A couple of minutes later, a tall man in a tucked-in flannel shirt, well-worn jeans, Harley Davidson boots, and with a white bar towel thrown over one of his sturdy shoulders came to their table. He had medium-brown hair pulled into a small ponytail at the base of his neck. He smiled, showing a small dimple in his left cheek. Though she’d never met him before, he looked vaguely familiar to Mary.
“Hi, I’m Tommy. This is my place. Was glad to see you working here this afternoon, but didn’t want to bother you. Everything good?”
“All good. Loved the Coldplay mix from earlier.”
“Bar standard. Everyone seems mildly okay with Coldplay. Where’s that accent from?”
“East of here,” Harper said, then fearing that was rude, quickly added, “Brooklyn, actually.”
“Well, welcome to Cedar Falls,” Tommy said. “What can I get you two?”
“What do you recommend?” Mary asked, looking over the menu.
“Do you like beer?”
“Not really,” Harper said. “How about vodka soda with lime?”
“Tito’s okay?”
She gave him a thumbs-up.
“Do you have a local beer?” Mary asked.
“Try the Spotted Cow. Only sold in Wisconsin.”
“Really? Why?”
“Gotta keep enough stock for the locals. We drink a lot of beer.”
“Well, how can I resist with a recommendation like that. I’ll take a Spotted Cow.” Now she was curious.
He rapped his knuckles on their table. “Coming right up, ladies.”
“He was cute, right?” Mary raised her eyebrows at Harper. “You were flirting.”
“I was not! Besides, remember... I’m swearing off cute!” Harper was sticking to her plan.
“Whatever you have to tell yourself,” Mary said as she looked around the bar. “Guys are different here than back home, don’t you think?”
“For sure. Do you think that’s for the better?”
“Maybe.” She saw a few potentials in the bar. “Jury’s still out!”
“Do you think they’re all Republicans?” Harper asked as she observed the patrons. She assumed they were.
“I don’t know. Maybe. But I’m not interested in how theyvote, Harp. They’re kind of cute. In, like, a rustic way.”
“They don’t seem too into politics, anyway, going by their hats. They’re more into the Packers and whatever animal those antlers belong to. Lots of camo going on around here.”
Just then they heard shouting near their end of the bar. Turning, they saw two guys push their chairs away, toppling them onto the floor. They stood chest-to-chest, arguing about something. A couple of young women pleaded with them to chill out, but they shook them off.
Harper saw Tommy pick up his phone while coming to stand between the fighters, but the guys started shoving each other harder.
Mary pushed her stool back to get a better view, and Harper strained to see.
While Tommy jumped out of the way and spoke into his phone, the bartender hurdled over the bar and pushed his way between them to break it up. But then he got hit in the jaw and held his hand to his face, scrunching his eyes in pain.
The yelling got louder, and their girlfriends begged the men to stop. The taller of the two fighters got the other one in a headlock and was asking his opponent if he’d had enough. Several customers started moving away from the melee and two of them crouched behind the bar.