Breakfast at the Honey Creek Café

by Jodi Thomas

  “But your first husband was a biker,” Piper said.

  “That’s the reason for my rule. I start talking to a man who rides a Harley and the next thing I know my clothes start falling off. I lost half my wardrobe one summer in Sturgis.” Jessica frowned at Colby. “I don’t want to hear a word from you now that I know you ride.”

  Colby stood. He hadn’t bothered to undress last night so he figured he was presentable even though wrinkled. “I’m not a Hells Angel. I do own an old Harley. That’s all.” He stared at Jessica. “I also didn’t sleep with Piper.” He couldn’t say more without having to reveal too much.

  “Sure.” Jessica set the tray down. “And I’m your fairy godmother delivering breakfast to two people who are not here.”

  Piper sat up, her strap falling almost to her elbow. She smiled and said in a sexy voice, “Did we sleep at all, cowboy?”

  Jessica backed out of the room, laughing.

  “You—you—” Colby couldn’t get words out. “You just ruined my reputation.”

  Piper had the nerve to laugh before she darted for the bathroom door.

  When he heard the door lock and the shower start, Colby put on his boots and left a note that said simply: 5:00 at your office. He slipped down the back staircase. If anyone in the kitchen noticed him, they didn’t comment.

  An hour later he’d collected his Harley from in front of Widows Park and was driving the back roads near the river. He planned to talk to as many of the fishermen as he could.

  Chapter 30

  Afternoon

  Pecos

  Kerrie and Pecos helped Mr. Winston rearrange furniture for what seemed like hours. He showed them two rooms that were connected and said if they helped, it could be theirs until they found a place. The old guy was so happy to have company that he couldn’t stop smiling.

  Pecos tried to get his head around what had happened this morning. He ate breakfast, got a job, and went over to Kerrie’s place to pick her up. Then the world shifted on its axis and everything changed. He wouldn’t be surprised if the world news reported Australia had fallen off the earth and was now floating free toward the moon.

  Lost in thought, he carried furniture to the basement. Kerrie was pregnant. How could that have happened? Hell, he knew how, he was raised on a farm, but it made no sense. The smartest girl in school, the one with the spotless reputation had gotten knocked up.

  Halfway down the basement stairs Pecos missed a step and tumbled down holding on to a chest that looked old enough to have come over on the Mayflower.

  He hit the concrete floor, then the chest landed on top of him.

  “You all right down there?” Mr. Winston yelled.

  “No,” he mumbled as he lay spread eagle on the dirty floor.

  “Pecos?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He yelled back without bothering to remove the chest. Somehow the weight seemed to be pressing only on his heart. The girl he’d watched every day he was in school wasn’t perfect. Apparently she was just human like the rest of the world.

  As he’d done ten times before, he started back at the night he picked Kerrie up from the dance and tried to remember everything they’d said and done. He’d been counting the times she kissed him on the cheek.

  She’d been sad Friday night, like she wanted to run away from life for a while. She’d already been pregnant.

  When she’d given her speech at graduation about aiming for the stars and being the best you can be, she’d already been pregnant.

  Every minute they’d laughed together or swam together or talked . . . she’d already been pregnant.

  He felt like he was the rough wooden frame that boxed in her life but she was the picture. Everything was happening with her and he was simply the borders of her drama.

  “You going to lay there all day?”

  Pecos opened his good eye and saw her standing above him. He swore she was so beautiful that sometimes it hurt to look at her. “I’m smashed,” he said without emotion.

  “Want some help?”

  “Sure.”

  Kerrie lifted the trunk off his chest. “Why is it, Pecos, that I keep going around saving you? If not for me, your life span would have been measured in minutes, and you never would have learned to dance, either.”

  Pecos sat up and looped his arm around one knee. “Would you answer me one question about the past if I promise never to ask again?”

  She sat down on the chest. “One question. I owe you that much.” Her smile melted away, but she straightened her back as if knowing exactly what was coming.

  He was silent for a moment, then said, “How did the pregnancy happen?”

  Kerrie stared at him. “I’ll tell you, and only you. When I’m finished you can leave and I will not try to stop you, but you can never, ever tell anyone else. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  She took a deep breath. “As soon as it began to get warm I wanted to go with some friends to a beach house down at Galveston, but my parents said partying on beaches is for college kids. They did let me go see my cousin in Dallas for a weekend. She’s three years older than me and lives at an apartment complex that has a pool and tennis courts. Mom claimed it would be cleaner than the beach.

  “The first night we were there my cousin and I met these boys. We went swimming and walked around the huge complex. The boys said they were in college and I felt older somehow. They didn’t know anything about me, so I could be whoever I wanted to be. My cousin had fun telling them all about my wild adventures that she made up.”

  Kerrie smiled at Pecos. “Did you ever want to be someone else for a while?”

  “Most of my life,” he answered.

  “For me it was just one night. I flirted with one of them and told him I was twenty. We drank wine, but I wasn’t drunk. I just thought I’d just step over the line a bit. But . . . I went too far. I made a mistake. When I started crying he must have figured out I wasn’t as old as I told him. He got mad and said he never wanted to see me again and walked away. He called me terrible names.

  “As I walked back to my cousin’s apartment, I realized I didn’t even know his last name or where he lived. Nothing. For all I knew he’d lied to me as much as I’d lied to him.”

  She covered her face with her hands. “I wouldn’t blame you if you left. This is my mess, not yours.”

  Pecos rose to his knees and pulled her hands away so he could look straight at her. “I’m not walking away. The baby is mine, Kerrie. From right now on, it’s mine. Don’t ever think about that creep again.”

  “You don’t know what you’re getting into, Pecos. We’re too young to take all this on. It’s my mistake, my choice, my problem. I don’t want to mess your life up too.”

  “I don’t have much of a life to mess up. That’s the truth. But if you’re willing, I’d like to stand next to you through this. All the way. For as long as you need me. I’ve been thinking. We can work all summer and this fall take a few classes over at the community college.”

  “Why, Pecos? Why would you give up your dreams for me?”

  He didn’t know what to say. Could he say she was the one bright light in his world most days? That living through any storms with her was better than facing the world alone.

  Finally, he answered, “Because I want to always be the one you run to when you need help. The one you go through wild times with. I want to hold you when you cry, and laugh with you. I know I’m not good enough—not the kind of man you’d want to marry. But I’ll work hard.”

  She slid off the chest into his arms. “You are the kind of man I want to marry. You’re kind. You’re perfect.” She touched the dark bruise under his eye. “A bit beat-up, but still perfect. You’re my knight.”

  “Well, that settles it, then. We’ll get married because we want to, not because a baby is on the way. The baby will just be an extra blessing. I’ve delivered enough calves to handle anything you drop.”

  She frowned. “That’s comforting, but I don’t think w
omen drop babies.” She stood and pulled him to his feet. “We’ll talk about it later. I’ll get dressed at home and meet you later. Mom told me we all should be in the church office at three.”

  Chapter 31

  Afternoon

  Colby

  Colby drove the dirt roads near the Brazos River looking for information about Boone Buchanan from the local fishermen.

  Finding a fishing cabin was like looking for gray Easter eggs in gravel. Half the cabins looked like they were made of downed trees. The bark was still on the lumber and the wood had aged to ground-cover brown.

  Several times he’d left his Harley and walked in only to find that no one was home. Or maybe they didn’t bother to answer his knock. None had a doorbell.

  After an hour he found a man near the water working on his boat. Colby tried to talk to him. He said he’d seen a BMW floating in the river but didn’t see anyone climb out. The fisherman wasn’t interested in the car or in talking. The only complete sentence he offered was about how grand he thought the mayor was.

  The second man he came across was fishing in the shade of a live oak that looked older than the state. He seemed friendly enough. Colby decided to come at the interview from a different direction.

  “You haven’t seen my cousin Daily Watts out here lately?”

  “I might have,” the fisherman admitted. “What side of his family you on?”

  “I was on his mother’s side. He’s my second cousin.”

  The man who smelled like bait shook his head. “Don’t remember her. She left old Watts with two boys to raise. They grew up in the garage, but Daily was the only one interested in working. His brother left for the big city when he got grown, but he came back to take over when Daily started drinking. The brother runs the place now and bosses Daily around like he’s just a hired hand.”

  More information than Colby needed to know so he shifted direction. “Was Daily out here the night the BMW hit the water?”

  “Probably. He is most nights. When he’s drunk he goes home, but if he’s trying to stay sober so he can work the next morning, he comes out here.”

  Colby digested the information. Daily had described a man crawling out of the car. If he wasn’t drunk, his account might be accurate.

  “Did you see the driver of the BMW?”

  “No, but I came across a man’s jacket floating in the water that night. I gave it to the police, but they didn’t seem too interested. Less than a week later I found two graduation robes snagged on a branch. Didn’t bother to turn them in.”

  Colby ignored the information about the graduation robes. Some of the other boys found other pieces of clothing. It’s like whoever the driver was, he stripped on his way to shore.

  Colby kept hunting, but he learned little. One question kept nagging at the back of his mind. Why would a man strip off his clothes in the river? Easier to swim? He was hot? He feared he was wearing a tracker?

  For Boone to completely disappear, he had to know there was nothing on him that could be traced. To take the risk of the crash, swimming in dangerous waters, and having to walk out after midnight nude, Boone would have to be in deep trouble. Life and death kind of trouble.

  And somehow Piper was mixed up in this.

  The tennis shoe print. One detail that didn’t make sense. Boone was a city boy. He might swim without clothes, but he wouldn’t walk away barefooted. Somewhere in his journey he’d picked up a pair of shoes and he hadn’t bothered to hide all of his tracks—literally. Maybe Boone was dumb enough to think he’d never be tracked. Or maybe Boone was smart enough to leave that footprint on purpose just to lead them on a wild goose chase. Colby decided to place his bets on dumb.

  Colby asked the last fisherman, who only nodded, if he might know someone who’d help him tow the mayor’s boat back home. To his credit the guy nodded and said he’d take care of it.

  “I’ll be happy to pay you.” Colby pushed his hand in his pocket.

  “No need. Ain’t doing it for you.”

  The fisherman walked away without another word.

  Colby checked his watch. He needed to get home to clean up for his five o’clock date in the mayor’s office. The pieces were starting to fit together.

  Chapter 32

  Monday

  Pecos

  Pecos walked Kerrie home but didn’t go in. Her dad’s car was gone, but he didn’t want to push his luck. He’d been engaged for only a few hours and he was already dreading every Thanksgiving and Christmas for the rest of his life. He had a feeling that with Brad around, trips to the ER might be their way of bonding.

  Pecos went back into Mr. Winston’s house and took a shower, then stared at his clothes. He had black slacks he’d bought for graduation, a white shirt, and a black tie. It didn’t seem good enough.

  Mr. Winston watched him from the hallway. “They’ll do fine for a wedding, Pecos. It’s only in the church office.”

  Pecos frowned. “I know, but it’s not an ‘only in the office’ kind of wedding. It’s my wedding. It’s Kerri’s wedding. I don’t know about her, but I’m sure this is my only wedding. How much do you think it would cost to buy a suit? I’ve never had anything but a few hand-me-down ones.”

  “A few hundred dollars, I guess.” Mr. Winston grinned. “But I know where you can find a fine, hand-me-down one for twenty. She might even throw in the tie.

  “Two hundred is a lot to spend.” He had the hundred-dollar bills his brothers gave him. It might be worth it. “Maybe we should check out the secondhand one first.”

  “It’ll be between you and me. I’ll never tell that it’s not brand-new.”

  Pecos helped Mr. Winston into his pickup and they drove across town to a place he’d never gone. The flea market. It looked like a long row of carports lined up three feet apart. Homemade signs hung above each space, and the sides and back were closed in with blue tarps that flapped in the breeze, making the tent stores look like they were breathing.

  After strolling past the first three vendors, Pecos realized he’d finally found an outdoor mall full of things he didn’t want or need. One was all garden gnomes. Another had a dozen mailboxes made from tree trunks carved to look like bears. One had a hundred stuffed unicorns that must have been left in the rain. When he saw the booth full of everything knitted, Pecos got a little worried. Hats, dresses, towels, baby toys. He sure hoped Mr. Winston wasn’t thinking of a knitted suit.

  “Can you believe this place is only open on Mondays?”

  “Yeah.” Pecos looked around. No one looked under the age of eighty. He felt like he was aging just looking around.

  “I used to walk here, but the road got too long.” The old man laughed at his own joke. “Now I usually walk over to the coffee shop where most of the vendors stop in for coffee before they head here. One of them always offers me a lift.”

  They reached the last carport on the row. Mr. Winston pulled a small plant out of the bag he carried. “If you’ll allow me a few minutes.”

  Pecos watched as the old man went into the booth lined with vintage clothing. A tiny woman stood up from her chair to greet him. They smiled at each other, and he gave her the plant. Pecos wondered what they were saying to each other that made them look so happy.

  It occurred to him that maybe they loved each other. They might be what he and Kerrie would have always been if he hadn’t picked her up after the dance. They’d be living in the same town, polite to each other, maybe even loving each other but never saying the words. They’d be endearing strangers like Mr. Winston and the lady.

  A dark cloud seemed to cover the sun right where he was standing. When he tried to picture the future, nothing came into focus. Kerrie didn’t love him. She’d called him her friend. So what would happen tonight? Would they sleep together? Would they have sex? Would he be brave enough to tell her he loved her? He did, he knew. But why would she ever love him? No one else ever had.

  He’d just play it by ear. Whatever she wanted to do, he’d try to figure out ho
w.

  “Pecos,” Mr. Winston interrupted his thoughts. “Come meet my Claire. I told her what you need.”

  Pecos shook her hand, feeling as if he needed to fold himself in half to talk to her.

  While Mr. Winston told him that they’d been friends for forty years, Miss Claire walked around Pecos.

  “He’s a thin one. How many hours we got?”

  “Two,” Mr. Winston answered.

  She shook her head. “It’ll take a miracle.”

  Before he could object Claire pulled a plastic box out from under a display table of sweaters and started pulling out jackets. “If he’s got black slacks we’re going to find a jacket and a tie of course. There is no time to tailor fit pants.”

  “I thought a bow tie might be nice,” Winston said as he began stripping Pecos like he was the carport mannequin. Some of the other vendors gathered around to offer their opinion as shirt and jackets flew through the air. The bear carver, the knitter, and the gnome painter didn’t look like they had a lick of fashion sense.

  Finally, everyone was staring at him and smiling.

  Pecos looked down. A light brown jacket with threads of chocolate running through, a dusty green shirt, and a tie that pulled everything together. He would never have put the colors together, but with his dark skin and brown eyes, it worked.

  The bear carver offered to give him a haircut, and Claire offered to shorten the sleeves. Without much discussion, they all put out their signs, Closed for Nap, and headed over to Winston’s house.

  While Pecos brought in Miss Claire’s sewing machine and the boxes, he overheard them talking about him, remarking how handsome he was and how lucky his bride would be.

  Pecos laughed to himself. He now had an idea how Cinderella must have felt when she found the mice.

  An hour later, he stood in front of the mirror and didn’t recognize himself. Winston had shaved him, and the bear carver gave him a cut that made him feel like he could walk down Wall Street and belong. Claire had found a vest that fit just right, and Winston pulled out an old gold watch chain for the pocket.