“You guys work this out amongst yourselves,” Clay Don declared as he began to hook up the Fiat to the Ford. “But there’s no denying she needs some fixin’ or you’ll get stranded somewhere and be on foot. Might as well do it all while I’ve got her in the shop.”
“Fine,” Raine muttered. “Let me pour another six hundred dollars into the care and feeding of Danny’s old car.”
Some twenty minutes later, still feeling a little loose, a little dirty, she sailed through the doors at The Blue Taco on a fantastic high, a lighter step to her walk. She didn’t want to get sappy or anything about what had happened earlier with Mitch. But at the same time, she could appreciate the mind-numbing sex going down on her kitchen table. Which was probably the result of doing without for so long, she mused.
Thankful her drought was over, and with a certain amount of sexy images and thoughts still spinning around in her head, she strolled to the kitchen and took out the ingredients to make today’s special—pork tamales.
Before her harrowing ordeal with Duarte, she’d already simmered a pork shoulder with plenty of zesty seasonings until the meat became a mouthwatering treat and fall-apart tender. It was a dish she’d perfected.
Despite her absence, she had her longtime cook, Maddie Denham, to thank for picking up the slack where she’d left off.
But right now there was the masa to throw together. She was in the process of filling up a commercialfood processor with the flour and shortening mixture when she heard the back door open behind her. Thinking it must be Mitch, she was surprised to see Maddie standing in the doorway.
“What are you doing here so early?”
Maddie, a longtime single mom who’d raised two kids running her own hamburger dive back in her native Memphis, answered in an overworked, Tennessee drawl, “I wanted to see for myself that you were okay.” Maddie rushed around the prep island to wrap her up in a hug.
“I’m fine. Thanks to Mitch.”
As if she’d conjured the man up just by saying his name, Raine looked over to see him meander into the room right behind Maddie. “What’s going on here?”
Maddie sent her a sheepish look. “I found him sitting in his truck outside. No point in that when there’s plenty of comfy chairs in here to plop down in. I offered him a fresh cup of coffee.”
“Which I gratefully accepted,” Mitch explained. “I’ll stay out of the way or pitch in to help.” He pointed a finger toward Raine. “Either way, don’t make a fuss.”
“Isn’t he sweet?” Maddie uttered. “Thank goodness you brought our girl back home in one piece.” The older woman held Raine at arm’s length to study her face. “You look…different…somehow. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Raine rolled her eyes toward Mitch and smiled. She knew she felt different. She supposed it was normal to look the part, as well. Changing the subject away from herself, she wiped her hands on her apron. “I’m fine. How’d it go yesterday without me?”
“Worried sick about you, wanted to close down, but your mama wouldn’t hear of it. We had a busy night. At some point do you ever intend to hire any help? I’m gettin’ old, Raine, old as your mama.”
“Fifty-four is not old,” Raine insisted. “But I concede the fact we’re shorthanded.”
On the other side of the counter, Maddie went about grinding beans for the coffee she’d promised Mitch. She raised her voice over the machine’s noise so she could be heard. “I can’t work these long days like I used to. You need to get someone in here who can.”
Raine waited for the earsplitting sound to end. “I’m seriously considering it.”
“You always say that. I remember your mama taking over this restaurant from your grandmother. Damn it, if you aren’t just like both of them. Stubborn to the end, wanting to do all this by yourself. Must run in the family. Gonna work yourself to death in this place is what you’re gonna do.”
“That sounds like a bleak future…I hope not.” This time it was Raine who paused to search Maddie’s face. “Do you plan to tell me what you’re doing here so early?”
“Your mama’s on the warpath. She sent me over here because she said she left four voice mails for you and you haven’t answered a single one.” Maddie pointed a finger at Mitch. “I don’t think she likes him very much.”
Raine snatched up her cell phone off the counter. “I didn’t realize I had it turned off. Jeez, look at all these. She called four more times since I got out of the shower, says she wants to talk to me. She also left four text messages.”
“Sounds serious,” Mitch commented.
“Nothing but serious with Miss Manning,” Maddie admitted. “I pulled you out of your truck ’cause I know that woman is bound to give this one a hard time about something. Been doing that too long to count.”
Mitch moved toward Raine. “Ah. Let me guess. It’s about me. Us. I really need to keep an eye on you no matter where you go. Although I’m not sure I’m ready for the evil eye Marla’s sure to give me. Maybe I’ll wait out by the curb while you go in and settle this.”
“Chicken,” Raine charged. “I’ll go talk to her later. Right now, I’m in the middle of—”
“You go on,” Maddie urged. “I’ll finish the masa.”
“But the lunch crowd will be here in three hours. We’re cutting it close as it is.”
“She’s making excuses,” Maddie told Mitch. “Sooner you get it over with, the better.”
“Fine. But I’m not ready for a fight this early in the morning.”
“You didn’t have a problem fighting with me less than an hour ago,” Mitch pointed out.
She shot him a look. “All of a sudden I feel pushed around. Okay, Maddie’s right. The sooner I get this over with the sooner I can get things back on track.”
Mitch knew better than to tread further into deeper water as he headed over to Marla Manning’s place. He veered to the curb in front of a stylish Cape Cod and cut the engine. One glance at Raine told him she didn’t want to get out of the truck. Her fidgety hands and body language were dead giveaways to the cold relationship she’d always had with her mother.
He squeezed one of the nervous hands. “I’ll be right out here waiting for you when you’re ready to leave.”
“Thanks. I don’t know why I dread this so much. Maybe because I know exactly what she’ll say.”
“I’ve got a boat and crew just waiting to whisk you away from all this.”
That made her laugh. She took a deep breath and grudgingly opened the door.
He watched her walk up the flagstone pathway to the front porch and mumbled to himself, “Oh baby, for the next thirty minutes, I don’t envy you at all.”
Raine found her mother sitting on the sun porch at the back of the house. She could remember growing up here, believing her mom looked a little like Carole Lombard, the actress she’d watched so many times gracing the small screen on late-night TV.
Marla Manning had that same blond hair, a petite frame, and haunting, soulful hazel eyes that said deep emotions were just a scratch away from the surface.
Growing up in a household without a father, Raine knew how hard her single mom had worked, sometimes keeping the restaurant going in spite of major staffing problems. There were always folks coming and going, working for short periods of time before moving on for one reason or another, leaving Marla shorthanded and in the lurch. Then there were the battles with unscrupulous wholesalers, who raised prices without warning or unreliable vendors who couldn’t meet delivery requirements. Problems came with the job and occurred on a weekly basis.
Raine had always respected that about her mother. But she’d also witnessed Marla’s tendency to throw a tantrum when things weren’t going well. As manipulative as any diva who’d ever walked across a theater stage, Marla could be one part actress, overly dramatic, and two-thirds controlling. There were times her mother could be unreasonable and overtly cruel.
Her grandmother Mimi had once told her it was for that reason her father had left Marl
a and never looked back. There was a part of Raine that couldn’t blame him too much for seeking his freedom.
Because Marla had taken over the reins at the restaurant from Mimi, Raine had grown up watching both women deal with the headaches of running their own business. Her grandmother had even tried to play referee over the years to settle a dispute between mother and daughter. But Marla usually ended up getting her way because Raine would give in.
By the time Raine and Danny were old enough to carry a plate of food without dropping it, the two had worked there after school, or after whatever extracurricular activities they’d been allowed to join. Rain or shine, the business always came first.
Once school was out for the summer, the kids were expected to do their fair share of work bussing tables, washing dishes, and taking out trash. While other teens were out on the water surfing or lounging at the beach, Raine and Danny had worked side by side ringing up orders or doing prep work in the kitchen.
From that side of things, The Blue Taco was very much a family-oriented business. That is, until Danny decided to buck his mother and join the army.
All hell had broken loose at the news. Marla had not been happy about his decision. In fact, the woman had taken to her bed, devastated but determined one way or another to change his mind. But to Raine’s amazement, no amount of drama or guilt or manipulation tactics on Marla’s part could alter Danny’s mindset.
Raine had always known her mother favored Danny. There was never any doubt about that. It was just the way it was and Raine had long ago accepted her place in the hierarchy, or lack thereof. When Danny played sports, Marla never missed a game. Whether it was baseball or basketball or football, Danny could count on Marla to show up and cheer him on. When Raine competed in the district volleyball championship, Danny had been the only family member who bothered coming to watch. Of course, Mitch had been there, rooting her on from the sidelines. He’d always supported her no matter what.
But to Marla Manning, where Danny was concerned, Raine could never quite measure up. And when he didn’t return from Afghanistan, Marla simply decided she didn’t want to have anything more to do with the restaurant, any more than she wanted to do with her daughter.
Without warning, Marla had announced her retirement, anointing Raine the new successor to the taco throne.
The day of Danny’s funeral, Raine had watched her mother pick up a bottle of vodka and the woman had been drinking strong ever since, waiting, it seemed, for death to find her just like it had found her son.
The solarium, as Marla referred to the sun porch, was awash in light when Raine walked in through the French doors. The room had high ceilings and a concrete floor painted pale blue. Done in white wicker and rattan furniture, the look pulled off a tropical feel with a pop of striped teals and beiges.
“It’s about time you got here. What took you so long? I know how you love to ignore my voice mails and text messages.”
“That isn’t true, even though you did leave several of each,” Raine stated bluntly. “For your information my car wouldn’t start. I got here as soon as I could.”
“Ah, that explains why I didn’t hear you drive up. The muffler on that Fiat makes too much racket. You should get it fixed or get rid of the damn thing.”
“I thought you’d appreciate my keeping it around.”
“Why is that? Because it’s a reminder to me that I’ll never see my precious boy again? Why not drive it off a cliff or let it float down to Cuba in the tides. What’s it to me?”
Raine clenched her jaw. “You said you wanted to talk, so talk.”
“Don’t use that tone with me, young lady. For your information Marachelle Fordham called me last night to tell me you’ve taken up with Mitchell Indigo again. She says she saw you two making out on the wharf last night.”
“Oh, for God’s sakes,” Raine began. “I’m a grown woman. If I want to make out on the stage at the amphitheater in front of the entire town, I think I’m entitled to make my own choices.”
“Like you did when you were eighteen? Is that right? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? I thought you couldn’t stand to be around that man. My friends are beginning to talk.”
“I didn’t know you had friends.”
“Don’t you get smart with me, Raine Manning.”
“How come Marachelle Fordham didn’t gossip about me getting kidnapped? Or weren’t you going to bring that up?”
“See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Mitch has been back less than a month and he’s already got you deep into some horrible situation. Kidnapped indeed. I’m telling you that man’s no good.”
“Is that the reason you destroyed all his letters he wrote me? You knew I was waiting to hear from him. You knew how I felt. Did you purposely set out to beat me to the mailbox every day? How could you do that?”
Marla’s face, puffy from the vodka she’d binged on the night before, turned pale. But she straightened her shoulders at the accusation. “I did what I thought was best for my willful teenage daughter, who seemed determined to screw up her life. I wasn’t going to sit around and watch you throw away your life on the likes of Mitch Indigo, the sailor, or whatever he claims to be, when he left you without a backward glance. Or don’t you remember all the pain he caused you?”
“Oh, I remember because you wouldn’t let me forget.” Those painful months came rushing back to Raine in vivid color. But this time the resentment wasn’t aimed at Mitch, but at her mother.
“That’s because he left you when you were eighteen and pregnant. I can’t believe you act as though it never happened.”
“It’s hard to forget when you toss it in my face every other month.”
“So you don’t make the same mistake ever again, that’s why. I do it for you.”
“Right. Well, I guess it’s time I set the record straight. Mitch didn’t know about the baby, okay? Mitch didn’t know I was pregnant when he boarded the freighter and took off to see the world.”
Marla narrowed her eyes that glazed over in fury. “But you said he did. Are you changing your story twelve years after the fact, trying to protect him now?”
“No, I’m not protecting him. I don’t even know what I’d be protecting him from exactly. I was eighteen, hurt and furious with him,” Raine explained. “I’m pretty sure it’s the way immature teenage girls act when they’ve been dumped.”
“He’s no good for you, Raine.”
“How do you know that?”
“He hurt you once, he’ll do it again.”
“If he does, that’s my business, not yours.”
“You always were my difficult child.”
Raine huffed out a breath. “I know you think that. But I’m the one still here, trying to do the right thing by you and getting nowhere.”
“Surely you wouldn’t put me through something like that again, would you? Don’t you dare get pregnant again! The gossip I had to endure, the nasty things people said about me behind my back, raising such a promiscuous little girl who didn’t have the sense to keep her legs closed.”
Raine’s eyes tapered to slits as she stared down her mother. “You’re such a mean drunk, Mom. I didn’t realize you thought so little of me and to what degree you’d been maligned all those years ago. But it seems to me only you and Mrs. Fordham are the ones doing the gossiping. I suddenly realize how little I care that you or anyone else is talking about me. Big deal. What I can’t figure out is why you begrudge me a small sliver of normal, a slice of happiness? What is it with you, Mom? What did I ever do to you that made you dislike me so much? I’ve known for years Danny was your favorite. Why? What did I do? Why was I never good enough for you?”
“Don’t you speak to me like that!” Marla screamed.
“Oh wow, enter the drama queen.” Raine decisively glanced at her watch. “And it only took fifteen minutes for that side of you to emerge. Look, I run myself ragged keeping the restaurant going. I’ve been here for you whenever you needed me. Haven’t I?�
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“That’s beside the point. I don’t want you falling for that man’s lies all over again and him pushing you into running off with him. I mean, if you left, who would run the restaurant? I’d have no one I could trust.”
“Ah, I see. In other words, you don’t want to lose your able-bodied, reliable manager who shows up on time every day and gets the job done. Unless of course someone abducts me off the street. I got it. I’m well aware you and Mimi need me around, so I’ll stay here in Indigo Key and do my duty as your daughter. But don’t expect anything more from me, okay? I’m done with you taking me for granted and being your slave. I’m done with you treating me like dirt compared to the way you acted toward Danny when he was alive. So I’ll run your restaurant for you and do a good job like I’ve always done. But don’t expect anything more from me. Got it?”
With that, she all but ran out of the house.
As soon as Mitch caught sight of her, one look at her face, her arms tightly wrapped around her body, told him it hadn’t gone well. But then it never seemed to go well with Marla.
“Are you okay?”
“Just get me out of here.”
Chapter Ten - Justice
Mitch helped Raine work through a busy lunch crowd. But he no longer had to ask if she was happy. He already knew the answer.
After spending the night together, they’d started the day on a high, only to have Marla literally suck the air out of the happiness Raine had felt.
It pissed him off. He wasn’t sure who he was angrier at, Marla or himself. Why hadn’t he been able to pick up on how unhappy she’d acted over the years, the years he’d returned for a simple, quick visit? He’d accepted her antagonism toward him and totally ignored the rest. He’d known the woman for most of his life. He should’ve been able to use that to understand how deep her bitterness ran and to whom she’d directed it at besides him.
The Indigo Brothers Trilogy Boxed Set Page 74