Free Running on Empty by Sandra Balzo Page A

tied to limbs.
    Sheree took the third of four chairs at the round table. 'So, where's your friend?'
    Bobby and AnnaLise exchanged looks as she stood to pick up her beer from the bartender.
     'You field this one,' she told him. Then: 'Sheree?'
    'Cabernet. Something with a cork, if that's remotely possible.'
    AnnaLise didn't bother to point out the folly of ordering wine in a place like Sal's.
     Sheree already knew better.
    Behind her, AnnaLise heard Bobby ask Sheree, 'By friend, do you mean Ichiro?'
    AnnaLise told the barman Sheree's unwisely optimistic request and turned, back to
     bar, to watch Bobby and Sheree.
    'Of course I'm talking about Ichiro.' Sheree was looking around like she'd find the
     man hiding under a table. 'Where is he?'
    Bobby shrugged. 'He'll be here about ten. Why?'
    Sheree, of the push-up bra and pushed-down neckline, said, 'No reason.'
    AnnaLise snickered as she returned with her mug and slid a tiny bottle of wine like
     they serve on planes to Sheree. 'What's wrong, one guy's not enough? Which reminds
     me, where is
your "tenant"?'
    Sheree grinned. 'One, much like once, is never enough, AnnaLise. You should have learned
     that by now.'
    AnnaLise reflexively glanced at her purse, where a cellphone with two missed calls
     and three texts from Ben was buried. 'Sometimes, one can be too many.'
    Especially when that 'one' wouldn't take 'it's over' for an answer.
    The eye movement wasn't lost on Sheree. 'Honey, do we need to talk?'
    'Later. Maybe.' AnnaLise lifted her mug. 'But tonight, dear friends, a toast. To Frat
     Pack Night.'
    'To Frat Pack Night,' Bobby echoed, raising his glass.
    'Hold up.' Sheree removed the clear, plastic glass which had been upended over the
     neck of the bottle and checked the label. 'Cab/Merlot blend. Indeterminate vintage.'
    She clinked the bottle itself against first AnnaLise's and then Bobby's brews. 'To
     impertinent little wines.'
    'And impertinent little friends,' Bobby said with a grin.
    'I'll drink to that,' Sheree took a swig from the bottle and then poured the rest
     into her plastic cup. 'So why's Ichiro going to be so late?'
    They both looked at her.
    'What? I just hate for him to miss the show.'
    'He'll catch an hour,' Bobby said. 'That's probably more than enough for anybody's
     initiation to Frat Pack Night.'
    'An hour? Are you saying Sal stops at eleven now?' AnnaLise said, taking an appreciative
     sip of her rich North Carolina brew. 'Since when?'
    'The place has closed at eleven for a couple of years now,' Bobby said over the lyrics
     '...
line forms, on the right dear
...'
    'Sal tries to get home for Leno,' Sheree said, tugging at her top.
    'Unlike Daisy,' AnnaLise said. 'She's going to Torch tonight and told me not to wait
     up. You'd think my mother's getting younger and I'm getting older.'
    'Pretty soon the two of you will cross.' Sheree waved at someone in the crowd. 'There's
     Chuck.'
    'Oh, good,' AnnaLise said, turning to beckon him to their table. 'He said he needed
     to talk with me about something.'
    The police chief put up his index finger in a 'just a second' signal while he finished
     a conversation. AnnaLise turned back to her companions.
    They didn't say anything. Just looked at her.
    'What?' she asked.
    'Nothing,' Sheree said. 'But... how long has it been since you and Chuck spoke?'
    'Quite a while, I'm afraid. I saw him this morning on the beach and we exchanged voicemails
     after Daisy's — ' she looked at Bobby — 'and Mrs. B's accident, but we haven't really talked
in ages.'
    'In addition to refusing to change your watch to the time zone you're in,' Bobby said,
     'you're lousy at keeping in touch.'
    'I know.' AnnaLise felt herself flush. Truth was, she'd been so immersed in her Wisconsin
     life that she'd let her relationship with childhood friends slide. Daisy and Mama
     provided the Sutherton version of CNN Headline News, but when it came to protracted
     conversations... 'I'd see a message and think, I'll call back when I have the time