Doubting Thomas (Tarnished Saints Series) (18 page)

“I’ve got them,” he said. “But how the hell you gonna fit all those beds in that little cabin of yours?”

“I don’t know. But I need them.”

Gus took off his cap and scratched his head. “The missus has been usin’ them for the grandkids when they visit. I can’t sell them, sorry.”

“Are you sure?” Thomas asked, too proud to beg.

“Most those beds were toddler beds anyway, Thomas. But I’ll tell you what. I have some old cots up in the attic. I think there’s two or three. And I’ve got an old sofa bed the missus has been hounding me to throw in the dumpster. You can have them if you want.”

“I’m not asking for charity, Gus. I’ll buy them. And if you have an old electric stove that still works, I’ll buy that too. Using that wood burner to cook is just too dangerous. I need something that will be able to regulate heat.”

“That new wife of yours is sure changing you, Thomas. I thought when you moved out to the woods you said you weren’t going to depend on the luxuries of modern man.”

“Yeah, well, Child Services changed all that.”

Thomas watched Dan ogling over the convertible and he wished to hell he could give his boy this car. A luxury beyond luxury that he needed like a hole in the head.

“I’ll sell you the convertible back if you like,” said Gus.

“Really?” Thomas had four grand in his pocket. They’d have to eat from the garden and hope the hens laid double eggs for the next two months, but it would be worth it to see the smile on Dan’s face on his birthday. It was an idea only a madman would consider, being as poor as Thomas was. But then again, since Angel walked into his life, he’d been doing things he never thought he would.

“Really,” said Gus, rubbing his chin. “It’s worth eight thousand, but I’ll sell it to you for six.”

“What the hell,” spat Thomas. “You stole that thing from me for four and you’re going to charge me an extra two grand?”

“I’ll throw in the cots, sofa bed and stove for free.”

“Go to hell, Gus.” He pulled out the wad of money and stripped off a fifty and shoved it into the man’s hand. “Here’s for the beds and the stove.”

“What about the car?”

His eyes went to his son again, and his heart about broke. What was he going to tell Dan when he couldn’t give him what he wanted for his birthday?

“Keep the damn car,” he said. “We don’t need it.”

Chapter 17

Angel had just gotten back from her visit with Tillie and the Ainsleys when she saw Thomas and Daniel unloading what looked like a couch from the back of his pickup.

She jumped out of the mini-van, followed by the boys, and ran over to greet them.

“Hey look, Pa has a couch,” said Zeke, jumping up to the open tailgate as the two struggled to remove it.

“It’s not a couch,” Dan informed him. “It’s a sofa bed.”

“A sofa bed?” Angel asked in surprise, noticing the cots stacked against the side of the truck and something covered with a blanket. “Thomas, is this true?”

Thomas jumped off the tail gate and pulled the couch toward him.

“Damn thing’s heavier than I thought.”

“Sofa beds usually are,” said Angel, reaching out to help him.

“Angie, step back. Dan and I have it.”

“Let me help, Pa,” said Sam limping over to them.

“You’ll get hurt, Sam,” Thomas mumbled. “Dan will get it.”

Angel caught Thomas’s eye and hoped he could understand her silent message. Just to be sure, she gave him a verbal clue.

“Sam’s almost as old as Dan, and also very strong. Maybe he could help with Dan’s end,” she suggested.

Thomas’s eyes flickered over to her and then to his handicapped son. He bit his lower lip and nodded slightly.

“Sure,” he said, though he didn’t sound like he meant it. “Just let us get it off the truck, Sam, and then you and Dan can help me carry it in.”

Angel wasn’t sure whose smile was brighter, hers or Sam’s. Not heeding Thomas’s words, she helped them get it from the truck, then instructed Sam where to stand for better leverage. With a bunch of grunts and groans, pushes and pulls, they managed to get it up the stairs and into the front room. Angel pulled the other couch out of the way and they dropped the sofa bed in place.

“Good job, boys,” said Thomas, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. Both Dan and Sam smiled.

“Let’s see how it works,” said Angel, pulling open the bed. It was dusty and old and it needed a board under the mattress for extra support, but it would work.

“This should get Child Services off my back for awhile,” said Thomas.

“Who gets the sofa bed?” asked Josh.

“I want it,” said Jake, jumping atop it.

“No, I get it,” said Zeke jumping atop him.

“Stop,” said Thomas. At his command, the wrestling calmed. He looked at his boys and Angel could only wonder how he would answer. They all watched him eagerly, except for Sam who looked at the floor.

“Sam will get the sofa bed,” announced Thomas, which got a negative moan from the rest. “And since it’s big enough for two . . . ” he looked around and all the boys held their breath hoping he would choose them. “Eli?” he asked, looking at the little boy who stood in the shadow of his big brothers, quiet as usual. “Do you want to share the sofa bed with Sam?”

Eli’s eyes turned upward, then trailed over to Angel as if asking her to help him answer.

“It looks like a nice comfy bed,” Angel told Eli with a hand on his shoulder. “I think it’ll be much nicer than sleeping in the closet.”

He nodded his head slightly, and Angel let out a breath of relief.

“That’s not fair,” complained Jake. “Me and Josh have been sleeping on the floor too.”

“There’s three cots in the back of the truck,” Thomas told him. “You, Josh and Zeke can fight over who gets what.”

Shouts of excitement went up and the three boys tripped over each other trying to get to the door.

“Sam,” said Thomas. “You think you can help Dan get that stove inside?”

“Can I!” he exclaimed, limping toward the door in a hurry following his big brother.

“You got a stove, too?” asked Angel, feeling like it was Christmas.

“No more burnt potatoes,” he told her. “This one’s electric and doesn’t breathe flames.”

Angel laughed, and bent down to gather up little Eli in her arms. “Do you hear that, Eli? We have a stove with an oven. Now we can make cookies just like the ones you helped Mrs. Ainsley bake today.” The little boy smiled and then squirmed out of her arms and hurried on outdoors after his brothers.

“You brought the boys to the Ainsley’s house?” Thomas’s voice lowered and the smile disappeared from his face.

“Yes,” she answered, facing him in challenge. “What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t want my boys in the house of people who spread gossip about me.”

“They love the boys, Thomas. And the boys like them, too. They got along so well that Mrs. Ainsley invited them for a sleep-over sometime.”

“The Ainsleys just want to pump the boys for information about me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she told him. “The Ainsleys just like to spoil kids. They’ve got Gabby so spoiled she said she wanted to sleep there from now on instead of at the cabin. She’s staying there for supper as well.”

“I don’t want their charity, Angie.”

“It’s not charity. It’s called being neighborly. I think we should let them take the boys for the night. After all, they’ll be moving soon.”

“Moving?” Thomas sat down on the sofa bed to test it.

“They’ve put their house up for sale. They’re going to travel.” She watched, but no expression came to his face. But after her next words, she knew she’d evoke some kind of emotion in him. “I think we should buy it.”

“What?” His head snapped up and his eyes narrowed. “Angie, you know I don’t have that kind of money.”

“But I do,” she answered. “If I sell my house, we’ll have not only enough for a good size down-payment but money for furniture as well. Maybe we can buy some from the Ainsleys, as they’re going to sell everything they own.”

“No.” He stood and crossed his arms over his chest.

“But it’s a huge house with five bedrooms and four bathrooms. The bedrooms are large and one even has an attached sewing room with a skylight that would make a good little bedroom for Eli. And they’ve got an a sunroom attached to the family room. And three fireplaces and a -”

“I said no, and I mean it. I’m not going to have my wife paying for a house for my family. A luxury we don’t need to survive.”

“Well, then tell me what we’re going to do? I’m married to you now, Thomas. I’m going to have to sell my house one way or another.”

“Not if we don’t stay married,” he said quietly. The words split her in two.

“I married you to suffice CPS,” she reminded him. “When they come to check, they’re going to want to see me here.”

“I understand that,” he said, heading for the door. He stopped in the open doorway, his hand on the jam. He stared outside as he spoke. “But we both know this marriage isn’t real. After they’ve done their checks and are satisfied enough to leave us alone, you can go, Angie. No one’s asking you to stay.”

He made his way out to the truck, and Angel fell onto the sofa bed, unable to believe what he’d just said. She thought she’d been making progress with Thomas. She thought he’d started having feelings for her just like she was having for him. Maybe she’d been wrong about all this. Maybe she should have looked before she leapt into a situation of which she had no means of controlling.

She wiped a tear from her eye and pretended to be busy with the sofa bed when Thomas and the boys brought in the stove. Why had she ever fantasized about living with him and the boys in that huge, beautiful house? They weren’t really a family, and if Thomas didn’t change his attitude they never would be. But that wasn’t likely to happen with a man who was too set in his ways and thoughts to ever want to change.

* * *

The next day was Dan’s seventeenth birthday, and Angel convinced Thomas to take her to town to pick up supplies to throw him a little party. She hadn’t mentioned it to him yet, but she’d invited the Ainsleys as well as Tillie and Stacy over for the celebration. She planned on grilling hot dogs on the rusty old grill she’d found out behind the barn and making up a huge pitcher of lemonade.

Mrs. Ainsley insisted on bringing the cake and a potato salad, and Angel didn’t turn her down. Now all she had to do was get up the nerve to tell Thomas.

They pulled into Kramer’s Gas Station, and Thomas hopped out to fill up the tank. Angel sat silently in the cab of the truck, just like they’d been for the entire ride. He had tried to talk with her a few times, but she’d answered with a simple yes or no. She wasn’t about to make small talk with a man who was going to cast her off as soon as she’d served her purpose.

While the truck was filling up, Thomas walked over to look at the Chevy convertible he’d sold Gus. Angel fanned herself from the dense heat and decided to go get a cold soda from the machine just outside the station door.

She was making her selection when Gus walked out, causing her to jump.

“Hey, Angel, a little jumpy today, huh?”

“Hi Gus. I just didn’t hear you coming, that’s all.” She put her money in the slot and pushed the button. Nothing happened.

“That dang burn thing’s on the fritz again.” He kicked it and shook it and finally her diet cola fell into the slot. “I should have kept that old lift-top cooler Thomas used when he owned the place. This new-fangled stuff isn’t worth a damn.”

“What did you say?” she asked in shock, thinking she’d heard him wrong.

“I said these new-fangled things . . .”

“Not that. The part about Thomas once owning this station.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I bought it from him when his old lady got sick. Thomas sold everything he owned trying to pay the bills. He even sold me his kids’ beds. He wanted to buy them back yesterday, but we use them for the grandkids. That’s why I sold him that sofa couch the missus wanted to throw out.”

“Gus, are you telling me this used to be the station Thomas talked about owning? And the attached apartment was his home?”

“That’s right. S’prised he never told you.”

Angel wasn’t. Thomas hadn’t even told her where he’d got the beds and stove, but now it was clear why he’d been in such a poor mood yesterday. It must have been a blow to his ego having to ask to buy back the beds he’d once owned.

“Gus, don’t tell me you charged him for those old pieces of trash.”

Gus scratched his neck and looked the other way. “Thomas don’t like no one givin’ him nothin’ for free.”

“You know he can’t afford that. He can barely afford to buy food. And you call yourself a friend?”

“Well now, missy, you know I’m his friend. That’s why I took that car off his hands when the buyer backed out.”

He looked over to Thomas who was leaning an arm on the convertible and rubbing his hand over the smooth, shiny finish.

“You stole it from him by offering him half what it’s worth, and you know it. You can see how much that car means to him. He put in many sleepless nights to finish it.”

“Aw shucks, Angel, you got me there. And I know how much he wants to buy it for Dan for his birthday. That’s why I offered to sell it back to him. I think he would have bought it, but he didn’t have enough money.”

“He had four thousand dollars yesterday. That sounds like enough to me.”

Gus looked down and kicked a pebble with the toe of his shoe. She knew she’d read him right. The shyster probably was upping the price to make a profit.

“How much did you tell him you wanted for the car, Gus?”

He stood silent, scrunching up his face.

“Gus?” she warned, putting her hands on her hips. “You may be able to pull your little games on Thomas, but they’re not going to work on me.”

He narrowed his eyes and answered softly. “Six.”

“Six?” she asked, not at all surprised. “Six what?”

“You know.”

“Let me hear it.”

“Six thousand.”

“Why, you crook. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Well, it’s in my nature to haggle, but Thomas didn’t haggle. He just walked away.”

“You should know him better than that.”

“I really didn’t mean no harm.”

“Then you prove it to him. You go over there right now and tell him you’ve changed your mind. Tell him you’ll sell him the car for two thousand.”

“What?” Gus’s eyes opened wide. “I paid four for it. I’m not going to take a loss.”

“You won’t have to,” she told him. “I’ll give you the other two thousand and you’ll have your money back. But the deal is, you don’t tell Thomas what I’m doing.”

“Now, that’s not right.”

“I don’t haggle, Gus. Now I’m going next door for groceries. When I return I’ll slip you the check when he’s not looking.”

She didn’t give him time to answer. She walked next door to the grocery store, hoping Gus wouldn’t spill his guts.

When Angel walked back to the station with the two bags of groceries, Thomas ran over to help her. There was a smile on his face and Angel knew Gus had followed her plan.

“Angie, you’ll never guess what just happened. Old Gus here decided to sell me the car for two thousand dollars. I bought it for Dan for his birthday.”