Alexandra sat with her sister at the kitchen table. It was Monday morning, and Ryan had just left to take Adam to school. The last time Kate had seen Alexandra, she noticed her older sister seemed distracted, withdrawn. That was over two weeks ago, and Kate thought Alex still seemed a bit out of sorts.
“Are you feeling all right, Alex?” Kate sipped her coffee and watched as Alexandra left the table and walked to the kitchen sink. Alex began to rinse the dirty dishes and load the dishwasher.
“I’m fine.” Alex shrugged. “Just a little tired.” Her back was to Kate.
“I went to the Tavern Saturday night.”
“Oh?”
“Guess who I saw.” As Kate asked the question, her eyes remained fixed on her sister’s back.
“Not a clue,” Alex answered dully; she continued to load the dishwasher.
“Your friend Garret Coulson.”
Alex froze for a moment, and then she resumed her cleaning.
“He was drunker than hell,” Kate told her.
Alex stopped what she was doing and turned to face her sister, she leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Really?”
“No shit. According to Barney, Garret was in Thursday and Friday night, too.”
“Who’s Barney?”
“The bartender. He said Garret’s been on a binge.”
“How did he act?”
“Barney?”
“No, Kate, Garret!”
“Drunk.” Kate shrugged and then added, “I guess he started a fight after I left. I heard he got himself eighty-sixed.”
“Did he say anything to you?”
“No, he was already pretty wasted by the time I got there. I was surprised Barney kept serving him. Good way to lose his liquor license.”
“Was he just sitting there drunk, saying nothing?”
“No, actually he was rather loud and seemed kinda mean.” Kate sipped her coffee then began talking again. “He said something about moving to Chicago.”
“Coulson Enterprises is opening a division in Chicago,” Alex explained.
“I’ve heard that around town.”
Kate noticed her sister’s concerned frown.
“Are you okay, Alex?”
“I’m all right,” she replied dully.