03 The Long Road Home (4 page)

But it hadn't been all right.  For months, she had cried herself to sleep. The days had been spent playing with Timmy, watching him with a fierce protectiveness she couldn’t explain. Aunt Jan had worked very hard to drown out her own grief, while filling the hole that the loss of their parents had left in Margaret and Timmy's lives.

No, she didn't want Timmy following in her father's footsteps.  And he wouldn't have thought of it, if Mr. Know-it-all Magnum hadn't come to Inchwater.

Margaret sat up abruptly.  Why was she allowing Matthew Magnum to get to her like this anyway?  He wasn't important.  Timmy was.  She would let the matter lie for a few days, then bring it up again, make him see where his prospects were brightest.  Timmy would come around.  He always had before.

CHAPTER THREE

Margaret changed into shorts and a camisole top, and went downstairs.  Working would keep her from worrying about Timmy.

"Aunt Jan, do you know what brings Matthew Magnum to Inchwater?"  Margaret asked entering the kitchen.

Her aunt paused to adjust the temperature of the electric oven and glance at Annie, the teenager helping her in the kitchen.  Assuring herself the chicken legs were being rolled in the breadcrumbs just so, she said, "So, that's why you were so preoccupied.  Matt came here eighteen months ago, when he bought the land from old Harvey Simms.  When he started construction he came here off and on to keep an eye on things.  Once the truck stop went into operation, he spends most of his time here though his headquarters are in Los Angeles."

"But what's he still doing here?"  Surely, it didn't take more than a few days to check things out.  Inchwater was no
Shangri-La for visitors. 

Aunt Jan shrugged as she slid a batch of chicken legs into the oven.  "Says he likes it here.  It's quiet, the pace is slow, and people have time for each other."

Margaret wondered why no one had mentioned the truck stop to her.  Between her weekly conversations with Aunt Jan and Timmy, and the regular letters the former wrote, very little went on in Inchwater that Margaret didn't know about.  Yet both of them had avoided mentioning Bedouin Trucking or Matthew Magnum.  Had the silent conspiracy been based on the surmise that what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her?

"He isn't staying in Inchwater is he?" 

People who praised Inchwater were generally the kind passing through who stopped to take pictures of the sunsets, secure in the knowledge they'd never have to live here for good.  If they had to stay somewhere, they usually chose Garrison which had more to offer in the way of accommodation and places to eat.  It was where she expected Matthew Magnum to be staying.

Aunt Jan nodded absently as she looked around for something.  "He has a room at Mac's motel.  Says he wants to be close to the truck stop as he works odd hours.  Matt did mention he might consider having a house built here later if he decides to stay in Inchwater permanently."

Inchwater had no other motels or houses for rent.  Mac's motel was the only choice for anyone wanting to stay here.  Lumpy mattresses, televisions that didn't work, and occasional running hot water.  Matthew Magnum deserved it all.  "How did Timmy meet him?"

"Matt's been a frequent customer in the restaurant, but Timmy didn't meet him till Matt was invited to Garrison High, to talk to the Juniors and Seniors during Career Week.  After that, Timmy asked Matt so many questions, Matt invited him to visit the truck stop.  The next thing I knew, Matt had hired Timmy."

Aunt Jan glanced at her niece's still face and then said, "The truck stop is a much better place for Timmy to work in than Dan's donuts.  Dan has a mouth that would need a ton of laundry detergent to get clean, and the other boy he's hired has a police record."

Matthew Magnum wouldn't last through July and August, Margaret told herself, when the hot winds blew from the desert, coating Inchwater in dust.  Boredom would soon drive him away, and then she would have her brother back.  Working at the truck stop was just a phase Timmy was passing through.

"Matt has been very nice," said Aunt Jan.  "Nowadays the new truck stops have cafes besides stores, fuel pumps, repair services and a place for the truckers to sleep and shower.  If he had added a cafe to his truck stop, I would have had to close down for lack of business.  One of the first things he did was reassure me he would do no such thing."

Aunt Jan was right about that, Margaret conceded.  The Inner Man's customers were eighty percent truckers and there wasn't enough business to support two restaurants.

"Do you need help in here?"  Margaret asked Aunt Jan as she turned away to the oven.

"No.  If you don't have anything else to do, why don't you relieve Gina at the cash register?"

Margaret smiled, "You mean get out of your way don't you Aunt Jan?  See you later." 

She slipped into the restaurant and waited till Gina had rung up a customer's bill to ask, "How are you feeling, Gina?"

Gina gave her a huge smile.  "Hi Margaret!  I'm fine.  All I ask is that Junior stop football practice till he gets out.  Jack says we don't have to worry about paying the kid's college tuition...at the rate Junior's kicking, he'll definitely get a sports scholarship."

The cash register was one of the
newfangled ones that did everything except hand back the change.  Margaret had quickly gotten used to it one her last visit.  What she’d found hard was being around the truckers who made up the majority of the Inner Man's customers.  Their special slang, their mannerisms and their clothes brought back poignant memories of her parents.

Even as a child Margaret had avoided the restaurant for that reason.  Later, as a teenager, she'd preferred catching a bus to Garrison to work in a fabric store there, rather than here in the diner.  Now, what with the truck stop looming over everything in Inchwater and the hours she would put in behind the register, Margaret felt her memories were in danger of over exposure. 

Gina picked up her bag and yawned.  "Excuse me.  I seem to be very sleepy lately.  I'm glad you're helping out in the restaurant.  I've stopped feeling guilty about leaving when the baby's born.  Janet was worried that nobody’s answered her ad for a cashier."

"People like working in Garrison or Barstow better."

Gina nodded as she slid off the chair behind the register.  "Janet said that's one of the reasons she converted the place to a self-service restaurant.  This way she can manage with fewer employees."

Margaret took Gina's place behind the register, her attention already fixed on the customer waiting to pay his bill.  The job wasn't hard.  All one had to do was push the right buttons, and smile as one handed the change back.  So far, no one had started a conversation with her which suited her though she’d noticed Gina always found something to talk about with each customer. 

Margaret wondered if her Princess look did the trick for her.  Her colleagues at the Edward Institute said that when she had it in place, they knew better than to bother her.  Very few people knew the aloof look was made up of one part shyness, two parts nervousness. 

Janet Hooper looked up as she heard a sound at the back door. 

"Matt!" she greeted the visitor.  "Did you smell my apple pie all the way to the truck stop?" 

Cutting a huge piece of hot pie she slid it onto a plate.  Putting a serving of homemade ice cream beside it she said,  "Sit, and have that while I get your check.  You haven't been around in a while."

"There's no hurry for the money, Janet," Matt said quickly. 

Janet shook her head.  "You were kind enough to give me an interest free loan when I needed it besides allowing me to repay you in easy installments.  I'm not going to be lax about paying you back."

"Your niece left her scarf at the truck stop, and I just came by to return it," Matt said, sitting down and reaching for the pie.

Janet looked up from the check she was writing.  "Margaret came by to see you?  This wouldn't be about Timmy, would it?"

Matt nodded, but didn't elaborate.

Janet paused to take her glasses off and pinch the bridge of her nose.  "She seemed unhappy when she got back.  She's very close to Timmy.  I knew it would upset Margaret to find out he was working at the truck stop.  Did you tell her the boy Timmy had started hanging out with had a police record, and that you gave him the job just to get him away from that kid?"

Matt shook his head.  "No."

Jan held the
checkout to him.  "Matt, I know I've never mentioned this before, but could you please not tell Margaret about the loan?"

"She won't hear about it from me, but why do you feel you have to shield her from the truth?  You've had a very hard time this last year, and she's old enough to know about it."  It was that look, Matt supposed.  That little-girl-lost look had gotten to him as well.

Janet sat down and looked at him.  "I'm not trying to shield her.  If Margaret knows about the loan, she'll insist on withdrawing her savings and repaying you, and I don't want that."

"Your niece means a great deal to you, doesn't she Janet?"  Matt said, recalling Janet Hooper's expression when she had told him Margaret was coming home for a visit.

Janet nodded, "Margaret's had a great deal of problems to confront all her life, Matt.  With the exception of her brother and me, she has never let anyone matter to her.  It's as if she doesn't want anything to distract her from taking care of Timmy."

Matt cleared his throat, wondering if Janet's opinion of her niece wasn't colored by her love for Margaret.  "Doesn't she earn a good salary in Washington?  She should be helping you out financially."

Janet stared at him in surprise.  "Margaret is the most generous person in this family.  She can't help me out because she took a loan to put herself through college, and she had to repay it as soon as she started working.  The Edward Institute cannot afford to pay teachers during the summer, which is why Margaret usually finds another job to stretch her finances.  Last year, she gave us this wonderful cruise as a Christmas gift because she knew I've always wanted to go on one.  She's saving for Timmy's college now, so that he won't have to apply for financial aid like she did.  She's always sending us things and..."

"Enough!"  Matt held both hands up in a gesture of surrender.  He knew when he had lost.  It was obvious that in Janet's eyes her niece could do no wrong.  He picked up the scarf.  "I think I'll return this to her myself."

A sound at the door brought Margaret's head up.  She stiffened.  The huge frame in the doorway obliterated the light for a few seconds, long enough to start her heart thudding, before Matthew Magnum stepped forward. 

"Your property, I believe." 

He dropped the scarf in a heap on the counter, and Margaret stared at it mesmerized.   The last time she'd seen it was when she'd worn it to her meeting with him.

"You left it behind in my office.  It must have slid behind the desk.  I found it this morning when a paper went over the edge."

Margaret felt her face grow hot.  "Thank you for bringing it back."  It hurt to be grateful to him, and the words stuck in her throat; but the Italian silk scarf had been a graduation present from Aunt Jan, and manners were important.

"I thought of something after you left the other day, and if you aren't too busy, maybe we could talk."  His gaze shifted to a spot behind her, "Gina, could you take over and let Margaret have a break?"

Margaret turned her head to see Gina standing at her elbow, looking apologetic.  "I'm sorry I took so long again Margaret.  I fell asleep."

"Don't worry about it.  You need the rest."

"I certainly got it, thanks to you."

"Margaret?"  Matthew had collected two mugs from the counter and filled them with coffee. 

Reluctantly, Margaret got to her feet. 

Matt looked at her as she came out from behind the counter.  One eyebrow lifted as he took in her denim shorts.  He gave a silent whistle at the long, shapely legs below them and the way her clothes clung to her curves.  Her hair was tied back, but curls escaped to frame her face and kiss the nape of her neck.  Her gaze met his.  Margaret looked away quickly, but not before he'd seen her reluctance to have anything to do with him. 

He couldn't explain why he wanted to see her again.  He could have given the scarf to Timmy or even left it with Janet, but since his meeting with her last week he hadn't been able to get his mind off Margaret Browning.  He told himself he was concerned about Timmy, but it had been Margaret's face that had occupied his thoughts all week.  He wanted to find out more about her, get past that tight self-control. 

They slipped into one of the window booths, and Margaret watched Matthew Magnum put a spoonful of sugar and a little cream into one of the mugs, before placing it in front of her.

"Just how you like it."

Was that a teasing note she heard in his voice?  "Thanks."  The word came out stiff and awkward, the way she felt around him.

Picking up a teaspoon, Margaret stirred her coffee vigorously, wondering what he wanted to discuss.  They had nothing in common, except Timmy.  Strangely enough, a picture of Matthew Magnum's garden popped into her mind.

The prolonged silence forced her into an opening remark.  "It's a nice day, isn't it?"

There was something so serious about her, so earnest.  Had no one told Margaret Browning caring for oneself was as important as caring for others?  Maybe, thought Matt, she needed help shedding the cocoon she had wrapped herself in all these years. 

"It is a nice day," he said.  "It was this morning, but we forgot to mention it then.  It was nice yesterday, too.  Forecast says it's going to be nice tomorrow as well." 

Provoking someone was foreign to his nature, but when he saw the way the expression in her eyes change, Matt was glad.  Margaret needed to be provoked right out of her tight little shell.

He definitely was laughing at her.  Margaret felt her face tighten as he leaned toward her and said, "I came to apologize, Margaret."