Queenie's Cafe (14 page)

Laura put the man out of her mind and went back to work. She had supplies to order and bills to pay, things she didn’t have time to do when the café was open.

About an hour later, Ivy came to the café. Laura told her about the man. “He said he was your brother. He’s not your brother, is he?”

Ivy squirmed uncomfortably. “No.”

“How long have you known this guy?”

She shrugged. “Long enough.”

“Long enough for what? To get pregnant? To get yourself in trouble? To run away from home?”

“You’re not my mother.”

“No, I’m not anything to you. I just feed you and give you a safe place to sleep.”

Ivy looked down.

“Ivy, does that man carry a gun?”

She shrugged and a chill went down Laura’s spine. “Are you afraid of him?”

She nodded.

Laura took a deep breath. She didn’t want that creepy guy hanging around here. Luke would know what to do, but she didn’t want him to think she couldn’t handle her own problems. Letting a homeless kid stay was one thing. Having dangerous men snooping around was another. “It’s time for you to go home, Ivy.”

“I can’t.” She burst into tears and raced back to her room.

Laura wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing sending Ivy home, but the last thing she needed was a creep hanging around. She couldn’t take care of a pregnant teenager forever. What would they do when the baby came? She didn’t want or need that kind of responsibility.

Ivy stayed in her room the rest of the day. She didn’t even come out for dinner, so Laura took her a plate of food and a big glass of milk. For the baby’s sake, Ivy had to eat. She looked like she’d been crying and Laura’s heart went out to her. She was too young to be in this situation, too young to be away from home, and too young to be having a baby, especially on her own.

Laura opened the door to her own apartment and found Luke sitting in her father’s old recliner. “How did you get in here?”

“You left the door unlocked again. You have to stop doing that, Laura.”

“Why are you here?”

“Because I miss you.” He stood.

“Luke—”

“Honey, about the other day. I didn’t mean to imply that you... it’s just that you’re so pretty, and you must have had lots of boyfriends.”

“Go home and leave me alone. Find yourself another charity case. Maybe we’ll do business and maybe we won’t, but our relationship, if you can call it that, ends there.”

“Fine.” He’d apologized and she’d thrown it back in his face. How was he to know she was a virgin? He wasn’t a mind reader. Sometimes he wondered if Laura knew what she wanted. When he kissed her, she kissed him back and invited more. What was he supposed to think? He knew without asking that the little creep who brought his rude mother to meet Laura had never curled her toes when he kissed her. She’d never been kissed – really kissed – before, and the feeling probably scared her a little.

He drove down the highway, then pulled over and stopped. He hated to leave like this, when they were both so angry. He punched the steering wheel several times, muttering to himself, then made an illegal U-turn and drove back to the motel.

He parked in front of the café and started to walk back toward the motel when he saw someone moving through the shadows toward the motel office. It was a man, tall and skinny, with big feet. Luke saw something in the man’s hand glint in the dim outside lights. The guy was armed. Had Laura locked her door when he left? For once, he hoped she remembered.

Luke raced back to his car and punched 911 on his cell phone, hoping someone was on duty in the Kingston police station tonight. A long minute later, he heard the siren coming down the highway.

Laura opened the door as the patrol car pulled into the parking lot, lights flashing, siren blaring away. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“I saw a prowler,” said Luke. “Tall, skinny guy.”

“You get a good look at him?” asked Bobby Wharton, Kingston’s only full-time police officer.

“It’s probably the same guy who came to the café earlier today,” said Laura. “He has dreadlocks and a nose ring. He was looking for Ivy.”

Bobby raised his eyebrows. “Ivy?”

“Room five.”

“I’ll check around the motel,” said Luke. “I think he had a gun, but I’m not sure.”

“Maybe we’d better call for the Sheriff’s men,” said Bobby. “Not much I can do on my own.”

Luke shared a long look with Laura, and she shook her head slightly. As a cop, Bobby was right down there next to worthless. If this was the best Kingston had to offer, they could be in big trouble.

Luke checked Laura’s apartment to make sure that guy didn’t slip inside when no one was looking, then helped Bobby search around the motel. Laura insisted on going with Luke and he agreed. He wanted her where he could keep an eye on her.

Finally, they all stood in front of room five. Luke pounded on the door. “Ivy, it’s Luke. Open the door.”

“Why?”

“Laura and I have to talk with you. Come on, Ivy, open up.”

When Ivy saw the police officer, she tried to push the door closed, but Luke was faster and stronger. He pushed the door open and walked in, followed by Laura and Bobby. Luke immediately checked the bathroom and glanced under the bed, something the cop should have done. Bobby stood there like a lump.

Laura asked, “Who’s the tall, skinny guy with the nose ring?”

“I dunno.”

Luke put his face in hers. “Look, kid, that guy has a gun or knife. Do you really want to give him a chance to hurt you and your baby or Laura? Do you want to be responsible if Laura gets hurt or killed? What is he to you? Boyfriend? Brother? What?”

“I don’t have a brother.”

“Oh, Ivy,” Laura said on a sigh. “You lied to me.”

Luke looked at Laura. “How old is this guy?”

“I don’t know, late-twenties I guess. A lot older than Ivy.”

Bobby said, “Call if that guy comes back,” and left. Luke wondered why he’d bothered to come. They still didn’t know who the man was or what he wanted with Ivy.

“Ivy, bolt your door,” said Luke. “Tomorrow we’ll find you a safer place to stay.”

After he walked Laura back to her apartment, Luke walked around the building again, but the guy was gone. He grabbed the overnight bag from his car and went back to tap on Laura’s door. “Laura, it’s me.”

She opened the door a crack. “What are you doing back here?”

“I don’t want you here alone with that guy prowling around.”

“I’ll be all right. You don’t have to stay with me.”

“I won’t touch you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

A look of pain touched her eyes. Luke carried his overnight bag into the bedroom he’d stayed in before, then came out to the living room to find Laura sitting in her father’s old recliner in the dark. “It’s late,” he said. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Why are you here, Luke?” she asked softly.

“You mean tonight?”

“Not just tonight. Why do you bother with me?”

“I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment.”

She tried to laugh, but it was forced. “You must be, because I don’t treat you very well.”

“Well, now that you mention it—”

“It’s not funny, Luke.”

He stood in the middle of the living room in the dark, wanting to move toward her, to touch her and kiss her, but he didn’t want her to throw him out again. “Laura, don’t you want me around?”

She hesitated before answering in a shaky voice, “I don’t know what I want.” It was the most honest thing she’d ever told him. “It’s not easy for me, depending on other people.”

“On anyone, or just me?”

“Especially you. I’m too independent.”

“That’s one of the things I like about you.”

She looked up. “It is?”

He dropped to his knees on the floor in front of the chair and took her hands. “I like a lot of things about you, Laura.”

“Why does that scare me so much?”

“I won’t hurt you, honey.”

“But you want—”

“I want to make love to you, but I’ll wait until you want it, too. If you decide you don’t want me, I’ll go away.”

“Please don’t go,” she whispered, and he heard the tears in her voice.

He put his hands on her face and kissed her gently. There would be a time for more, but not tonight.

“I don’t want to need you.”

He knew she spoke the truth. She didn’t want to need anyone, but she did. She didn’t need the henpecked wimp. She needed a real man.

He put his hands on her waist and his head in her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and sighed, a shaky, heart-wrenching sound that made him want to hold her and comfort her all night. But she was afraid, and not just of him. She smiled and laughed with her customers, but she didn’t get close to anyone. Aside from Corbin, he’d never seen her with a friend, never heard her on the phone except for business, and never heard her speak of friends. Laura wasn’t just independent. She was alone.

He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Go to bed, Laura. I’ll see you in the morning.” He held her in a gentle caress, rubbing his hands up and down her back. She’d shared a part of herself with him tonight, and he knew it hadn’t been easy.

Nothing came easy for Laura.

Laura and Luke didn’t make love that night, but he’d shown his true feelings. He did care about her or he wouldn’t stay in this dumpy apartment, sleeping on a lumpy bed in the other room when he wanted to sleep with her and make love. Laura trusted him more than she’d ever trusted another person, except her father. Luke wouldn’t hurt her. If he could keep their business separate from their personal relationship, she could, too.

He wanted sex, and she wasn’t ready for that kind of intimacy with any man. She was still trying to get used to the idea that her mother was a prostitute. When she did have sex, birth control would be a necessity. Having a baby while she worked so many hours in the café was out of the question, and she’d never let a kid grow up the way she had.

As she drifted off to sleep, her body ached for Luke’s touch. If she’d say the word, he’d be in her room in a heartbeat, and she wouldn’t be able to resist.

Before she left Kingston, she’d rarely dated. Queenie kept the café open late on dance nights, so the kids could come in after, and Laura was expected to work those nights. Boys asked her out every now and then, but she nearly always said no. She worked in the café after school and into the evening every night but Monday, when the café was closed. It was just as well, since she didn’t have the right clothes to wear on a date. The few times she had gone out, Queenie cut her down the next morning, voicing her disapproval, and making Laura feel like a slut. Yet she’d never done anything inappropriate, never skipped school, never gotten drunk or taken drugs.

And she’d never had sex.

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When Laura woke the next morning, Luke was still sound asleep in the other bedroom. He looked so peaceful, she didn’t want to disturb him, so she dressed quietly and slipped out the door.

Marv Walker was the first one to say, “You look happy today, Laura.”

“I am,” she replied, and she was. She felt more content than she had in a long time. She’d given herself permission to have a relationship with a wonderful man.

Luke came dragging in around eight. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You needed the sleep.”

“Yes, I did. Thanks.” His smile warmed her all over.

“You look different today,” he said.

“I feel different. What would you like for breakfast this morning?”

“Why don’t you surprise me?”

“All right. One breakfast special coming right up.” Laura started her special omelet, her father’s favorite, with sour cream and salsa on top.

She felt like singing.

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That afternoon, Ivy appeared at the café, backpack in hand. “I’m going home today.”