After a moment she said, “Did you make that up?”
“It’s an old sixties song.”
She grinned. “Eighteen sixties?”
“Nineteen, smartass. Johnny Tillotson.”
“Donovan, seriously. How do you
“Some things are worth learning about.”
“Sixties music being one of them?”
“Music was better back then.”
“Song titles, maybe.”
We sat awhile in silence, feeling the tires adjust to the uneven pavement.
The driver turned his head in our general direction and said, “Sorry about the construction.”
“No problem,” I said. Of course there’s construction. It’s Vegas. There’s
“You hungry?” I said.
I’d wanted to try Switch because I heard they had a lobster salad appetizer and great steaks. What makes the restaurant unique, every twenty minutes the lights dim, eerie music plays, and the walls and ceilings change their theme. I heard that sometimes the waiters quick-change into totally different outfits. Touristy, I know, but it would give me something to tell Kathleen and Addie about when I got back.
“I’m not a foodie,” she said, “but I’ll find something to nibble on while we talk about this…situation.”
“There’s a situation?” I said. “With Eva?”
“There’s about to be,” she said.
Chapter 20
Switch did not disappoint. This high-energy restaurant was all about vibrant colors, Venetian glass murals, and wild, stylish fabrics. More to the point: they had a bourbon bar that featured, among other timeless classics, my favorite spirit: Pappy Van Winkle’s twenty-year Family Reserve. I ordered us each a shot of the Pappy, straight up.
“I’ll have a chardonnay,” Callie said.
The waiter hesitated. “Bring her a shot of Pappy,” I said, “and a glass of your house chardonnay, just in case.”
After he left to fetch the drinks, I said, “You remember Burt Lancaster?”
“The actor?” Callie said. She looked around. “He’s here?”
“Only in spirit,” I said.
“Oh.” She thought a moment, and said, “I liked him in that Kevin Costner movie, the one about the baseball field.”
“Field of Dreams,” I said, “his last performance.”
“What about him?”
“When he was sixteen, Burt Lancaster ran away from home and joined the circus, wanted to be a trapeze artist.”
Callie looked interested. “And did he become one?”
“He did.”
The waiter brought our drinks.
