Good Girls Do (19 page)

“You’re both going to have a wonderful time together,” Angel continued.

“Let’s go get you changed into some other clothes,” Julia told her niece.

“No!”
This time her voice rose two decibel levels.

“You can’t wear the tutu outside. You’ve got to change.”

“NO!” Toni added a foot stomp for emphasis.

“You’re the one who showed her
The Nutcracker
ballet on TV,” Angel pointed out.

Julia rolled her eyes. “I never meant for her to wear that tutu outside the house.”

“She likes what she’s wearing,” Angel said.

Julia didn’t like it, but there was no convincing Toni.

And so it was that Julia found herself in line at the bank, holding onto Toni’s hand and trying to act as if it were perfectly natural for a four-year-old to be wearing an orange polka-dotted angora sweater, purple tutu, kitten-print flannel pj bottoms, and yellow Wellington boots that would make Paddington Bear proud. The broken tiara drunkenly perched on Toni’s head completed the picture.

She could feel Mabel’s eyes boring into her back as she stood in line. Julia would have used the drive-thru but because Toni refused to get in the child seat in the car, she’d had to walk into town. Thankfully, Toni had held onto Julia’s hand without protest.

In the line beside them was Julia’s neighbor Val and her two kids, one of which was near Toni’s age. But Val had kept her kids clear of Toni since she’d tried to bite her oldest boy, Danny. Julia still felt the need to apologize every time she saw Val, but because she’d already done that a dozen or two times, she figured enough was probably enough.

Of course, Val’s little girl, Morgan, looked adorable in a fleecy pink coat and matching pants. No broken tiaras in that family.

Julia was relieved to leave the bank without incident and without Toni making any references to her vagina, or anyone else’s. That relief waned when Toni declared, “I’ve gotta pee now.”

Julia looked around. They were standing outside Maguire’s.

“Now!” Toni started hopping from one boot to the other.

Julia hurried her inside the pub.

“We’re not open,” Luke began before looking up to see her.

“Sorry. Bathroom emergency.”

Luke pointed to the ladies’ room at the back.

Julia hurried Toni into the washroom and managed to get everything undone without incident, but just in the nick of time. Afterward, Toni was in no hurry to get off the toilet, and was balanced so precariously that Julia was sure she was going to fall in with a splash. Ten minutes later, Adele knocked at the door. “Everything okay in there?”

“Fine.” Julia answered. There was only one toilet in the ladies’ room, and she couldn’t get Toni off it.

“Come on.” Julia used her best coaxing voice, the one that convinced Ron Johnson to return the twenty overdue books he had held onto for six months. “Time to leave. You’re done now, right?”

Toni nodded but made no move.

“Hey, who wants ice cream?” Julia asked.

“Olivia does.”

“Who’s that?”

“My invisible friend.” Toni pointed to the corner of the bathroom. “She already peed.”

“What a relief.” This was the first Julia had heard of an invisible friend. She wondered if the name had come from the popular
Olivia
books she’d been reading Toni.

“Where’s my ice cream?” Toni demanded the instant they finally left the washroom.

“Chocolate or strawberry?” Adele asked.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that,” Julia quickly assured her.

Adele made a
forget it
motion with her hand. “I want to. So, honey, what flavor would you like?”

“Banana chocolate-chip cherry,” Toni promptly replied.

“Chocolate will be fine,” Julia said in a quiet aside to Adele.

“I’ll add some cherries and bananas,” Adele whispered back.

“You don’t have to . . .” Julia began.

But Adele had already bustled back to the kitchen.

Luke remained behind the bar as if he didn’t trust the kid.

“Wise move,” Julia congratulated him.

“What?”

“Staying over there. Wise move. You don’t want her . . .” Julia made a Jaws-like motion with her hand.

“I’m not afraid of kids,” Luke stated.

“Of course you’re not.” Her voice mocked him.

“I just don’t want to hang out with them.”

“Aw, and here I was hoping she could help you pour drinks.”

“Very funny,” he growled. “What’s she wearing?”

“A tiara.”

“I meant that frilly thing around her waist.”

“A tutu. Like a ballerina.”

“Looks weird.”

“No kidding.”

“You let her out like that?”

“I didn’t have much choice.”

“You look good, though.”

She glanced down at her jeans and red microfleece pullover. “I do?”

“Yeah.”

Adele brought out two dishes of ice cream and a separate bowl of cherries, which Julia took custody of so Toni wouldn’t gobble them all in one swallow.

“Where’s the dish for Olivia?” Toni demanded.

“She wants to share your dish with you,” Julia said.

“Okay.”

Julia didn’t even realize she was nibbling on a cherry until she heard Luke groan from across the room. She looked up to find him staring at her with lust in his heart, mind, and body.

She met his stare head-on, refusing to look away from the sexual heat he was aiming her way. He was making her feel all hot and squishy inside.

Not Hallmark-cards-sweet kind of squishy. Definitely
Sex and the City
squishy. Hot, moist, pulsing squishy.

Julia stared at the cherry, then at Luke, then at the cherry and remembered how many times he’d tempted her. This was her opportunity to turn the tables on him for a change.

She started with her tongue. He was a master at using his to make her burn with desire. She held the cherry by its stem and tilted her head back as she licked the edge of the delicious fruit.

Only after she’d tested every millimeter did she then dangle the cherry above her mouth before biting into it.

Then she took the next cherry and did the same, with a few more elaborate moves, plucking the stem from the cherry before setting it midway between her lips.

A second later, Luke was at her side, yanking her up out of the chair and tasting that cherry with her. His warm tongue swirled over hers and the fruit. His teeth nibbled the cherry and her bottom lip before sweeping inside her mouth.

“Yuck!” Toni declared. “Yuck, yuck, YUCK!!” She banged her spoon on the table for added emphasis.

“What’s going on out here?” Adele demanded as she came from the kitchen.

“Nothing,” Luke murmured, running his thumb over Julia’s still-damp mouth, the mouth he’d just devoured. “I was just showing Julia how one of our specials should be . . . consumed.”

Toni pointed her dripping spoon at Julia. “Girls have vaginas!”

Julia knew . . . and hers was aching for Luke, the last man on the planet she should be wanting to invite into her bed.

Luke
glared at the letter from the video store he held in his hand. The DVD he’d checked out was overdue, and he’d been charged the cost onto his credit card. He’d only checked out one—the
Monty Python
thing—and handed it over to someone else. Clearly a mistake. He was making entirely too many of those since coming here.

“Do you know the mayor’s kid?” he asked Adele.

“You mean Billy?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure, I know him.”

“Know where I can find him?”

“He hangs out at Cosmic Comics alot.”

“Thanks.”

Adele looked up from the homemade soup she was creating on the huge commerical stove. “Why are you looking for him?”

“I thought I’d lead him into a lifetime of crime.”

Adele just gave him a look.

“What?” he countered. “You’re not buying that?”

“Not for one second.”

“Why not? The rest of the town would.”

“Not all of them. Not the librarian.”

“She’s informed me that she doesn’t like to be known as the librarian. That she has a name. Julia.”

“She’d be good for you,” Adele stated.

“That’s debatable. Plenty have people have warned her that I’m not good for her.”

“They’re wrong.”

“Tell that to that sheriff you have a crush on.”

“I have.”

“He believe you?”

“That’s still debatable,” Adele admitted. “But I’m still working on him.”

“Well, I can’t stand around here chatting. I’ve got a kid to corrupt. A bad seed’s work is never done.”

It was Luke’s first real foray into the comic book place down the street. When he’d originally met Algee, the store had been shut and he’d merely banged on the door but hadn’t stepped inside.

The place was as colorful and lively as the guy who owned it. Posters of the X-Men, Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Captain America, and others marched along the top part of the walls. The rest of the space was covered with shelves and row after row of comic books. Among the crowded aisles were displays of everything from action figures to collector card sets to Pez dispensers in the shape of superheroes. Up front was the cash register beside a locked glass case with even more comic books. And standing guard over it all was Algee, looking as massive as the Incredible Hulk in the poster behind him.

“If you’re looking for the fancy banker, you’ve come to the wrong place,” Algee told him with a wide grin that showed off a flash of white teeth.

“No surprise there. This doesn’t seem the kind of establishment that stuffed shirt would patronize, which puts it right at the top of my list.”

“Glad to hear that. Considering the amount of money I’ve dropped at Maguire’s eating there a couple times a week, it seems only fair that you come here and make a few purchases.”

“Now you’re sounding like a banker.”

“No, just like a businessman.”

“I didn’t come here looking for a businessman. I’m looking for someone shorter . . . ah, there he is.” Luke spotted Billy. “Hey, kid, where’s that
Monty Python
DVD?”

“I took it back.”

“That’s not what the rental place says.”

“They lie.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you lie.”

“Or maybe the kid just wanted to see you again and didn’t know how to do that,” Algee inserted.

Luke frowned at him. “What are you, a psychic now?”

Algee lifted his shoulders. “Just an educated guess.”

“
Guess
being the operative word in that sentence.” Luke returned his attention to Billy. “So, kid, you got anything to say here?”

“Why should I bother?” Billy jammed his hands into the pockets of his oversized pants. “You already know what you think.”

“I do, do I?”

Billy nodded and glared at him.

“What’s with the outfit?” Luke pointed at the hooded sweatshirt and baggy pants. “You trying to be a bad seed again?”

“You’re not a bad seed,” Billy scoffed, “you’re just an adult.”

Luke was highly insulted. “Hey, I’ve already warned you once about calling me that.”

“Whatever.”

“So you like reading comic books?”

“Maybe.”

“Only the most intelligent members of our community read graphic novels, what you call comic books,” Algee said.

“I’ve almost got the complete
Sandman
collection,” Billy added.

Luke shrugged. “Never heard of him.”

“Neophyte,” Algee noted with a shake of his head and a shared look with Billy.

“Whatever happened to Spiderman or the X-Men?” Luke pointed up at their posters. “Besides having movies made about them, I mean. I’ve heard of them.”

“They’re still around,” Algee said.

“Spidey’s okay,” Billy said.

“You two are apparently on a first-name basis, huh?” Luke mocked.

Billy just gave him one of those looks Luke used to give adults—still did sometimes. Basically it said
You are so lame
.

Being the subject instead of the offender was such a weird feeling for Luke that it rattled him and made him ask another dorky question. “You in high school yet?” Luke realized he had no idea how old the mayor’s kid was. He was guessing somewhere between twelve and fourteen.

“No. Why do you want to know?” Billy’s voice was suspicious.

“Just wondering if I need to go through your locker looking for that missing DVD.”

“You’d need a warrant.”

“Not if I was good at picking locks after hours.”

Billy’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “I don’t keep anything in my locker.”

“Why not?”

“Because the other kids break in and steal stuff. They think I’m a freakazoid.”

“What makes them think that?”

“Who knows. I don’t care. They don’t read comics.”

“Peons,” Algee scoffed.

“I’m not peeing on them,” Billy looked outraged at the idea.

“That’s not what I meant. Never mind.” Algee waved his hand. “Remember how other kids treated Peter Parker, aka Spiderman?”

Billy nodded. “Like a freakazoid.”

“Seems to be a continuing theme,” Luke noted. “Clark Kent wasn’t exactly winning any awards for being smooth, either.”

“My dad wanted me to be on the football team,” Billy abruptly announced.

“So did mine,” Luke said.

“I’m not good enough.” Billy kicked his backpack.

“For what?”

“For the team.”

Luke inclined his head toward the maligned backpack. “You try out for kicker?”

“Kickers suck.”

“Maybe. But they can win games.”

“They were gonna put me on as a backup kicker, but only because I’m the mayor’s kid.”