“She’s right, boss. What would San Francisco be without Molly’s? It’s a landmark.” Tim interjected from his place behind the bar.
“Jeezus, not you too Tim.” Liam shook his head. “Truth be told Molly, I thought you and Ann would rather I sold the place and left you the money.” He looked from Molly to Anne. “I get offers all the time. The last real estate agent said he could get me two million.”
Anne shook her head. “We don’t want the money. We want the pub to stay in the family.” She smiled. “Don’t you think it’s time for there to be another Molly in Molly’s?”
“That would be something, wouldn’t it?” Liam grinned.
“Yes, it would.”
He raised his hands in mock surrender, “OK, OK, you win. I should know better than to argue with women.” He turned to his daughter. “When I’m gone, the pub will go to you.”
Both women leaned in to hug him. Tears ran down their cheeks as they put their arms around him.
After a few seconds, Liam pulled away and quickly wiped away a tear. “Tim, I’d say we need a shot of the good stuff.”
“The single malt Teeling?” Tim asked, surprised.
“Yes, this calls for the best we have.” Liam smiled. The light twinkled in his eyes.
“And the most expensive.” Tim chuckled as he lined up four shot glasses.
“Pour one for Kellen, or there’ll be more broken glasses to clean up,” Liam said with a laugh.
Tim sat one more shot glass on the counter and poured the golden liquid into each.
Liam raised his glass to the picture on the wall. “To the future of Molly’s.”
“To the future of Molly’s.” They repeated and gently tapped their glasses.
“Sláinte,” they said in unison.
The whiskey in the fifth glass sloshed over the rim onto the bar. Liam smiled and shook his head. “Damn it, Kellen, mind your whiskey, or I’ll cut you off.”
Alicia Crumpler is close to finishing a Creative Writing Certificate at UC San Diego-Extension and has a Master’s Degree in Criminology. She pays the bills by teaching criminal justice classes at the College of Sequoias in California. She has had poetry published in For Women Who Roar and flash fiction in The Bangalore Review. When not teaching, she can be found reading, playing the ukelele, or trying to make words stick to paper. She lives near the ocean on the California coast with her wife and fury kid. She is active on Facebook and Instagram.
How lovely to read this atmospheric story again! Congratulations Alicia.