Read Online THE OVERTON WINDOW by Glenn Beck - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Glenn Beck
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driven snow. “I doubt you’ve got anything under there me and Hollis haven’t seen before.”
“Aha. So you admit that I’m human.”
She seemed to study him deeply, as if the piece to a stubborn blank in a jigsaw puzzle might be hiding somewhere within his gaze. It must have been only a second or two, but it felt so much longer than any other mere moment he could remember.
“We’ll see,” she said.
CHAPTER 9
Being between tans, Noah had opted to change his clothes in private, though the restroom turned out to be nearly as crowded as the bar itself. There was a definite scent of weed smoke in the air. He’d already seen a few hardcore, single-issue hemp-heads in the crowd. Maybe they were here to attach their cause to the larger group’s ambitions.
He slipped out of his damp shirt and into the fresh top he’d borrowed.
His pants he’d have to live with, but they were already starting to dry out. At least without his dress shirt and tie he might blend in a little better with the majority of the yahoos outside.
When he returned to the tavern proper he saw that the big guy was gone, but another man had joined Molly at the small table by the stage.
Noah stopped by a floor column at a point where he was half obscured from their line of sight. It hadn’t been his conscious intention to stand there and watch the two of them from a distance, not at all. That would be impolite, not to mention a little creepy if either of them should have glanced over to notice him there. But as the brief pause stretchedinto a minute or more, his minor worry of what she might think if she saw him watching was pushed aside by a different concern.
They were sitting close together, hand on hand, talking and whispering, intent on one another, each finishing thoughts for the other, laughing easily. It was an intimate relaxation between them, a togetherness without any pretense, the kind of closeness you see only rarely between siblings, and sometimes among old friends, but often between two people in love.
“That Molly, she’s a nice girl, don’t you think?”
Noah flinched at the sound of the voice near his ear. He turned to see Molly’s large friend Hollis towering beside him, watching the distant table just as he had been.
I was just—
“Nice girl. Smart one, too. Quick as a whip.” Now that he’d said a few more words his regional accent was coming through loud and clear. This guy wasn’t just from Appalachia; he looked and sounded like he might’ve eaten one of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“Whatever,” Noah said, “I just met her, so—”
“That boy with her there, his name’s Danny Bailey. Molly tells me they was tight with one another some time ago, but beyond that I didn’t pry no further.”
Feigning disinterest didn’t seem to be of much further use. Either Hollis was an excellent judge of character or it was so obvious that Noah was smitten with this woman that there was no more need to try to hide it.
“Okay, so that’s his name,” Noah said, “but who is this guy?” His cover was now blown; Molly had just spotted him and was waving him over.
“To be honest I don’t know that much about him,” Hollis said, and his next words sounded strange coming from a giant of a man who could probably bear-hug the fight out of a silverback at the Bronx Zoo.
“But he scares me some.”
• • •
When he returned to the table they pulled over another chair and all three sat back down.
“So, you must be Noah,” Danny Bailey said. “Molly’s told me almost nothing about you.”
If the twinkle in his deep voice was any indication, Bailey found himself pretty damned amusing. He had the air of someone who was accustomed to being seen from a stage or on camera and had put his look together accordingly. He was handsome enough, but up close you could see all the things the footlights would obscure: too many cross-hatched wrinkles for a man so young, desperately spiky hair with
“Aha. So you admit that I’m human.”
She seemed to study him deeply, as if the piece to a stubborn blank in a jigsaw puzzle might be hiding somewhere within his gaze. It must have been only a second or two, but it felt so much longer than any other mere moment he could remember.
“We’ll see,” she said.
CHAPTER 9
Being between tans, Noah had opted to change his clothes in private, though the restroom turned out to be nearly as crowded as the bar itself. There was a definite scent of weed smoke in the air. He’d already seen a few hardcore, single-issue hemp-heads in the crowd. Maybe they were here to attach their cause to the larger group’s ambitions.
He slipped out of his damp shirt and into the fresh top he’d borrowed.
His pants he’d have to live with, but they were already starting to dry out. At least without his dress shirt and tie he might blend in a little better with the majority of the yahoos outside.
When he returned to the tavern proper he saw that the big guy was gone, but another man had joined Molly at the small table by the stage.
Noah stopped by a floor column at a point where he was half obscured from their line of sight. It hadn’t been his conscious intention to stand there and watch the two of them from a distance, not at all. That would be impolite, not to mention a little creepy if either of them should have glanced over to notice him there. But as the brief pause stretchedinto a minute or more, his minor worry of what she might think if she saw him watching was pushed aside by a different concern.
They were sitting close together, hand on hand, talking and whispering, intent on one another, each finishing thoughts for the other, laughing easily. It was an intimate relaxation between them, a togetherness without any pretense, the kind of closeness you see only rarely between siblings, and sometimes among old friends, but often between two people in love.
“That Molly, she’s a nice girl, don’t you think?”
Noah flinched at the sound of the voice near his ear. He turned to see Molly’s large friend Hollis towering beside him, watching the distant table just as he had been.
I was just—
“Nice girl. Smart one, too. Quick as a whip.” Now that he’d said a few more words his regional accent was coming through loud and clear. This guy wasn’t just from Appalachia; he looked and sounded like he might’ve eaten one of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“Whatever,” Noah said, “I just met her, so—”
“That boy with her there, his name’s Danny Bailey. Molly tells me they was tight with one another some time ago, but beyond that I didn’t pry no further.”
Feigning disinterest didn’t seem to be of much further use. Either Hollis was an excellent judge of character or it was so obvious that Noah was smitten with this woman that there was no more need to try to hide it.
“Okay, so that’s his name,” Noah said, “but who is this guy?” His cover was now blown; Molly had just spotted him and was waving him over.
“To be honest I don’t know that much about him,” Hollis said, and his next words sounded strange coming from a giant of a man who could probably bear-hug the fight out of a silverback at the Bronx Zoo.
“But he scares me some.”
• • •
When he returned to the table they pulled over another chair and all three sat back down.
“So, you must be Noah,” Danny Bailey said. “Molly’s told me almost nothing about you.”
If the twinkle in his deep voice was any indication, Bailey found himself pretty damned amusing. He had the air of someone who was accustomed to being seen from a stage or on camera and had put his look together accordingly. He was handsome enough, but up close you could see all the things the footlights would obscure: too many cross-hatched wrinkles for a man so young, desperately spiky hair with
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