Sissy slid into the booth, her cheeks flushed with excitement and her eyes shining. “I was telling Henrietta about last night’s rehearsal. I told her you said I was really, really good, and that I wanted to be an actress.”
“But didn’t I hear you also say that you wanted to move to New York with me?”
“Uh-huh.” Her expression turned anxious. “I wouldn’t be any trouble. I could help out with Angel and stuff.”
“Sissy, you’re still a young girl. You have to finish school. Maybe even go to college.”
“But why? There are kids in commercials and stuff at my age. I could pay my own way, so Henrietta wouldn’t have to.”
“I don’t think Henrietta minds. Besides, it’s not that simple. Even when you’re good, it takes time to get the right agent, to start getting jobs. It’s a tough life. You need time to be a teenager.”
Sissy regarded her with a steady, sad look. “I’m not a kid. I grew up a long time ago,” she said quietly.
“Oh, baby,” Heather said, reaching for her. “You’ve seen way too much, been through way too much, but you are still a kid. I don’t want you to squander what’s left of those years by putting too much pressure on yourself.”
Sissy’s lower lip trembled. “You don’t think I’m good enough, do you? You were just saying that.”
Heather held Sissy’s shoulders steady and stared straight into her eyes. “Absolutely not,” she told her emphatically. “You’re wonderful, really remarkable for someone with no training at all. But there’s no need to rush into this. Your talent isn’t going anywhere. It will just get better and better.”
“How? If you go back to New York, who’s going to show me?”
“Who said anything about me going back to New York?”
“You did. That night in the park you told me you were just here for a while.”
“Well, maybe I’ve changed my mind.”
Sissy regarded her hopefully. “Really? You’re not going away?”
Henrietta joined them just then, looking every bit as anxious to hear Heather’s reply as Sissy was.
“Not right away,” Heather said carefully, not wanting to make a promise she couldn’t keep. Her talk with Todd the night before had given her hope, and a very good reason to consider postponing her return to a life that, despite the occasional acting job, had been nothing but a struggle.
“Then you’ll do lots of plays?” Sissy asked. “And I can be in all of them?”
Heather laughed at her eagerness. “Let’s just get through Oklahoma! before we start thinking about the next play, okay?” She gave Sissy a fierce hug. “I promise you this, though. When the time is right, if this is something you still want, I will do everything in my power to see that you make the right connections.”
Sissy’s eyes shone. “Really?”
“It’s a promise.”
“And Heather never breaks a promise,” Todd said quietly, slipping into the booth opposite them, his gaze locked with hers. “Isn’t that right?”
“Never.”
“Thank you,” Henrietta mouthed silently as she gave Heather’s shoulder a squeeze. Then she clapped her hands together. “Okay, you two, let’s get moving. Sissy, fill those salt and pepper shakers. Heather, I’ll bring the napkin holders over for you to fill while you talk to Todd.”
She moved off briskly, leaving Heather to face Todd, who was regarding her with an odd expression.
“What?” she demanded.
“You. You’re fitting right in here, aren’t you? Taking on the world’s problems, just the way you always did.”
“Is there something wrong with that? Aren’t we put on this earth to try to make a difference?”
“I know that’s what you believe,” he agreed. “I just thought you were dead-set on being a big-city girl.”
“I’ve recently discovered that there are certain perks to being part of a small town. I never appreciated that growing up, but now it’s nice having a support system, seeing friends every day, instead of once a month for a quick lunch. Even in a few weeks, I feel more connected here than I ever did in New York. You must feel the same way or you wouldn’t have stayed here, even for the hefty paycheck you’re getting from Megan.”
“I haven’t really had time to think about it. There’s been too much work to do.”
Heather regarded him impatiently. “Todd, be honest for once. You bought a truck, for heaven’s sake.”
“So?” he said, scowling.
“A truck,” she repeated. “A pickup truck.”
“Yeah. So?” he repeated.
She gave an exasperated sigh. “You could have gotten some trendy sports utility vehicle or a flashy sports car. That would certainly have been more in keeping with your New York image, but you’ve obviously gotten all caught up in the western mystique.” She glanced down at his feet. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed those fancy, custom-made cowboy boots of yours, either. You wear them almost as much these days as you do your Italian loafers.”
“They’re just more practical out here,” he said defensively, tucking his long legs out of view under the table, or trying to.
“Of course they are,” she soothed. “And you look very sexy wearing them.”
An obviously reluctant grin tugged at his lips. “Is that so.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Before they could pursue that, Roy Nolan from the hardware store down the street came in with one beefy hand cuffed around Will’s wrist. Will was flushed and his eyes were red from crying. Henrietta rushed over to the boy and gathered him into a protective embrace.
“What’s this all about, Roy?” she demanded as she smoothed the boy’s hair back off his face.
“The boy knocked down an entire display,” he said. “Did it deliberately, too.”
“Did not,” Will said, scowling up at him belligerently. “It was an accident.”
Henrietta hesitated, clearly torn between wanting to believe Will’s denial and knowing that the store owner had no reason to lie. She framed the child’s face in her hands and looked directly into his eyes. “Will, tell me the truth,” she said firmly. “What happened?”
His lower lip quivered, but he remained stubbornly silent.
“I’ll take that for an admission of guilt, then,” Henrietta said. “I have to say I am very disappointed, young man. I can’t imagine what possessed you to do such a thing. What sort of display was it?”
“Hunting rifles,” Roy said, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “Case and all. I’ve got glass from one end of the store to the other.”
Heather exchanged a look with Todd, who was already on his feet. To her surprise, he promptly went over to stand beside Will. The boy turned to him, his expression filled with fear until Todd put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Relief spread across the boy’s face.
Why, she wondered, couldn’t Todd see what instinctive parenting skills he possessed? It was obvious that Will knew whatever trouble he might be in, he had an ally.
“Will, why don’t you go on into the kitchen and get your lunch?” Todd said quietly.
The boy regarded him with a grateful expression and ran. Todd turned slowly to face Roy. “You have to know what was going through his mind.”
“Of course I do,” Roy said. “I sympathize with him. No boy should have to live with the fact that guns were always being waved around at the house or that his daddy shot his mama, then died in an exchange of gunfire with the sheriff. I can’t have him wrecking my store, though, can I?”
“I’ll see that it doesn’t happen again,” Henrietta promised. “Naturally, I’ll pay for any damage and take it out of his allowance. And I’ll send Will over there to help you clean up the mess. He has to understand there are costs and consequences to the mischief he got into.”
Roy nodded. “That’ll do, then. I can’t tell you how bad I feel about this, Henrietta.”
“Same here,” she said, her gazed straying toward the kitchen.
After Roy had left,
she sank down on a stool at the counter. Heather walked over and sat beside her. “You okay?”
Henrietta shook her head, shoulders slumped in defeat for the first time since Heather had known her. She gave Todd and Heather a bewildered look. “I thought he was doing okay,” she said wearily. “Better than Sissy, in fact, but now…I just don’t know.”
“Do you really think it was about the guns?” Heather asked.
Henrietta’s gaze snapped toward her. “Well, of course it was. What else?”
Todd gave a nod of understanding, picking up on Heather’s observation. “It was a test, wasn’t it?” he said slowly to Heather, then faced Henrietta to explain. “He wanted to see how you’d react. Maybe even how the judge would react. After all, the judge represents the system that never punished his father for the way he treated his mother.”
“Well, then,” Henrietta said briskly, rallying. “I suppose this calls for what they describe as tough love. When Harry gets here, I think the two of us will have a talk with the boy. Together we’ll think of a suitable punishment, but we’ll make sure he knows that we don’t love him any less.”
She sighed heavily. “Right now, though, I think I’ll just go in the back and give him a hug. The poor little thing is probably scared to death. Then I want him over there helping Roy with the cleanup.”
“Poor Will,” Heather said as Henrietta left.
“Poor Henrietta,” Todd said. “I don’t envy her having to handle this one. It’s going to be a delicate balancing act. If she’s too harsh, the boy will just lump her in with all the other adults who’ve mistreated him. If she’s too lenient, there will be no reason for him not to get into more and possibly worse trouble next time.”
“I think the person who’s really going to have to walk a tightrope is the judge,” Heather countered. “Not only does he have to handle this just right for Will’s sake, but for Henrietta’s. One misstep and she could hold another grudge for another thirty years.”
Todd’s gaze locked with hers. “Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it? One wrong decision and it can change someone’s whole life.”
Heather could tell he was no longer thinking about Henrietta and the judge, but rather about their own past. What she didn’t know was which decision was really bothering him—his to work for Megan or hers to keep silent about Angel.
“Todd, I—”
He touched a silencing finger to her lips, then drew her into his arms. “Don’t say anything,” he said quietly. “Let’s just make a vow here and now to think through whatever decisions we make from here on out.”
She nodded, content to let her head rest against his chest, where she could feel the steady, reassuring beat of his heart. For some reason that solemn vow of his gave her more cause for optimism than she’d felt since coming to Whispering Wind.
Todd might not recognize it yet, might even be fighting it, but the fact was he was showing all the signs of being a strong, instinctive father figure in Will’s life. Now all she had to do was persuade him that the same talent he had for being a role model for Will could be translated into being a dad to Angel.
19
The judge took the news of Will’s misdeed in stride. He didn’t seem nearly as distraught about it as Henrietta was. Todd had to admire the way he just stepped in, called Will over to sit with him and talked to him in a man-to-man way that left no doubt how he felt about either the transgression or the boy who’d committed it.
At one point, Will’s eyes were bright with unshed tears, but his chin stayed up during the lecture. When the judge finished what he had to say, he opened his arms and Will scrambled into them, tears falling freely. Todd was pretty sure he spotted the sheen of a tear or two glistening in the judge’s eyes, as well.
“It won’t happen again, will it, boy?”
“No, sir,” Will said softly.
“We can’t go letting Henrietta down, can we?”
“No, sir,” Will chimed dutifully. “Henrietta’s the best.”
“You’ll get no argument from me there,” the judge said. His gaze strayed to the woman who was watching the exchange, her expression anxious.
“Now, then, I recommend we cap off this discussion with some ice cream. Henrietta, find Sissy and let’s go down the street where someone can wait on you for a change.”
“I don’t know…” Henrietta glanced at Heather.
“Go,” Heather said at once. “If it gets busy before you get back, Todd can pitch in. He did a stint or two as a waiter. I don’t think he’ll dump the customers’ dinners into their laps.”
“Thanks for the recommendation,” he muttered, then winked at Henrietta. “Go, while Heather’s so eager to volunteer my time. In fact, take the night off. We can handle things around here.”
“You don’t mind?” Henrietta asked, regarding him worriedly.
“Of course not. It’ll be a humbling experience to recall where I’ve come from.”
“And goodness knows the man could use a dose of humility now that he’s a hotshot television executive,” Heather said.
He scowled at her. “So much for my intention to share my tips with you.”
Henrietta looked from them to the trio waiting for her by the door, then nodded. “I believe I will take the evening off and spend it with my family.”
The judge overheard the comment and a smile spread across his face. He gave Heather a wink. “Sounds to me like she’s coming around. What do you think?”
“Don’t go getting carried away,” Henrietta warned him.
“Little chance of that, the way you bring me down a peg or two every time you think I’m getting too big for my britches,” he grumbled.
Henrietta held him back when he would have walked out of the café with Sissy and Will. Her gaze locked on his. “I wasn’t sure you’d stand beside me on this. I’m grateful. I truly am.”
The judge’s gaze softened. “Don’t you know by now that I will always stand beside you?”
She searched his face, then gave a small nod of satisfaction. “I’m beginning to believe that.”
They walked out the door arm in arm, leaving Todd alone in the restaurant with Heather.
“Think you remember how this is done?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Good. Then I’ll run across the street and get Angel. She’s been over with Janie this afternoon.”
“Angel’s been at the beauty salon?”
“Oh, yes,” she confirmed, sounding amused. “Our daughter could have been a central character in that movie Steel Magnolias. You know, the one that takes place in a Southern beauty shop.”
“She’s a little young to be having her hair done, isn’t she?”
“Actually, she likes to watch Janie styling hair. Janie seems thrilled to have an appreciative audience. And her customers seem to find Angel a diverting entertainment. She’s better than the tabloids, Janie says.”
Todd didn’t like the sound of that. “Exactly what is Angel revealing over there? The gossip she picks up in here? Or the story of our lives? The last time Angel got chatty, she told everyone who’d listen that I’d slept with her mama.”
Clearly unconcerned, Heather chuckled.
“We’re talking about your reputation,” he said.
“I can weather a little gossip,” she insisted, then regarded him pointedly. “Can you?”
His gaze narrowed as he studied her. “Are you thinking if enough people leap to the conclusion that you and I are an item, I’ll be forced to make good on it?”
She shot a pitying look at him. “Todd, I am not so desperate that I’d want a man who had to be forced to be with me.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Wasn’t it? Get a grip.”
“I meant the whole family thing. Not just you and me, but the three of us.”
She regarded him impatiently. “Now, there’s a news flash. That’s why I came out here, remember? To get you involved in Angel’s life.”
Not
hing was coming out the way he’d intended, and despite her insistence that she still wanted only a custody agreement, he had a feeling Heather’s agenda had changed. For a woman who usually prided herself on being direct, she was suddenly being awfully circumspect.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to meet his gaze. “Spell it out, Heather. What are you really after? It’s not just about Angel anymore, is it?”
Her eyes flashed with defiant sparks. “No,” she said evenly. “No, it’s not. Though why I was stupid enough to fall in love with the most hardheaded man on the face of the earth for a second time is beyond me. You’d think once would have been more than enough.”
He’d wanted her to be direct, but he wasn’t sure he’d been prepared for such unvarnished honesty, after all.
Before he could gather his wits, she twisted out of his grasp. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get our daughter. Try not to break any dishes while I’m gone.”
Stunned into silence, Todd stared after her. By the time he could speak, she was already out the door. “Heather, wait,” he called, but she kept right on going. He would have gone after her, but four teenagers chose that moment to barrel into the diner wanting burgers and fries.
Todd placed their orders with Mack, brought their soft drinks to the table, then went back to the door to watch for Heather, who seemed to be taking her own sweet time about returning. The sharp ringing of a bell from the kitchen signaled Mack’s impatience when Todd didn’t pick up the order the second it was off the grill.
Scowling, he served the four customers, then forced a smile as he seated three of the evening regulars who always sat in the same booth. The three widows ate together every single night, so Todd had seen them often and knew their ordering habits. He automatically brought them their iced tea and didn’t bother with menus.
“Where on earth is Henrietta?” Frannie Milsap demanded, looking him over suspiciously as if she thought he might have locked Henrietta in the freezer.
“And how did she talk you into waiting tables?” Cass Peterson wanted to know.
Daisy Harper squinted at him through her thick glasses. “You haven’t lost your job, have you? Can’t support that child of yours by waiting tables in a place like this.”
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