Flamingo Diner (20 page)

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said. “I’m still mad at you.”

“Because of this morning?”

“No, because of yesterday.”

“We could talk about that, too,” he said. “It’s very
important to communicate. In fact, communication is the backbone of a good relationship.”

“We don’t have a relationship. We’re having sex.”

“You say potato. I say po-tah-to. Same difference.”

She rolled her eyes.

Matt grinned at her. “Bet I could make you change your mind.”

“I’ll bet you could, too, but what would that prove?”

“That there’s better living through chemistry?” he suggested.

Emma fought a chuckle, but it escaped, anyway. “You drive me crazy, Matt Atkins.”

He thought of all the things he wanted to do to her and with her. Driving her crazy was a start. He reached for her hand and held it as they left the Yeager Building. On the street, he met her gaze. “Good crazy or bad crazy?”

Her expression turned thoughtful as she considered the question, probably from every angle possible.

“A little of each, I suppose,” she said finally.

“Well, there you go,” he said triumphantly. “It all balances out.”

She laughed then and he swooped in and stole a kiss. When they were both hot and breathless, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Just so you know, you drive me crazy, too. Always have.”

Rosa looked up from the food order she was putting together and spotted Larry from her support group standing hesitantly in the doorway of the diner.

“Are you closed?” he asked.

“Pretty much,” she said. “But the coffee’s still hot.”

“Mind if I come in, then?”

“Of course not. How do you take your coffee?”

“Black,” he said, walking over to the counter and sliding onto a stool. He looked around. “Nice place. I can’t believe I’ve never been in here before.”

“Not everyone gets to this part of town. A lot of people do their shopping at the malls, not downtown,” she said. “What brings you by today?”

“You,” he said, then looked uncomfortable. “I don’t mean that quite the way it sounds. It’s just that I’ve been so impressed the last couple of weeks with how well you’re adjusting already, when it’s been eight months for me and I’m still a wreck.”

Rosa poured a cup of coffee for herself and went around the counter to join him. “Believe me, I am not adjusting well. I was a mess up until my friend Sylvia got me to that first meeting. Talking to all of you has helped.” She studied him intently. He was a nice-looking man in his mid-forties, she supposed from the hint of gray in his dark brown hair and the lines fanning out from his eyes. “The thing of it is, you suffered two losses, not just one. Not only did your wife kill herself, but you lost the woman you’d been hoping to marry after the divorce went through.”

“That didn’t help, that’s for sure.” He looked into her eyes. “Some days, though, I feel as if I’m the one who should have died, you know what I mean? Being left behind to live with all the guilt is hard.”

“But your wife’s death was not your fault,” she reminded him, realizing as she spoke so emphatically that it was much easier to see that when it was some
one else. “You were honest with her and she couldn’t cope with that. It’s sad, but it wouldn’t have helped if you’d told her you’d stay. In the end, you both would have been miserable. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe in divorce unless all other options have failed, but sometimes it’s simply for the best.”

Larry nodded, his eyes filled with misery. “I thought it was for us. We’d talked, we’d fought, we’d even tried counseling, but we still couldn’t get back to the way we’d been when we were first married.”

“Maybe it’s wrong for anyone to expect that initial glow to last forever,” Rosa said.

“We lost more than that glow. We had nothing left in common. We ate every meal in silence, then she went off to her sewing room and I read the newspapers and trade publications.”

“No children?”

He shook his head. “She couldn’t have them and she refused to consider adoption. I think that was the beginning of the end. I’d always wanted a big family.”

“How sad for both of you,” Rosa said.

“Eventually I started staying late at the office, having dinner out, just to avoid all that silence,” he said. “Maybe if we’d fought about that, it would have shown me that she still cared about what I did, but she never said a word. When I asked for the divorce the first time, it wasn’t because I was involved with anyone else. I was stunned when she flatly refused. That’s when I sort of drifted into seeing other women, just to have some conversation. I’d missed that.” He regarded her with a sorrowful expression. “Then I met Elaine, and it all came back to me, what a real relationship was supposed to be. That’s when I really
pressed for the divorce and my wife threatened to kill herself. I told Elaine and she said it was okay, that we could wait till she got used to the idea. In the meantime, I moved out.”

“That was probably for the best,” Rosa told him. “Your wife needed to know it was really over and that you weren’t going to be blackmailed into staying.”

“That’s what I thought at the time. It’s hard to believe that now, when my wife died because I left.”

“She died because she didn’t want to take responsibility for her own happiness,” Rosa told him.

A smile hovered at the corners of Larry’s mouth.

“What?” she asked.

“I see why everyone comes to you with their problems,” he said.

Rosa laughed. “We can always see more clearly when it’s someone else’s problems. It’s our own that we can’t always resolve.”

He met her gaze. “Would you mind if I come back from time to time to talk?”

Rosa felt an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach. Anticipation? Dread? It was hard to tell, but she wasn’t ready to grapple with a relationship that caused either one. She fumbled for words that wouldn’t hurt his feelings. “I don’t know,” she began, but he cut her off.

“Not like a date,” he said quickly. “Just to talk. I’d like to get to know you. I’ve stayed away from women since my wife died and Elaine left. Too complicated, I suppose, but I miss being around females.” He grinned. “I like the way your minds work.”

“If it’s only my mind that interests you, by all means stop by whenever you’re in the neighbor
hood.” Suddenly Rosa thought of Helen. She might be the perfect match for Larry. So what if she was a little older? He could use a nice, steady woman with a quick wit and a generous heart. And it would please Rosa no end to play matchmaker.

He drank the last of his coffee and reached for his wallet, but she shook her head. “This one’s on the house. Welcome to Flamingo Diner.”

“Thanks, Rosa. I’ll see you at group, if not before.”

Larry was almost to the door when it swung open, barely missing him, as Jeff came charging in. His hair was a mess, his clothes disheveled and he had the distinct wild-eyed look of someone completely out of control. Larry took a step back inside and regarded Rosa with concern.

“Maybe I should have another cup of coffee, after all,” he said with a pointed look in Jeff’s direction.

Though she was grateful for his instinctive desire to protect her, she shook her head. “No need. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

She was too embarrassed to admit that this was her own son, not when he was staring at Larry with such a sullen expression. “I’m sure,” she said, and forced a smile.

He hesitated, then nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll be going.”

Only after he’d gone did Rosa draw in a deep, steadying breath and turn to face her son. “Are you drunk?” she demanded, hands on hips.

“No,” he said, though his voice was slurred.

“Drugs, then,” she said, her heart aching. “Why are you here?”

He faltered at the unmistakable chill in her voice. “Isn’t this the family business?” he finally asked, his tone scathing. “Such as it is.”

“It belongs to those of us who work here and keep it running,” she corrected. “You’ve lost any claim to it the last few weeks. I thought you got that a while back, but evidently it’s slipped your mind again.”

He blinked hard at her dismissal of his rights and for just an instant she could see a scared boy buried inside that sullen, angry facade. She refused to let herself feel sorry for him, though. Pity wasn’t what Jeff needed. He needed some straight talk and it was past time she gave it to him.

“Sit,” she ordered. She poured him a cup of coffee and set it down in front of him. “Drink that.”

“You’re not my boss.”

“We could debate that, but since you haven’t been showing up for work, I suppose you’re technically right. However, I am your mother and you will listen to what I have to say. Now drink that coffee before I pour it over your head to sober you up.”

He looked as stunned as if she’d slapped him, but he took a long swallow of his coffee before facing her again. “Mom, what’s happened to you?” he asked, sounding more hesitant.

“I’ve emerged from the fog and taken a good, hard look at what’s going on right in front of my face, and I do not like it, Jeffrey Killian. I do not like it one bit.”

“Mom—”

“Hush! I’m talking now. If you want to stay involved with Marisol, I can’t stop you. If you want to hang around with a bunch of boys who are living in a drug-induced haze, I can’t stop you from doing that,
either. But I am here to tell you than I can and will stop you from coming in here when you’re all doped up.”

“How?” he asked, his expression belligerent.

She kept her gaze steady and her tone even. “I’ll call Matt if you show up like this again.”

“You wouldn’t,” he said, clearly shocked.

“I would,” she said emphatically. “And I can keep your brother or your sister from loaning you money to buy drugs. I can keep you from stealing it from the register by changing the locks if I have to.” At his stunned expression, she nodded. “Yes, I’m aware that you’ve done that. I may have been living in a fog lately, but I do pay attention to our finances these days. I have to.”

Her words obviously hit home. He looked shaken.

“Good,” she said with satisfaction. “At least you’re not denying that you’ve stolen money from here.”

“It’s my business, too,” he said defiantly.

“Not unless you contribute something, which you haven’t for weeks now, at least not without one of us all but begging you to pitch in. It’s time to make a choice, Jeffrey. You’re either a part of this family or you’re going to destroy your life with drugs.” She kept herself from reaching for him. Instead, she regarded him steadily. “I love you, Jeff. So do Emma and Andy. If you need help to get off the drugs, we’ll get it for you, but we will not enable you to go on like this.”

“I don’t need help from anybody,” he said defiantly. “I can quit anytime I want to.”

Rosa knew better, but she merely nodded. “Then it’s time to make the choice. What is it?”

“You expect me to decide now?”

“Here and now,” she confirmed. “Because I’ve had it. I knew you were hurting and I thought this stage you’re going through would pass, but it hasn’t. It’s time to grow up.”

“This from a woman who hid in her room for weeks,” he said scathingly.

Rosa didn’t even flinch. “You’re right. I hid. I didn’t want to face the likelihood that your father had taken his own life.” The color drained from Jeff’s face, but before he could speak, she went on. “You suspect that’s what happened, as well as I do. It’s why you’ve been acting like this. You’re furious with him. So am I, but I’m here to tell you that this is no way to get even. The only person you’re hurting is yourself.”

“Dad didn’t commit suicide,” he argued, but there was little conviction in his voice.

“Yes, I believe he did, and the sooner we all face up to that the better. Your father is gone, but we’re not. Life goes on whether you want it to or not. I decided it was too precious to waste.”

He regarded her curiously. “Does this have something to do with that guy who was leaving when I came in?” he asked as if he was ready to make something dirty out of it.

“Absolutely not. He’s in that support group I told you about at Saint Luke’s, but that’s it. In fact, I was thinking I might introduce him to Helen.”

Her response clearly took the wind out of his sails. He stood up, then, swaying slightly. “I gotta go.”

Rosa felt thoroughly defeated. “Do what you have to do.”

He started away, then came back and gave her a fierce hug. “I love you, Mom.”

Tears brimming over in her eyes, she hugged him back. “I love you, too.” Only after he was too far away to hear did she whisper, “No matter what.”

M
att took the first chance he had to detour over to Palm Drive to check out the junk shop Cori had told him about. He’d passed the store a thousand times without ever noticing it, probably because the owner hadn’t spent a nickel on improvements in the last forty years. It stood out like a sore thumb, though. Every other shop on the block had windows that glistened and new awnings.

The junk shop’s front window was coated with a dingy layer of grime. The once-gold lettering had worn away to make the store’s name all but illegible. Not that it had been an inspired name to begin with. It looked like it might have been Mullins Junk, though the
M
was virtually gone and only part of the
J
and
K
remained of the second word.

He thought at first the store wasn’t open, but then he spotted a dim light at the back and tried the door. It swung open on rusty, creaking hinges. Great place for a Halloween party, he thought wryly as he called out for Joshua Mullins.

“In the back,” replied a voice that sounded every bit as creaky as the door.

Matt made his way through cluttered aisles that barely allowed room enough for him to pass. Brass headboards were piled against one wall. Old oak
washstands and dressers were crammed against each other at odd angles. Cheap metal shelving on another wall held an assortment of items that ranged from dusty bottles in every color of the rainbow to china teacups piled atop one another to a precarious height. If there were treasures buried in here, it would be all but impossible to discern them in the poor lighting and even more daunting clutter.

Matt vaguely recalled Joshua Mullins from years ago. He’d been a crotchety old man then. He must be a million years old by now. One glimpse of the bent figure maneuvering through the back room on a walker seemed to prove his guess.

“Stay there,” Matt called to him, envisioning the man breaking his hip trying to cross the curling, yellowed linoleum.

When he was closer, Mr. Mullins squinted at him. “That you, Matt Atkins?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Heard you were back in town. Guess you ain’t stirring up trouble the way you used to, are you?” He cackled dryly at his little joke.

Matt grinned. “Not if I hope to keep my job.”

“Always thought Don Killian would get you straightened out,” he said approvingly. “He was a good man. Too bad about what happened to him.”

“Yes, it is.”

“His family doing okay? I’ve thought about going by the diner to pay my respects, but I don’t get around the way I used to.”

“I’m sure they understand. They’re doing the best they can.”

The old man gave him a sharp look. “That include the boy, Jeff, I think it is?”

Matt regarded him with surprise. “Why would you ask that?”

The old man sighed and leaned even more heavily on his walker. “Because that girl he’s been hanging around with is my great-granddaughter, and she’s out of control. I hate to speak ill of one of my own, but Rosa ought to get her son away from Marisol, if she knows what’s good for him. The girl has a wild streak. Got it from her mama, who never bothered to marry my grandson. She had some cockamamy idea that marriage was the thing that ruined a relationship. If they’d let me talk to her, I could have told her a thing or two about marriage. I was with my Rachel for sixty years, and every one of those years was a joy.”

Matt could hear the concern and the frustration in his voice. “Anything I can do to help with your great-granddaughter?”

Mr. Mullins cackled again as if it were Matt who’d made a joke this time. “I ’spect you’re the last person I ought to be telling about what I think is going on with that girl. Her daddy’ll handle it, once he gets his head out of the sand. Hard to do right when it comes to discipline when he’s only in the girl’s life part-time.” He met Matt’s gaze. “What brings you by here? You looking for something in particular? That room may look like a mess, but I can tell you every single thing that’s in there and pretty much where to find it.”

Matt grinned. “I imagine you can. Actually, though, I came by because I heard you might be interested in selling out.”

“To the right person, maybe,” he said. “You don’t
strike me as the type to want to fool around with a lot of dusty old treasures.”

“No, but Emma Killian might be. She was in the antiques business up in Washington. I think she might consider staying in Winter Cove, if the right opportunity presented itself.”

Mr. Mullins cackled again and gave Matt a sly look. “You saying you ain’t enough to keep her here on your own?”

Obviously the man’s frail health hadn’t hurt his ability to tap into the Winter Cove gossip network. “Maybe,” Matt said. “Maybe not. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to hedge my bets.”

“You bring her on by sometime. No point in wasting my energy discussing this with you, when she’s the one who’ll have to decide.”

Matt laughed. “Good point. Any time in particular?”

“I’m here most days. Most evenings, too, for that matter, now that the street’s getting all yuppified. Once in a while somebody with a good eye wanders in, but mostly it’s young people with too much cash and not enough sense to know they’re supposed to bargain with me. You say the Killian girl knows her stuff?”

“So I gather,” Matt said.

Mr. Mullins nodded, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. “Good. There’s nothing I like better than a lively negotiation with a smart woman. Take note of that, young man. A smart woman will never bore you. My Rachel, God rest her soul, was a live wire till the day she died. I couldn’t put a thing over on her.” He grinned. “Not that I tried, of course.”

“Of course,” Matt said. “I’ll bring Emma by the first chance I get.”

In fact, he could hardly wait. He had a hunch that his future was in Joshua Mullins’s gnarled hands. Something told him, also, that he couldn’t find a better person to entrust it to. Some men were born with wisdom about human nature. Don Killian had been one of those. Joshua Mullins had learned it the hard way, from a long life, hard work and a good woman. Matt wouldn’t mind following in his footsteps.

Emma took one look at her mother’s pale face and worried expression and knew something had happened.

“What’s wrong?” she asked when she found Rosa at the kitchen table staring into space, her expression almost as bleak as it had been in the day’s after Emma’s father’s death.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t give me that. Is it Andy?”

“Andy’s fine. He’s got a date tonight. Lauren Patterson finally said yes.” She forced a smile. “Seems to me you ought to have one, too, now that Kim’s on her way back to Washington. Where’s Matt?”

“I have no idea where Matt is, and stop trying to change the subject. If Andy’s fine, what about Jeff? Have you seen him?”

“He came by the diner earlier,” her mother conceded with obvious reluctance.

“And?”

“He’s in trouble, Emma,” she said, barely choking back a sob. She visibly steadied herself, then added, “I tried laying it on the line with him, but I don’t think I got through. Maybe he has to hit rock bottom
before he’ll get it, but it breaks my heart to think of it coming to that.”

Emma would have shaken Jeff if she could have gotten her hands on him at that moment. Her mother had been doing so well lately. Now worry about Jeff was clearly pushing her back toward the depression from which she’d only recently emerged.

“Mom, we may not be able to fix this. He has to want to get better.”

Her mother regarded her with regret. “I know that. I blame your father. If he were here, he’d know what to do.”

“I don’t think so. I honestly think Jeff was already headed down this path before Dad died. You said yourself he was already mixed up with Marisol and she’s obviously part of the problem.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rosa snapped, then immediately looked contrite. “I’m sorry. If I’m being perfectly honest, I know you’re right. He and your father had fought about his new crowd of friends, which only made them more attractive to Jeff. Your brother had pretty much stopped coming around long before your father died. I tried to pretend it was just because he was in college and testing his wings, but it was more than that. Jeff’s been struggling for a long time to figure out who he is. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t want to be his father, that he didn’t want any part of Flamingo Diner.”

“And Dad couldn’t accept that, could he?” Emma guessed. Her father had given in with undisguised reluctance to her wishes, but Jeff was his son. There was a difference. Her dad wouldn’t have given up on Jeff as easily.

“No,” Rosa said. “It broke Don’s heart to have
his oldest son reject the business he’d worked so hard to turn into a success.”

“And now Jeff feels trapped and guilty because Dad’s gone and we’ve been pressuring him to pitch in,” Emma said thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s little wonder that he’s looked for a way out.”

“Well, he picked the wrong way,” her mother said fiercely. “And this is an emergency, not a commitment for the rest of his life. I am so disappointed in him.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“Yes,” she said with no apparent sign of regret.

Emma regarded her with surprise. Her mother was definitely getting back to her old self if she wasn’t hesitating to speak her mind. “Good for you,” she told her mother.

“I also told him I loved him and that it was time for him to make a choice about straightening out his life.” She gave Emma a worried look. “I know he needed to hear that, but what if I just pushed him further away?”

“Mom, all any of us can do is try with him. In the end, it’s going to be his decision. It’s not like he’s misbehaving on a play date. He’s too old for you or even me to go charging down to wherever he’s hanging out these days and drag him home.”

Her mother smiled. “Doesn’t mean I’m not tempted to try.”

Emma gave her hand a squeeze. “I know. Me, too.”

When Matt walked into the diner, Andy caught his eye and beckoned him over to the grill, where he had at least a dozen eggs cooking, along with a pile of
hash browns, and a couple of pounds of bacon. He was beginning to look like a pro, though the expression on his face was too grim for a boy his age.

“You need help, kid?” Matt asked. He stood back and admired the way Andy deftly flipped an egg without breaking the yolk.

“Not till you learn to do this,” Andy said with a grin that quickly faded. “I wanted to ask you about something else.”

“Okay, what?”

“This is between you and me, right?” Andy asked worriedly. “As my friend, not as a cop?”

“If that’s the way you want it,” Matt assured him.

“I think something’s going on with Jeff, something bad. Mom and Emma were talking till all hours last night. I went down to get a soda and I heard ’em mention Jeff’s name. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but I could tell they were both upset.”

“Has Jeff been around lately?”

“I haven’t seen him.” His normally cheerful expression darkened. “I hate him,” he said in a fierce undertone. “I know he’s my brother and all, but I really do hate him.”

He waited as if he expected Matt to chastise him for his feelings. Matt merely nodded. “I can understand that.”

“It’s not like things aren’t bad enough, but he has to go and pull a disappearing act and worry Mom. What kind of son does something like that?” Andy demanded heatedly.

Matt squeezed his shoulder. “One who’s a little mixed up right now. Come on, Andy, you don’t really hate him. You and Jeff have always been tight. He helped you a lot right after your dad died, didn’t he?”

“I suppose,” Andy said grudgingly. “But where is he now?”

“He’s struggling to make sense of things.”

“Well, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of being the only one around here to help out Mom and Emma. Hell, Emma gave up everything to come home because she knew we needed her. What happens if she gets sick of this and goes back to Washington? Who would blame her? Not me. Some days I feel like I could pack it in and go with her.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about Emma going anywhere,” Matt said. “At least not right now. And your Mom is better and back at work. Even if Emma left, Flamingo Diner would do fine.”

“Not without me,” Andy retorted. “Not unless Mom hired somebody, and we don’t have the money for that right now. And I’ve got school starting. What happens then?”

“Want me to have a talk with your mom?”

“No, I want you to find Jeff and kick his butt from here to Miami.”

Matt hid a smile. “Okay, kid, I can do that, too.”

“What were you and Andy huddling about?” Emma asked when the restaurant had emptied out and she could join Matt.

“Guy stuff,” he said.

Her gaze narrowed. “He wasn’t asking you about sex, was he?”

Matt laughed. “Interesting that that’s the first thing that popped into your head,” he taunted.

Emma scowled at him. “This isn’t a joke. Was it about sex or not?”

“No, the only Killian with whom I discuss sex these days is you.”

“Very funny.”

“I thought so. Don’t worry about Andy. He’s got his head on straight, and as for sex, he’s seventeen. I’m pretty sure he knows all he needs to know.”

She sank down in a chair, grabbed Matt’s saucer and set the coffeepot on it. “You don’t seriously think he’s fooling around, do you?”

“I was at seventeen,” Matt said.

She frowned at him. “Yeah, so I heard. But you were street smart enough to avoid getting into trouble.”

“Only because your father sat me down when I was fourteen and gave me a lecture and a box of condoms.”

She stared at him. “At fourteen?”

He shrugged, looking a little too pleased with himself. “I was precocious.”

Emma let that pass. “So you think he had this same talk with Andy,” she surmised.

“I’d bet on it.”

“Thank God. With Jeff spinning out of control, the last thing this family needs would be for Andy to get some girl pregnant during his senior year. He’s finally got a date with Lauren Patterson. He’s had this thing for her forever. I wouldn’t want him to let his hormones overrule his head.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. Lauren’s a very sensible girl. Besides, Andy has a good head on his shoulders. More than that, he’s as aware as anyone of just how irresponsible Jeff is being. I definitely don’t think he wants to follow in his big brother’s footsteps.”