“Does he get like this often?” Elly asked as they went back to the bike. She’d had some pity for him when he puked, but after his obnoxious dismissal, the pity was fading.
“It’s not common,” Alex replied, “but I’ve had to come get him a few times. He’s usually better at holding his liquor than that.” They passed the Honda. “I think I’ll leave that for him to deal with in the morning. Seems fair.”
“More than fair,” Elly agreed. Alex took Elly’s helmet from the saddlebag and handed it to her.
“Hop up, gorgeous. We have a date with my bed, and we’re late.”
“Too late,” Elly said, stifling a yawn. After that ride to Parry’s and Will’s cold shoulder and puking theatrics, all she wanted to do was go to bed. “Bedtime for me.”
“My bed’s warm,” Alex said.
“No, my own bed,” Elly replied. She thought Alex looked disappointed, but with the helmet on and obscuring her mouth, she couldn’t be sure.
“If you insist.”
Chapter Fourteen
Alex bit back a sigh, sitting at the kitchen table drinking her coffee. Yesterday had been just about perfect. Just about. She’d been so close to getting past Elly’s edict of friends only.
Will. What the fuck was he thinking?
Alex grabbed her phone from where she had it charging on the kitchen counter and dialed Will’s number. It rang and rang, and went to voice mail. She tried again, and finally he picked up.
“What?”
“No thanks for your late-night rescuers?” Alex said, trying for humor but not managing.
Will groaned. “Tell me it wasn’t as bad as all that.”
“Worse. Have you seen your car yet?”
There was a pause and she heard the shuffling of his feet. He cursed. “I don’t remember that.”
“That’s how bad it was. Thankfully Elly doesn’t have a sensitive stomach, or you could have been dealing with more mess.”
“Elly?”
“She drove you. I rode my bike.”
“Jesus.” Will groaned again. “I need some painkillers. Want to go for a ride? We can zip out to that greasy spoon in Nanton and be back in time for your work.”
Alex looked at the clock on the stove. It was just past ten, and she didn’t have to work until five. She could use a ride. It’d get her out of this mood, if nothing else. “If I leave now, will you be ready when I get there?”
“Give me half an hour,” he said. “I need to wash.”
“Done. Breakfast’s on you, though.”
Will still looked green around the gills when she pulled up beside him in front of his place, but he was ready, straddling his R6 as it idled at the curb. His helmet hung from the handlebar.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He put his helmet on and buckled it up.
“Did you wash your car?”
“Took the hose to it while I was waiting for you. It’s been through worse.”
“Ring road to the highway?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. Better than taking the Deerfoot, especially from here.”
Alex eased out of the cul-de-sac and onto the road, retracing her route. She could hear the low whine of Will’s bike behind her. When they reached the ring road, he cruised in the lane beside hers, edging up past her until she increased her speed, then dropping back.
Once they hit the highway, he blew past her, throwing her a jaunty wave. Typical Will. She shifted gears and sped after him, catching him after a short stretch. She passed him when the road was clear, and they leapfrogged each other all the way to Nanton.
At the town’s outskirts, they slowed, and Alex let Will lead the way to the restaurant. Though she’d eaten a bit earlier, her stomach growled. Good thing Will was paying; she felt like she could eat a horse. Will pulled up in front of the coffee shop and she slipped in beside him.
“Welcome back,” the waitress said, bringing over menus. “Can I get you some coffee?”
“Biggest mug you got,” Will said, grinning. The woman laughed.
“You got it.”
“Sounds like you’re feeling better,” Alex said as she perused her menu. Maybe a hot roast beef sandwich, or the pancakes…
“Amazing what a ride’ll do for you,” Will replied.
“Been a while since you’ve been that shitfaced,” Alex observed. “What’s up?”
Will shrugged. “Nothing much. Just happens. I shouldn’t have started with the rye.” He looked over his menu.
“You do know better.”
“But the hangovers never last, not for me, anyway. You, on the other hand, are a lightweight.”
“At least I know it.” Alex stuck her tongue out at him and he glanced up in time to catch a glimpse.
“Don’t stick it out if you aren’t going to use it,” he warned, setting down his menu.
The tension between them snapped, and for the first time, Alex felt at a loss for words.
The waitress saved her. “What’ll you have?” She filled their coffee cups.
“Hot beef sandwich with fries, please,” Alex said.
“French toast, with the fruit, and the whipped cream, and bacon on the side. And thank you for this.” Will drained half his cup of coffee in two deep swallows. The waitress topped it up.
“Sure thing.”
The second cup went down slower, and Alex doctored hers with cream and sugar, sipping it slowly. The waitress came back again to top up Will’s coffee. He gave her a winning smile and her cheeks went pink.
“Always the charmer,” Alex said when she’d gone.
“If it gets me coffee, then hell, yes,” Will replied. “But she’s a sweetheart anyways.”
“You were an ass last night to Elly,” Alex said, “and she’s a sweetheart. You should apologize.”
“I don’t remember what I said,” Will replied, looking sheepish. Alex wondered. It had been a long time since Will had drunk himself into oblivion.
“Apologize anyway, even if you don’t remember.”
“That bad?”
“That bad.”
“You like her a lot, don’t you?”
The question surprised Alex. He’d never asked her that about any of the other people she’d been with.
“Yeah, I do. She’s pretty damn awesome.”
“And she’s a babe.”
“She is that.” Alex grinned.
“Not like Heather at all, then?” Will noted, sipping his coffee.
Alex stiffened. “They’re all like Heather eventually.” Wanting more than she was willing to give, and then when she did, cheating on her. Heather had sworn up and down and sideways that Alex was the only one for her, and she was the one Alex could count on. Alex had believed her and had paid for it.
Their food came and Will dug in like a starving man. They ate in companionable silence. When their bill came, Alex pushed it to the side of Will’s plate. He glanced at it and pulled out his wallet, put down a twenty, then rose.
“Ready to race?”
Alex stood. “When am I not?” She scooped up her helmet and they headed back to the bikes.
“Up to Longview, or do you want to go east instead?”
“Let’s do Longview. It’s prettier. And closer to home.” Alex straddled her bike and pulled on her helmet.
“Last one to the café there buys coffee,” Will said, giving her a cheeky grin.
“You’re on.”
*
Neither of them won.
An RCMP vehicle pulled out onto the highway behind them, curtailing any thoughts of racing, though both she and Will pushed the bikes right to the speed limit. She tapped her gloved fingers on the handlebars, watching the cop in her side mirrors. The car showed no inclination to pass them and she resigned herself to doing the limit. Will was just ahead of her, close to the center line, and they stayed in formation until they hit Longview and pulled off into the tiny parking lot of the café. The RCMP officer went right on by, though he turn
ed to give them one last look as he passed.
“Stupid cop,” Will said, hooking his helmet over the handlebar and running his fingers through his flattened blond hair.
“I’ll buy you coffee anyway,” Alex said, “since you bought breakfast.”
“You’re the best, babe.” Will hooked his arm over her shoulders and leaned in for a kiss. He tasted of coffee and pancake syrup, his lips warm. She felt the light stubble brush her skin. It startled her into awareness and she felt a twinge of guilt. She broke off the kiss, but gently. She hadn’t made any promises to Elly, had she? And it was Will, her Will.
“Pity there isn’t a hotel here,” Will said, giving her another brief kiss.
Alex snorted and ducked out from under his arm. “I’d be late for work then, knowing you.” She mounted the wooden stairs and pulled open the door.
“It’d be worth it,” Will said as he came up behind her, following her in.
“Derek would give me shit.”
“We’ll write you a doctor’s note,” Will quipped. “He’ll take that, wouldn’t he?” He mimed writing. “Dr. Will prescribed several hours of TLC for Alexandra Bellerose, necessitating her lateness to work.”
“TLC? Is that what you’re calling it now?” Alex went to the counter and ordered their coffees.
“Dr. Will always speaks in euphemisms,” Will said, sliding around her to pick up his coffee cup. He took it over to the sugar and cream. “Derek wouldn’t go for it if I said crazy shagging.”
“That would give it away.” Alex laughed, but inside she didn’t feel the thrill Will’s words used to inspire. She was tired today. Last night had been a late one and she hadn’t slept as well as she usually did. Her brain just wouldn’t shut off, bringing up memories of Heather, and of her childhood. She shouldn’t have dredged that up, shouldn’t have said anything to Elly about it.
Will headed out to the small patio, to a table in the sun, and she followed. She was reading too much into all this. Elly was a friend. A good one, like Will was.
*
Elly’s phone vibrated against the coffee table as she got ready for work and she hurried from the bathroom, letting her hair fall around her face, the clip still in her hand.
“Jack?”
“Did you say yes to Hamilton?” Jack asked, not even bothering to say hello.
“What?” She hadn’t expected that question.
“Did you tell Hamilton you’d sell him the farm?”
“No. I told him I had to think about things and I’d get back to him.” Elly puzzled over Jack’s questions. “I wouldn’t make that kind of decision on a whim. You know that.”
“He’s been in town, acting like his company’s going to buy it,” Jack said. “That it was a done deal.”
“It’s nowhere near done,” Elly replied. “He’s made an offer.”
“What did he offer?”
Elly paused. It really was none of Jack’s business. “Until I can get the place valued, I’ll keep it to myself.”
“How much?” Jack persisted.
“Enough.”
“Right.” Jack hung up.
Elly stared at her phone, then set it down on the coffee table. She turned on her computer and looked up Realtors online, finding one in Cardston. When she called the woman, Noreen Perrers, she explained what she needed.
“We’ll get the valuation for you, and we can list the property almost immediately afterward.”
“I always just thought the tax assessed value was the right one,” Elly said.
“No, not at all. Market value, especially on farmland, is usually much higher. You can rely on me. I knew your parents, back when. We went to the same school.”
“I’m still not sure I want to sell,” Elly confided.
“It’s family land,” Noreen replied. She sounded sympathetic. “It’s always a hard decision to make. Can you come down to our office next week? We can figure out then what you want to do for certain.”
“I will. Maybe Wednesday?” Elly couldn’t remember if she had that day off, but she thought she might.
“I’ll pencil you in,” Noreen said.
After ending their conversation, Elly sat back on the sofa. She had just under a week to make her decision, one way or another. The blank, off-white walls of the apartment stared back at her and a wave of homesickness overtook her. She wanted to be back at the farm, on the old couch there, curled up under her quilt, looking out the window and over the fields, hearing the birds in the hedge instead of traffic going by, or looking at the hodgepodge of pictures on the walls, the photos and notes stuck to the corkboard with little plastic pushpins. It wouldn’t be the same anywhere else.
*
Parry’s was busy enough that Elly hardly had time to think, much less ruminate over her troubles. She was working with Charity and another server, but Charity was a mess, forgetting orders and, once, misbalancing an entire tray of pop glasses, sending them crashing to the red tile floor by the dish sink. At that, she covered her face with her hands and hurried into the back. Elly helped the dishwasher clean up the mess, then went out, taking care of Charity’s few tables as well as her own.
Derek came to help almost half an hour later, swooping in and taking over Charity’s section.
“Is she okay?” Elly asked when they had a quiet moment, waiting for orders to come up from the kitchen.
“She will be,” Derek said. “She just needs a bit of time to pull herself together.”
“But to cry over spilled pop?”
“She’ll be fine,” Derek said, snagging the two pasta dishes as they were set onto the counter. Elly took out the orders of hamburgers and fries, and a Caesar salad, to her table. As she headed back with dirty dishes, she heard a belligerent male voice.
“Where is she?”
Elly put down her dishes and followed the sound out to the hostess stand, where a tall, thickly built man stood. He might have been attractive, but he scowled at the hostess, his dark eyes narrowed, his thick hands resting on the top of the desk. Shay shrank back.
“Who are you looking for?” Elly asked, stepping up beside Shay. The girl was barely sixteen, a child compared to the guy glowering at her.
“Charity. Where is she?”
“Who are you?” Elly countered. She’d never seen him before.
“Her boyfriend,” the man retorted.
Elly weighed her options. She could tell him Charity was here, but she was already upset enough, and an angry boyfriend would make things worse. He might be the reason they were worse in the first place.
“I’ll go see if I can find her,” Elly replied. “If you’ll just sit there on the bench so we can seat the people behind you…”
The man turned and saw the couple who waited, looking concerned but patient. He grunted and shuffled over to the seat Elly had indicated.
“Shay, let me know if you need anything,” Elly said in a low voice.
“I’ll be okay.” Shay’s lips trembled, but she made a noticeable effort to contain her worry.
“You sure?”
At Shay’s nod, Elly went back into the restaurant, into the back, following Charity’s path. Upstairs, in the employees’ area, she found Charity sitting in one of the old, rickety restaurant chairs, her knees pulled up to her chest.
“You all right?” she asked, dropping to a squat in front of Charity when she didn’t look up. “What happened?”
Charity sniffled and wiped her eyes. “It’s nothing.”
“There’s a guy here asking for you,” Elly said gently.
Charity stiffened and her reddened eyes widened. “Big guy?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not here. Tell him I’m not here.” Charity shivered.
“He said he’s your boyfriend.”
“Was,” Charity corrected. “I broke up with him, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He keeps calling me.”
“Did you call the cops?” Elly asked.
“No. Don’t know what they’d do
, anyway.”
“If he’s threatening you—”
Charity shuddered. “He just won’t leave me alone. He’s never been violent, but he just can’t seem to accept that it’s over.”
“I’ll get Derek, we’ll throw him out,” Elly said. Charity wiped her eyes again, and Elly wanted to march her ex-boyfriend out of the restaurant herself, or throw him out physically.
Charity nodded. “Thank you.”
“But you have to call the cops,” Elly said. “What if he gets worse?”
“He’ll go away eventually.”
“That’s not much of a guarantee. Call the cops, Char.”
“I will.” Charity pulled out her phone. “One of the guys over at the local precinct comes in here for lunch sometimes. I’ll call him.”
“Good.” Elly rose and leaned over to give Charity a hug. “Stay up here as long as you need to, okay?”
At Charity’s nod, Elly went back downstairs and found Derek. “He needs to leave,” she said, indicating the burly man still waiting in the entryway.
“You think I can manage to throw him out if he doesn’t want to go?” Derek looked incredulous.
“Derek, that’s your job,” Elly pointed out. “The well-being of your staff.”
“Yeah, but he’s freaking huge.” Derek ran a hand through his gray hair, mussing it. “Maybe Eric can give me a hand.”
Elly glanced back out into the entryway and saw a police car pull up.
“Or maybe that cop can help you,” she said, nudging Derek.
The cop pulled open the door and strode up to the hostess stand. Elly went out to meet him.
“Hey, I’m Officer Fleming,” he said.
“Charity’s friend?” Elly asked, keeping her voice low so it wouldn’t carry to the man waiting.
“Yeah. She here?”
“In the back, but she’s scared of that guy there.” Elly nodded to the man sitting. The officer frowned.
“Right.” He went over to the man. “Sir, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“I’m waiting for my girl,” the man said, crossing his arms.
“Well, she’s not waiting for you.” Officer Fleming waited a moment. “Come on, let’s go. I don’t want to have to ask again.”
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