Gage, Ronna - The Search is Over (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

Cleaned and fully awake, she walked into the living room to find Roy and Jesse asleep on the two couches. Smiling outwardly, she sauntered toward the kitchen shaking her head.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer pair.
Entering the kitchen, a pleasant surprise greeted her. The kitchen floors and counters were clean. Most days, like this morning, she almost dreaded coming to the kitchen. Somehow, the job to clean up the mess from the feeding frenzy the night before befell her. Jesse, a ravenous eater and messy cook, didn’t bother to clean up after himself. Whether he made sandwiches or cooked steak, he always left a huge mess in his wake.

The coffee carafe was half-full with yesterday’s coffee. “I see they didn’t get the coffeepot clean.” Picking it up, she saw a black ring of clumped coffee around the glass. “Ewww.” She poured the contents into the sink, cleaned and rinsed the pot, and then filled it with fresh water. Filling the basket with new coffee grounds, she couldn’t stop smiling. And during the time for the brew cycle to end, her mind drifted to last evening and Rafe, and the new connection she had with him. The aroma of fresh-brewed coffee filled the kitchen, reminding her of her mother’s house, and a peaceful calm come over her and she relaxed.

Her stomach growled. “I guess I do need to eat something.” She opened the cabinet door and grabbed a bowl. Working as quietly as possible to keep the silent moments to herself, to avoid any arguments, she made breakfast. No such luck. Within seconds,
Roy
walked into the kitchen. By the scowl on his face, he looked to be in a foul mood—as usual.

Time to be civil.
She turned toward
Roy
. “Would you like some coffee?” she asked sweetly, ignoring the scowl on his face.

“No, Minerva will get me some when she gets up.” He took a seat at the table and sucked out the snot from his nose, made several hacking cough sounds, and swallowed the annoying gunk down his throat. He picked up the pack of cigarettes sitting on the counter, pulling one out he popped it into his mouth and lit it, filling the room with the awful smell of cigarette smoke.

“Suit yourself.” Candi shrugged off his comment. She chose not to say anything to
Roy
about his smoking. Usually, he smoked when he drank, but lately he smoked in the morning. Candi wouldn’t put it past him to have a cigarette just to bug Minerva. Turning to the refrigerator, she pulled out eggs, ham, and cut-up green peppers. She set them on the counter next to the bowl. Absently, she began breaking eggs one by one into the bowl.

“I want you to move out,”
Roy
rudely informed her. His outburst surprised her. Usually he talked about people behind their backs and was sweet and understanding to their faces. “So does my son.”

“That’s just too damn bad,” Minerva said, interrupting his next comment as she entered the room. “You need to stop hanging around
Chandler
. You don’t have the kind of power he thinks he does,” she warned disdainfully as she breezed past him to the coffeepot. That was the one thing about renting a spot in the trailer. If wasn’t so damn cheap, Minerva would’ve already kicked
Roy
out on his ass and moved, if she could afford to do it.

Minerva poured herself a cup of coffee and then turned to Candi. “Good morning,” she greeted.

“Good morning.” Inwardly, Candi was pleased that Minerva didn’t pour
Roy
a cup as he had insisted she would do when she woke up.

Minerva sat in her chair and sipped her coffee.

Roy
sucked in another wad of built-up snot in his sinuses. “These damned allergies.” He grabbed a Styrofoam cup on the table and spit out the mouthful of waste. He looked down at the empty placemat before him. “Where’s my coffee?” he asked, surprised.

“Get your own coffee,” she insisted. “You aren’t helpless.” She sat, gazing out the window. “Looks like it is going to be an excellent day,” she said before taking a second sip of coffee.

Roy shoved his chair back. “You better start earning your keep around here,” he suggested, and then stomped over to the pot. He opened the cabinet door, grabbed a mug, jerked the pot out of the maker, and filled it. Leaning in close to Candi, he more or less growled. “That goes for you, too, Missy.”

Pointing the knife she used to cut up the ham, Candi turned it on him. “Let me remind you who does and does not pay their parts of the rent on time,” she stressed as she pointed at herself then at him.

“May I also remind you that I got us into this trailer, not you.” Minerva glared at him. On most occasions, Minerva was a nice, easygoing woman, but her anger was sparked. “You need to show a little more respect for Candi. She doesn’t deserve this shit from you. This is between her and Jesse. Stay out of it,” she warned, never breaking the angry eye contact. “It is none of your business.”

“I have to protect my son. She was making a fool of him out there last night.”

“So? Jesse is a big boy now. He got himself into this, and he can get himself out of it.”

“She was all but stroking that guy’s dick.”

“Are you jealous?” Minerva asked, suddenly making the tension in the room even thicker.

Roy
stood up abruptly and stalked out of the room in angry silence.

Candi wished she hadn’t heard that conversation. She didn’t want to be a part of a breakup between her two roommates. Fearing what Minerva may say when she turned toward her, Candi slowly made eye contact. Minerva looked at her and broke out laughing.

“He thinks he’s so hot. But he’s full of shit if he thinks you would even consider going for him for even a second.” Minerva cackled, shaking her head. “What is he thinking? Hell, even I’m too young for him.”

Both women sat at the table snickering as they cut up the omelet fixings for breakfast.

Chapter Ten

Candi usually liked working the weekend shifts, but today the bar was quiet, too quiet, for a Saturday. A slow afternoon wasn’t good for business. Sunday afternoons were her favorite times to work.

Out of boredom, she became a nuisance to her patrons. A couple sat in the back corner sharing a private whispered conversation. They would almost cringe at the sight of her coming. The two men playing pool in the back opted to get their own drinks. The crowd usually didn’t start picking up until five o’clock, but the usual customers from the air base didn’t stop in for the usual mid-afternoon beer. Without their arrival, time passed by even slower.
What a
waste
of time.

Minerva and Candi sat at the bar drinking iced tea from the restaurant next door, working out the final details for the theme for the next day and the preliminary plans for the next week’s event.

“Do you want to work tomorrow?” Minerva asked, looking at the schedule.

“Yes, I can make great money on Sundays.”

“You know the theme is NASCAR.”

“Yep, I plan to wear a NASCAR shirt, cutoff denim shorts, and sneakers.”

Minerva nodded. “Okay, so about one o’clock or two?”

“One. I can stay till six or even seven. The post-race party is the best time to make tips.”

“Six should do…”

The slamming of the door against the wall interrupted the quiet and stillness of the bar.

Candi quickly rushed to the counter to greet the arriving customers.

“Goddamn, it’s hot outside,” Jesse bellowed as he and
Roy
slammed the door and came inside.

The couple in the back stopped talking at the disruption.

Candi felt a pang of disappointment, but she didn’t let it show. “Hey, guys, how’s it going?”

“How in hell can you people in
Texas
handle the humidity?” Jesse asked as he sat on top of the barstool just inside the barroom.

Candi shrugged. “I was born and raised in
Texas
. It helps to wear clothing that isn’t thick.” She looked at what he wore. “Like jeans, and your shirts should be a light color.” She waited for Jesse to comment further about the weather. “How was your day?”

“Fine. I bought a new pair of jeans,” he answered and then looked past Candi to Minerva at the other end of the bar. “Minerva, can I get a beer?” He lifted his thin blue T-shirt from his body and fanned himself. A line of sweat stained the back of his shirt, giving a good indication of the humidity outside. “How can you stand this heat?”

Candi laughed.
He didn’t hear a word I said
.
At least the pouting stage is over
. She didn’t want to fight with Jesse. She wanted to go on with her life…no bad feelings and no strings. This was, after all, his doing. He wanted to be with someone else. She wasn’t going to stand in his way.

Roy, on the other hand, still found it difficult to be civil to her. He scowled at her when he came into the room, and he would probably have a scowl on his face when he left. He walked straight to Minerva, sat down on the stool next to her, and kept his distance.

Just ignore his bad mood. One fight a day is all you can handle.
She turned to Jesse. “Did you talk to Stephanie?”

He gave her a keen look. “Yes, I talked to her this morning.” Jesse’s shoulders seemed to relax a little bit. He took a sip of his beer as he looked at her skeptically. “I’m surprised you asked.”

“You shouldn’t be. I don’t have any ill feelings toward you, Jesse.” Candi gently laid a hand on his forearm. “It didn’t work out for us. I’m not as crushed by our breakup as your father wishes, but I would be crushed if we didn’t end this as friends.”

“I would like that.” Jesse gave Candi a once-over. “I hear you made passes at Rafe.” Candi couldn’t believe he said that. He went too far. “Never mind, I don’t need or want to know the details.”

“Good, there are no details to tell. I didn’t make any passes, not that it’s any of your business. I was…me.” She batted her eyelashes up at him. “I had a good time talking and joking with Rafe, and Jack.”

“Yeah, I know how inviting you being
you
can be.” He softly covered her hand with his.

She stepped back quickly. “Don’t…”

“Sorry. That was a boneheaded thing to say,” he admitted, almost with a tinge of regret.

The front door opened, stopping her comment. A small group of men entered the building, each one greeting her warmly as they passed.

“Gotta go.” Candi let the matter drop. She took the drink tray and headed to the group.

* * * *

Jesse watched as she worked the group. Candi had a way of making everyone think she was there to be at his, or her, beck and call. She made every table feel special with the little things she provided.

The couple in the back was catered to feel like the bar was the most romantic place in the world when Candi placed a rose scented candle on a paper lace doily in the center of the table. Jesse could feel his gut wrenching at the sight of her smile that she gave so easily to others and was now a commodity for him. He salivated as he noted her uniform. The black blouse settled just past her shoulders. The exposed skin was sexy. Her black miniskirt hit two inches above the knee and a classic black headband held her blonde hair back from her face. Her low-heeled pumps accentuated her firm calves as a silver ankle bracelet wrapped daintily around her right ankle. A diamond twinkled at him as she walked to the bar.

Now, there was the neighbor—Rafe?
Where did he come from? I have to put a stop to that budding friendship.
I wish Candi wasn’t aware of Stephanie. It would make my stay less lonely
.
How can I convince her that I still want her?
I can’t see her going to waste, or me either, for that matter
. He couldn’t be celibate for five months until he got back to Idaho where Stephanie waited for him. A man needed to get some release and there was no one better at releasing tension than Candi.

Chapter Eleven

Rafe walked around the auto shop, almost floating on air with happiness. Saturdays in the automotive business were hectic, even for a small mom-and-pop style store. His morning started at 5:00 a.m. He got up, showered, dressed in his uniform, and left for work. Today, he took a second look at Candi’s window. He arrived at the shop at 6:15 a.m. and immediately brewed coffee in the customer waiting room. He was in charge of the auto repairs while his dad ran the sales area of the small family-owned, after-market car repair business. Grabbing a cup of coffee and a cart, he pulled parts and accessories from the storeroom. Starting from the front and working his way to the back, he stocked parts on the shelves. The first phone call of the day didn’t bother his mood one bit. In fact, his heart fluttered with excitement.
Could Candi be calling me?
He looked at his watch for the time, but it was too early. He had actually smiled when he answered the phone, but became a little disappointed it wasn’t her voice he heard on the other end. He hung up the phone, smiled at the awing moment. “I can’t believe I’m hoping to hear from someone.”

“Why are you in such a good mood?”

Rafe looked up and saw his bay partner Evan Tyler. His muscular, medium build filled the small doorway. The man teased him with that knowing bad-boy smile.