Chapter Twenty-One

Whit’s Place was a rustic building on the edge of Live Oak near the interstate. It had the typical neon logos flashing in the front windows and dark wooden doors with oblong windows in the middle. On top of the roof perched a large wooden sign announcing the name of the bar with a giant frog sitting on a lily pad while smoking a thick stogie. The parking lot was barely half full, which pleased Valerie as she wasn’t into large gatherings, and if she was there to meet her coworkers, she would rather hear what they said than try to read lips due to a noisy bar.

Grabbing her purse, she slid out into the humid evening, her nerves wound tight as she walked into the unknown. She knew that sounded overdramatic, but for the first time since she was married, she ventured out to meet new people, and it made her nervous. She wasn’t really thrilled with new adventures.

As she stepped into the bar, her senses were assaulted with the loud clatter of glasses and people talking loudl