Brenda Novak

by Home to Whiskey Creek

  “She knows?”

  He wanted to admit that he suspected she did, but bit his tongue. “The guy was wearing a mask. I guess that makes it pretty difficult.”

  “I would think so,” she said. “But it is a little weird that he’d take her to the mine.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She seemed reluctant to answer, but when he cocked an eyebrow as if demanding she explain, she continued. “We got a note once, not too long after we buried Cody.”

  He sat up straighter. He’d never heard this before. “From who?”

  “No idea. It was anonymous.”

  “What’d it say?”

  She seemed to want to tell him. The words, whatever they were going to be, almost came out. But his father walked through the front door at that moment.

  “Hey,” he called out, “don’t tell me my son has actually deigned to visit his old man.”

  “Mom?” Noah whispered, prompting her before Brent could reach the kitchen.

  She sent a furtive glance over his head. They had a minute or two while his father put away his clubs, but that didn’t seem to matter. “It was nothing,” she said. “Just...one of those things like a...a crank call where someone tries to torment a bereaved family.”

  “Someone tried to torment us? With what? And who would do such a thing?” No one had ever mistreated him or Cody. His parents, either, as far as he knew. His father didn’t have any political enemies. He was probably the most popular mayor the town had ever had. He hadn’t been mayor back then, anyway.

  “It was nothing,” she said again. “I don’t want to upset your father by bringing up the past. So don’t tell him I mentioned it, okay?”

  He didn’t get the chance to answer. She turned back to her cooking, as if they hadn’t been discussing anything important, the second Brent walked into the room.

  17

  The next few days weren’t easy, despite the fact that Addy didn’t have to face any of the men she wanted to avoid. She got up and went to the restaurant Monday morning, as planned. She did the same on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and worked late each night. There were a lot of things she saw there that she wanted to change. At odd moments, when she looked at the surroundings she’d loved growing up, she even felt a sense of creative excitement. After everything she’d learned in culinary school and working for the Kingsdales, she could do so much to update and improve the restaurant.

  But Luanne had known what she was talking about when she tried to warn Addy that there might be trouble with Darlene. Gran’s manager wasn’t overtly unfriendly, but she couldn’t quite hide her resentment. She liked having free rein over the restaurant, didn’t want Addy to question any of her policies or curtail her authority, especially since Addy had been little more than a child when she’d worked here before. Maybe Darlene had guessed that Addy wanted to get the restaurant ready to sell, because she was acting so proprietary, and that only made things harder.

  Addy couldn’t stop thinking about Noah, even though she hadn’t seen or heard from him since their night together. She still felt anxious leaving the house for fear of running into Kevin, Tom, Derek or Stephen. And, on Thursday, Gran came down with such a bad cold that she couldn’t get out of bed. Addy was worried that the infection would turn into pneumonia. On top of that, Darlene had chosen Thursday—just called at the last minute—to take a personal day, which made Addy angry. Gran’s manager had implied that her absence was a direct result of feeling as if she had someone looking over her shoulder all the time. No doubt she hoped Addy wouldn’t like bearing a hundred percent of the responsibility for the restaurant—that she’d give up and leave.

  But Addy wasn’t about to let Darlene win the power struggle between them. Whether Darlene wanted to acknowledge it or not, she didn’t own the place. She wasn’t even doing such a great job of managing it. Since she’d taken over, the restaurant was making less money than before. For one thing, they needed to raise their prices to keep up with the cost of food. It’d been a decade or more since Gran had overhauled the menu....

  Addy was pondering that change, and musing over her idea of adding some organic options, when a voice—far more familiar than she would’ve expected after so many years—sent chills down her spine.

  “We’ll sit over here in the corner, if that’s okay. And if you can tell her we’d like a word, that would be great.”

  Leaving her post at the back desk, Addy went to peek over the saloon-type doors leading into the dining area. Derek Rodriguez was strolling across the restaurant. Noelle Arnold, who’d gone back to her maiden name, was with him. When Addy noticed Luanne coming toward the kitchen, she knew without having to be told that she was the person they’d asked for.

  “He has some nerve,” she mumbled. Addy had been thinking a lot about what Derek had asked Noelle to pass on. What was that business about having her pose almost-naked in a baseball uniform? A cruel joke? A veiled threat? Maybe he was taunting her about the fact that he’d gotten away with what he’d done. It was even possible he thought she’d welcome the reminder. She’d learned in her counseling sessions that some rapists justified their actions by convincing themselves that their victims asked for what they got, or at least enjoyed it.

  The crazy thing was that Derek hadn’t seemed like a bad kid when he was a teenager. None of them had seemed like bad kids. They were the popular crowd, the boys most likely to succeed—not be brought up on sexual assault charges.

  Luanne touched her arm. “Did you hear me?”

  Addy stared at her, drawing herself out of the past. “You said Derek and Noelle want to say hello.”

  Pausing as she slipped her order pad into the pocket of her apron, Luanne gave her a funny look. “That’s right.”

  Suddenly, she was grateful Darlene wasn’t around. One battle at a time, she told herself, and proceeded into the dining room. She regretted giving Kevin the pleasure of seeing how deeply he affected her and didn’t plan to make the same mistake with Derek. The only way to maintain some power in this situation was to pretend she’d gotten over the incident completely.

  She needed to take charge and stop being a victim—as much as that was possible.

  “Hi, Noelle.” She forced a smile for Olivia’s sister as she came up to the table. Then she turned to Derek. “And you are...”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you remember me?”

  She adopted a baffled expression as Luanne brought some water. “I’m afraid not.”

  “Derek. Derek Rodriguez. I used to play on the baseball team.”

  “He’s the one who bought you the necklace I dropped off after that terrible experience you had in the mine,” Noelle volunteered.

  The necklace she’d thrown away as soon as she’d learned. Sensing that he might bring up the party in order to jog her memory, she pretended to have figured out who he was. “Oh! Right. I remember you now. Vaguely.” She wrinkled her nose. “Have you put on weight or—”

  “I’ve put on at least twenty pounds—all of it muscle.” He flexed his arms to prove it, obviously proud of the work he’d put in at the gym.

  “If you say so.” She turned her attention back to Noelle. “Luanne said you wanted to see me?”

  “Derek would like to recruit you for that modeling job I told you about. Isn’t that cool?”

  Could he really be that obtuse? Or was he trying to torment her?

  It had to be the latter.

  “I’m afraid I don’t have any time for modeling.”

  “That’s too bad.” He gave her a taunting smile. “Even at night?”

  Especially at night. She wasn’t going anywhere near him, and certainly not in private. “Sorry.”

  He clicked his tongue. “I’m looking for just one more, and you’d be perfect. You’re much prettier than you were in high school.”

  “Am I supposed to thank you for that comment?” she asked dryly.

  “I’m just being honest,” he said with a laugh.

  “He has
to be objective,” Noelle explained. “Like the judges on The X Factor when they tell those singers not to quit their day jobs. Anyway, it’s not like he said you look worse. I’d be pissed if he said that to me.”

  “You’re a real stunner these days,” he said, winking at Addy. “And I’d love to have you in the calendar. I think maybe it’s time we were friends.”

  “Friends?” she repeated.

  Although Addy couldn’t see any reason she should, Noelle seemed to adore him. “He’s a great photographer,” she gushed. “Without him I wouldn’t even be in modeling. Didn’t you go to that link I gave you?”

  Addy swallowed hard. “I did.”

  “And? What’d you think?”

  Anger, maybe even hatred, seemed to be getting the best of Addy. Taking care of Gran didn’t mean she had to socialize with one of her attackers, or even Noelle. She resented that Derek had used Noelle to trick her with that necklace, knew he probably found it funny that she’d been wearing it. “Posing naked is not my thing. But I wish you well with it.”

  She started to walk off, but Derek’s next words made her freeze.

  “This isn’t about what happened at graduation, is it?”

  A jolt of panic sent Adelaide’s pulse racing. Had he just referred to the rape in the middle of the restaurant as if it was no big deal?

  Acutely conscious of Noelle’s presence, Addy scrambled to defuse the situation. “As far as I’m concerned, nothing happened at graduation, so I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

  “Glad to hear it. I was hoping you didn’t have any hard feelings, because that was all in fun, you know? Kevin just mentioned it to me last night. We were so shitfaced we didn’t know what the hell we were doing.”

  “That’s how you both remember it?” Addy asked. With Noelle looking curiously between the two of them, she was crazy to make the situation any more remarkable than it already was, but she was so shocked she couldn’t help it.

  He waved a hand. “It’s mostly a blur to us. But I remember how excited you were to be there, how badly you wanted our attention.”

  Addy’s ears were ringing so loudly she almost couldn’t hear. He’d held her down. He’d taken his turn. He couldn’t simply excuse that by laughing it off and saying he was “shitfaced.”

  Frowning in confusion, Noelle took a sip of her water. “I don’t think I was at that party.”

  “Naw, you were too young,” he told her. “But you would’ve liked it.”

  “So what happened?”

  “What didn’t happen?” He looked to Addy for confirmation, then whistled and shook his head.

  A drop of sweat rolled down Addy’s back even though she wasn’t remotely warm. She was holding herself too rigidly, but she couldn’t relax. “Cody Rackham lost his life as a direct consequence of that party. I guess I don’t remember it as fondly as you do,” she said, and walked away.

  Her emphasis on “direct” was probably the closest she’d ever come to admitting she’d had a hand, however inadvertently, in Cody’s death. But she desperately wanted Derek to know that the consequences of their actions hadn’t been minimal, as he pretended to believe. That rape had cost them their beloved leader, their most admired friend. It had cost Noah his twin brother. They couldn’t shrug that off, even if they could shrug off how badly they’d hurt and traumatized her.

  “Let me know if you change your mind about the calendar,” he called after her.

  * * *

  Because Gran was sick, Addy didn’t feel she could stay late, but with Darlene gone, she couldn’t leave early, either. Carla, the assistant manager, had opened at eight and gone home at five. She was a single mom with two kids. It wasn’t fair to ask her to pay for extra child care when Darlene had done the scheduling and had slotted herself to close—and then decided to take the day off.

  At five-thirty Addy called home and couldn’t get an answer, so she tried Darlene’s number. She was hoping to get her to come in for a few hours, so she could check on Gran and see that she had some dinner.

  “It’s Adelaide,” she said when she had Darlene on the phone. “I was wondering if you’d taken care of whatever you needed to do today. Gran’s sick, so I’d like a couple of hours tonight.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t help you, Addy. I never dreamed you wouldn’t be able to cover the whole day. I thought it would be the perfect time for me to take care of a few things here.”

  The “perfect time” would be on her regular days off. She had two a week. But Addy didn’t say so. Darlene had been around a long time. Addy was still hoping they’d work out their differences. She hadn’t even approached Gran about selling yet. “I was more than happy to fill in and give you a break, but that was yesterday, before Gran got sick. She was fine a little while ago, but now she’s not answering. I really need to get over there and make sure she’s okay.”

  “The waitresses know what they’re doing. Just put Luanne in charge while you’re gone.”

  Was that what she did? Did she come and go at her leisure, leaving the restaurant without a manager on duty? Addy could see doing that midafternoon, maybe—but this time of day? They were always busy at dinner. “What if Gran needs me to stay with her? Who’ll close and take the receipts to the bank?”

  “Whoever you trust enough to do that, I guess. I’m afraid I can’t help.”

  Besides referring to some nebulous “things” she had to do, she had yet to say why. Addy didn’t want to assume the worst, but she got the feeling that Darlene was taking pleasure in her predicament, as if she saw it as payback because Addy had involved herself in the restaurant. Darlene clearly felt she had no right—even though she had every right.

  “Okay, I’ll have to do what I have to do, but...I wonder what you would’ve done if I wasn’t here.”

  “Fortunately, you are here, and you love being at the restaurant.”

  Addy stiffened at her flippant tone. “Actually, I do.”

  The ensuing pause was fraught with resentment.

  “Is something wrong?” Addy asked.

  “Does Milly know she’s not in charge anymore?” Darlene replied.

  “She is in charge, as much as she’s capable of being in charge. I would never take that from her. I’m just here to do what she can’t.”

  “We’ve been getting along fine. You realize that.”

  Addy sat up taller. “You mean without me?”

  Darlene quickly improved her tone. “You don’t have to disrupt your whole life on our account. We have our routine, and we’re good at it.”

  In other words, butt out. Addy heard that loud and clear.

  “Milly still trusts me, doesn’t she?” Darlene was saying. “I’ve given that restaurant twenty years of my life.”

  “Of course. We both trust you. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be some changes.”

  “What kind of changes are we talking about?”

  “I haven’t completely decided. I’d like to discuss my ideas with Gran first.”

  “You’ve been gone for thirteen years, Addy.”

  “So?”

  She could tell Darlene knew better than to say more, but was too frustrated to stop. “If you cared so much about Milly, why didn’t you come back before now?”

  Addy stood up so fast she hit the desk drawer with her thighs, but she ignored the brief flash of pain. Apparently, everything she’d sensed in Darlene, everything Luanne had warned her about, was accurate. Darlene had been good to her when she was a child, but she wasn’t willing to accept that now Addy was doing a little more than “helping out.”

  “Darlene, I’d like us to get along,” she said. “I have fond memories of you. But if you can’t cope with having me back, we’ll need to make other arrangements.”

  “Meaning...”

  Addy heard the shock in her voice. She hadn’t talked to Gran, wasn’t sure she should even make this statement. But she couldn’t tolerate insubordination, not if she planned to work at Just Like Mom’s—and she ha
d to, since Gran no longer could. Darlene had obviously grown far too comfortable with being in charge. “I think you know what that means.”

  “Everything’s fine at the restaurant, Addy. I don’t see why you have to come in and take over.”

  “You don’t have to see.”

  The resulting silence was openly hostile.

  “Are you going to be able to adjust?” Addy continued, pressing her sudden and very slight advantage. “Or do I have to let you go?”

  “I’ve worked at that restaurant for two decades! Milly would never let you fire me!” she cried, and hung up.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Addy had dropped the phone and was resting her forehead on one fist. At the sound of Luanne’s voice, she glanced up, then stood. “Fine. But...could you keep an eye on things for a while? I have to go home and check on Gran.”

  “Of course.”

  She wrote her cell phone number on a Post-it and stuck it to the wall above the desk. “Call me if you need anything.”

  “Addy?”

  Adelaide had already started for the door. She was fighting tears. She didn’t want any of the employees to see her like this, but she wasn’t willing to be rude to someone who’d always been so nice to her.

  She was glad she’d turned back when Luanne took one look at her and hugged her tight. “Was that Darlene on the phone?”

  She nodded against the other woman’s temple, since she was so much taller.

  “She’s just feeling threatened, honey. Don’t let her upset you. I, for one, am glad you’re here.” She tightened her squeeze for emphasis. “Now...are you gonna be okay?”

  Addy nodded. “Of course. I’ve been through worse,” she said with a wobbly smile.

  * * *

  Gran was a lot better. That came as a relief. Addy kept in touch with Luanne at the restaurant but stayed home for a few hours, even after seeing that Gran had supper. She needed to go back to close, but Gran stopped her every time she got up to leave by asking for another game of cards. She was bored now that she couldn’t move around like she used to. She’d always been so strong, so dominant and energetic. But she was getting old. Addy wondered how her own mother could be so indifferent to the passing time. Didn’t she realize that Gran wouldn’t be around forever? Would she someday regret ignoring her greatest blessing?