Home to Sparrow Lake (Harlequin Heartwarming) (12 page)

“Especially since he said it was for my own good, because I was simply too dependent on him.”

“Wow. Nice guy. You, dependent? You’re the most independent woman I’ve ever met.”

“Thanks.” She grinned at him. “I think. What about you?” She knew he wasn’t married, but she had no idea if he was seeing someone else.

“Unfortunately, my wife divorced me over the job.”

Kristen started at that. She searched Alex’s face, but his expression remained neutral. To hide his feelings? Or because it didn’t matter anymore?

“So you were married,” she said, keeping her voice even. “Did you...do you have kids?” Is that why he’d been so natural with her nieces?

“No, Emma couldn’t handle being a cop’s wife. The marriage only lasted five months.”

“I’m so sorry, Alex. That had to have been devastating.”

“I’ve been over it for a long time. Over Emma. It was one of those whirlwind romances. We married too fast, before we really knew each other. I’m not interested in the past. I’m looking to my future.”

And he was looking directly into her eyes.

Kristen’s pulse began to thrum as his head inched closer and his features went all blurry. Her heart bumped against her ribs and her throat felt tight.

Why had she fought this? she wondered again, even as she wet her lips and parted them. She’d thought she couldn’t get involved with someone who lived in Sparrow Lake when she was planning on leaving at the first great job opportunity. But why not?

Her thoughts got muddled when his mouth found hers.

Her breath stopped for a moment. Then she sighed and lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. She gave over to the moment and kissed Alex back. She indulged in a long, sweet, warm, tantalizing kiss.

What was the harm in dating a man she genuinely liked? She wasn’t gone yet. She had time before she made another change. Why spend it alone?

Something that felt so good...so right...just couldn’t be a mistake.

CHAPTER TWELVE

L
ATE
ON
W
EDNESDAY
night, Brian waited for his friends in a small park on the south side of town. He sat on one of the swings and toed his sneaker into the dirt, moving himself back and forth. He was still angry about the confrontation he’d had with Kristen a couple of nights ago and wondered if it had anything to do with that cop she’d been hanging out with. He’d seen Novak drop his sister off at the house yesterday. The police chief was probably filling her head with lies, just as his stepfather filled his mom’s head with them. Just thinking about that had made him want to pull another prank as soon as he and his pals had a chance.

At a scuffling sound, he stiffened, then saw Matt’s bulk slip out of the shadows followed by the skinnier form of Andy. “Hey, dudes.”

“Hey, man,” said Matt.

“Have any idea where we’ll hit tonight?” asked Matt.

“I noticed that the Richardses don’t even have a deadbolt on their diner. It’s not far from here.” Off the main drag, too. Maybe the cops wouldn’t be driving by so often.

“What are we going to do? Spray the place?” Andy asked.

“Nah, just move some things around.” Brian always tried to limit the vandalism. Annoy and confound, not infuriate or scare. “Maybe help ourselves to a piece of pie.”

“Let’s go.” Andy took off, keeping to the shadows.

They traveled the alleys, as usual, and the shady areas unlit by streetlights. Being on foot was better than driving a car. In a small town, late at night, it was far easier for the police to notice a car driving past than three young guys running or walking. Luckily, the cops of Sparrow Lake weren’t too smart and were never going to catch them, Brian told himself. Besides, he and his posse were just having a little fun and showing everyone they could do what they wanted.

When they got to the diner, Brian used a plastic card on the back door. It took a couple of swipes to get it open.

“Whoo!” yelled Matt, dancing around when they got inside. “This place looks like
Happy Days
or something.

“A shabby version,” Brian agreed. Paint peeled on one of the walls and some of the chrome chairs were patched in places. Even in the dim light, he could see permanent scuff marks on the linoleum floor. But the long lunch counter was clean and the dishes and menus and other items were all stacked neatly on shelves. “Richards and his wife are both old enough to retire. I heard they just keep this place open to have something to do.” According to Aunt Margaret, anyway.

“I wish they had a jukebox,” said Matt.

“Yeah, right, all we’d need is more noise,” said Brian, disapproving of Matt scraping a chair around. “Settle down, will you?”

“So what shall we do? Break dishes?”

“No!” Matt could be a real bonehead. “Just take ’em and stack ’em somewhere else. Maybe let’s set the tables. Something they don’t expect. Move the glassware to the other side of the restaurant.”

They got busy setting the tables.

Matt grabbed a ketchup bottle. “How about emptying some of this on a table?”

“Too much of a mess.” They’d caused more trouble at the service station than he’d intended, and he didn’t want things getting out of hand. He looked around. “Where’s Andy?”

“I dunno. Andy?” Matt called.

“Shhh!” Brian cautioned him.

Matt lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper, “Andy? Where are you?”

Now Brian could hear the splatter of grease, like something was cooking. He took out his flashlight and moved around the counter, deeper into the kitchen. “Andy?”

A grunt answered him and his flashlight beam slid across the back of his pal standing at the grill. More grease spattered.

“What are you doing?”

“Cooking some burgers. Want one?”

“No, we don’t have time to cook burgers.” Sheesh, food always seemed to be the number one item on Andy’s mind.

“They’re almost done.” Andy picked up a plate with an open bun. He used a spatula to flip the patties onto it. Then he picked up the burger and took a gigantic bite.

Matt came up behind Brian. “Food. All he’s going to do is eat now.” He asked Brian, “What else should we do?”

Brian watched Andy annihilate the burgers with a few more bites. As before, he was amazed anyone could eat so much, so fast. He whispered, “Is he starving or something?”

“Well...” Matt seemed reluctant to explain. “I don’t think he gets enough to eat, ya know? When he comes over to my house, he scarfs just about everything in the refrigerator.”

Brian had noticed that when Andy was at his place. “He acts like he has a tapeworm.”

Andy opened the refrigerator and rummaged around. He took out some potatoes, which he munched on, skins and all. Then he ducked into the refrigerator again.

Matt kept his voice low. “His family is homeless.”

“Homeless?”

Shocked into silence, Brian remembered Andy’s family lived in a small but adequate house. But he’d never visited the place since returning to town. He’d just assumed things were the same.

“Next thing to homeless anyway. His dad left Sparrow Lake looking for a job and his mom works part-time at the motel over by the highway,” Matt explained. “They live in a room there, too.”

“All five of them in a motel room?” Andy had two sisters and a younger brother, Brian remembered.

“He says they like it. They get all the old rolls and stuff after the motel breakfast is over. Hey, it’s better than the car, especially in winter.”

“Were they living out of a car?”

“For a while.”

“Why didn’t you mention this before?”

“He don’t like to talk about it.”

So the family was virtually homeless and living in a motel on part-time wages. No wonder Andy was always so hungry.

A pair of passing headlights suddenly flitted across the wall, making Brian jump. “The police?”

“I don’t think so,” grunted Matt.

The car disappeared down the street.

“Whatever. We should leave.” He scooped up the menus and hid them under a big toaster in the kitchen. “Let’s go.”

“Mmmmp.” Andy appeared, carrying a pie from which he’d spooned out a big mouthful. Chewing, he asked. “I thought we were all gonna have a piece.”

“Bring the pie with you. We’ve got to get out of here.” Brian moved toward the door. He opened and closed it carefully behind them. Then all three of them slid off into the night.

Brian hadn’t intended for them to steal anything, but a pie and a couple of burgers surely wouldn’t hurt anyone. Especially when a guy like Andy really needed something to eat. Or maybe he was going to take the pie to his family. Brian couldn’t stand the thought of someone he knew going hungry. And not just Andy but his kid sisters and brother, too. Didn’t small towns have food banks or something for starving, homeless people?

Not that it was any of his business, Brian decided.

Not that he could forget about it....

* * *

O
N
T
HURSDAY
,
A
COUPLE
of women from Gloria’s quilting class came by the store to look at fabric for a special project they were creating. Kristen didn’t ask for specifics because she wasn’t a permanent member of the group. At least, that’s what she told herself.

After examining the material, however, Laurie and Nellie started talking about the strange things that had happened at the Richardses’ diner the night before. Kristen couldn’t help but move close enough to listen in.

“The Richards are my neighbors,” Laurie Jamison said. “Elsa Richards was extremely upset. She told me there was no evidence of a break-in, but about half the tables were set with plates. And a cherry pie was stolen.”

“A cherry pie?” Gloria quirked her brows. “That’s odd.”

“I guess some other food was missing, too,” Laurie went on. “I’m not sure. Elsa said she might not have noticed the pie but she had just baked it that morning.”

Kristen listened carefully as she scrolled through some sewing goods sites on her laptop. She had a bad feeling. She only hoped the pranksters didn’t include Brian, but she feared the worst. Up late, mulling over an email from a former colleague about a hot lead on a new job, she’d had trouble sleeping after going to bed and had gotten up to fix some chamomile tea. When she returned to her suite, she’d heard several thumps in the hallway. Brian must have sneaked in the lakeside door again.

“Why would someone set the tables?” asked Gloria. “That’s weird.”

“To try to spook people, make them nervous,” said Laurie.

“Ha, don’t feel spooked,” growled Nellie Martin. “We aren’t dealing with ghosts or anything strange. The culprits are flesh and blood just like me and you. I haven’t talked much about it, but someone broke into my store, too.”

“Really?” said Gloria.

“It was the same as the Richardses—no evidence of a break-in.”

“What happened?” Laurie asked. “Was anything stolen?”

“No, thank goodness. But whoever did it thought they were real funny. Dressed the mannequins in crazy colors and styles. One of them was wearing lingerie on the outside of her clothes.”

“Lingerie?” Gloria’s lips curved, then she seemed to repress the smile that had started. “Doesn’t Madonna do that in real life?”

Nellie shook her head disapprovingly. “We’re lucky if celebrities these days—and the kids that want to be like them—wear anything at all. But I certainly don’t try to appeal to that kind of customer. I reported the incident to Chief Novak, but I don’t know whether he believed me or not. He asked me about my eyesight and suggested I might have forgotten that I dressed the mannequins like that myself.”

Despite herself, Kristen swallowed a nervous giggle. She could just hear Alex’s dry, sarcastic tone in her imagination. Laurie turned to glance at her.

“You do wear large glasses, dear,” Gloria told Nellie. “They magnify your eyes a bit, too. Are they strong?”

“Not that strong or I wouldn’t be able to sew!” snapped Nellie.

Gloria stepped back, obviously surprised by the older woman’s offended tone. “Well, of course not,” she said in a soothing voice. “You stitch beautifully.”

Emily Auerbach came in, looking a bit flustered, as usual.

“Alex Novak is a nice man overall, but he was wrong in that instance,” said Nellie. “And I’m going to put in a deadbolt.”

“Chief Novak?” Emily Auerbach pursed her lips nervously and grasped her purse tightly. “I wouldn’t say the police chief is so nice. Why, I saw him arresting little children the other day.”

All the women turned toward the mayor’s wife and Kristen felt impelled to jump in. “Alex does not arrest children!”

Now the women turned to her. Kristen had been frazzled that day, but she remembered Mrs. Auerbach wandering by and had thought she’d been joking about the arresting children remark. It seemed that the eccentric woman had misinterpreted the incident.

“Alex didn’t arrest my little nieces,” she said emphatically. “He took them for a ride in the police car because they were upset, and he was trying to help.” She rushed on, “I was the one who did something wrong that day. I was taking care of the twins and I let Addison walk out of FamilyMart with a couple of sweaters we didn’t pay for. I didn’t know she had them on.”

Everyone remained silent. Mrs. Auerbach cleared her throat.

“Alex took us back to the store so Addison could apologize to the manager. She didn’t know what she was doing.” Kristen added, “And I certainly didn’t know what I was doing, either. I’m not used to dealing with kids.”

Gloria’s hearty laugh relaxed everyone but Emily Auerbach. “Of course not. You have to watch children constantly. My Jackie is twelve now, thank goodness, but we had a few incidents ourselves when she was small.” She shook her head and sighed. “When you look back at it years later, though, it’s pretty funny.”

“It’s great that you try to help out your sister, Kristen,” Laurie said.

“Thanks.” Kristen looked directly at Mrs. Auerbach. “Anyway, Alex most definitely wouldn’t arrest children.”

“If you say so. I notice he’s used his position to push you around, too, Ms. Lange.”

Oops.
Kristen didn’t want to explain that she fully suspected Alex of enforcing some less than significant rules to get to know her better. “Well, uh, he just wanted to make sure I was aware of the laws in town.”

Gloria gave her a knowing smile that Kristen wasn’t sure she appreciated. Had the women been gossiping about her and Alex?

“He fixed the window that I broke,” Kristen pointed out. She’d told the group about what happened the first week she met them. “He honestly cares about the safety of our citizens.” He cared about many things, something she appreciated.

Nellie nodded. “At heart, he’s a nice man.”

“I agree,” said Gloria. “He’s a
very
nice man.”

Kristen said nothing, focusing closely on her computer in hopes the conversation would change. It did, the women segueing back into a discussion of the project they were working on. She had been surprised at her own vehemence coming to Alex’s defense when Mrs. Auerbach complained about him. She picked up her laptop and returned to the front desk, thinking about Alex. He could annoy her one minute and charm her the next. She found him quite intriguing in addition to being attractive, and he obviously felt the same.

So why didn’t that make her happy? She guessed thinking about him so much made their relationship seem more intense than it was.

Kristen frowned, logging into her personal email. Yet again, she looked at the message about the job prospect she was considering. Her colleague urged her to contact the Chicago company and send them her résumé as soon as possible. She shouldn’t be dragging her feet. As a young girl, after suffering through her family’s problems—a dreamer of a father who couldn’t be responsible and a mother burdened with meaningless, part-time jobs—Kristen had vowed she was going to be a big success. She was going to make lots of money in the big city. Coming back to Sparrow Lake made her feel like a failure.

Yet now that another opportunity had come up, after months of searching, she had mixed feelings about pursuing it.