The Awakening (5 page)

Andy jerked his gaze up, not believing his father had actually said that. Cool, icy eyes stared back, and it took him a moment to realize that, for the first time ever, his father and mother had formed some alliance, and he was the pawn. Why, the bastard had told Caroline of Andy’s one weakness, his love for Jed. Any threat to Jed would bring Andy to heel. But this made absolutely no sense. Andy and his dad loved each other, so he had to wonder what was really going on.

“Why would you do this to your own nephew?” He needed to know because if he did this to Jed, Rodney Friessen, Todd’s older brother, would swoop in and take Todd on, and only a fool would take on Rodney Friessen. Todd was not a stupid man—far from it.

Todd never smiled when he said, “This is business, son. And just remember something, too. When Jed took up with that Claremont trash, he spit on his family, on me. So I no longer have his back.” Todd patted Andy on the shoulder as he brushed past. “Look on the bright side: Alexis is easy on the eyes and could be a whole lot of fun in bed. And love’s … got no place in a marriage. That’s when a woman has the power to take you down. If you want fun, have it on the side. Hurry up and change. Don’t keep the ladies waiting.”

Andy was tempted to walk out the door and shout at his father—at his mother—that they could go to hell. But there was something going on that he didn’t like. He could smell the foul stench now, as if something were lying dead in the middle of the floor. So he hustled upstairs, changed into dark slacks, and hurried back down when he bumped into the cook, who had meanness in her eyes and a god-awful hairnet strung over her short, graying hair.

She planted both hands on her ample hips. “Did you find her a job?” she barked.

“Who?” He blinked and wondered at the way her eyes flared as if she were going to hit him.

“Laura! You gave me your word.” Her voice was getting louder, so Andy hustled her into the library.

“I’m sorry. Something came up, but I will first thing in the morning. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of. I promise.”

The cook glared at him again. “You make sure it’s first thing, or find yourself another cook.” She stalked away.

Andy smacked his forehead, disgusted. How could he have forgotten about Laura and her little boy and the dump they lived in? He had meant to make some calls after he arrived home two days before, but he’d been called to the stables the minute he pulled in, as one of the mares was foaling and there were complications. It had been three in the morning when he’d finally gone to bed. He swore under his breath, feeling pulled in two different directions, so he made a note to make some calls after dinner and find Laura a decent job, maybe a better place to live, too. Yes, first thing in the morning, this would be one more thing off his plate. And then he would find out what his parents were up to.

Chapter Seven

Andy knocked on the wooden screen door of the run-down house where Laura Parnell lived. The inside door popped open, and an extremely overweight women with gray hair and a cigarette dangling from her lips stared up at Andy. “Yeah?” was all she said.

“I’m looking for Laura. Is she home?”

The woman scratched her head, her short gray hair an untidy mess. “Who?” She truly looked confused, and then she pulled the cigarette from her lips and coughed a deep smoker’s cough until tears shimmered in her eyes.

“Laura Parnell, young, blonde. She’s got a little boy. I dropped her off here a few days ago. She lives here.” Andy wanted to shake the old lady when she nodded.

“Oh, yeah, the one with the kid that lived in the basement suite.” The woman choked and coughed again.

“Lived? What do you mean ‘lived’? They’re still there, aren’t they?”

The woman shook her head. “Sorry, sonny. Jerry, he owns this dump and a few of the houses on this block. He tossed her out yesterday. She couldn’t pay the rent. Saw her load up what she could in that old car last night, and I haven’t seen her since.” She started to close the door.

Andy pressed his hand on the door, holding it open. “How do you get to the basement suite?”

“Back of the house. But, sonny, I’m telling you she’s gone. You don’t mess with Jerry. He wants you out, you’re out.” This time, she shut the door, and Andy heard the lock click.

He strode down the rotted steps around the house to a very different backyard, which was neat and tidy. Concrete steps led down to an open door. Andy strode down the steep steps, hearing noise from inside. “Laura?” Andy tapped on the open door as he stepped inside. He heard something clatter, and then a guy shouted, “She’s gone.”

Andy stepped around the corner, glancing at a solidly built guy with a wrench, fixing a tap. “Where did she go?”

The guy dropped the wrench and gazed at Andy and smirked. “Who knows? Told her to clear out of here. She couldn’t pay the rent.”

Andy rested his hand on the counter, fighting the urge to deck this prick. “You just threw out a single mom with a kid into the cold?” But he had to bite his tongue when the irony hit him. Hadn’t he done the same thing fifteen years ago to Diana, Jed’s wife, when she was just a kid? Maybe that was what he recognized in this predator that had him wanting to ram his fist down his throat.

“Any idea where she went?” Andy glanced around the dump at the torn tweed sofa, which belonged in a dumpster, a lumpy bed in the corner, and a badly stained carpet, all of which had him wondering how someone could live in a dump like this.

“No, and don’t care. Anything else? Because I need to get this place ready for new tenants moving in today.” The guy sounded irritated.

Maybe it was curiosity that had him asking, “What would you charge for a place like this?”

“Eight hundred.” Then the guy swore as he broke off the rusted tap.

Andy glanced around again because he wouldn’t let a dog stay in this dump. “That’s highway robbery.”

“Yeah, well, finding places to rent ain’t easy. So if you want a roof over your head, you have to pay for it.”

Andy watched as the guy replaced the tap with something that didn’t look much better than what had been there before. “What’s your name?”

The big guy stopped what he was doing and looked at Andy. “Jerry Hines.”

“Well, Jerry, if you hear from Laura, you tell her I’m looking for her and to call me.” Andy pulled a card from his wallet and dumped it on the chipped counter.

Jerry glanced at the card and then flushed. Andy turned and left, taking the stairs two at a time as he heard the man shout after him, “You can bet, Mr. Friessen, if I hear from her, I’ll make sure she calls you.”

Chapter Eight

Laura looked both ways as she opened the door of the gas station bathroom. Gabriel stood behind her quietly, holding her hand. She had used the dirty sink to clean them up as best she could, tucking a cloth, a towel, and a bar of soap in the plastic bag she carried and then returning the key to the balding, overweight attendant behind the counter.

Her neck ached from sleeping, or trying to sleep, in the torn vinyl passenger seat. She’d made a bed for Gabriel on the backseat so he’d be able to stretch out. She’d parked behind the gas station last night and was pretty sure no one had seen her. She didn’t have much gas, so she couldn’t afford to be driving all over town, and she only had $24.37 left in cash after she’d emptied the pennies from the cigarette tray. Her stomach rumbled as she sat Gabriel in the backseat. She opened the trunk and pulled out the loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter that was almost empty. She scraped the jar with what was left and spread it on the bread from one of two plastic knifes she had. She also realized she’d have to find another bathroom to sneak into when it was dark to wash them.

She would have driven on to Marysville, but she didn’t think her car would make it, the way it backfired and jerked each time she started it now. Anyhow, she didn’t have enough gas to make it that far, so it was a moot point. A larger city center would mean more jobs, places to live, maybe a soup kitchen to feed her and Gabriel until they could get back on their feet and she could earn a paycheck.

Laura pulled a blue knitted hat onto Gabriel’s head as he ate the sandwich. There were only two slices of bread left, a half box of crackers, two apples, two cans of soup—which she couldn’t open, anyway. Gabriel had finished off the cereal yesterday and the milk the night before. The paycheck she should have gotten two days ago would have paid the rent and bought some food.

She didn’t make much as a maid, but it was enough to get by. She’d managed when the rent was only five hundred dollars, but when Jerry jacked up the rent to eight hundred, it had become really tight. She’d tried finding another place, but there weren’t too many landlords wanting to rent to single moms and nothing in the price range she needed. So she had cut what she could from their food budget and had stopped driving, catching a ride to the Friessen estate with another maid. Daycare, unfortunately, even with the subsidy, took up what was left. So it was damn impossible to put any money away.

After Gabriel finished, Laura wiped his hands. Her own mouth was watering. She was hungry, but until she lined something up today, she couldn’t take food from her son. “Come on, honey. Let’s go for a walk.”

Laura led her son down the street of downtown North Lakewood. Most storefronts were vacant, and the ones that weren’t hadn’t opened yet. She stopped in front of the small grocery store; a clerk flipped the open sign. Laura opened the door.

“Excuse me,” she said to the young, dark-haired clerk. “I was wondering if you could tell me if you’re hiring for any job at all?”

The girl looked her over and shook her head. “I don’t think so, but you can check with Mr. Harris. He’s in the back.” She pointed to the rear of the store.

“Thank you,” Laura said gratefully. She walked to the back of the store to the double doors that led into the back. She froze because the sign said “Employees only.” Should she knock? But, thank heavens, she was saved from complete embarrassment when the doors were pushed open by an older man with round, ruddy cheeks, who was pulling a cart loaded with produce boxes.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for Mr. Harris.” Laura cleared her throat when her voice shook. Gabriel started whining. Her face burned crimson. “Gabriel, please let Mommy talk.”

The older man glanced at Gabriel, and she could feel his irritation when her son wouldn’t stop whining. “I’m Mr. Harris.”

“I’m so sorry. He’s tired. I’m looking for a job and was wondering if you’re hiring?” Gabriel wouldn’t stand still, which was so unlike him, and he was trying to pull away. She realized then that he was reaching for the cheese in the cooler beside her. “No, honey, don’t touch. I’m sorry—he loves cheese.” Laura tried to smile, but it felt brittle as she gripped Gabriel’s hand.

“No, I have nothing available. Sorry, miss.” He walked away, pulling the steel cart. Laura felt tears burn the back of her eyes and her heart sink heavily in her chest. She glanced at the block of orange cheese. Gabriel was yelling now, reaching, and her mouth watered as she stared at the price. It cost over six dollars; she couldn’t spare it.

Laura lifted her son and hurried down the aisle and out the door as he made clicking noises and whimpered. Laura didn’t stop and look, but she could feel people staring.

“Miss, wait,” a redheaded young woman called to her.

Laura was stressed because Gabriel was still carrying on, but this young, pleasant woman didn’t seem annoyed at all. In fact, she strode to Laura, her head high and with a warm smile, wearing a plain brown coat. She had the most brilliant blue eyes Laura had ever seen.

“I overheard in the store you’re looking for a job?” the woman asked, ignoring the way Gabriel was carrying on.

“Yes, I am. I need a job. I’m so sorry, the way he’s carrying on. He doesn’t always understand…”

The woman stopped her when she rested a warm hand on her arm. “Don’t apologize, please. I was just getting groceries. But I am looking for help. If you’re interested, maybe we could go next door to Merle’s, have a coffee. I didn’t get a chance to eat, so I’d love to buy you and your son breakfast, too, if you haven’t eaten. We could talk about the job. That’s if you’re interested?”

Laura did everything she could not to cry, and she must have looked like a shrew as she struggled to hold it in. She nodded because she couldn’t get the words out. “Thank you… Yes.”

“Let me just run back in before they think I abandoned my groceries. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” She looked concerned, as if Laura would bolt.

“We’ll wait.” Laura set Gabriel down, who was still fussing, and kneeled as the pretty woman hurried back into the store. “Gabriel, please stop for Mommy. This nice woman is going to buy us breakfast. Pancakes, would you like pancakes? I know how much you love them.” Gabriel quieted down and seemed to understand. Laura couldn’t always tell, but at least he wasn’t carrying on, and she knew food would keep him occupied. He had to be as hungry as she was, although he had eaten bread with peanut butter. Pancakes were a luxury and something they hadn’t had since Jerry jacked up the rent.

The woman appeared a minute later, dashing toward Laura. “Thank you so much for having breakfast with me. And this is my treat. By the way, my name is Diana Friessen.”

Laura accepted her hand and felt a momentary panic. “Laura.”

Diana must have sensed her distress, as she tilted her head and looked at Laura kindly. “I recognize that look–I had it, once. Let’s go have breakfast, Laura.”