Queenie's Cafe

by SUE FINEMAN

“You just did,” he whispered before kissing her again.

  An overwhelming wave of emotion surged through him. Whatever else happened, he couldn’t let Earl touch Laura again.

  Chapter Ten

  Laura napped off and on, zonked out from the pain pills. As long as she rested, her shoulder felt better. She needed time to heal, but she’d never been idle like this. She didn’t know quite what to do with herself, except sit in Luke’s comfortable recliner, flipping stations on the television, looking for something worth watching. Semi-naked people screaming at each other didn’t appeal to her at all, and the soaps didn’t make sense. She didn’t know those people or what had happened up to this point. Who had time to watch this stuff when they were working all day and half the night? Most days she didn’t have time to watch the news.

  Barbara’s house was the biggest, nicest home she’d ever seen. The master bedroom suite alone was bigger than the apartment Laura and her father had shared. There were two other bedrooms, each with its own bath, Luke’s room and the guest room she was using.

  She found an office tucked behind the dining room. It looked well-equipped, with a computer, fax machine and copier. She’d never used a computer except in school, and that wasn’t much, since the school only had three or four of them. A window seat overlooked the lawn in back of the house. Very nice. If she ever had a house of her own, she wanted a window seat like that one.

  She loved the well-designed, spacious kitchen. The large living room had a kick-your-shoes-off kind of charm. A tan sectional wrapped around two sides of the room, separating the living room from the dining room and entry. A big-screen TV anchored the corner of the room, with two comfortable recliners in easy viewing distance. Colorful needlepoint throw pillows adorned the sectional, and the big round coffee table looked like it was meant to prop your feet on. A wall of sliding windows across the back opened to a covered patio surrounded by beautiful flowers. She saw gardenias, azaleas, hibiscus, roses, and others she couldn’t name.

  Laura walked outside. The grass looked lush and green, the flower beds neatly tended. They probably hired someone to take care of it for them. Luke wasn’t here enough to do it himself, and she couldn’t picture Barbara mowing all this grass.

  Except for that miserable heat spell a few days ago and an occasional thunderstorm, this was a beautiful time of year. It wasn’t too hot today, only around eighty or so. Laura sat in a deck chair and leaned her head back. It felt good to rest like this, even with the pain in her shoulder.

  She tried not to think about the café. Luke said Judy was taking care of the management chores, ordering supplies, and tracking the daily receipts. Surprisingly, business continued to grow. Laura had mixed feelings about that. She wanted the café to be a success, but she wanted to do it herself. Although she thought of Queenie less and less these days, her words still stung. Laura wasn’t lazy and she could run that place a whole lot better than Queenie ever had.

  Closing her eyes, she let the peace and quiet soothe her spirit. She was nearly asleep when a cold, wet nose touched her hand. The black lab’s tail wagged so hard her whole behind wagged with it.

  “Well, hi there. What’s your name?”

  “Molly,” came a voice from behind her. “And I’m Carlos. I work for Luke and Barbara. You must be Laura.”

  A short, stocky man with brown skin and deep wrinkles around his brown eyes walked in front of her. He wore jeans and boots and a wide-brimmed straw hat, and he had a gun belt strapped around his waist.

  “You know about me?”

  “Luke asked me to keep an eye on the place, make sure his old man doesn’t show up.”

  “What if he does?”

  Carlos grinned and patted the gun at his side. “I’ll shoot him.”

  “Shoot him?”

  “Oh, I won’t kill him. Luke wants to do that himself.” His eyes twinkled. He was teasing, trying to put her at ease.

  Carlos pulled a weed from the flower bed.

  “Do you take care of this place?” she asked.

  “On the outside. My wife keeps house.”

  “Where do you live?”

  He pointed to a little house across the field.

  “Kids?”

  “Eight. Grown and gone.”

  “We did it backwards in my family. Dad left and I stayed.” Dad couldn’t wait to get out of Kingston. He’d been miserable there, yet he didn’t seem to mind leaving his only child behind. She wondered if he would have stayed if Queenie had left the motel and café to him. With the life insurance money, he could have fixed up the businesses himself instead of taking on a partner. If he’d stayed in Kingston, they could have done it together.

  Carlos rubbed Molly’s head. “If you need me, use the phone. My cell phone number is programmed into every phone in the house. I’ll be around.” Carlos threw Molly’s ball and walked away. Molly snatched the ball out of mid-air and followed Carlos, tail wagging.

  Luke and Barbara had not only given her a safe place to recuperate, they’d come up with a way to keep Queenie’s open, and they’d left her with a bodyguard. The friendly dog was more likely to lick someone to death than bite them, and she doubted Carlos would shoot anyone, but she felt safer with them around.

  She’d feel safer with a rattlesnake than with Earl Windsor.

  <>

  Luke worked on the plans for the motel remodel and had the plans professionally drawn up so he could take care of the necessary permits and paperwork. There would be fifteen apartments in all, including the manager’s, which they planned to gut. When finished, that apartment would include Florence’s old room. The others would all have one bedroom, with the exception of the one in the right corner in the back, which would have two bedrooms. Rusty and Morris were good friends who spent a lot of time together. They agreed to share an apartment as long as they each had their own bedroom.

  The motel was an upside-down U shape, with a row of rooms across the front and another across the back. The manager’s apartment was on the left side, with Florence’s room behind it. A little breezeway went straight back, separating the manager’s apartment and that one room from the main building. There was a laundry room and small storage area off the breezeway. On the right side, another breezeway ran out to the side, separating four rooms, including Queenie’s old room, from the main building. There was a big storage room with an ice machine off that breezeway. The ice machine wouldn’t be needed when the apartments were finished. It didn’t work anyway.

  The old motel was situated behind Queenie’s Café, so you had to drive past the café to get to it. Queenie’s sat on the right side of the parking lot, with the door facing the parking lot. There was room for parking big trucks between the café and street. The asphalt in the parking lot had been patched so many times, it looked like a patchwork quilt, a little like the roofs on both buildings. It had to be torn out and replaced.

  There was very little in the way of landscaping around the buildings. With the hot sun reflecting off all that asphalt, plants couldn’t survive no matter how much they were watered. The reflected heat probably increased the air-conditioning bills, too.

  Luke didn’t have a signed contract with Laura yet, but they did have a verbal agreement. He called his attorney, Billy Berkley, and had the papers drawn up. He thought about giving her fifty-one percent, but that wouldn’t be fair to the corporation. If she ever sold her interest in it, he didn’t know who he’d end up having to deal with. He didn’t want to take a chance on someone else having a controlling interest, not with all the money he was sinking into this project.

  He took the papers out to the ranch and explained each clause to Laura. “You’ll have an equal share in the property, the businesses, and the profits. We expect you to draw a salary for the hours you work. Profits come on top of all the expenses, including your salary.”

  Her eyes widened. “You mean I can pay myself?”

  “Of course you can pay yourself. You’ll have to pay your own health insurance, but we�
��ve negotiated a good rate on behalf of all our partners.”

  “Queenie never paid me. She expected me to work for nothing. Dad paid me what he could, but it wasn’t much. All I made at the café was tips.”

  Luke wondered why her father let her work in the café in the first place, especially when she was a kid. “We’ll have to sign the papers in front of a notary. Billy is busy for a few days, so we’ll go to the bank in Vero Beach tomorrow morning and get it done.”

  “Okay.”

  “Are you sure this is what you want, Laura?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure.”

  He knew it was the right thing to do, the best thing for Laura and for Kingston. The café would be more successful after the motel had been converted to apartments, the buildings painted and roofed, the parking lot repaved, and some landscaping put in. Appearance said something about a business and the community, and right now this place screamed poverty and neglect.

  <>

  After the papers were signed and notarized the next morning, Luke applied for the permits to change the motel into apartments. He sat down with the King County building inspector and, using the plans he’d brought, explained what they wanted to do. “We have no plans to change the footprint of the existing buildings. We’ll redo the parking lot and roof, paint, add some landscaping, and spruce up the outside, including Queenie’s Café. We’ll probably want to add on to the café at some future point, but for right now, we’re only working on the motel.”

  Luke had just finished filling out the paperwork for the permit when he saw Frank Fosdick walk past the office door. Frank had a lot of political influence with the county, and Luke wanted to make sure the man didn’t give them any problems with the motel renovations. He handed in the paperwork and sprinted after Frank.

  After Luke explained what he and Laura planned to do with the motel, Frank said, “No way. That dump needs to be torn down.”

  Luke lowered his voice. “Does your wife know what you do on Tuesday nights?”

  Frank glared at Luke, but a flicker of fear in his eyes betrayed his bravado. “What do you want from me?”

  “Lay off Laura Whitfield and don’t interfere with our plans. If you don’t, I’ll have a little talk with your wife.”

  Luke walked away, knowing he’d won the battle. Frank’s wife had the controlling interest in the bank he managed. Frank didn’t want Laura to renovate anything, but he wouldn’t risk his marriage or his job or his political career to stop her.

  When Frank had brought him to the King of the Road Motel the first time, the day he’d tried to talk Laura into selling, he’d talked about what a nice piece of property it would be after the motel and café had been torn out. Frank didn’t see the potential, therefore there wasn’t any.

  <>

  Rusty and Morris moved to the rooms nearest the manager’s apartment. Jay and his crew moved the furniture out of the rooms on the right and tore out the old carpet. They ripped out bathrooms, added closets and doors, and replaced the single-pane windows with insulated double-panes. They replaced the old air-conditioning units with new, energy efficient ones. Since there were no major structural changes, the work went quickly.

  Luke found a roofer, but he had a full schedule. His crew wouldn’t get to the motel and café for another month.

  He used the motel office to make phone calls and schedule deliveries. The project was moving along right on schedule when Bruce Whitfield called.

  “Who’s this? Where’s Laura?”

  “This is Luke Windsor. Didn’t Laura call you?”

  “About what?”

  “She’s staying at my mother’s ranch for a few weeks. I’ll ask her to call you.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  Laura should have called him. Now Luke didn’t have any choice but to tell Bruce himself. “Laura was here by herself one night and someone attacked her. He tried to rape her, but she fought him off.”

  “Is she all right?”

  “She has a separated shoulder and a hairline fracture, but it’s healing. My mother and her friends are running the café until she comes back.”

  “Aw, shit! Who did it?”

  “My old man, Earl Windsor. I wanted to beat the shit out of him, but she won’t let me, so we’re doing it another way.”

  “Your father?”

  “Don’t worry about Earl. Someone is with Laura at all times and we’ve got special plans for him. He’ll be sorry he ever touched her.”

  “If you don’t take care of him, I will,” Bruce muttered, and Luke knew how he felt.

  Luke changed the subject. “Bruce, Laura signed a partnership agreement with my corporation. We’re working on the motel now.”

  A deep sigh came through the line. “I wish she’d called me about the attack, not that I could do anything from here.”

  “I’ll ask her to call you tonight. I won’t tell you not to worry, because I know you will.”

  “Damn right I will.”

  “How do you like it there?”

  “We hate it. We’re going to sell out and move on.”

  “Do you need a job? Laura can’t manage the apartments and run the café at the same time.”

  Bruce hesitated briefly before responding. “Laura owns the motel, and I don’t want to interfere in this partnership arrangement.”

  “You won’t. If it doesn’t work out here, I’ll help you find something else. I’ve got several business deals in the works and we can always use good people.” Luke had a lot of contacts in Florida. The least he could do for Laura was help her father find a decent job.

  If Laura’s parents had been closer, they could have helped her the night she was attacked. She needed a support system, and Luke wouldn’t be around forever. When he finished with this project, he’d move on to the next one, and she’d be here alone again.

  Why did that thought make him feel so down?

  <>

  Luke returned to the ranch and insisted Laura call her father. “He’s worried about you, Laura. He wanted to know why you weren’t there, and I had to tell him about Earl.”

  Laura groaned. What could she tell him? That she’d messed up big time, that she’d let the wrong person in after hours? That she’d let him in the apartment? That she’d almost lost everything because she did something stupid?

  “He’s ready to kill Earl. He said if I didn’t take care of the problem, he would.”

  She gave him a sideways glance. “What is this macho thing men have with revenge?”

  “You don’t want revenge?”

  “Of course I do. I just don’t want to have to clean up the mess. No blood, Luke. And I don’t want to have to bail you or my dad out of jail.”

  He pointed to the bedroom. “Go call your father.”

  Laura went into her bedroom and made the phone call. Dad answered on the second ring. He sounded breathless. “Laura, are you all right?”

  “I’ll be fine. The doctor said it’ll take a little time for my shoulder to heal, but I’ll be all right. How are things there?”

  “Not good. We’re thinking of selling out and moving on.”

  “Why don’t you come back to Kingston, Dad?”

  “I don’t know, Laura. Luke said we could manage the new apartments, but Florence doesn’t want to hang around there and embarrass you.”

  “That’s crazy.” Was that the reason they left Kingston? “Tell her I want you both to come back.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell her.”

  “Dad? Do you know someone named Hank?”

  He hesitated before answering. “Where’d you come across that name?”

  “In some of Queenie’s things.”

  “What else did you find?”

  “An old photo album. The pictures are mostly of Queenie. There are some pictures of the motel and diner in there, too. Next time you come, you should look at it.”

  They talked a little longer before Laura hung up. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hand still on the phone. She di
dn’t tell him about the tape, and he didn’t tell her who Hank was. Did he know? Maybe it was an old boyfriend of Queenie’s, someone she knew before she met Dad.

  <>

  Florence walked inside and put her unused bait back in the cooler. “Who was that on the phone? A customer?”

  “No, it was Laura. She... Earl Windsor attacked her after work the other night. He tried to rape her.”

  Florence’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, dear God. It’s all my fault.”

  Bruce stood to face her. “Why is it your fault?”

  “I asked him to help her with new flooring for the café, but I never thought... Is she all right?”

  “She hurt her shoulder, but her new partner and his friends are running things while she heals.”

  Florence blamed herself. If she hadn’t made that phone call to Earl, this wouldn’t have happened. “What new partner?”

  “Luke Windsor and his mother, Barbara Snowden, the woman who won all that money in the lottery a few years back. They have a company that helps small businesses, mostly restaurants. Anyway, they’re turning the motel into apartments, and they want me to come back and run it for them.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, Bruce.”

  He took her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “Laura needs a mother, Florence. She’s not ashamed of you. You can help her in the café if you want, but I don’t want you to go back to what you were doing.”

  “Are you sure that’s what she wants?”

  “She said, ‘I want you both to come back.’ Oh, she found something about Hank in Queenie’s things.”

  “Why on earth would she... Oh, no! Does she know about—”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Florence dropped into the nearest chair. “I thought it was over now that Queenie was dead.”

  “It is over.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears. Let’s get this place spruced up and see if we can get some of that money back.”

  Her baby girl needed her mama.

  Going along with Queenie’s demands had been a huge mistake, one that changed all their lives. If she had it to do over again, she would have gotten in her car and driven away, with or without Bruce. She should have kept her baby girl away from Queenie and away from that damn café.