“I have a feeling things will turn out all right.” She squeezed my shoulder. I wished I shared her optimism.
Roxy walked through the back door and snarled. She chomped on a wad of gum and I noticed she had a nicotine patch on her arm. She wore a skimpy plaid skirt and short-sleeved red sweater. She looked like a crazy Catholic school girl who would kick your ass with her thick-soled combat boots, even after you coughed up your lunch money.
“How’s that patch working for you?” I asked.
“How do you think?” She slammed out of the kitchen.
“Perfectly,” I said to the swinging door.
I worked steadily until around eight, when Dane came into the diner. He looked out of place in his designer suit and leather briefcase. He smiled when he saw me.
“Hey, Rose, you have a minute?”
“Sure.” I filled my customer’s coffee cup, then walked behind the counter. Dane followed. “You’re not staying to eat?”
“No, I have to be in court in an hour. Have you heard from Axton?”
“No, but he called his brother a couple of nights ago asking for help. Then they were disconnected. The same thing happened when he called me.”
“I found out some information on NorthStar Inc.” He pulled a manila envelope out of his briefcase. “It’s a company that owns a few local bars and other small businesses in town.”
“Thanks.” Although my hands itched to open the envelope, I stuck it under the counter. I had too many customers and couldn’t afford to get distracted.
“Sure. Rose?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you going to pass this information off to the police?”
I quirked my brow.
He sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just promise me you’ll be careful?”
“You bet.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. It was almost as if he didn’t believe me.
“I swear,” I said, raising my right hand, “I will be careful.”
“If you need anything at all, just call me, okay?”
“Thanks, Dane. I really appreciate all you’ve done.”
“So have I redeemed myself for shushing you all those years ago?”
I stepped closer to him and in turn he leaned his head toward me. “Nope. You still have a lot of kissing up to do.”
He leaned down further, his lips tickling my ear. “Kissing up, huh? Sounds like torture. But if that’s what it takes…”
I slapped at his shoulder.
He dimpled and strode out.
I smiled for a good thirty minutes after he left.
The diner was hectic for the next couple of hours. Ma ran to the warehouse store while Roxy and I held down the fort. Traffic finally slowed down by midmorning. When only two customers remained, Roxy bussed tables and I wiped down the counter. I was scrubbing away when my ex-boyfriend, Kevin, walked through the door.
He wore ratty jeans and a blue t-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders. He was tall and cute with dark brown hair that stood up every which way and had ear gauges the size of quarters. Exactly my type. Unfortunately, we had no chemistry. That fact was obvious to me, but to Kevin, not so much.
“Hey, Rose.”
Roxy stepped out of the kitchen with an empty bus tub and leaned against the stainless steel counter beside me. “Hey, Roxy.” Kevin tipped his chin in her direction.
“Rox, I think my stragglers could use some more coffee,” I said.
“Sure.” She set down the tub, grabbed the coffee pot, and walked to the table by the front window.
“What are you doing here, Kevin?” I asked.
“It’s Spaz now. I changed my name to Spaz. Like, legally and everything.”
“So is your last name still Wilkins?” Spaz Wilkins sounded pretty lame to me.
“No, it’s just Spaz. Like Bono or Prince.”
I pressed my lips together to stifle the giggle that wanted to escape. “Well, good for you.”
“Thanks,” he said with a smile. “I tried calling you, but since I hadn’t heard back I thought I’d stop by, see how you were doing.”
“Yeah, I got your message.”
He leaned across the counter. “The thing is, I miss you.” He brushed his knuckles over my cheek.
I sighed and leaned away. “Kevin, we only went out for a few weeks.”
“Those were the best three weeks of my life. Just give me a chance. Whatever I did wrong, I’ll fix it.”
“I’m sorry…Spaz, but I just think of you as a friend.” I hated break-ups. Especially prolonged ones.
“You introduced me to your family. Doesn’t that mean something?”
Actually it didn’t. I took him to my second cousin’s wedding. If I hadn’t been dating Kevin at the time, I would have taken Axton. I never knew Kevin — excuse me, Spaz — would read so much into it.
I stared at his pierced lip because I couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’m really sorry,” I said.
“I’m not giving up that easily.” He reached out and took my hand in his. He kissed the back of it, stroked it. “I’m playing at The Carp this week. Will you come? Please?”
I snatched my hand out of his grasp and opened my mouth to decline, but Roxy chimed in.
“She’ll be there.” She stepped behind the counter and put the coffee pot back on the burner.
“You come too, Roxy.” He stared into my eyes. “I’ll see you soon, Rose.”
After he left, I turned on her. “Why did you do that? I don’t want to hear him play. I broke up with him.”
“He’s sweet. And he’s crazy about you.”
“I’m not interested in him and I don’t want to lead him on.”
“Well, if you go, you could introduce me to TurkeyJerk’s drummer.”
“Oh, now I see. It’s not about poor Kevin at all. It’s about you.”
“Um, I believe his name is Spaz, and yeah, it’s always about me.” With that she flounced back to the kitchen.
Chapter 11
We finally took a break at one when Ma flipped the closed sign. Roxie grabbed a doughnut from the cake stand and tore it in two, giving half to me.
“Boy, I need a cigarette,” she said.
“You’re doing fine, honey. Just keep up the good work.” Ma reached out and patted her back.
“I’m very proud of you. You’ve gone five days this time.” As I devoured my half of the doughnut, I described the hellacious dinner with my parents and Packard’s assholiness. I was soon covered in glaze flakes. I wiped my hands on a towel and pulled out the envelope Dane had left. “And Dane found out that NorthStar Inc. owns a bunch of businesses around town.”
Roxie finished licking the glaze from her fingers. “Let’s have a look.” I handed her the envelope, stood over her shoulder, and perused the list.
“Some of these places are in pretty rough neighborhoods.” She lifted a shoulder. “But I’ve been to a couple.”
“Wow, I’m shocked. Anyway, I’m going to skip my accounting class tonight and hit a few of those places. You in?”
“But you never skip class.”
It was true. No matter how boring the subject — hello, Statistics 101—I always went to class. And even
