Whatever Love Means

by Leigh Fleming

  “You could do that, but I’d be happy to—”

  “Buddy will pay me back, and I’ll pay it off. He had a slow sales month, so I covered him. No big deal.”

  She sorted the bills back into order, keeping her eyes locked on the task. This was Travis’s chance to say she’d been stupid to lend money to Buddy or help pay for their nights out at restaurants and movies or make his truck payment last month. The man needed wheels to do his job. They were getting married, for heaven’s sake.

  “Say something.” Dropping the bills, she flattened her hands on the table and leaned toward Travis, still sitting silently.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “Say what you’re really thinking. Say I shouldn’t have lent Buddy money, tell me he should remember his credit card when we eat out, tell me I shouldn’t have planned such an elaborate wedding. Tell me I messed up.”

  “I’m not going to . . .”

  Maggie flopped into her chair, all the energy gone from her body. “Some of the payroll checks bounced because of me.”

  He leaned forward in his chair, his brows knitted in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “I flubbed a couple of deposits, which overdrew our account at the bar. I still don’t know how I did it. I thought for sure . . .” She picked up the pile of papers and tapped them on the table.

  “That doesn’t sound like something you’d do.

  “I’m not immune to making mistakes, you know. I’ve been under a lot of pressure.”

  “I understand.”

  “Penny left me to run the bar alone, and we were swamped both nights. Thank God Buddy was there to help me pour drinks.”

  “Buddy worked with you?” Travis struggled to his feet and braced his hands on the table.

  “What are you getting so worked up about? He helps us a lot. I work most evenings, so he hangs out at the bar, makes sure we get locked up and to our cars safely.” She folded her arms, daring him to make a snarky comment.

  “I’m sure he’s a big help.” He eased himself back into the chair, rubbing his hand over his ribs.

  “Now you’ve hurt yourself.”

  “I’m okay.”

  “Anyway, Penny talked to all the employees and she’s sure no one took the money. I just screwed up. I wasn’t being careful, wrote the wrong numbers down. It’s my fault the payroll checks were no good. I apologized to the servers it affected. It was stupid of me.”

  “Maggie, stop.” He reached out and laid his hand over hers, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “You’re like a walking calculator. I’ve never met anyone with a more tightly controlled budget or a head for numbers.”

  “Please don’t be nice to me.” Her eyes prickled. She could take his dagger-like gibes—well, sometimes—but not his tender concern. “Anything but that.”

  “Let me help you.”

  “No, I can handle this. Penny and I had money in savings to cover it. Everything’s okay now. I probably counted the deposit wrong.” She sniffled as she gathered her bills to her chest. “There’s been so much going on.” She blinked away unshed tears, pulling her shoulders back. “I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

  Chapter 15

  “That son of a bitch has been stealing from her.” Travis thumped his fist against the dash of Brody’s truck. “As soon as my leg heals, I’m going to kick his ass.” He glared out the window as they rolled through town, passing shops and restaurants on their way to his garage. He’d needed to get out of Maggie’s place for a while, and checking on the building progress at his auto repair was a good excuse. It had been twenty-four hours since she had dropped the bombshell that some deposit money was missing and took the blame for the mix-up. He found it next to impossible to keep his anger reined in.

  “How do you know?” Brody waved to his sister, Liza, outside her art gallery as they went by.

  “Maggie doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to money.”

  “Everyone makes mistakes.”

  “That’s what she said, but I don’t believe it. Money’s tight right now because she’s been paying for everything. Sales have been slow for Buddy.” He flicked his fingers in air quotes and then punched his fist into his palm. “I’ll bet my life he stole that deposit money.”

  “Wouldn’t Maggie know if he took it?”

  “She’s too trusting. Let’s these guys walk all over her. Believes every lying word they say.”

  “I never took her to be a pushover,” Brody said.

  “Little Buddy must’ve given her a hell of a snow job, because she sure doesn’t put up with my shit.”

  They shared a laughed, but Travis felt no humor in the truth. Maggie had a strong backbone when it came to him, always calling him out when she smelled a rat. But somehow she had let two husbands crush her spirit in their own devious ways. He couldn’t sit by and watch it happen again with husband number four, no matter what he had promised himself.

  “What’s she going to do?” Brody asked, pulling into the parking lot of Travis’s shop.

  “I offered my help, but she said she’d figure it out. I’m afraid he’ll give her some bullshit story, making her feel sorry for him. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

  “Keeping my mouth shut and killing her with kindness?”

  “Exactly,” Brody said, shutting off the engine.

  “She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.” Travis rubbed his hand over his puppy-fur head. “She keeps trying to pick a fight, but I won’t give in.” He chuckled to himself. “Got her all off-kilter.”

  “If Garrett stole from her, she’s going to need you. She’ll see through his crap eventually.” Brody laid his hand on Travis’s shoulder. “In the meantime, keep on doing like you’ve been. Be nice to her.”

  Travis eased himself out of the passenger’s side, putting all his weight on his good leg while he pulled his crutches from behind the seat. Steam rose off the black asphalt as he hobbled toward the garage bays under construction. He and Brody watched as masons laid rows of concrete block smeared with thick mortar. Travis’s attention turned upward to the dirty windows of his second floor apartment. It was a convenient place to live, but it never felt like home.

  “Yeah.” He ran his hand over his sore ribs. “I don’t want her to kick me out. I kind of like being there.”

  * * *

  A few hours later, after they had made a stop at Misty Mountain Brewery to taste Tucker’s latest recipe, and a stop at the bank where Travis transferred enough money into his checking account to pay Carly’s tuition bill, Brody dropped him back at Maggie’s. Carly was the only one home.

  “Hey, little girl, what’s going on in here?” He leaned heavily on his crutches as he came into the kitchen. His ribs ached, and the incision throbbed where they’d taken out his spleen. He might have overdone it today, climbing in and out of Brody’s truck.

  “I’m making a strawberry pie. Virginia McNamara dropped off two quarts of berries this morning.”

  “You bake?”

  “Yeah, I’m following Grandma Ginny’s recipe.” She held up a yellowed index card, waving it in the air. “It’s my first attempt at strawberry pie.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be delicious.” Travis winced as he eased himself onto a kitchen chair, sighing once he was settled.

  “Are you okay?” She rushed to his side, setting his crutches along the wall. “You look tired.”

  “Did a little too much today, I guess.”

  “Want to lie down?”

  “Nope, I want to watch a future chef create an award-winning pie.”

  “Yeah, right. Let’s just hope it’s edible.” Carly gathered the ingredients from the counter and moved them to the table, where she sat across from Travis and sliced strawberries into a large bowl. “I think Mom needs some cheering up.”

  “Your Mom’s not okay?”

  “Didn’t you see her before you went out?”

  “She sta
yed in her room. Probably trying to avoid me.”

  Carly stopped cutting and pointed the paring knife at him. “Did you two have another fight?”

  “Nope.”

  She gave him a dubious look and went back to slicing the bright red berries. Travis snatched one out of the bowl, barely avoiding the tip of her knife. “Watch it, or you won’t get a slice of pie.”

  “I hear you.”

  “So . . .” Her brows pulled in tight. “. . . if you two didn’t have an argument, why does Mom seem so down?”

  He shrugged as he popped the strawberry in his mouth. How much did Carly know about Buddy? What did she think of him? Since Maggie had started dating him, Travis had avoided the subject with Carly. He wouldn’t be able to handle his jealousy if she said she really liked the guy. But maybe she had some insight that would help Maggie’s situation.

  “I think it has something to do with Buddy,” she said, opening the door to a sticky conversation. “She’s been kind of stressed out—more than usual—since yesterday. Maybe they had a fight.”

  “That could be it.”

  “Or I was thinking he might be pressuring her to reschedule the wedding. I overhead them at the hospital.”

  “Buddy came to the hospital?”

  “Yeah, I heard him say the pastor could marry them Sunday—the day after your wreck—and she said it was too soon. She couldn’t marry him with you in the hospital.”

  “Why would that’ve stopped her?”

  “I just think—” She tossed the paring knife on the table and leaned back in her chair, wiping her hands on a tea towel. Her heavy sigh ruffled her bangs.

  “What do you think? You can tell me.”

  “I don’t feel right talking about Mom behind her back.”

  “Okay, but—”

  “I don’t like being in the middle.” She ran her thumb around the rim of the mixing bowl, keeping her eyes cast down.

  “I have never pressed you to tell me anything about your mother’s personal life, and you don’t have to tell me now. But if there’s something you’re worried about, or if she’s in danger or—”

  “I can trust you,” she said, raising her gaze to Travis.

  “You can always trust me.” Their eyes locked, sealing the unspoken covenant they’d established since she was a child. Carly knew she could tell him anything and he’d always have her back.

  “Okay, so, since you wrenched it out of me.” She giggled, shoving the bowl of fruit and bag of sugar out of her way. “I don’t like it when Buddy stays over. He’s creepy.”

  A wave of nausea flooded Travis’s gut. If that son of a bitch touched his daughter . . .

  “He’s always snooping around in her closet or the kitchen drawers. One day I caught him looking in her purse while she was in the shower.”

  Travis felt like a balloon that had popped. He sagged against the chair, relieved his worst fear hadn’t been carried out by Buddy Garrett. He might be a thief but not a pedophile, thank God.

  “Did he take anything out of it?”

  “No, because I came in the room and asked him what he was doing.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He gave me some lame excuse that he was just putting a twenty back in Mom’s wallet that he’d borrowed earlier.”

  “And you didn’t believe him?”

  “Heck no. I don’t trust him.”

  He tried hard not to smile, but couldn’t hold it back. It warmed his heart to know he had no competition for his daughter’s love.

  “He’s way too smooth, you know?” Carly opened the sugar and dug deep with a scoop, letting the white crystals slide back into the bag. “It’s like everything is rehearsed with him. He says just the right things. Always polite, polished, even his clothes are way too perfect. He’s an imposter.” She threw the scoop back into the sugar and shot an angry glare at Travis. “I can’t believe she’s fallen for him. I just wish I could pin something on him. Prove to her that he is not who he pretends to be.”

  How the hell did his daughter get so smart? Travis wasn’t the only one who saw through Buddy’s thin, slimy veneer. Should he tell her she wasn’t the only one who didn’t trust him? Travis suspected Buddy had stolen the deposit money from Maggie and Penny. He just didn’t know how to prove it.

  “What?” Carly said, pulling him from his thoughts.

  “What what?”

  “You know something. I see it in your eyes. Do you know something about Buddy?”

  “No.” Damn—she was smart and a mind reader.

  “I don’t believe you.” She reached across the table and sunk her nails into his wrist. “Out with it, Dad. What do you know about Buddy?”

  “Ouch. I’m still recuperating.” He pulled his arm from her claws and shook out the pain. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to hurt me again.”

  “I didn’t hurt you, you big baby. Now tell me what you know.”

  “Fine, but this stays between you and me.”

  “Absolutely.” She rolled her hand in the air, urging him on.

  “Some money’s missing from the Brass Rail. A couple of deposits didn’t mesh with your mom’s bookkeeping.”

  “No way. She always accounts for every cent.”

  “Exactly. But she chalked it up to stress, the wedding, too much on her plate. Basically blames herself. Penny has cleared all the employees after she grilled them.” He leaned his elbows on the table, lowering his voice even though they were the only two in the house. “I need to confirm where Buddy was on the days your mom deposited the money. Was he with her?”

  “You think he stole the money?”

  “Maybe. She said he often helps out at the bar. Was he there on those nights? My gut tells me he had something to do with it, but first I need to prove he had access to the money.”

  “I can check the schedule. They keep it on a bulletin board at the bar. I can see if Mom made the night drop those days.”

  “But we don’t know when it was.”

  “I’ll find out. Aunt Penny said she’ll pay me if I clean the bar on Saturday morning. I’ll do a little detective work.”

  “Okay. See what you can find out. If he stole the money, he’ll answer to me.”

  Chapter 16

  “Paper plates, cups, balloons, a banner,” Maggie mumbled as she flicked a checkmark beside each item on the list she’d created on the back of her phone bill. “Flowers—that’s next. Then I’ll run to the supermarket.” She had pulled her car to the curb in front of Beautiful Blooms to go over the list for Carly’s graduation party happening Saturday after the ceremony. All of their family and friends would gather at the park pavilion she had reserved. “Oh, and call Tucker to get a keg.” She scribbled in the margins before leaning her forehead on the steering wheel. “I’ll never be ready in time. What was I thinking?”

  A sharp tap to the passenger’s side window snapped her out of her pity party. Virginia stood on the sidewalk, peering into the car, signaling for Maggie to drop the window. She pressed the automatic button with a sigh.

  “Hi, Virginia.”

  “Hi, honey. Are you okay?”

  “Fine, thanks. Just going over my list for the party on Saturday.”

  “Tell me what you need me to do. I’ve got nothing but time on my hands.”

  “Thanks, but everything’s under control.” Yeah, right. She wouldn’t be sitting in a hot car talking to herself if she had it all together. “I was just going in to talk to Riley about creating some fun arrangements for the tables.”

  “Great idea. Well, seeing as you’re okay, I’ll be on my way. I’ve got a community center board meeting in a few minutes and I’m volunteering at the food bank this afternoon.” Virginia waved good-bye and sped down the sidewalk like a woman half her age. If an eighty-two-year-old woman had that much energy, what did that say about her? Maggie felt drained and looked haggard, like she’d been thrown from a bucking bull. Even Holli’s highlights had faded. What was the matter with her? This was an exc
iting time. Carly was graduating, and she and Buddy would soon get married. Why did she feel so listless?

  Climbing out of the car, her legs felt weighted down as she trudged into the florist shop and to the back room, where she found Riley filling a tall vase with roses.

  “Don’t tell me,” she said, pulling up a stool to the tall table, “Sharon and Ed had another fight.”

  “You got it.”

  “What was it this time?”

  “Apparently, Ed had been flirting with one of the waitresses out at Sue’s Diner while they were eating dinner there last night. He swore he was just being friendly, but Sharon didn’t take it that way. She made him sleep outside on the porch last night.”

  “And he’s hoping these roses will get him back inside?”

  “It will. It always does.” Riley chuckled as she shoved the last rose in the arrangement. “They’ll kiss and make up, and all will be forgotten.”

  “Until the next time.” Maggie laughed along with Riley and suddenly she felt better. How long had it been since she had a good laugh?

  “So, what’s up?” Riley dropped to a nearby stool, wiping her hands on a towel.

  “Would you have time to make up some colorful arrangements for Carly’s party? I’m thinking something in the school colors.”

  “Absolutely. What about—”

  Riley was cut off by the ringing of Maggie’s cell phone. A number she didn’t recognize lit up the screen. She answered anyway.

  “Maggie?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hey, it’s Gina, from the Party Palace. You left your wallet on the counter. Luckily, I had your number stored in my phone.”

  “Oh my gosh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Maggie dug through her purse as if there had been a mistake and her wallet was miraculously hidden deep inside—but it wasn’t. “You’re right. I’ll come back over in a few minutes to get it.”

  “No rush. It’s safe. Come whenever it’s convenient.”

  She tapped off the call and tossed her phone on the table. “I left my flipping wallet at the party store.” Dropping her head in her hands, she silently screamed in frustration. First the deposits and now her wallet. What else had she forgotten or messed up?