shine said as he held on tighter to David’s arm. “Your footin’ is all cattywampus. If ya don’t watch it, your face will hit the floor with your ass sticking up for anyone to take advantage of.”
Tanner held up a large box from his fudge shop, Three Brother’s. “I brought everyone’s favorites. Why don’t we sit down, order a couple of bottles of wine, and talk about what we can do to stop Otto.”
David always did like Tanner. He was one of those kind of people who would help others even if it meant putting his own problems on hold. That he liked all types of wine like David made him one of the best of his group to go out with.
Almost everyone else in the group had only one wine they preferred. David didn’t care so long as it was wine. Who was he kidding? He didn’t care so long as it was alcohol.
The group went to their usual area in the far corner of the bar and pulled a couple of tables together. “Kip,” David called out. “Twisssteeeed Vineeesss Rassspberrrrry Mascot...mosacot...you know what I mean?” he finished. David had ordered the lighter wine, hoping it would help his already rolling stomach from completely rebelling.
After Kip dropped all their drinks at the table, Andy raised his glass and said, “To David. May we come up with a way to help.”
They clinked their glasses and all took a sip.
“So, who do I need to show the business end of my shotgun?” Leave it to Rollen to solve any situation with a gun. Not that he ever pointed a gun at anyone, but he had no trouble letting someone know he had plenty of them and would gladly use one if needed.
The thing was, of everyone in the group, Rollen would be the last one to use violence. The man was like a big old teddy bear. He was a gardener who actually made jelly and jams for a living.
“Otto Richman,” David told Rollen. “He is suing me for getting hurt when he was at Tropical Beach.”
Kadyn frowned. “Was he?”
Andy snorted. “Only when Macalister punched his ass out for trying to force David to give his tiny pecker a blow job.”
Three of the men around the table who had just taken a drink ended up either spitting it out or coughing as they choked on the liquid.
“Seriously?” Kadyn’s eyes were as big as saucers. “Is this guy insane? All you have to do is tell the truth and he’ll end up in jail for attempted rape.”
That was the thing. David wasn’t sure he could do that. He downed his glass of wine and poured another, downing that in two gulps. It wasn’t until he was filling his glass once more that Nolan, the shyest member of their group, seemed to be the only one who understood David’s silence.
“You aren’t going to tell that he tried to rape you, are you?” There was no censure in Nolan’s voice. In the entire time David had known Nolan, he never judged anyone for any reason. It didn’t seem to be in his nature.
David just couldn’t find it in him say anything, so he shook his head. Then he had to grab the table until the room stopped spinning.
Just about everyone at the table started listing reasons he had to tell the truth. David tuned them out as he downed the last of the bottle of wine and gestured to Kip for another, even though he knew he wasn’t going to be able to drink another glass without tossing his cookies, or passing out. At that moment, those were pretty much the only two options.
He was so drunk, he barely noticed Nolan working to stand up and go out to the balcony. Nolan was a big guy and had trouble fitting into chairs, or getting up from them, and tended to do his best to remain as hidden as possible from the rest of the world, which wasn’t easy to do considering he had trouble navigating around others easily.
“Are you even listening to us?” Andy was practically yelling, forcing David to turn toward him, even if he wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying.
Damn, was he drunk.
At least with so many of his friends there with him, David wouldn’t have to worry about how he would get home. At this point, there was no way David would be able to find his way to his house, even though it was only three blocks away. Nor would he be able to figure out how to unlock his door, or get the keys out of his pocket.
Hell, he was having trouble wrapping his fingers around the wine glass Kip refilled when he brought a fresh bottle of moscato. One good thing about being this drunk, David couldn’t even remember why he’d started to drink in the first place.
