He smiled back. “Any time.” He tipped his head to look up at the menu board. “I’m going to take my chances today and order a sandwich. I’m starving, and I forgot my lunch at home. So I’ll have a Chicken Supreme and a regular coffee. If I get a call, I can always finish it in the car. It’s happened before.”
She turned to Constable Edwards and waited as he read the menu board.
“I’ll just have a bran muffin and a medium coffee. It figures he’d order a meal when it’s my turn to pay.”
While she accepted his money and Kristie made the sandwich, Sarah chatted with Constable Walker about the challenges of learning a new instrument. He snickered and told her about the time his B-string snapped in the middle of a song in which he was accompanying a soloist for his church’s last Easter Cantata. Sarah laughed, telling him she knew that would never happen to her, not because she knew she would never have a string snap, but because she knew she would never be good enough to play for an audience.
Since Constable Walker was eating and not merely snacking today, she left him alone. Even though she wanted to hear more of his stories, she went into the back of the building to the staff lunchroom instead of disturbing the two men.
As she walked away, she mentally kicked herself for worrying about him the day before. The man was a police officer. He faced dangerous situations all the time. Besides, even though they tended to chat a lot and they saw each other frequently, she really didn’t know him.
She could admit she found him attractive. He was a good-looking man, physically fit, and approximately her age. He had a good-paying job, and he was pleasant. Sarah couldn’t help but smile, even though she was technically alone. She supposed she found him pleasant because she was on the right side of the law. She doubted the Ronsky clan and their followers found him, or any member of the police force, “friendly.”
By the time her fifteen minutes were up, the two officers were gone. On her way to clean up the table they had vacated, she noticed a broken cup under the table where the Ronsky clan had been.
To save herself a trip, Sarah left the table as it was, turned around, and headed for the closet. Unfortunately, the lightbulb had burnt out during the day shift, and no one had replaced it. The broom was easy to find, but with the minimal glow reflecting from the kitchen being her only source of light, she couldn’t find the dustpan. She groped along the shelf where it usually was stored until she touched the handle. Unfortunately, because she was smacking her palm down in her attempts to find it, rather than gripping the handle, all she did was knock it to the floor.
The plastic clunked as it landed on the hard vinyl floor, bounced a couple of times, hit her foot, and then slid under the bottom shelf.
Sarah lowered herself to her hands and knees, then down to her elbows, then to the ground until one cheek pressed against the vinyl flooring so she could see beneath the bottom shelf. It was darker on the floor than at standing height, so despite her efforts, she couldn’t see anything at all. However, she really needed that dustpan before someone came in, stepped on the broken glass, and sued Donnie for some kind of injury.
She sucked in a deep breath and reached underneath the shelf, hoping that the cleaning staff was as diligent in the storage areas as they were in the restaurant.
Feeling nothing, Sarah gritted her teeth and groped further. After a while, her fingertips brushed the dustpan’s handle. Since her arm wasn’t quite long enough, Sarah shuffled around, grabbed the broom, and laid it on the floor. She slid it toward the dustpan, intending to knock it forward once she was able to maneuver both herself and the long wooden broom handle in the small closet.
Suddenly, a glowing light in the shape of a rectangle appeared on the wall behind the shelf. She realized it was a vent cover. From her strange position on the floor looking upward through it, she could see into her boss’s private office. Donnie had just walked inside and closed the door behind him.
The small amount of light filtering through the grille allowed Sarah to see what she was doing. Ignoring her boss, Sarah aimed the broom toward the vagrant dustpan, which was so far under the shelf that it was against the wall.
Just as she was about to knock it out, she heard Donnie’s voice.
Sarah froze. Unlike the rest of the donut shop, Donnie’s office was completely silent because Donnie had muted the speaker for the radio station from coming into his office. No one besides Donnie was in the room. He was speaking into the phone. Not the regular phone on his desk, but his cell phone.
“They’re gone, and they won’t be back tonight,” he mumbled quietly. “You can come in now. Have you got it all? Good.”
Donnie flipped the phone shut, shuffled sideways while he clipped the unit onto his belt, and waited.
Sarah’s mind raced. Only two groups of people had recently left—the Ronsky clan and the two RCMP officers. If the Ronskys were bored or got a case of the munchies after their activities, they had been known to return. There were never any guarantees that they wouldn’t be back. As unsavory as they were, they were regular customers, and they always paid cash for their orders.
On the other hand, once Constables Walker and Edwards left, they never came back in the same twenty-four hour period.
Sarah’s heart pounded. She didn’t know whom Donnie was talking to or why it was important the police officers weren’t coming back, but she had a terrible feeling that, whatever the reason, she didn’t want to know. All she knew for certain was that she didn’t want to know any more than she already did.
Still on her hands and knees, Sarah began to shuffle backward, but her rear end bumped the shelf on the other side of the closet. Something rattled on impact. Because her right hand was still trapped beneath the shelf holding the broom, Sarah winced and covered her head with her left hand, waiting for something to fall.
Her heart pounded. She was less afraid of being hurt than being discovered, because this didn’t sound like a conversation Donnie would have wanted any of the staff to overhear.
The objects on the shelf behind her settled. Again, all was deathly silent.
Donnie’s door opened, the click of footsteps on the tile floor echoed slightly, and the door closed. The distinct snick of the lock confirmed that the ensuing conversation was indeed meant to be private.
Sarah opened her mouth to breathe as quietly as she could, using short, shallow breaths. She didn’t want to look but her eyes refused to stay closed. She didn’t know who the man was who had entered, but she recognized him from coming to see Donnie before. Until now, because she worked a regular night shift, she hadn’t thought it unusual that Donnie would have visitors so late. After all, these hours were normal for her. However, a sudden sensation of fear enveloped her as she realized that personal visitors at 4:00 a.m. were not standard practice for friends or business.
The man deposited a soft-sided brown leather briefcase onto Donnie’s desk. “I’ll be back on Tuesday. I expect you to meet your side of the bargain.”
Without speaking, Donnie opened the safe in the wall behind his desk, tucked the briefcase inside, and closed the safe’s door.
The second Donnie spun the lock, the man turned and left without saying another word. As soon as the door closed, Donnie opened one of the desk drawers and picked up a gun. He checked the clip for ammunition, laid it back in the drawer, and locked it.
Sarah’s heart pounded. She didn’t know the ramifications of what she had just seen, but something was very wrong. She could probably convince herself that whatever was in the briefcase could simply be valuable versus illegal, but seeing Donnie with a gun chilled her to her core.
The second Donnie left the office, Sarah nudged the dustpan out from beneath the shelf and stood. Quickly, she brushed herself off so no one could tell she’d been on the floor. Very cautiously and very slowly, she peeked out of the closet. When she was sure that no one saw her, she tiptoed out and closed the door quietly behind her.
Instead of going into the food area to sweep up, she
ran into the staff room with the broom and dustpan so Donnie wouldn’t know where she’d just been.
While she stood in the middle of the vacant staffroom, Donnie’s voice echoed from the front counter.
“Kristie, I’m going to be out for about half an hour. Where’s Sarah?”
“She’s on her break. Want me to get her?”
“No. Just tell her I’m gone, and if anyone phones for me, take a message.”
Without further explanation, Donnie left the building.
In a flash, Sarah hid the broom and dustpan behind the door and flopped herself down on the small couch. She was sure her hair hadn’t yet settled from the sudden movement when Kristie appeared in the doorway.
“Donnie had to go somewhere. It’s my turn for a break. If anyone phones for him, take a message.”
Sarah nodded and stood. “Sure. No problem,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice from shaking. Leaving the broom and dustpan hidden behind the door, she left the staff room and took her place at the front counter. She didn’t like to leave the broken mug on the floor, but at not quite 4:30 a.m., the morning crowd hadn’t begun to enter yet. For now, she could pick up the large pieces by hand. As soon as Kristie left the staff room, she would retrieve the broom so Kristie wouldn’t associate that she’d been anywhere near the closet five minutes ago.
On Tuesday, when the man came back, Sarah also had no intentions of being anywhere near the closet. But still, when the man came back, even if she didn’t see what was going on, she knew something was.
Sarah counted on her fingers. Today had been the last shift of Constable Walker’s rotation. She wanted to tell him what she’d seen, but he wouldn’t be there on Tuesday. With the rotation of his shifts, she wouldn’t see him until Thursday night, if he had time to take a break, which he didn’t always. For sure, she wouldn’t see him Friday night, because she started her “day” at midnight, and therefore, she didn’t work Friday nights.
Sarah closed her eyes to picture her calendar. At this point in the rotation cycle, his nightshifts would be on her weekends, so she wouldn’t see him.
She stared blankly at the wall. Donnie’s friend’s words echoed over and over in her head.
She could only wait.
Three
Matt encouraged a group of people to shuffle to the center of the pew. Then he directed an elderly couple to take the now-vacant spaces on the aisle seat. He smiled, expressed his best wishes that they would enjoy the service, and returned to his position at the center entrance to the sanctuary.
He’d arrived earlier than usual today. Normally, he kept an eye on things Sunday mornings when he was ushering, but this time he’d been more diligent in watching the crowd.
Today, he was looking for a young family whose names were Gwen, Lionel, and Jessica. He didn’t know what they looked like because he hadn’t had time to browse through the church photo directory, but he did know the baby would be approximately two months old. He didn’t intend to say anything to them if he did manage to identify them. He was only curious because they were Sarah’s friends.
As Matt watched, a young lady entered the building. By the way she looked around the building, it was obvious that she’d never been there before.
He smiled as she approached him. She wore a modest pink dress topped by a light, waist-length jacket. Her shoes were the exact same pink as the dress. In her hair, she wore some kind of matching fluffy fabric adornment.
Overall, she was feminine and pretty. Her light brown hair was shoulder length and framed her face nicely, even if it was a bit unruly. As she came even closer, he was drawn by the color of her eyes—a unique shade of green that was quite uncommon, yet he’d seen those eyes recently. He tried hard to remember where. Since it obviously wasn’t at church, the next place he could think of was at the bank, although he usually used the drive-thru bank machine.
He ran through a mental checklist of the cashiers at the supermarket as he continued to study her, trying not to make it obvious that he was watching.
He thought he was doing well until she turned and looked straight at him.
Suddenly, Matt stiffened from head to toe.
The pointy little chin. The delicate cheeks. Judging from the height of her heels, she was five feet, five inches tall.
She stopped and studied him. Her eyes widened even more. He did know those eyes. He saw them once a week, sometimes twice if he was lucky. However, he’d never seen her in “real” clothes and without her hair pulled back. He’d never seen her wear make-up, but today she wore just enough to highlight her best features, especially those unusual eyes.
She gave him a bright, warm smile. “I see I came to the right place.”
“Sarah? What are you doing here?” He shook his head and forced himself to smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I’m glad you came. Would you like to have a seat?”
She stepped forward a couple of feet into the sanctuary and stopped. Moving only her head, she scanned the large room, which seated nine hundred people on an average Sunday morning.
“That would be nice. Where are you sitting?” Suddenly her face turned beet red, and she covered her cheeks with her palms. “I’m so sorry. If you’re already sitting with someone else. . .your family. . .” Her voice trailed off.
Matt thought of his mother and father, who were attending their own church back in Toronto, where he had been born and raised. “No, my family lives in. . .” He let his own voice trail off as it dawned on him what she meant. He felt his own cheeks heat up, probably matching hers. “I’m here alone. I’m not married. We can sit together if you’d like.”
“Are you sure? I can go sit with Gwen and Lionel.” She turned her head and scanned the growing crowd already seated in the sanctuary. “They don’t know I’m coming, but they’ve got to be here somewhere. I really wanted to talk to you, though. Can I ask you something after the service? There’s something I’m not sure of, and I didn’t know how to get in touch with you through the police station.” She fidgeted with her purse, studying it intently as she did so. “I don’t mean to intrude on your time off.” She turned her head to look at the door. Matt wondered if she were about to bolt.
Matt held his hands out. “It’s okay, Sarah. How about if we go out for lunch after the service, and you can tell me then what’s on your mind.”
She smiled so sweetly that her relief was almost tangible. “Thank you, Constable Walker. That’s perfect.”
He grinned. “Please, my name is Matt. I’m not on duty now.” He ran his hand down his tie, then smoothed the lapel of his suit.
Behind him, he could hear the door open and close. Sarah looked behind him. “You may not be on duty, but you are ushering. I should leave you alone. More people just walked in.”
Matt turned. He smiled and nodded at the newcomers. “Hi Brad, Selina.”
“Hi, Matt.” Brad and Selina glanced briefly at Sarah, smiled and nodded at her, and walked past them into the sanctuary.
“Not everyone needs to be escorted in. But this is your first time here, so you do. Since I’m ushering, I’ll be standing near the door until about ten minutes after the start of the service. If you like, you can sit here, at the end of the last pew. I can join you after everything gets started.”
Their eyes met. She smiled at him, her face the picture of sweetness.
Matt’s throat went dry. The same friendly face from the donut shop was smiling at him, but everything else had changed. She looked so different out of the unisex, shapeless blue smock of the donut shop. At Donnie’s Donuts, she looked like just another clerk, not unlike anyone else working in any donut shop in town. Today, in the setting of his church, she was an attractive woman, a real person among his friends and Christian brothers and sisters.
“I’ll just sit down now, and I’ll see you again when you’re done.”
Without waiting for him to move, Sarah picked a bulletin out of the pile in his hand, sidestepped around him, and sat i
n the closest empty aisle seat. Once seated, she looked back at him over her shoulder, waved, and faced the front.
Matt stared at the back of her head. He doubted it was a coincidence that her presence at church immediately followed his admission that he attended regularly. At the time, she’d commented that she knew people who went to the same church as he did, but she didn’t say that she attended regularly elsewhere. The omission made him nervous. She’d already admitted that she wanted to talk to him about something, confirming that she wasn’t there to seek God. She was there to seek him.
He’d been down that road before with a woman, and he wouldn’t do it again.
Regardless, he had promised to take her out for lunch, and since he wasn’t completely sure about her faith, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
For the remainder of the time until the service started, he greeted people at the door and escorted many to their seats as required. When the lights dimmed and the stream of people dwindled, he quietly walked into the foyer and to one of the other entrances to the sanctuary.
“Dave, I need a favor.”
Dave smiled. “Sure. What’s up?”
“Someone I wasn’t expecting came today, and I want to sit with her. Can you check the halls for me and keep an eye on things?”
“No problem. Enjoy the service.”
Matt smiled, but he wasn’t sure he would. He knew he would be distracted. Whenever it was his turn to usher, he kept an eye on the hallways during the service. Sometimes opportunistic thieves wandered into the church midway through the service hoping to find an unlocked and unoccupied room full of things to steal while everyone’s attention was elsewhere.
Matt stood at the rear of his designated aisle until the ushers were called forward to take up the offering. When everything was done, he made his way to the sound room with the other ushers, where they put all the bags into the safe. After he made sure the door was locked properly, he walked back into the sanctuary. Instead of taking up his usual position, he sat beside Sarah.
Donut A Day Page 2
