threw one last glance at Josh on her way out the door. He didn’t even look at her to say goodbye.
Apparently he hadn’t been flirting with her after all. Mia was disappointed but not surprised. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d misinterpreted something like that. She’d always been better with numbers than people.
“I told you my brother was antisocial.” Andie sounded annoyed, and not the least bit concerned Josh might be able to hear her as they walked to her car. In fact, she might have been speaking intentionally loud, hoping it would carry to the house. “Don’t take it personally,” she said more quietly.
But Mia already had, and nothing Andie could say would change that. Antisocial or not, if Josh had wanted to spend time with her, wouldn’t he at least have been tempted to say yes? Or suggested they do something more to his liking? Or even just looked disappointed? The fact that he hadn’t done any of those things had to mean he wasn’t as interested as Mia thought.
Which was fine. Mia was supposed to be taking a break from men. She certainly wasn’t about to go pinning her hopes on an indifferent goat farmer.
No matter how much she liked his cheese.
Andie’s car was a Jeep Cherokee that smelled like coffee and insect repellent inside. Possibly because there were several empty travel mugs on the floor at Mia’s feet, along with a can of Deep Woods Off.
“Sorry about the mess,” Andie said, sounding not sorry at all. Country music blasted out of the speakers when she started the ignition, and she turned it down to a more reasonable level.
Mia wondered if they were going to a country-western bar. She’d never been to one before. She couldn’t say she was a fan of country music, although she also couldn’t say she’d heard much of it. She’d always just assumed she didn’t like it, in the same way she’d assumed she didn’t like men in cowboy boots and hats. She’d already had reason to reconsider her opinion on the latter, so perhaps she could give the former a chance as well.
The Rusty Spoke was only ten minutes away, on the outskirts of downtown. As she got out of the car, Mia was greeted by the sound of a Lizzo song. So not a country bar, then.
She wondered how many of the patrons standing around the large patio and sitting at the dozen or so picnic tables would turn out to be students of hers. Then she told herself to stop thinking about it, because she was already nervous about classes starting Monday.
She followed Andie into a wooden building that could only be described as a shack. Inside, they wove through a smattering of tables to reach a bar at the back.
“What do you want?” Andie asked as she waited for the bartender’s attention.
Most of the bars Mia had frequented in grad school specialized in either craft cocktails or wine, but neither of those seemed like a good bet here. “Whatever you’re having is fine,” she told Andie.
When the harried bartender made her way over to them, Andie greeted her by name and asked for two Shiners. With their beers in hand, they made their way out to the patio and claimed the empty end of a long picnic table occupied by a couple who appeared to be on a date.
“Evening.” Andie raised her bottle to them in greeting as she and Mia sat down.
“How’s it going?” the man said as his date offered a friendly smile.
“Better now,” Andie replied and took a long swig of beer.
They all laughed, and the couple turned back to their conversation.
“Do you know them?” Mia asked, wondering why Andie hadn’t introduced her.
“Nope.”
Mia was confused by the interaction. Why would you greet someone you didn’t know or ask how they were doing? Wouldn’t it be more polite to respect their privacy and not interrupt their conversation? She put it down to one of those regional peculiarities she’d probably need to get used to.
Mia clutched her beer bottle. “I thought everyone knew everyone in small towns.” Condensation dripped down her fingers in the heat. There were big fans all around the patio, but they only stirred up the soupy air. She wondered, not for the first time, why people chose to live in places that were this hot so much of the year.
“Crowder’s not that small,” Andie said. “Especially with the university and King’s Creamery bringing people in.”
“Do a lot of people who live here