by Mia Carson
I lunged at him like I was going to attack him and laughed as he flinched back. “Yeah. You’re a real tough guy. You can’t even rape a woman unless she’s passed out. Ella would’ve kicked your ass.”
He glared at me and turned for his truck. “This is your only warning, McCormick,” he snarled over the hood.
“You know where to find me, but let me give you a warning. If you so much as touch Ella again, I will find you, I will cut your fucking dick off, and I will shove it up your ass. Do I make myself clear?”
I glared at him, silently daring him to come at me, until he gave me the finger with a sneer and plopped into the truck. He raced the engine, all four tires flinging mud and tailings as he raced away, the truck banging and jittering over the rough ground.
I slammed my left bicep into my right hand, my left forearm raised with my fist clenched in the universal sign of contempt at the back of the truck. I climbed the ladder back to the operator’s station, revved the engine, and engaged the thresher and header.
“Everything okay?” Dad’s voice came over the radio the moment I began to move again.
I pulled the mic from the hanger and clicked the transmit button. “Steve came to talk to me.”
“I gathered. About what?”
“He said we were sandbagging to run up our bill.”
“He’s an idiot. We charge by the acre.”
“That’s what I told him. He also threatened to kick my ass if I started spreading rumors about him.”
“About what Cat said?”
“Yeah. He’s scared to death.”
After a pause, Dad said, “If there’d been any doubt Cat was telling the truth, it’s gone now.”
I grinned. This was going better than I could have hoped. That was one thing about Steve, he never knew when to quit digging. “I’m not very nice. I reminded him there was no statute of limitation on rape. He didn’t appreciate that.”
“No, I imagine not,” Dad said, and I could hear the last of his chuckle in his voice.
“What did he want to talk to you about?” I asked.
“He said he was checking on our progress. I wish he’d told me he thought we were trying to cheat him. I’d have told him what he could do with his sorghum.”
I grinned. “Don’t worry, I told him for you.”
“Good. I don’t how Raymond puts up with him.”
I nodded in agreement. Raymond was a pretty good guy. The problem was his wife, Amanda. She was from Dallas, and she hadn’t adjusted to small town farm life very well. She seemed to think living on a large farm would be like the Ewings from the television show Dallas. It hadn’t taken long for her to realize that living on a farm was hard work, and it never stopped. She was too good to get her hands dirty, tended to look down on the Hamlinton natives. Hamlinton was populated with pickups and SUVs, with the occasional Japanese, Korean, or American car thrown into the mix. Amanda Calhoun drove the only Mercedes in town, a C-Class, and it was source of quiet amusement that such an expensive car was always dirty because the Calhouns lived on a dirt road. Privately, everyone was amazed they were still married, and the consensus was it had to be because she had nowhere to go and would get nothing from a divorce.
Steve was very much a product of his mother’s raising, and he had a divisive personality to go with it. A lot of people liked him, especially women, because according to Ella, he was good looking. He was also smooth, played sports, talked a good game, and didn’t mind spending money on his friends. But an equal number didn’t care for him, mostly guys, and people Dad’s age and older, because he was a self-aggrandizing, know-it-all blowhard. Nothing was ever his fault, and he’d never had to pay for his mistakes. A lot of that was about to change, and it was clear he didn’t know what to do about it.
I clicked the transmit button. “Me either. Do me a favor.”
“What?”
“In a few years, if I have a kid, and I start raising him like Steve, take me out behind the barn and beat some sense into me.”
I imagined Dad was laughing while the radio was silent. “Count on it.”
22
Ella
It was 6:30 and we were in the thick of the dinner rush. Since it was a week night, we didn’t have people waiting for tables like we often did on weekends, but Dolly’s was still hopping. I was filling tea glasses when I saw Will and Judy McCormick walk in. Diane noticed, and after catching my gaze, scurried to seat them. Even though she had more occupied tables than me, I knew she’d seat them in her section so I didn’t have to wait on them. The last time they were in, Levi was with them, and it had still ended in a train wreck.
“Can I get you anything else? Dessert?” I asked my table.
“We’re good. Thanks.”
I was turning away when Diane approached. “Ella? The McCormicks would like to talk to you.”
I felt my stomach lurch like I was in a fast descending elevator, and Diane looked apologetic. “Thanks.” I put on my best waitress smile as I approached. “Mr. and Mrs. McCormick. May I help you?”
“Yes,” Will said. “We’d like to speak to you. Have you got a minute?”
I glanced around. “We’re a little busy and—”
“Please,” Judy said. “It will only take a second.”
I swallowed hard. “Okay, sure.” I glanced around and there was a section where nobody was sitting, so with a nod of my head, I led them to the quiet area.
Dolly’s dining room was shaped like an L, with the longer section containing most of the available tables in three rows of ten tables each, along with stools at the lunch counter. The shorter section was against the windows overlooking the street, holding two rows of four tables each. The service areas of kitchen, food storage, and restrooms took up the remainder of the space to form a rectangle.
“How can I help you?” I asked. I had my back to the wall and could see everyone watching.
“We came to apologize,” Will said.
Judy nodded. “Both of us.”
“For what?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest, unable to believe it would be this easy.
“Levi told us Catherine Meyer admitted to putting a sleeping pill in your beer,” Judy said as she looked down, her fingers twisting and untwisting as she spoke. She looked back up. “We treated you awful, especially me. We should have known better, that you wouldn’t have done that to Levi on purpose. I…” She ground to a halt as her lips pulled into a pout and she began to breath hard. Her face crumbled as she fought tears.
“We shouldn’t have listened to the rumors,” Will said, taking over. “We should have believed in you.” He looked down. “We convinced Levi you cheated on him. He didn’t believe it at first, he told us we were wrong, but we wouldn’t listen.”
“It’s okay. We—”
“It’s not okay,” Judy said, her voice thick with pain. “You were like one of my own, and for me to,” she whimpered, “for me to treat you like I did. Can you possibly forgive me?”
I bit my lower lip so I wouldn’t cry. I didn’t trust my voice, so I nodded. Judy blubbered and held out her arms to me, and that was it. I stepped into her embrace and we cried together as we held each other.
“I’m so, so, sorry,” I murmured as I cried. “I didn’t mean to hurt Levi. I—”
“You hush, child,” Judy whispered as her embrace tightened. “You have nothing to apologize for,” she said as she sniffed.
We stood in each other’s arms another moment before she disengaged. Will stood to the side, looking uncomfortable. Seeing the shame and hurt in his eyes started me crying again as pulled him into a hug.
“I’m so sorry, Ella,” he said softly as his arms went around me. “I’ll never doubt you again.”
I cried on his shoulder a moment before stepping back and wiping my eyes. “I’m sorry for crying, but—”
Judy wiped her eyes, sniffed, and laughed softly before sniffing again. “If you’re going to apologize for that, then I’ll have to also.” She smiled at
me. “I’ll understand if you need a little time, but I’d like to invite you to dinner. You and Abby both, of course, whenever you can make it. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
I nodded. “I’d like that, thank you.”
Judy sniffed again and laughed gently as she wiped under her eyes again. “Ah…” she gasped. “I bet my makeup is running.”
I sniffed and wiped under my own eyes, but I was getting control of myself. “Did Levi put you up to this?”
“No. Well, sort of,” Will said, his normally strong voice subdued. “When he told us what Cat said, we knew we’d messed up. Judy was fretting about what to do, how to make it up to you, and Levi suggested we start with an apology.”
I smiled again, mostly as a way to fight off more tears. “But he didn’t make you do this, to keep peace in your family, did he?”
“Oh, no, Ella,” Judy said as she shook her head slowly. “An apology doesn’t seem like enough for what we’ve put you through.”
I sniffed one more time. “I have to get back to work, but thank you for…everything. Are you staying or do—”
“We’re staying,” Judy said with a soggy smile. “I was such a wreck worrying about facing you, I didn’t cook. Poor Levi, he’s going to your parents’ house for supper.”
“Don’t worry about it anymore,” I said as I led them to one of my tables, but sat them as far from an occupied table as possible.
Everyone was looking at us, but I didn’t care. It had to be clear to anyone watching that I’d reconciled with Levi’s family, so I’d let them stare. Then I realized what it meant, having them make their apology here. It couldn’t be an accident. Will and Judy were declaring, for all to see, they’d forgiven me. The McCormicks and the Johnsons were once again standing together. I smiled. That had to be Levi’s idea.
“Two sweet teas, one with lemon, one without?” I asked.
Will smiled at me. “Please.”
I nodded as I turned away to fetch their order. I wanted to smile, and cry, and laugh, but I pursed my lips until I could get control of myself.
“What was that all about?” Diane asked as I filled Will and Judy’s glasses.
“Levi convinced them I’ve been telling the truth,” I murmured, paying unusually close attention to my task so I didn’t have to look at her.
When she didn’t say anything, I glanced her way to see if she’d heard. Her eyes were wide.
“Really? How?”
“He talked to Cat Meyer last night. She admitted to him she drugged my beer.”
She was still standing in stunned silence as I carried the McCormicks’ drinks to them and quickly made my rounds, topping of drinks and making sure my guests were taken care of. Nobody dared ask what was said, but those that could see us knew something had happened. Everyone else could see something had changed as I’d intentionally placed Will and Judy in my section even though there were tables available in Diane’s section, and we were all smiles now.
I took the McCormicks’ order, and since we weren’t slammed busy and I’d just checked on my other customers, I returned to their table. Not wanting to invite the wrath of Dolly, I hovered but didn’t sit down.
“I can’t tell you what it means to me to have you believe me,” I said, speaking as softly as I could so only they could hear. “Disappointing you was harder to take than almost anything else.”
“Why didn’t you come to us?” Judy asked. “I’m not blaming you for what you did, but when you didn’t want to see us anymore, it made you…well…”
“Look like I’d done something wrong, I know. I’m sorry for my behavior. It was stupid of me. I was so ashamed. I didn’t even know how I’d gotten pregnant until I talked to Cat. I was sick with dread. I was afraid to face you and—”
Judy took my hand. “Don’t worry about it anymore. I can understand how hard it must have been.” She looked around and motioned me closer. “I’m ashamed to say, Will and I both thought you and Levi were…being physical…long before you were.”
I straightened. “You know?”
She nodded. “Levi told us.”
“When?”
She glanced at Will with a questioning look. “A month or so ago, right before the harvest started,” he said. “We were talking about you and I was busting his chops, explaining that you getting pregnant was exactly why we kept preaching to him to be careful. I said I knew you and he were…” his voice trailed off as he whirled his hand a tight circle, indicating I needed to fill in the blank. “Anyway, that’s when he told me that you and he hadn’t, at least not until just before he left.”
I smiled. “Yeah, my parents didn’t believe it either.” I glanced around. The room seemed quieter than normal and people were watching. This was too public. “I need to go. Your food will be out in a few minutes,” I said as I backed away.
Diane was dying to ask questions, but I ignored her. This was between me, Judy, and Will, and didn’t concern her. Levi said his parents would believe him, that all they needed was a scrap of evidence, but I hadn’t expected their apology to be so soon or so heart felt. Judy and Mom were a lot alike, kind souls who didn’t want to hurt anyone. I could tell Judy was eating herself alive, and I felt bad for her. The McCormicks hadn’t been cruel to me, only indifferent, and that had hurt most of all. If they’d been nasty perhaps I could have hardened myself against them, as I had some others, but having them ignore me and look at me with such disappointment continued to cut deep.
That was behind us now. I’d forgiven them, and in time, I’d forget the hurt. I would more than meet them halfway, if for no other reason than Levi’s sake. The murmur of conversation in the dining room was returning to normal. I picked up Will and Judy’s plates from the window, clamping down hard on my emotions. I was emotionally unstable at the moment, even the simple act of serving their food and not having to face their disappointed gaze made me want to laugh, or cry, or do both at the same time.
As I approached, Judy didn’t look happy and Will had reached across the table to place his hand on hers. “There you go,” I said, sliding their plates in front of them as Will drew his hand back. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Will said, glancing at me before his eyes returned to his wife. His voice was kind, but he was clearly more concerned with Judy than me.
Judy glanced at me, and she looked how I felt. I crouched down and put my arms around her. It took every ounce of my will to not cry again as I kissed her on the cheek.
“It’s going to be okay, Mom,” I whispered. I’d never called her that before, and I felt her shoulders shake as she whimpered softly. She gasped and gathered herself before she placed her hand on mine and nodded. I rose and hurried away before I lost what little control I had.
When I stepped behind the counter, Dolly approached. Dolly ran the counter and supervised the kitchen, leaving her two waiters to work the tables. “You okay?”
I sniffed and smiled. “Yeah, I think so.”
She glanced between the McCormick table and me before touching me on the arm in support, her lips pulling into a smile as she turned away.
The rest of the evening was normal. After the McCormicks left, going about my job allowed me to gain some control over my emotions. The emotional fragility disappeared and the glow of contentment and peace began to fill me. I couldn’t stop smiling, and my feet were barely touching the floor as the end of my shift approached.
I saw Levi’s truck pull to as stop at the curb outside. I glanced at the clock. I had five more minutes before my shift ended. It was just seconds after eight when the door opened, and Levi and Abby stepped in.
“Mommy!” Abby cried, running toward me.
“Hey, Munchkin,” I said as I crouched to pick her up.
“Levi let me ride in his truck!”
“He did? Was it fun?”
“Yeah!”
“Let Mommy get her things and we’ll go home.”
Hearing I was leaving, Levi turned to go. “L
evi!” Dolly called. “Why don’t you wait in here? It’s cold out there.”
“Uh, sure, okay. Thanks.”
“Can I interest you in a piece of pie and cup of coffee?”
I pursed my lips as a smile tugged at them. It looked like Levi was welcome again.
He ambled toward Dolly. “I would, Dolly, but Mrs. Johnson fed me dinner and I’m stuffed. Can I take you up on that offer another time?”
Dolly smiled. “Sure. You’re welcome any time.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry about the ruckus the other day.”
“I understand why you did it, but don’t let it happen again or there won’t be any pie for you.”
“No, ma’am, I won’t.”
I turned and carried Abby with me to the back where I clocked out, gathered my things, and returned to the front. “Ready.”
“I want to ride with Levi!” Abby said, squirming to get down.
“Not me?” I asked, putting on a sad face.
“I want to ride in his truck.”
I snickered. “She’s a Texas girl, alright. Come on. You can ride with Levi.” He put his hand down and she took it. “I’ll see you at home.”
He gave me a quick kiss, inside where everyone would see. “See you there.” We stepped outside, and he looked down at Abby. “Should we race Mommy?”
“Yeah!”
“Okay, we have to hurry!” he said.
“Come on!” Abby cried, dragging Levi to the passenger door.
“I’m going to beat you!” I called before I took off running for my car.
There was no way I could beat them, not with his truck sitting right there, but Abby squealed in delight anyway. It had been a long time since I felt so carefree.
He must have had trouble with the car seat, or he was stalling to make it more exciting for Abby, because he was just backing out of the parking space when I stopped at the stop sign on the side street that gave access to the back of Dolly’s. I heard the tires squeal on his truck as he accelerated away, and I imagined Abby laughing in excitement and delight in her car seat. Why couldn’t Levi be her father instead of that asshole Steve? He was already more of a father to her that Steve was, though that wasn’t saying much.
