Midnight Run (8 page)

She’d never heard him say anything like that,
and it touched her. Afraid she might start crying again, Nora broke
off the hug and set her bag down. “They’d be happy to hear that,”
she said, kneeling down to sift through her bag so she didn’t have
to look at him.

Carl rubbed her shoulders. “You’re family,
Nor, whether you like it or not.”

***

Once she told Todd she was back, he insisted that
she begin her training the next day. “I already had you on the
schedule for split shifts all week,” he told her over the phone.
“No need to change that now, right?”

Secretly, Nora had hoped he’d give her
another day or two off, since her emotions were still a bit of a
wreck, but she forced a smile into her voice and said, “Nope! I’ll
be there first thing tomorrow.”

She skipped her run that night, but it didn’t
matter; she was too keyed up to sleep. When she got to Books and
Brew at four-thirty in the morning, Todd was just unlocking the
front door.

“Welcome back!” He held the door open for
her, and then locked it again once they were both inside. “Don’t
want anyone wandering in,” he said in answer to her questioning
stare. “No one reads the posted hours.”

Nora nodded, pushing away her worries about
her mom and trying to focus on what Todd was saying. “Has that
happened before?”

“All the time.” Todd flicked on the light
switch near the door. “Make sure you lock up once you start opening
alone, but don’t forget to unlock the door and switch on the open
sign at five.”

“Check.” Nora followed him into the back,
where he showed her how to count down the cash drawer before the
start of business. “That’s one of the reasons the same manager
always works open and close,” he told her. “So that he’s the only
one counting down the drawer that day.”

Nora nodded, watching as he slid the drawer
into the register and turned the key that secured it in place. “It
must have been exhausting for you, managing without an
assistant.”

Todd tugged on his silver mustache. “I’ve
done it before, and once you move on, I’m sure I’ll do it again.
Although,” he added with a smile, “I am looking forward to taking
some time off now!”

“What else do I need to do?”

Todd glanced at his watch. “Plenty, but we
need to get open. I’ll stick around this shift, and I’ll be back
for closing, too, but maybe tomorrow or the next day, if you’re
ready, you’ll open on your own.”

Nora swallowed nervously. “If you think I’m
ready.”

“You will be. We just have to go over
stocking and scheduling, and hopefully we can catch that if there’s
a lull today.” Todd handed her a key. “That’s yours; don’t lose
it.”

Nora couldn’t help herself; she broke into a
wide grin. “I get a key?”

“What’d you think, I’d be here to open the
door every day?” Todd laughed. “Speaking of, why don’t you go turn
on the sign and open up?”

Nora nodded, a tight knot of excitement
building in her stomach. She crossed to the window and flicked on
the neon sign, and then she turned to the front door. Laurel was
standing on the other side of the glass, and she stared at Nora in
surprise. Feeling her excitement threaten to shift into fear, Nora
took a deep breath and opened the door.

“What the hell are you doing here this
early?” Laurel asked as she breezed inside.

Nora squared her shoulders. “I’m the new
assistant manager.”

Laurel barked a laugh. “You’ve got to be
joking,” she said. When Nora didn’t respond, she narrowed her eyes.
“You
are
joking, right?”

Nora shook her head. “Nope. I started
today.”

Laurel crossed the room and grabbed her apron
off a hook on the counter. “Like hell I’m taking orders from
you.”

Nora’s stomach clenched, but before she could
figure out how to respond, Todd poked his head around the corner
from the back. “Like hell you aren’t, Laurel; is there an
issue?”

Laurel shot an inscrutable look at Nora and
then turned to Todd and smiled. “Not at all,” she said, her voice
sickly sweet. “I was just surprised is all.”

Todd nodded. “Good. I don’t want to hear from
Nora that you’re causing any problems, understood?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she said. When Todd
had gone back into the back, Laurel glared at Nora. “Just like you
wouldn’t dream of making up stories about me, right?”

“I’d never do that,” Nora stammered.

Laurel smiled slowly. “Good. Just so long as
we’re clear.”

Nora wasn’t entirely sure what Laurel meant,
but she didn’t want to push it. The morning was already off to a
tense start.
And besides
, she told herself,
Laurel’s not
going to do anything stupid.

Still, Nora was nervous, and she went out of
her way to be even nicer to Laurel than usual. That wasn’t too
difficult; they were slammed, so there wasn’t a lot of time for the
two of them to interact. Nora worked the register for most of the
morning while Laurel made the drinks, only stopping when there was
a lull for Todd to walk her through more of her managerial duties.
There was way more to the job than he’d initially let on, and when
Nora finally left at noon, her head was spinning.

She thought about going for a run in the
middle of the day, but instead, she headed home and took a nap on
the couch. Nora had to be back for the rest of her shift at five
that evening, and between a sleepless night worrying about both the
new job and her mom, she slept deeply. Carl got home at four and
prodded her awake, which was a good thing, since Nora had forgotten
to set an alarm. She grabbed an apple as she headed back downtown,
crossing her fingers that the evening would go well.

Laurel wasn’t on shift anymore when Nora got
to the café, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Frank, the guy she
was closing with, didn’t work that often, so Nora didn’t know him
very well, but he was quiet and fairly nice, and by the time she
and Todd locked up, she was almost feeling confident.

“You did a good job today,” Todd offered
before he left. “Ready to try it alone tomorrow?”

Nora swallowed, but she said “Sure!”

Todd patted her shoulder. “That’s my girl. I
knew you’d be a natural at this.”

Nora wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t want to
contradict him. Besides, it hadn’t been that bad.
What could
possibly go wrong without Todd?

Plenty, it turned out.

First, her key got stuck in the lock when she
got there to open up, and she didn’t get inside for fifteen
minutes. By the time Laurel sauntered in an hour after the store
opened, Nora was covered in espresso, the floor behind the counter
was slick with melted ice, and a line of angry customers stretched
to the door.

“Weren’t you scheduled to open?” Nora asked,
catching herself narrowly from wiping out on the floor as she
turned from the counter back to the register.

Laurel shrugged. “I figured you could handle
it. Besides,” she added lowering her voice as she tied her apron
on, “what are you going to about it?”

Nora gaped at her for a moment. Was Laurel
seriously testing her like this? “Nothing, right now. Can you grab
register and I’ll keep making the drinks?”

Laurel looked like she wanted to argue, but
finally she shrugged and dropped it.

Nora quietly fumed as she made the drinks,
wondering why Laurel had decided to act like such a bitch.
She’s
always been that way
, Nora realized.
Ever since my first day
here.
She’d never known why, and she’d always been too shy to
ask. But now that Nora was assistant manager, she didn’t want to
put up with it any more.

Laurel’s laugh cut through Nora’s thoughts,
and she glanced back at the register. Her heart almost stopped when
she saw Kingston standing there looking at Laurel with a wide smile
on his face. Nora hadn’t been back to the running group since the
steamy cool down and even hotter dream, and her palms started to
sweat seeing him again. Would he recognize her now?
And do I
even want him to?

When Laurel called his order over her
shoulder, Nora busied herself with the espresso machine, trying not
to notice the way Laurel was flirting with the handsome Texan. The
girl was practically laying on the register, thrusting her chest
toward him like some ridiculous bird performing a mating dance, and
Nora bit her lip.
Surely he isn’t the kind of guy who wanted a
girl to throw herself at him, is he?

Finally, another customer coughed loudly, and
Kingston gave the man an apologetic smile before moving down the
counter. Nora smiled at him when she handed him his drink, but her
hand was shaking.

Kingston grinned down at her. “Thanks, hon!
Haven’t seen you for a few days.”

Does he mean here at the shop, or
running?
“New shift,” she finally said, playing it safe. “I got
promoted to assistant manager.”

His perfect smile stretched even wider.
“That’s wonderful! Congratulations!”

She beamed at him. “Thank you. It’s only my
second day,” she admitted, “and I’ve got a lot to learn.”

He waved his hand. “You look like you’re
doing a mighty fine job to me.”

Laurel called down the next order, and Nora
wished for a moment that she could freeze time and just stand there
smiling at Kingston, watching him smile at her. “Thanks,” she
offered, pushing her glasses up her nose. “I’m trying.”

He winked. “Keep it up, hon.” With a wave, he
headed back out into the city, and Nora stared after him for a
moment, watching his broad shoulders. When Laurel called down the
same order again, with an edge to her voice this time, Nora gave
herself a mental shake and got back to work, but her brain kept
turning their encounter over and over. Did he realize she was in
the running group? He’d seemed happy to see her, almost like he
knew her, but maybe that was just the way he was with everybody.
Nora worried it to death, and by the time she went off shift, she’d
pretty much forgotten about Laurel’s power play that morning, but
she was no closer to an answer about Kingston than she had been
when she’d been at work.
There’s only one way to tell,
she
mused.
No matter how tired I am, I better lace up my running
shoes tonight!

Kingston’s heart had
started beating fast when he spotted a familiar face behind the
counter on his coffee break. He’d mostly been able to keep his
thoughts away from her while his parents were in town, mainly
because he’d spent his lunch hours with them, catching little
glimpses of the city. They’d taken a taxi to the airport that
morning, so Kingston had reverted to his old habits, half expecting
the illusive barista to still be gone. He’d been pleasantly
surprised when he saw her, and he thought she’d seemed happy to see
him, too.

He’d been too fixated on seeing her again to
realize that he’d forgotten to ask her name until he was three
blocks away, and he cursed out loud in frustration. “You can’t even
remember this one simple thing; how are you ever going to get up
the nerve to ask her out?” A few people on the sidewalk gave him
the side eye, and he shook himself, wishing he hadn’t spoken out
loud. Rounding a corner, he considered going back to the coffee
shop and asking her once and for all, but just as he made up his
mind to do it, his phone rang insistently in his pocket. Even
though he’d seen people hurrying along the sidewalks with their
phones pressed to their ears, he couldn’t quite bring himself to do
it.
Too old fashioned to multi-task,
he thought with a smile
as he spotted a metal bench just up the street. Answering the
phone, he strode to it rapidly.

“Uncle King?” A small voice asked.

Kingston sat down, looking at the phone in
surprise. “Yes. What’s up, kiddo?”

“It’s Shell.” The little boy cleared his
throat. “How are you?”

“I’m okay, but Shell, buddy, aren’t you
supposed to be in school right now?” At seven, Shelton was the
older of his two nephews, and he’d been proud to tell Kingston all
about first grade when he’d seen the boys over Christmas.

“I stayed home sick,” the boy said, “but I’m
not really sick.”

“Uh-huh. What’s wrong, then?”

There was silence on the line, and then
Shelton sighed. “Are Mama and Daddy getting a divorce?”

Kingston raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you
ask them that, buddy?”

“I don’t want to make Mama cry.”

Kingston’s heart clenched. “Has your mom been
crying?”

“Yes. She’s in the bathroom right now, and I
heard her through the door. That’s why I called you.”

Kingston glanced at the caller I.D. on his
phone and realized his nephew had swiped Rachel’s phone to call
him. “I can’t really do anything, buddy. I’m in New York now,
remember?”

“Can’t you come home, just for a visit?”

Kingston looked around the busy street. “I
wish I could,” he admitted, “but I’ve got a job to do here.”

“Oh.” His nephew was silent. “Will you tell
Mama and Daddy not to fight anymore?”

“Let me talk to your mom, okay, buddy?”
Kingston wheedled, hoping his nephew wasn’t feeling defiant.

He wasn’t. “Okay.” There was a shuffling
sound, and then Rachel’s surprised voice came on the line.

“You don’t usually call during daylight
hours; you okay?”

Kingston leaned his head back against the
bench. “I didn’t call. Shelton called me.”

“What? Shelton Stevenson, you’ve got some
explaining to do!” She hollered, and Kingston cringed.

“Not his fault, Raye. The boy’s upset about
you and Mark.”

She sighed. “I’m upset, too.” There was a
pause. “King, I think he wants a divorce.”

Despite what his nephew had said, the truth
shocked Kingston. “Has he said as much?”

“No,” she said, drawing out the word, “but
Marcy saw him out last night with a leggy redhead.” Her voice
caught. “That doesn’t sound like he’s honoring his marital vows to
me.”