The long game, p.4
The Long Game, page 4
“Okay, ladies.” Parker pointed over her shoulder at the dining room table. “Refreshments are served. How about we help ourselves, then get down to business? I found a technology stock I want to tell you all about.”
Liz started to snicker as Ivy poured a glass of iced tea. “Speaking of business, I saw someone’s been at your sign again, Ivy.”
She made a face. “I know, right? But they did a good job with it. These days, funny farm is an apt description.”
“Oh, come on.” Allison settled her glass next in line for tea. “You’ve got that place running like a well-oiled machine.”
Liquid sloshed onto the lace tablecloth and Ivy hissed. She set the pitcher aside and snatched up a stack of napkins. “Dammit. Parker, I’m sorry—”
“Relax. Accidents happen. Be right back.” Parker rushed off to the kitchen.
Allison came around the table to help mop up. “You’re not yourself tonight. Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
Ivy lifted her head. Everyone was listening, expressions full of shared concern.
She sighed. “My manager quit this afternoon. Less than an hour after that, one of my farmhands walked out when I told him he wasn’t qualified to step into the position.”
Her news was greeted with a chorus of sympathetic noises. Hazel leaned over and put a hand on her arm. “Sorry to hear that, hon.”
Allison looked thoughtful as she dabbed at the tablecloth. “So you’ll need someone to help out part-time while you’re looking for replacements.”
Ivy smirked at her designer-clad friend. “Why? You interested?”
“Dear God in heaven, no. Learning to milk a cow is not on my bucket list.” Allison grinned. “See what I did there?” When no one else seemed impressed, she went back to dabbing. “How about Seth?”
Ivy set her glass down before it slipped through her fingers. “In the first place, he has two kids to look after and his own business to run. In the second...” She hesitated. Allison bumped her shoulder.
“C’mon, girl, spill it.”
Parker chuckled as she came back into the room with a handful of dishrags. “She already did.”
Liz tittered.
Ivy exhaled. “Seth and I... We’re not on the best of terms.”
June pursed her lips. “When are you going to stop rejecting that poor man?”
“As of today,” Ivy muttered.
Allison clapped her hands. “You’re finally going for it? For crying out loud, woman, what are you doing here?”
Ivy was shaking her head, her braid heavy between her shoulder blades. “I won’t be rejecting him, because after today he won’t be asking me out anymore.”
“What did you do?” wailed Hazel.
Allison shrugged her slim shoulders. “All that means is you have to ask him.”
“Ladies, I’m not interested in dating. Period.”
“But this is Seth. What’s the big deal about dating Seth?” Hazel fluffed her white hair. “Go on a few dates, do the nasty, decide if you’re in it to win it.”
It took a moment for Ivy to find her voice again. “The big deal is, he may very well realize that dating me is no deal at all. That I’m one big anticlimax, so to speak. What if he’s so disappointed he decides he never wants to see me again?”
Parker turned and lobbed the dishrags at the nearest countertop, added a mini quiche to her plate and passed the platter. “Maybe I’m just being slow, but hasn’t that already happened?”
“He didn’t say he never wanted to see her again. He told her he was cutting back on seeing her.” Liz paused, then made a face at Parker. “Dude. You’re right.” She turned a sympathetic smile on Ivy. “What are you going to do?”
“The only thing I can do.” Ivy sank into the nearest chair and pushed at her plate. “Cut my losses and start saving for a wedding present for him and Ms. DMV.”
Allison put a hand on her hip. “Is this about Evan?”
Liz frowned. “Who’s Evan?”
“You remember.” June nibbled at a cube of cheddar. “The guy Ivy was going to marry.”
“That jerk.” Liz finished off her plate with a ham biscuit and settled across from Ivy.
“Wait. I never knew you were engaged,” Parker said.
Allison poured her own tea and pulled out the chair beside Ivy. “Two years ago, and she hasn’t dated anyone since. And no—” she aimed a pointed glance at her neighbor “—casual sex isn’t dating.”
At the head of the table, Hazel grinned. “It’s one hell of a runner-up, though.”
“And of course this is about Evan.” Allison flapped her napkin and dropped it into her lap. “A guy says he loves you and can’t get a ring on your finger fast enough and all the while, he’s scheming to sell your farm to a real estate developer? That’s bound to leave a scar.”
June sprang to her feet and brushed crumbs from her sweater dress. “How about we look at Seth as an investment? Run the numbers. Do a risk analysis. What do you think, dear heart?”
“I think we have better things to do.” Ivy turned resolutely to Parker. “Tell us about that stock you mentioned.”
Parker grinned. “I’d rather do a stock study on Seth.”
“Thank you.” June cast a stern expression on Ivy. “You going to make us take a vote?”
“Fine. Whatever.” Ivy yanked her plate closer and wrenched a red grape free of its cluster. “But I’m telling you, this is a losing proposition.”
“We won’t know that until we’ve filled out the checklist.” June bent down to the shoulder bag she’d stashed under the table and pulled out a clipboard. She put on her reading glasses, picked up a pen and got down to business. “Historical earnings?”
Ivy snorted. Allison flicked Ivy’s biceps and June peered at her over the top of her glasses.
Ivy sighed. “He’s only been running the feed store for a year.”
“Insufficient data.” June scribbled on the form.
Ivy shifted in her chair. “But he is the owner.”
“Which means it’ll be easy to find out what management’s up to. Debt ratio?”
“Really? You think I know that?”
“What I want to know is—” Hazel looked up from polishing her bifocals “—what’s his growth potential?”
Liz elbowed her in the ribs. “I’m betting eight inches.”
Amid the whoops and high fives, Ivy dropped her head into her hands. Please, God, just smite me now.
“How about his current yield?” someone asked.
“Ivy’s the one with the high yield.” That was Allison. “If she had her way, she’d be yielding all over the place.”
“That’s enough.” Ivy planted her palms on the table and pushed to her feet. “Thank you all for the advice. It may have been unsolicited, but it was definitely valueless. Now can we please start the meeting?”
June grinned. “I see what you did there.”
“Ivy’s right—it’s time to get down to business.” Parker opened her laptop. “Let’s start with—”
“Wait, I have one, I have one.” Liz was practically bouncing in her seat as she leaned toward Ivy. “Bite low and say hi.”
Ivy couldn’t help but laugh, Liz looked so delighted with herself.
“What does that even mean?” Hazel squinted across the table. “You want her to bite his crankshaft? I wouldn’t think that would go over so well.”
June was nodding sagely. “And do you really think that once she bites him, he’ll stick around long enough for her to say hi?”
“Oh, please, give the girl a break. It was funny.” Allison grinned. “Besides, every guy likes a little nibble now and then.”
“Don’t we all,” sighed Hazel. Immediately, Allison and Parker took Hazel to task for finding fault with Liz’s contribution in the first place. While they bickered, Ivy decided to ask Liz about her love life. It was way past time to put someone else on the spot.
She leaned across the table. “How’s everything between you and Marcus?”
“Good. It’s good.” Liz hesitated, and her shoulders collapsed. “No, that’s not true. We’ve been dating since April and I don’t know him much better than I did when we met. I mean, I know he has...issues to work through, and he’s told me some stuff, but we’ve—” her cheeks flushed and she lowered her voice “—we’ve hardly been physical at all, let alone had sex.”
Ivy wondered how much Liz knew about Marcus’s situation. Allison had come to Thistle Hill to shame her ex-boyfriend Joe Gallahan into helping her save her job at an advertising firm back in Washington, DC. Joe had agreed but only if she’d help with the motel’s renovations. It hadn’t taken long for them to fall in love all over again—despite serious challenges involving a python, an ex-con out for vengeance and a fire that almost destroyed the motel.
That ex-con had been Marcus Watts. Allison had stumbled upon him after he’d broken into her room at the motel. The twenty-year-old had been living in the woods, waiting for the opportunity to burn down Sleep at Joe’s because of the horrific abuse he’d suffered while his stepfather owned the place.
Allison hadn’t confided every detail, but Ivy knew enough to be both sickened and enraged on Marcus’s behalf and to realize it could be a long time before he was ready for any kind of intimacy, emotional or physical.
She glanced around and saw that everyone else was still engaged in a good-natured argument. “Have you talked to him about it?”
Liz nodded miserably. “He gets so defensive. He’s seeing a counselor, but I have a feeling a big part of the problem is that he doesn’t think he’s good enough for me.”
“I’m sure you’re doing your best to convince him otherwise.”
“Yeah, but now I’m thinking I need to follow the same advice everyone is giving you. You know. Totally take the initiative.” Her smile was both tentative and sly. “Is that what you’re going to do?”
Ivy was saved from responding when Parker stood and tapped a knife against her wineglass. “Someone needs to call this meeting to order. Otherwise you’ll all be spending the night and anyone still here in the morning will have to earn her breakfast by helping out in the greenhouses.”
“Oh.” June raised her hand. “Speaking of greenhouses, I noticed the floodlights on the hut closest to the parking lot aren’t working.”
“Those dumb things.” Parker scowled. “There must be some kind of electrical problem, because Harris just changed those bulbs.”
“I’ll get Joe to take a look at them for you.” Allison bit her lip. “And if there’s anything else along those lines you’d like done, you might want to let him know now. He has another project coming up that’s going to keep him extra busy.”
“Hmph.” Hazel pushed a strawberry between her blueberry lips and gazed at Allison, brown eyes twinkling. “And here he just put the finishing touches on that brand-new love nest above the motel office. What’s next, a sauna? A swimming pool?”
“A baby.” Allison aimed a sheepish glance at Ivy and pressed her palms to her stomach. “We’re going to have a baby.”
* * *
A SCALDING RUSH OF acid taunted the back of Marcus’s throat as he gazed at the other employees gathered in the diner’s kitchen. This was some bad shit going down, and everybody was looking at him.
One of the waitresses, Rachel, stood beside him, lower lip quivering, and he almost reached for her hand. She had that whole everything-has-to-be-a-drama teen thing going on, but in this case she wasn’t exaggerating.
“It’ll be okay,” Marcus murmured, but how could he expect her to believe that when he didn’t believe it himself?
Rachel ignored him, and continued to stare at the diner’s owner. “You’re saying one of us is a thief.”
“I’m saying there’s money missing.” Cal ran a palm over his short, gray-black hair and Marcus shifted his weight. Poor Cal looked closer to tears than Rachel.
“If it were just one instance,” Cal continued, “I’d chalk it up to a mistake. We all make ’em. But several times over the past month, the drawer’s been short.” His sober gaze traveled from face to face. No one spoke. Someone swallowed, loudly. It was Thursday night, and business was slow. As soon as their one customer had been served his maple-glazed salmon, Cal had gathered the entire evening shift in the kitchen.
Marcus, the cook. Rachel and Parvati, servers. And Noah, who manned the grill during the early shift but had dropped in to pick up his paycheck. All but Noah wore the diner’s uniform of black polo shirts and khakis. They took turns staring at the reddish-brown tiled floor, the empty grill that still smelled of fish and fried onions, and the stainless steel shelves lined with neat rows of plates, glasses, napkins and condiment bottles with the labels turned out.
They looked everywhere but at Cal.
“We have to figure this out and put a stop to it,” he said. “I’ll have to sell a truckload of cinnamon rolls to make up for the revenue I’ve lost.”
“I think just this past week I’ve eaten a truckload of cinnamon rolls.” Parvati patted her ample stomach, trying to lighten the moment. But Cal wasn’t smiling.
“Think about it, folks. Smaller profits mean smaller raises and fewer employee benefits.”
“Are you having this same talk with everyone?” Marcus asked quietly. There were three more servers on the books, plus a busboy on weekends. “Or just us?”
Cal gave him a look Marcus couldn’t interpret. “Everyone needs to hear this. The problem is happening at the cash register, but I won’t tolerate theft of any kind. I don’t care if it’s a can of tomato sauce. You have a money problem, you come to me. We’re family. We’re supposed to be here for each other.” He cleared his throat, but not before everyone heard the break in his voice. “I hate that we’re even having this conversation.”
Noah, a spongy-looking redhead with a sparse goatee, crossed his arms and squinted. “You said this started a month ago?” When Cal offered up a curt nod, Noah’s gaze slid to Marcus. “Isn’t that about the same time he started working the register?”
Marcus didn’t flinch. He’d been waiting for this. He met Cal’s gaze squarely, and after a moment his heart bobbed back up to the surface. How long would Cal be able to hang on to the respect Marcus was seeing in his eyes?
“Yes,” Cal said simply. “But I trust Marcus as much as I trust each of you. Which is what makes this so hard.” He went on to tell them he was available at any hour of the day, for anyone who wanted to talk. Then he went into his office and shut the door.
“Why don’t you stay away from the register?” Eyeing Marcus, Noah folded the envelope containing his paycheck and slid it into his back pocket. “That way, if money goes missing again, we’ll know you’re not the thief.”
“And if it doesn’t go missing, everyone will think he is.” Parvati raised her perfect eyebrows. “Nice try, Noah.”
He let loose a smirk. “Maybe no one’s stealing at all. Maybe someone’s getting confused and making too much change. Maybe Cal shouldn’t let anyone over fifty near the register.”
Parvati’s lined face went gray.
Rachel fisted her bony hands. “Shut up. Just shut up. How old do you think Cal is, you moron? Anyway, you’re the one who can’t inventory five boxes of steaks without using a calculator.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Marcus growled. When everyone went quiet, he struggled to hide his surprise. He pushed away from the counter he’d been leaning against and angled his chin toward the office. “Cal’s right. We’re family. Instead of turning on each other, we should be helping each other out. I don’t believe any of us is stealing, so let’s work together and figure out what is going on.”
“Who put you in charge?” Noah demanded. “You turn twenty-one and suddenly you think you’re calling the shots?”
“Excuse me?” A hesitant voice reached them from the front of the diner. “Could I get a refill on my tea?”
“Be right there, baby doll,” Parvati called. She scowled at Noah and bustled out of the kitchen.
Rachel’s thin shoulders bounced. “So what if he’s only twenty-one? You’re only twenty-three.”
“And you’re, like, twelve, so get out of my face.”
“There a problem here?” They all turned to see Cal standing in the doorway to his office. No one answered. With abrupt motions, Cal finished tying the strings of his black apron. “Marcus, don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Yes, sir.” Marcus pulled his own apron over his head. He usually cooked in the evenings, but Cal had given him the rest of the night off. He’d worked a double over the weekend when Noah had called in sick, and Cal had insisted.
Which meant Cal would be cooking for what was left of the shift.
The diner’s owner turned to his other cook. “You have your check. How about you let Rachel get back to work?”
With a nod, Noah scurried toward the back door. Rachel made a clumsy gesture toward the front, then spun and hurried to join Parvati.
Cal studied Marcus. “Usually when you have a date with Liz, you’re out of here so fast all anyone can see is a blur. Everything okay?” When Marcus hesitated, Cal held up a hand. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked. But in case your lady needs softening up, I put aside a little something for you in the walk-in.”
Marcus shook his boss’s hand. “I appreciate that.” Though a few cinnamon rolls wouldn’t even start to make up for the hurt he was about to inflict.
* * *
TEN MINUTES LATER, MARCUS parked in front of Snoozy’s Bar, where Liz waited tables. He eased the wheezing pickup in between two SUVs and let the engine idle. His palms were slick on the steering wheel, and his throat felt as though he’d spent an entire week breathing in flour.
She’d called him late last night. She’d said she needed to know more about him and asked that their date tonight include an exchange of secrets. He’d balked at first, but she’d been insistent.
Her voice had been soft, sleepy, coaxing. He’d pictured her curled up on her couch in flannel pajamas, sipping a cup of that chai tea she liked. How could he say no?
After their conversation, he’d barely slept. He’d struggled with what to say to her, with how much to reveal. By sunrise he’d known what he had to do. He’d keep his end of the bargain, and then he’d say goodbye.
Liz started to snicker as Ivy poured a glass of iced tea. “Speaking of business, I saw someone’s been at your sign again, Ivy.”
She made a face. “I know, right? But they did a good job with it. These days, funny farm is an apt description.”
“Oh, come on.” Allison settled her glass next in line for tea. “You’ve got that place running like a well-oiled machine.”
Liquid sloshed onto the lace tablecloth and Ivy hissed. She set the pitcher aside and snatched up a stack of napkins. “Dammit. Parker, I’m sorry—”
“Relax. Accidents happen. Be right back.” Parker rushed off to the kitchen.
Allison came around the table to help mop up. “You’re not yourself tonight. Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
Ivy lifted her head. Everyone was listening, expressions full of shared concern.
She sighed. “My manager quit this afternoon. Less than an hour after that, one of my farmhands walked out when I told him he wasn’t qualified to step into the position.”
Her news was greeted with a chorus of sympathetic noises. Hazel leaned over and put a hand on her arm. “Sorry to hear that, hon.”
Allison looked thoughtful as she dabbed at the tablecloth. “So you’ll need someone to help out part-time while you’re looking for replacements.”
Ivy smirked at her designer-clad friend. “Why? You interested?”
“Dear God in heaven, no. Learning to milk a cow is not on my bucket list.” Allison grinned. “See what I did there?” When no one else seemed impressed, she went back to dabbing. “How about Seth?”
Ivy set her glass down before it slipped through her fingers. “In the first place, he has two kids to look after and his own business to run. In the second...” She hesitated. Allison bumped her shoulder.
“C’mon, girl, spill it.”
Parker chuckled as she came back into the room with a handful of dishrags. “She already did.”
Liz tittered.
Ivy exhaled. “Seth and I... We’re not on the best of terms.”
June pursed her lips. “When are you going to stop rejecting that poor man?”
“As of today,” Ivy muttered.
Allison clapped her hands. “You’re finally going for it? For crying out loud, woman, what are you doing here?”
Ivy was shaking her head, her braid heavy between her shoulder blades. “I won’t be rejecting him, because after today he won’t be asking me out anymore.”
“What did you do?” wailed Hazel.
Allison shrugged her slim shoulders. “All that means is you have to ask him.”
“Ladies, I’m not interested in dating. Period.”
“But this is Seth. What’s the big deal about dating Seth?” Hazel fluffed her white hair. “Go on a few dates, do the nasty, decide if you’re in it to win it.”
It took a moment for Ivy to find her voice again. “The big deal is, he may very well realize that dating me is no deal at all. That I’m one big anticlimax, so to speak. What if he’s so disappointed he decides he never wants to see me again?”
Parker turned and lobbed the dishrags at the nearest countertop, added a mini quiche to her plate and passed the platter. “Maybe I’m just being slow, but hasn’t that already happened?”
“He didn’t say he never wanted to see her again. He told her he was cutting back on seeing her.” Liz paused, then made a face at Parker. “Dude. You’re right.” She turned a sympathetic smile on Ivy. “What are you going to do?”
“The only thing I can do.” Ivy sank into the nearest chair and pushed at her plate. “Cut my losses and start saving for a wedding present for him and Ms. DMV.”
Allison put a hand on her hip. “Is this about Evan?”
Liz frowned. “Who’s Evan?”
“You remember.” June nibbled at a cube of cheddar. “The guy Ivy was going to marry.”
“That jerk.” Liz finished off her plate with a ham biscuit and settled across from Ivy.
“Wait. I never knew you were engaged,” Parker said.
Allison poured her own tea and pulled out the chair beside Ivy. “Two years ago, and she hasn’t dated anyone since. And no—” she aimed a pointed glance at her neighbor “—casual sex isn’t dating.”
At the head of the table, Hazel grinned. “It’s one hell of a runner-up, though.”
“And of course this is about Evan.” Allison flapped her napkin and dropped it into her lap. “A guy says he loves you and can’t get a ring on your finger fast enough and all the while, he’s scheming to sell your farm to a real estate developer? That’s bound to leave a scar.”
June sprang to her feet and brushed crumbs from her sweater dress. “How about we look at Seth as an investment? Run the numbers. Do a risk analysis. What do you think, dear heart?”
“I think we have better things to do.” Ivy turned resolutely to Parker. “Tell us about that stock you mentioned.”
Parker grinned. “I’d rather do a stock study on Seth.”
“Thank you.” June cast a stern expression on Ivy. “You going to make us take a vote?”
“Fine. Whatever.” Ivy yanked her plate closer and wrenched a red grape free of its cluster. “But I’m telling you, this is a losing proposition.”
“We won’t know that until we’ve filled out the checklist.” June bent down to the shoulder bag she’d stashed under the table and pulled out a clipboard. She put on her reading glasses, picked up a pen and got down to business. “Historical earnings?”
Ivy snorted. Allison flicked Ivy’s biceps and June peered at her over the top of her glasses.
Ivy sighed. “He’s only been running the feed store for a year.”
“Insufficient data.” June scribbled on the form.
Ivy shifted in her chair. “But he is the owner.”
“Which means it’ll be easy to find out what management’s up to. Debt ratio?”
“Really? You think I know that?”
“What I want to know is—” Hazel looked up from polishing her bifocals “—what’s his growth potential?”
Liz elbowed her in the ribs. “I’m betting eight inches.”
Amid the whoops and high fives, Ivy dropped her head into her hands. Please, God, just smite me now.
“How about his current yield?” someone asked.
“Ivy’s the one with the high yield.” That was Allison. “If she had her way, she’d be yielding all over the place.”
“That’s enough.” Ivy planted her palms on the table and pushed to her feet. “Thank you all for the advice. It may have been unsolicited, but it was definitely valueless. Now can we please start the meeting?”
June grinned. “I see what you did there.”
“Ivy’s right—it’s time to get down to business.” Parker opened her laptop. “Let’s start with—”
“Wait, I have one, I have one.” Liz was practically bouncing in her seat as she leaned toward Ivy. “Bite low and say hi.”
Ivy couldn’t help but laugh, Liz looked so delighted with herself.
“What does that even mean?” Hazel squinted across the table. “You want her to bite his crankshaft? I wouldn’t think that would go over so well.”
June was nodding sagely. “And do you really think that once she bites him, he’ll stick around long enough for her to say hi?”
“Oh, please, give the girl a break. It was funny.” Allison grinned. “Besides, every guy likes a little nibble now and then.”
“Don’t we all,” sighed Hazel. Immediately, Allison and Parker took Hazel to task for finding fault with Liz’s contribution in the first place. While they bickered, Ivy decided to ask Liz about her love life. It was way past time to put someone else on the spot.
She leaned across the table. “How’s everything between you and Marcus?”
“Good. It’s good.” Liz hesitated, and her shoulders collapsed. “No, that’s not true. We’ve been dating since April and I don’t know him much better than I did when we met. I mean, I know he has...issues to work through, and he’s told me some stuff, but we’ve—” her cheeks flushed and she lowered her voice “—we’ve hardly been physical at all, let alone had sex.”
Ivy wondered how much Liz knew about Marcus’s situation. Allison had come to Thistle Hill to shame her ex-boyfriend Joe Gallahan into helping her save her job at an advertising firm back in Washington, DC. Joe had agreed but only if she’d help with the motel’s renovations. It hadn’t taken long for them to fall in love all over again—despite serious challenges involving a python, an ex-con out for vengeance and a fire that almost destroyed the motel.
That ex-con had been Marcus Watts. Allison had stumbled upon him after he’d broken into her room at the motel. The twenty-year-old had been living in the woods, waiting for the opportunity to burn down Sleep at Joe’s because of the horrific abuse he’d suffered while his stepfather owned the place.
Allison hadn’t confided every detail, but Ivy knew enough to be both sickened and enraged on Marcus’s behalf and to realize it could be a long time before he was ready for any kind of intimacy, emotional or physical.
She glanced around and saw that everyone else was still engaged in a good-natured argument. “Have you talked to him about it?”
Liz nodded miserably. “He gets so defensive. He’s seeing a counselor, but I have a feeling a big part of the problem is that he doesn’t think he’s good enough for me.”
“I’m sure you’re doing your best to convince him otherwise.”
“Yeah, but now I’m thinking I need to follow the same advice everyone is giving you. You know. Totally take the initiative.” Her smile was both tentative and sly. “Is that what you’re going to do?”
Ivy was saved from responding when Parker stood and tapped a knife against her wineglass. “Someone needs to call this meeting to order. Otherwise you’ll all be spending the night and anyone still here in the morning will have to earn her breakfast by helping out in the greenhouses.”
“Oh.” June raised her hand. “Speaking of greenhouses, I noticed the floodlights on the hut closest to the parking lot aren’t working.”
“Those dumb things.” Parker scowled. “There must be some kind of electrical problem, because Harris just changed those bulbs.”
“I’ll get Joe to take a look at them for you.” Allison bit her lip. “And if there’s anything else along those lines you’d like done, you might want to let him know now. He has another project coming up that’s going to keep him extra busy.”
“Hmph.” Hazel pushed a strawberry between her blueberry lips and gazed at Allison, brown eyes twinkling. “And here he just put the finishing touches on that brand-new love nest above the motel office. What’s next, a sauna? A swimming pool?”
“A baby.” Allison aimed a sheepish glance at Ivy and pressed her palms to her stomach. “We’re going to have a baby.”
* * *
A SCALDING RUSH OF acid taunted the back of Marcus’s throat as he gazed at the other employees gathered in the diner’s kitchen. This was some bad shit going down, and everybody was looking at him.
One of the waitresses, Rachel, stood beside him, lower lip quivering, and he almost reached for her hand. She had that whole everything-has-to-be-a-drama teen thing going on, but in this case she wasn’t exaggerating.
“It’ll be okay,” Marcus murmured, but how could he expect her to believe that when he didn’t believe it himself?
Rachel ignored him, and continued to stare at the diner’s owner. “You’re saying one of us is a thief.”
“I’m saying there’s money missing.” Cal ran a palm over his short, gray-black hair and Marcus shifted his weight. Poor Cal looked closer to tears than Rachel.
“If it were just one instance,” Cal continued, “I’d chalk it up to a mistake. We all make ’em. But several times over the past month, the drawer’s been short.” His sober gaze traveled from face to face. No one spoke. Someone swallowed, loudly. It was Thursday night, and business was slow. As soon as their one customer had been served his maple-glazed salmon, Cal had gathered the entire evening shift in the kitchen.
Marcus, the cook. Rachel and Parvati, servers. And Noah, who manned the grill during the early shift but had dropped in to pick up his paycheck. All but Noah wore the diner’s uniform of black polo shirts and khakis. They took turns staring at the reddish-brown tiled floor, the empty grill that still smelled of fish and fried onions, and the stainless steel shelves lined with neat rows of plates, glasses, napkins and condiment bottles with the labels turned out.
They looked everywhere but at Cal.
“We have to figure this out and put a stop to it,” he said. “I’ll have to sell a truckload of cinnamon rolls to make up for the revenue I’ve lost.”
“I think just this past week I’ve eaten a truckload of cinnamon rolls.” Parvati patted her ample stomach, trying to lighten the moment. But Cal wasn’t smiling.
“Think about it, folks. Smaller profits mean smaller raises and fewer employee benefits.”
“Are you having this same talk with everyone?” Marcus asked quietly. There were three more servers on the books, plus a busboy on weekends. “Or just us?”
Cal gave him a look Marcus couldn’t interpret. “Everyone needs to hear this. The problem is happening at the cash register, but I won’t tolerate theft of any kind. I don’t care if it’s a can of tomato sauce. You have a money problem, you come to me. We’re family. We’re supposed to be here for each other.” He cleared his throat, but not before everyone heard the break in his voice. “I hate that we’re even having this conversation.”
Noah, a spongy-looking redhead with a sparse goatee, crossed his arms and squinted. “You said this started a month ago?” When Cal offered up a curt nod, Noah’s gaze slid to Marcus. “Isn’t that about the same time he started working the register?”
Marcus didn’t flinch. He’d been waiting for this. He met Cal’s gaze squarely, and after a moment his heart bobbed back up to the surface. How long would Cal be able to hang on to the respect Marcus was seeing in his eyes?
“Yes,” Cal said simply. “But I trust Marcus as much as I trust each of you. Which is what makes this so hard.” He went on to tell them he was available at any hour of the day, for anyone who wanted to talk. Then he went into his office and shut the door.
“Why don’t you stay away from the register?” Eyeing Marcus, Noah folded the envelope containing his paycheck and slid it into his back pocket. “That way, if money goes missing again, we’ll know you’re not the thief.”
“And if it doesn’t go missing, everyone will think he is.” Parvati raised her perfect eyebrows. “Nice try, Noah.”
He let loose a smirk. “Maybe no one’s stealing at all. Maybe someone’s getting confused and making too much change. Maybe Cal shouldn’t let anyone over fifty near the register.”
Parvati’s lined face went gray.
Rachel fisted her bony hands. “Shut up. Just shut up. How old do you think Cal is, you moron? Anyway, you’re the one who can’t inventory five boxes of steaks without using a calculator.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Marcus growled. When everyone went quiet, he struggled to hide his surprise. He pushed away from the counter he’d been leaning against and angled his chin toward the office. “Cal’s right. We’re family. Instead of turning on each other, we should be helping each other out. I don’t believe any of us is stealing, so let’s work together and figure out what is going on.”
“Who put you in charge?” Noah demanded. “You turn twenty-one and suddenly you think you’re calling the shots?”
“Excuse me?” A hesitant voice reached them from the front of the diner. “Could I get a refill on my tea?”
“Be right there, baby doll,” Parvati called. She scowled at Noah and bustled out of the kitchen.
Rachel’s thin shoulders bounced. “So what if he’s only twenty-one? You’re only twenty-three.”
“And you’re, like, twelve, so get out of my face.”
“There a problem here?” They all turned to see Cal standing in the doorway to his office. No one answered. With abrupt motions, Cal finished tying the strings of his black apron. “Marcus, don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Yes, sir.” Marcus pulled his own apron over his head. He usually cooked in the evenings, but Cal had given him the rest of the night off. He’d worked a double over the weekend when Noah had called in sick, and Cal had insisted.
Which meant Cal would be cooking for what was left of the shift.
The diner’s owner turned to his other cook. “You have your check. How about you let Rachel get back to work?”
With a nod, Noah scurried toward the back door. Rachel made a clumsy gesture toward the front, then spun and hurried to join Parvati.
Cal studied Marcus. “Usually when you have a date with Liz, you’re out of here so fast all anyone can see is a blur. Everything okay?” When Marcus hesitated, Cal held up a hand. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked. But in case your lady needs softening up, I put aside a little something for you in the walk-in.”
Marcus shook his boss’s hand. “I appreciate that.” Though a few cinnamon rolls wouldn’t even start to make up for the hurt he was about to inflict.
* * *
TEN MINUTES LATER, MARCUS parked in front of Snoozy’s Bar, where Liz waited tables. He eased the wheezing pickup in between two SUVs and let the engine idle. His palms were slick on the steering wheel, and his throat felt as though he’d spent an entire week breathing in flour.
She’d called him late last night. She’d said she needed to know more about him and asked that their date tonight include an exchange of secrets. He’d balked at first, but she’d been insistent.
Her voice had been soft, sleepy, coaxing. He’d pictured her curled up on her couch in flannel pajamas, sipping a cup of that chai tea she liked. How could he say no?
After their conversation, he’d barely slept. He’d struggled with what to say to her, with how much to reveal. By sunrise he’d known what he had to do. He’d keep his end of the bargain, and then he’d say goodbye.
