by Judi Lynn
“Well, T. J. can read something into ours—a big, fat good-bye.”
Miriam glanced at her. T. J. probably wasn’t used to a tough critic. She’d underestimated the girl. “I’m proud of you. Every girl needs to respect herself.”
Maya turned to her with a flinty expression on her face. “No worries there. I just wanted someone to love me. No one ever has.”
“You know sex isn’t the same as love, right?”
Maya shrugged. “T. J. kept saying he loved me, but he’s not very good at it.”
Miriam almost felt sorry for the boy. The first time she’d gone to bed with a guy in college, neither of them had had any experience. They’d fumbled their way to a climax. But Miriam didn’t want Maya to be with T. J. She wanted her to start college, so she said, “Paula and Hazel love you. I care about you.”
“You guys are the best. I know that, but it’s different, you know? I wanted to be special to someone.”
“It’ll happen,” Miriam said. “Just give it time.”
“How much time?”
A good question. It still hadn’t happened for her.
Chapter 15
Joel drove Adele to work with him, as usual, on Monday. This time, though, she was going to stay the entire day. While the men worked on finishing the cement floor in the bar, she’d camp out in the office in her private sitting area.
At lunchtime they drove into town and ate at Ralph’s Diner.
“We only have a couple more weeks of work.” Nick motioned to his crew. “We’re going to miss your free lunches when we finish this job.”
Adele frowned. “Won’t we still come here?”
“No; enjoy it while you can,” Joel warned Adele. “Once the brewery opens for business, we won’t have time to leave the building.”
Her face fell. “But I like it here.”
“Then we’ll come once a week for supper, but soon, you’ll be sitting in the brewery, chowing down on hot dogs and root beer.”
“Every day?”
That would get old after a while. “There’s a microwave in the office. We could pack you something from home sometimes. And there’ll be bowls of chili. Tyne said I should double the ground beef and punch up half of it to put nachos on the menu.” Easy enough. Just flavored hamburger over chips with shredded cheese and lettuce on top. Joel wasn’t offering gourmet.
Nick finished his meat loaf and potatoes. “I’ll have to pack my lunches again, but this has been fun while it lasted.”
Joel had enjoyed working with Nick and his crew, too. He was about to say so when a young woman came to join them at their table. She was pretty enough, with long, auburn hair and an hourglass figure, but her dark eyes glittered boldly. When she smiled at Nick, he sat up straighter and looked wary.
“Hey, Chantelle, congratulations.”
She gave him a sour look and turned her attention to Joel. When she didn’t see a ring on his finger, she raised her eyebrows at Nick. “You have a new friend?”
“Me and my crew are working for him. This is Joel Worth and his daughter, Adele.”
“You’re the guy who bought the dairy to open as a microbrewery?”
“That’s the plan.”
Her full lips curled in a seductive smile. “Store owners turn me on.”
Sure they did. So did their money. He didn’t want anything to do with her and had a pretty good idea how to sidetrack her. He smiled, too. “When’s your baby due?”
Her look went sour again. “Too soon. I’m not ready to be a mom.”
“My first wife felt the same way. That’s why we went our separate ways. But you might surprise yourself when you hold the baby for the first time.”
“I don’t see that happening, but Eddie’s excited about it.”
“At least someone wants the baby.” Joel didn’t hide his sarcasm.
She grimaced and stood. “When your brewery’s done, I’ll have to come check it out.”
“You shouldn’t drink in your condition.”
She snorted. “Yeah right.”
They watched her leave, and Adele turned to her father. She looked surprised. “You weren’t nice to her.”
“I didn’t like her.”
“But you’re nice to everybody.”
How could he explain? “She’d want to be friends, and I don’t want to be friends with her.”
“Because of me?”
Joel stared. “No, it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
“You moved here to get away from Mom because she always made me sad.”
“That was only part of it.”
“Did you think Chantelle would make me sad?”
Joel took a long breath. People at neighboring tables were trying hard not to listen in, but how could they miss their conversation? “I thought she’d make both of us sad.”
Nick intervened. “Your dad’s right. Chantelle was only interested in him because he has money.”
Adele’s jaw dropped. “Mom was always asking Dad for more money, too.”
Joel nodded. “Chantelle would be a lot like your mom. I can’t go through that again.”
Adele reached out to place her crippled hand over his. “I understand.”
And Joel realized that she did. “Thanks, hon.”
She beamed, happy with herself, and Nick patted her on the shoulder. “Good job, kid. I feel like dessert today. What about a brownie delight?”
Adele loved rich desserts, and soon they were making their way through scoops of ice cream and whipping cream to reach a fudge brownie drowned in hot fudge sauce. By the time they finished eating, she’d forgotten about Chantelle.
When they returned to the brewery after lunch, Adele shut herself in her private sanctuary to watch the old movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Joel knew she’d be humming and happy at the end of the day. The movie had lots of singing and dancing and romance—all of her favorites. While the cement floor dried in the bar, Joel went to help Nick and his crew finish painting the primed walls in the family room. He’d decided to make the long outside walls bright canary yellow; the front wall, cobalt blue; and the inside wall, fire engine red.
Nick’s brows furrowed in a troubled frown while he painted.
“What’s bugging you?” Joel asked. “You don’t like my color choices?”
“Love ’em.” He hesitated. “Do you remember Roxy, the girl I met in Indy?”
“The party girl?”
Nick’s frown deepened. “Yeah, well; she asked to borrow some money from me this weekend. She’s having a tough time.”
Joel stopped to dip his roller in the paint tray and glanced at Nick. “Did you give it to her?”
“It wasn’t that much, only a few hundred.”
“Will she pay you back?”
Nick didn’t answer right away. “I doubt it.”
“Then it wasn’t a loan. Are you all right with that?”
“I was until now. That’s why Chantelle hit on you at the diner. She wanted a sugar daddy.”
Sugar daddy. He hadn’t heard those words for a while. Joel chose his answer carefully. “When I met April, I knew all she wanted was someone to take care of her. And money. I thought she’d love me if I came through for her, but it didn’t work that way. Even after we got married, that’s all she wanted from me. I don’t want to do that to myself again.”
Nick grimaced. “I’m getting played, aren’t I?”
“It’s possible. Everyone falls on tough times, so I don’t know for sure, but it’s something to think about.”
“April played you, right?”
“Big-time.”
“Shit.” Nick finished his section of the wall and stepped back to examine it. He sighed. “I don’t want to get screwed over by some girl. She always has enough money to go out.”
“Then be smart; ask yourself questions and listen to your gut. Test the waters. Tell her your money’s going to be tight pretty soon because you’re investing in building your business and see how she
reacts. April liked me a lot less when I had less disposable income.”
Nick seemed to like that idea. He nodded. “Thanks, man.”
“We all learn from our mistakes if we don’t want to repeat them.”
Nick ran a hand through his wavy brown hair. “Girls get played, too, I guess.” He told Joel about stopping to comfort Maya on the side of the road. “She was crying so hard, I didn’t know what to do until Miriam got there.”
That made Joel worry. He thought about meeting Chantelle at the diner, unhappy and pregnant. Maya was on the Pill, wasn’t she? “If anyone can help the girl, it’s Miriam.” He finished painting, too, and stepped back to look for any spots he’d missed.
“It looks good,” Nick said. “I think our wall’s done.”
And soon, the crew finished the walls they’d been working on, too. Joel was sure he’d like them once they dried. If they got lucky, the floor in the bar would be set enough that they could paint in there the next day. They’d be ready to install appliances and light fixtures next week.
“Might as well call it a day,” Nick said. “We’ll meet you back here tomorrow.”
Joel was only working with them in the morning tomorrow. The rest of the day, he was training the new help he’d hired—all but the cook. First, he needed a stove and a grill, but he wasn’t worried about Dave. He’d been the line cook at the plastics factory before it closed its doors.
It was earlier than usual, so Joel went to collect Adele to drive home. They’d eaten out enough lately that he craved real food for supper. When he’d looked in the refrigerator this morning, he hadn’t seen anything to brag about. “Let’s stop at the grocery store and grab a few things,” he said.
“Can we have chicken?”
He knew what Adele was asking for. One of her favorite meals was chicken breasts breaded in crushed potato chips. He’d made it for her since she was a little girl. “Why not? We’ll buy some sides, too.”
On the way to Art’s, he decided to call Miriam and invite her for supper, too. He got her voice mail and said, “Nick told me about Maya. I’m curious about how she’s doing, how you’re doing. I know you like the girl.”
He was buying a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots to make coleslaw when Miriam called back. “I’ll be there.”
“My place. Five o’clock? Nothing fancy.”
“Sounds good.”
He bought some rice in a bag and a jar of dressing for the slaw. On a whim, he threw in a tub of ice cream, too. Adele added a jar of hot fudge and grinned at him.
By the time Miriam came at five, everything was ready. She glanced around their apartment, unimpressed. Why would she be? There was nothing on the walls. Most of their possessions were still in boxes.
“We’re only staying here short-term,” he said. “Once the brewery’s finished, I’d like to find a house.”
She sat down with Adele at the small, round dining table near the kitchen. “Iris has been complaining that there aren’t a lot of houses for sale right now. She doesn’t have many showings.”
He carried the hot pans to the table and set them on trivets. He handed Miriam a serving spoon to dish up. “I don’t really want to build a house. That takes a lot of time and attention.”
She frowned at the chicken. “What’s this?”
Adele answered. “He coats chicken with potato chips for me.”
Miriam put two breasts on her plate, then reached to scoop out some rice. She raised her eyebrows. “You made coleslaw?”
“Sort of. I bought a bag and some dressing and mixed them together.”
She took a taste. “It’s good.”
She really wasn’t a cook. Tyne would be expecting something exotic with caraway seeds, but there was nothing fancy about the food Joel made. It kept them fed, though.
Miriam tried the chicken. “Mmm, I like this.”
Yup, no class at all. Like him. He grinned. “Glad you like it. So, how’s your Maya? Is everything okay with her?”
She explained while they finished their meal. When the ice cream was gone, he loaded the last bowls and spoons in the dishwasher and tried to think how to keep Miriam there longer.
Adele came up with the answer. “Want to play a game of Life? It’s more fun with three people.”
Why that appealed to Miriam, he didn’t know. He’d played the game plenty of times with Adele, but to say that he enjoyed it would be pushing it. She enjoyed it, though, so that was enough. To his surprise, Miriam really got into it, hooting each time Joel drew a crappy card. He ended up losing, with a car full of five kids and lots of debt. Miriam won and loved it.
“You like to gloat, don’t you?” he said.
“In case you didn’t notice, my family’s competitive. Don’t play poker with me or you’ll lose your shirt.”
He raised his eyebrows in a challenge. “Maybe I’d like that.”
Her blue eyes blazed. “I’ve always wanted to play strip poker.”
Adele laughed and Miriam blushed. The words had popped out before she’d monitored them. “You like to tease, like Dad does.”
Miriam looked relieved. Adele had only sort of gotten what she’d said. She knew it was a joke, though.
Joel grinned. “Anytime you’re up for a serious game, let me know.”
Miriam narrowed her eyes, studying him. “I might take you up on that.”
“Then get ready to lose, because some things motivate me more than others.”
She laughed, and the night ended on an upbeat note.
When Miriam left and Adele went to bed, Joel replayed their conversation in his mind. He’d drive Adele to his parents’ house on Saturday, and Miriam’s load at school would be lighter after the seniors’ last day this Friday. Could a game of strip poker be in his future?
Chapter 16
Miriam tried to concentrate during her free period, but she’d felt unsettled all day. Friday would be the end of school for the seniors. Was that what was setting her on edge? She’d have all their term papers to grade, but she’d have more time next week without the two senior English classes she taught. She’d easily get her paperwork caught up. Her mind kept drifting to Joel and she’d push those thoughts away. Had he been serious last night or just teasing her? He didn’t strike her as the strip poker type.
“Miss Reinhardt?” Maya raised her voice, and Miriam jerked to attention.
“Sorry, my mind drifted.”
“I know you’re probably busy, but I was hoping I could talk to you.”
“Sure, pull up a chair.”
Maya settled across from her and grimaced. “I might have waited too long, but I was wondering if I could still get a scholarship to IU. I’ve saved enough money to buy myself a car, and I can drive back and forth for classes and still work with Hazel at the day care to make pocket money.”
Hallelujah! The girl had finally come to her senses. “I’ll call the counselor I worked with to let her know. She’s been holding a place for you as a favor to me. We’ve worked together for a long time.”
Maya let out a relieved sigh. “I was afraid . . .”
Miriam waved the words away. “We’ve already listed all the classes you want to take. Some of them might have filled up, but we have plenty of time to choose other ones.”
Maya pushed to her feet. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“Not until I had to. Congratulations, Maya. You’ll be a student at IU this fall.”
The girl’s face lit up with a smile, and Miriam felt like jumping up and dancing around the room. She hated watching potential go to waste. The happy glow stayed with her to the end of the day. She rolled down the windows of her car and sang along to the radio on the drive home. Tommy and Tuppence picked up on her mood when she walked in the cottage and jumped on her lap for extra lovies.
After she gave them lots of attention, she grabbed a beer and walked out to her backyard to look at the lake. When her cell phone rang, she answered it with a lilt in her voice. She always enjoyed tal
king to her little sister.
“Hey, Clair! What’s new?”
There was a slight pause and then the words gushed out. “I’m pregnant!”
Miriam couldn’t hold in the happy squeal that bubbled inside her. “Congratulations! Oh my gosh, I’m so happy for you!” She bit her bottom lip to keep from babbling.
“Everyone’s coming to celebrate. Get your ass over here!”
“I’m on my way.” She changed into jeans and a loose T-shirt, then made the drive to her sister’s house on the far side of the lake. Her mom and dad’s car was already parked next to Neil and Sue-Ellen’s. People were in the front yard, hugging and laughing. Clair’s husband, Max, was pumping everyone’s hands. When she walked toward them, Max turned to her and wrapped her in a bear hug.
Miriam laughed. Max was usually more reticent than Clair. She’d never seen him this happy. “You’re going to be a dad!”
He flushed with happiness. “It’s great, isn’t it?”
“It’s awesome.”
Her mom disappeared inside the long, shingled, ranch-style house and came out with a platter of burgers for Dad to put on the grill. Their family never got together without food. Sue-Ellen had brought bags of chips and dips. Miriam, as usual, carried in the beer and beverages.
Sue-Ellen’s boys kept slapping each other on the back. “There’ll be a baby at Christmas this year.”
Miriam felt proud of them. Most teenage boys would be leery of a newborn.
“How long before we can babysit?” Toby asked.
“You can’t pass the kid around like a football,” Sue-Ellen warned.
Sam rolled his eyes. “We know that. If we babysit, Clair will pay us, though, won’t she?”
So that was it. Miriam’s nephews were always looking for ways to make money. She had to give them credit, though; when she hired them to do a job, they didn’t monkey around. She’d had them clean her flowerbeds and yard last fall, and they’d done it better than she did. All her neighbors hired them to do small jobs around their houses.
When the burgers were ready, they pulled their lawn chairs in a circle and sat with their paper plates balanced on their knees, yakking.
