Queenie's Cafe (18 page)

Somehow, he’d make him pay.

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Barbara’s friends, Meg and Judy, came to the ranch that afternoon. Laura liked them both. They all sat in the living room and talked. Meg was short and round, a sweet dumpling of a woman in her sixties, with beautiful white hair and a soft, friendly smile. She reminded Laura of a friend’s grandmother. Judy was tall and middle-aged, with curly reddish hair and a strong, sassy disposition.

Barbara explained what happened to Laura and asked if they’d like to help out at Queenie’s Café while Laura’s shoulder healed.

“Sure,” said Meg. “I’ll take the breakfast shift.”

“I’ll help you, Meg,” said Luke. “The regulars are used to seeing Laura there in the mornings.”

“Then I’ll be there ’round ten, ten-thirty for lunch,” said Judy.

Barbara said, “I’ll cook dinner.”

Laura couldn’t believe they were doing this for her. It might all be for nothing if Earl put a lien on the property. Could he take it all away from her because she owed him money for the carpet and flooring? They had a verbal agreement that she’d pay him as she got the business up and running.

She should have gotten something in writing.

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Luke hated to leave Laura, but he had things to do. While she napped in his recliner in the living room, doped up on pain pills, he went out to the barn and talked to Carlos. “Keep a close eye on the house. If you see anyone, I want to know right away.” He handed him the phone number for the café. “I’ll be here or on my cell phone.”

“Something going on I should know about?”

“There’s an injured girl staying here for a few days. Laura. Someone attacked her and I don’t want him near her again.”

“In that case, I’ll load my gun,” said Carlos. “He won’t get past me.”

“Just don’t shoot the UPS man.”

“You got a description?”

“Earl Windsor. You’ve seen him on television. If he shows up, shoot the bastard, but don’t kill him. I’d rather do that myself.”

Carlos put his hand on the gun in his holster. “I’ll aim low.”

Luke smiled for the first time since he found Laura injured. “Watch for a tall, skinny guy with dreadlocks and a nose ring. We think he left the area, but you never know. He might still be around.”

“Do you want me to shoot him, too?”

“Only if he tries something, but be careful. He has a weapon, probably a gun.”

“I’ll keep my eyes open.”

Luke checked on Laura again and then drove to Kingston, about thirty minutes away. He put Laura’s bloody sheets and ruined uniform in a plastic bag to preserve the evidence. Using an old suitcase from the closet shelf, Luke packed some of Laura’s things to take to the ranch. Mom could buy her whatever else she needed.

He puttered around the café for a few minutes, checking supplies and washing fingerprints off the front door. The ceiling and wall in the men’s room showed no sign of a new leak. The patch had held in the storm. Everything looked clean and ready to go, so he took the suitcase and drove back to the ranch to be with Laura.

Jay was right about Laura having sass, maybe too much for her own good. She took an old run-down café and made it a pleasant place for people to come. The success belonged to her alone, but he couldn’t let her do it alone any longer. She could get herself killed the next time.

No matter what the women said, if he got his hands on Earl, there wouldn’t be a next time.

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The next morning, Luke helped Meg open Queenie’s Café. He spoke with each one of the regular customers and told them that someone had attacked Laura after work one day last week. “Laura would appreciate your business while she heals,” he told each customer. Many expressed concern about Laura, and he was concerned about her, too. He told no one who had hurt her. He was ashamed to speak the name.

Luke pulled Jay aside to speak with him in private. “I took Laura out to my mother’s ranch. The doctor says her shoulder is separated and she has a hairline fracture. It’ll take time to heal.”

“Damn! I told her to take some time off, but she don’t listen so good. What about her business?”

“We’ll keep it open. My mother and her friends will be around until Laura can work again.”

“You tell her I said to behave herself and get better. It won’t be the same ’round here without her.”

When he left the café, Luke drove to his father’s Vero Beach store and paid Laura’s bill. Earl had charged her twice what he would have charged anyone else, but Luke paid it anyway, in cash. He bribed the clerk to forget who paid it and asked for a signed receipt.

Earl was there, talking and laughing with customers like a good ole boy, but Luke avoided him. Laura was right, beating wasn’t enough to punish Earl for what he’d done, and he didn’t want to end up in prison for murder.

Back at the café, he found Rusty in the kitchen, wearing a big plastic apron. He was rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher. “Rusty. How’s it going?”

“Where’s Laura?” he asked anxiously.

“She’s at my house for a few days. Her shoulder hurts too much to work right now, so Meg and Judy and Barbara are helping out until Laura gets better.”

“Oh, okay. Mr. Windsor hurt Laura’s shoulder and I called the police.”

“She told me. I’m sure glad you were around to help her, Rusty.”

He smiled shyly. “Laura’s my friend.”

“She’s my friend, too.”

“I know.”

Rusty was slow, but loyal. Laura was one of the few people who treated him like a person of value. Luke suspected he was a little in love with her, and he couldn’t blame him. He was falling in love with her himself.

The lunch crowd was gone when an attractive blonde came in. “Is Laura here?”

“She’s off for a few weeks. I’m Luke. Can I help you?”

“I’m Cindy. I’ve been staying at the motel, and I hate to leave without saying goodbye.” She looked him over and smiled. “How ’bout a free one for the road, big boy?”

He’d never patronized hookers, and he didn’t intend to start now, even if it was free. “I appreciate the offer, but no thanks.”

She shrugged. “Too bad. Will you give Laura a message for me? Tell her Frank Fosdick wants to put her out of business.”

“How do you know? Is he a customer?”

“Every Tuesday night, but you didn’t hear it from me.”

“I’ll tell her.” If Frank gave Laura any grief, this might keep him in line.

Luke puttered around, talking with Laura’s customers and wiping off tables. He checked the storeroom and freezer, then paid Laura’s bills. It was the least he could do, since he owned some of her pain. If only he’d known Earl’s history before he left Laura alone.

On his way out, he ran into Carmen Messina.

“Luke, are you still interested in buying a café in this town? Queenie’s Café is for sale, with the motel and land. I thought you might be interested.”

Why would Laura do this without telling him? “When did she list it?”

“Last Friday.”

His surprise turned to hurt and then fury. He couldn’t believe Laura would leave him like this. “It’s not for sale.”

By the time he got to the ranch, he’d worked up a good head of steam. He stormed in the door and found Laura in his recliner, right where he’d left her. “I saw Carmen Messina today. Were you planning to run out on me?”

“You know Carmen?”

“Hell, yes, I know Carmen. Answer my question, damn it. Were you going to run out on me?” He stood in front of her, glaring down at her. “Were you going to tell me?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Damn it, woman. Don’t you care anything about me?”

“Of course I do, but Earl said he’d be back to collect what I owed him. I can’t go through that again, Luke. I spent every night in Dad’s recliner, with a knife in my lap, waiting for him to come back.”

Her eyes filled with tears and his anger dissolved. She wasn’t leaving him, she was just trying to survive.

“I don’t want him to hurt anyone else because they helped me. I thought if I left town, he’d leave them alone. Earl owns the police in Kingston.”

If that was what she really wanted, he’d help her get a fresh start somewhere else. “If you want to leave, I’ll buy the property, all of it.”

She pushed herself out of the chair. “I don’t really want to sell it, Luke. I just need enough to pay Earl’s bill so he won’t have a reason to come back.”

He touched the soft skin of her cheek. “I paid it this morning. You don’t owe anybody anything.”

“Of course I do. I owe my suppliers.”

“Paid. Promise me you won’t leave. I need you, Laura.” He didn’t realize he did until he spoke the words. “I’ll protect you from Earl if you promise to stay.”

Gazing into his eyes, she said, “Then I promise to stay.”

“What about our partnership?”

“Did you get that appraisal report?”

“Yes.” He should ask for sixty percent, but he couldn’t. She wouldn’t agree anyway. Laura didn’t want someone else, even him, to have a controlling interest in her businesses. “How about fifty-fifty?”

“Whatever you want, Luke. I would have lost it all.”

“You would have done it on your own. It just would have taken longer to get the same results. Your customers come because of you, not because we’ve fixed the place up inside.” She’d taken a dumpy little café and made it into a place people wanted to come, a place they felt welcome.

He gazed into her eyes. “I really need a hug, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

She pulled his head down for a kiss. “Did I say thank you?”

“You just did,” he whispered before kissing her again.

An overwhelming wave of emotion surged through him. Whatever else happened, he couldn’t let Earl touch Laura again.

Chapter Ten

L
aura napped off and on, zonked out from the pain pills. As long as she rested, her shoulder felt better. She needed time to heal, but she’d never been idle like this. She didn’t know quite what to do with herself, except sit in Luke’s comfortable recliner, flipping stations on the television, looking for something worth watching. Semi-naked people screaming at each other didn’t appeal to her at all, and the soaps didn’t make sense. She didn’t know those people or what had happened up to this point. Who had time to watch this stuff when they were working all day and half the night? Most days she didn’t have time to watch the news.

Barbara’s house was the biggest, nicest home she’d ever seen. The master bedroom suite alone was bigger than the apartment Laura and her father had shared. There were two other bedrooms, each with its own bath, Luke’s room and the guest room she was using.

She found an office tucked behind the dining room. It looked well-equipped, with a computer, fax machine and copier. She’d never used a computer except in school, and that wasn’t much, since the school only had three or four of them. A window seat overlooked the lawn in back of the house. Very nice. If she ever had a house of her own, she wanted a window seat like that one.

She loved the well-designed, spacious kitchen. The large living room had a kick-your-shoes-off kind of charm. A tan sectional wrapped around two sides of the room, separating the living room from the dining room and entry. A big-screen TV anchored the corner of the room, with two comfortable recliners in easy viewing distance. Colorful needlepoint throw pillows adorned the sectional, and the big round coffee table looked like it was meant to prop your feet on. A wall of sliding windows across the back opened to a covered patio surrounded by beautiful flowers. She saw gardenias, azaleas, hibiscus, roses, and others she couldn’t name.

Laura walked outside. The grass looked lush and green, the flower beds neatly tended. They probably hired someone to take care of it for them. Luke wasn’t here enough to do it himself, and she couldn’t picture Barbara mowing all this grass.

Except for that miserable heat spell a few days ago and an occasional thunderstorm, this was a beautiful time of year. It wasn’t too hot today, only around eighty or so. Laura sat in a deck chair and leaned her head back. It felt good to rest like this, even with the pain in her shoulder.