Kane and Mabel

by Sharon DeVita

  “Patrick,” she said quietly, trying to stop the intense pounding in her head, and hoping her voice didn’t betray her emotions. “Go on upstairs and rest. I’ll handle this,” she whispered, turning her stricken eyes to her brother. Patrick hesitated for just a moment and then turned and fled out the door.

  “Don’t you think it’s about time you stop handling everything for your brother?” Luke gently touched her shoulder. “He’s a big boy, Kati. Maybe it’s time you let him take care of himself.” His words caused the hurt to bubble to the surface. How dare he say such a thing to her! Taking a deep, controlling breath, Kati whirled on him. The look in his eyes caused the hurt to deepen. She had trusted him, needed him. And he had devastated her.

  “Get out,” she ordered, her words coming out on a shaky breath. “Get out of my diner, and out of my life. Now!” Her eyes blazed in hurt and desolation.

  “Kati, listen to me, let me explain,” Luke pleaded, taking her hands in his. “It’s not what you think.”

  She yanked her hands free. “You lied to me. You don’t care about me,” she cried, praying she could control the flood of tears that threatened to fall. “And you don’t care about my diner. All you care about is your precious money. You knew sooner or later Patrick would come back. That’s why you came here, and that’s why you stayed, isn’t it?” she demanded, daring him to deny it. “Isn’t it!”

  “Kati, you’re not being rational. If you’ll just give me a chance to—”

  “Rational!” she blazed. The man had used her, betrayed her and broken her heart and now he wanted her to be rational? “Get out!” she shrieked, pushing him away. “I don’t want you here, and I don’t want you in my life.”

  “Kati, you don’t mean that. I love you. I need you.” There was a soft plea in his words, but she heard none of it.

  Love? The word seemed to shrivel up and die in her mind. She had been such a fool. She had loved him. Needed him. And now…

  “The only thing you needed me for was to get your money back,” she whispered, her voice breaking on the words. “Don’t worry, Luke, I’ll make sure you get your money. Now please, get out.” The pressure around her heart tightened, and she turned her back to him, not wanting him to see her anguish. She heard the kitchen door swing shut, and she expelled a deep, choking breath.

  What a fool she had been. What a blind, trusting fool. “Oh, God,” she whimpered. The tears came, sliding unheeded down her cheeks. Great racking sobs shook her body, and she leaned against the counter, knowing she couldn’t support her weight anymore. “Oh, Luke,” she whimpered, feeling the pain seep into every inch of her. She loved him, and he had used her. And Kati knew she would never be able to forgive him.

  “Kati Rose, what the devil is going on?” Bessie skidded into the kitchen and came to an abrupt halt when she spotted Kati. “Kati, what is it, honey? What’s wrong?” Bessie touched her shoulder, and Kati turned into her waiting arms.

  “Oh, Bessie,” she sobbed. “Luke lied to me, he used me. He doesn’t care about me, or the diner.” She stopped to wipe at her tears. “The only reason he came here is because Patrick owed him money. He’s been hanging around waiting for Patrick to show up.” Her words and her breath came out in short, gaspy jerks.

  “Now who told you those lies?” Bessie demanded, touching Kati’s cheek. “I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding, Kati Rose. Don’t worry, I’m sure you and Luke will patch things up. He loves you, honey,” Bessie said gently, and Kati shook her head. Wiping away her tears, Kati pulled herself upright.

  “Love?” She laughed bitterly. “The only thing Luke cares about is his money. And no, Bessie, it’s not a misunderstanding. I understand perfectly.” Grabbing a tissue, Kati mopped her face and blew her nose. Her heart may be broken, but at least she still had her diner. The thought did nothing to cheer her. What good would her precious diner be without Luke and his love? Another wave of tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.

  “Now, Kati,” Bessie soothed. “Just give him a chance to explain. I’m sure once you hear him out—”

  “There’s nothing to explain, Bessie,” Kati said wearily, shaking her head and trying to shake off the pain. But it wouldn’t go away. “I just threw Luke out of here, and if he shows his face in here again, I want you to…” Kati closed her eyes and pressed her hands over them, hoping to stop the flood of tears. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her chin. “If that man shows his face in here, I want you to shoot him!”

  “Here we go again,” Bessie sighed, shaking her head.

  “Can you handle things here for a while?” Kati asked, yanking off her apron and smoothing back the damp hair from her face. “I need to go upstairs and talk to Patrick.”

  Bessie grumbled. “Should have figured that boy was back. That explains what all the trouble’s about. Kati Rose, I told you, that boy needed a good switching years ago…”

  “Not now, Bessie,” Kati pleaded, touching her throbbing head. She couldn’t deal with any more problems at the moment. “I’ll be back in a little bit.” Kati slipped out the back door of the diner and up the stairs to her apartment.

  “Patrick? Where are you?” She stalked through the rooms until she found him lying across the bed in his old room. “Patrick!”

  “Kati, I’m sorry. I had no idea he would show up here. Did Luke cause you any trouble? Did he hurt you?” She lifted a hand and touched his face. Poor, sweet, irresponsible Patrick.

  Kati shook her head and tried not to cry again. What Luke did to her had nothing to do with Patrick. And she didn’t want to admit what a fool she’d been. It wasn’t Patrick’s fault that she’d fallen in love with him. It was her own. But the knowledge only made her heart ache more.

  “Do you have the money you owe Luke?” she asked, sitting down wearily on one corner of the bed.

  “It’s right here in my shirt.” Patrick pulled loose a wad of bills and gave them to Kati. She didn’t even bother to count them. She didn’t want to know just how much her love had cost her. “What are you going to do, Kati?”

  “I’m going to buy my diner back,” she declared firmly, shoving the money in the back pocket of her jeans. “Now get some rest. I’ll be back up after the diner closes. I’ll send Bessie up with some food for you.”

  “Kati?” Patrick looked like a lost little boy again, and her heart went out to him.

  “What?” she asked softly.

  “I’m sorry, Sis.”

  Kati bent down and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry about it, Patrick. I’ll take care of it.” Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Didn’t she always? Didn’t she always take care of everything, handle everything, until Luke came along?

  She made it to Vera’s house in three minutes flat, running all the way. Taking a deep breath, she pounded on the door. She knew Luke was here, and alone, because Vera was still at the diner.

  His face brightened when he saw her. “Kati!” Luke slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close before she knew what he was doing. For just an instant, Kati closed her eyes and allowed herself the luxury of being in his arms. Tears threatened to spill over when she realized it would be the last time. She loved him, but he had used and betrayed her. And she knew she would never, ever, trust or allow anyone to do it to her again.

  “Luke?” She pushed out of his arms and pulled the money from her jeans. “Here’s the money Patrick owes you. Now I believe you have something of his?”

  Luke looked down at the money and back up at her. “Kati, this isn’t necessary. If you’d just let me explain.”

  “There’s nothing to explain. You’ve got your money. Now I want the papers Patrick signed back. You remember those, don’t you?” she asked bitterly, her voice thin and high. “The papers you flashed under my nose the day you arrived. You’ve got your money, I want the papers and my diner back.”

  Luke looked at her for a long time. And for an instant, she feared she might soften. She loved him so. All she wanted to do was wake up and find out that thi
s was all a misunderstanding. But it wasn’t, it was reality.

  Finally, sighing deeply, Luke pulled the papers out of his back pocket and handed them to her.

  “Thank you,” she said coldly, squeezing the papers tightly in her fist.

  “This isn’t the end of it, Kati Rose Ryan,” Luke threatened as she turned down the walk. “It’s not going to be that easy to get rid of me. I love you.”

  Kati stopped and turned back to look at him. “Lucas Kane, if you show your face in my diner again, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”

  His soft laughter followed her as she turned and ran toward the diner, and it only made her furious.

  “After I shoot you!” she yelled over her shoulder.

  Chapter Ten

  Kati Rose, it’s been two days. How much longer are you going to keep up this nonsense?” Bessie demanded, looking at Kati shrewdly.

  Kati shrugged her shoulders. She and Bessie had been going around and around about Luke ever since Kati had thrown him out of the diner. She could not get Bessie to understand or admit that whatever she and Luke had was over.

  “It’s not nonsense,” Kati insisted, not bothering to look up from the cupcakes she was half-heartedly mixing. Even now, just talking about Luke, thinking about him, brought a shaft of pain to her heart. “I told you, Bessie. It’s over. Lucas Kane is out of my life and,” she added pointedly, looking up at Bessie, “out of my diner. It’s for the best,” Kati said softly, wishing she could convince herself of that. For two days she hadn’t eaten, and she hadn’t slept. Thoughts of Luke tormented her. Would she ever be able to walk in here and not think of him, not see his dark head, not hear his laughter, not smell the masculine scent of him? She had tried to carry on as usual, but it was hard. She put on the calmest face she could while at the diner. It was only when she was safely alone upstairs that the tears came. Kati knew that, no matter how she tried, she would never be able to forget about Luke. No matter what, she still loved him, and, she realized, she did need him. But it was a little too late to think about that. She had taught herself not to need anyone once before. Surely she could do it again, couldn’t she?

  “You need that boy, Kati,” Bessie scolded. “And it’s about time you realize it, before it’s too late.”

  “I don’t need anybody,” Kati lied, whipping the cupcakes viciously with a wooden spoon. “I did fine before, and I’ll do fine now. Besides, I’ve got you.” Kati glanced up and tried to smile, but it died somewhere between her heart and her mouth.

  Watching her, Bessie muttered something under her breath.

  “Bessie.” Kati sighed, she wasn’t up to talking about this anymore. How on Earth was she going to forget about Luke if all Bessie and everyone else in town did was constantly remind her? She knew no matter what, she’d never forget Luke. He was a part of her—a sad and lonely part now.

  “All right, all right.” Bessie grabbed a tray of clean dishes and headed for the door. “Patrick’s out front, says he wants to talk to you. And Vera and Mr. Billings are fighting again. They’ve squared off right smack-dab in the middle of the diner, and I can’t get a lick of work done with them two yapping.”

  Kati sighed. She didn’t need any more problems. She could barely deal with the ones she had. Just breathing was a chore now. Everything was a chore without Luke.

  “What are they arguing about now?” Kati asked.

  “Who’s going to sit in what booth.”

  “But, Bessie, I thought Luke handled—” She caught herself. Luke was gone and she was the only one left to take care of things now.

  “What are we going to do?” Bessie inquired, cocking her head.

  Kati sighed. “What we’ve always done. Handle things. Go tell Patrick I’ll be with him in a moment. I’ll take care of Vera and Mr. Billings first.”

  “Lunatics,” Bessie mumbled, pushing through the door with Kati on her heels.

  Ignoring Patrick for the moment, she crossed over to where Vera and Mr. Billings were standing toe to toe yelling at each other.

  “Vera, Mr. Billings, what’s the matter?” She looked from one to the other. They were glaring at each other, and Mr. Billings had Beauregard cradled in his arms. It was all Kati needed now. If Tibbits showed up and closed her down because of that blasted dog! Luke had saved her once… Luke. Everything she was, everything she wanted was Luke. But Luke was gone now, she realized sadly, and she had no one to depend on but herself.

  “Mr. Billings, what on Earth is Beauregard doing in here? You know I told you he couldn’t come in here anymore.” Going straight past tact, Kati went straight for the truth. Bessie was right, these two were lunatics. “You’re going to get me closed down,” she threatened.

  Vera’s chin lifted, and she smiled smugly. “I told you, Mr. Billings,” Vera caroled in a singsong voice before turning to Kati. “I told him you wouldn’t allow that mutt in here, but would he listen to me? No.” She turned back to glare at Mr. Billings. “He thinks he’s so smart, he won’t listen to anybody!”

  “I am smart!” Mr. Billings retorted, glaring at her over the top of his glasses. “Smart enough to know that you’re sitting in my booth.” He glanced down at Beauregard. “Our booth,” he corrected, giving the old hound dog an affectionate pat on the head.

  “Any man who talks to a dog can’t be very smart,” Vera retorted. “And it’s not your booth, it’s mine. Luke gave it to me. Because I’m the number-one customer here.”

  “You are not!” Mr. Billings yelled, startling poor Beauregard who began to whine.

  “Am so!” Vera declared, nudging closer and causing her flowered hat to slip down and sit crookedly on her forehead. “Luke said so!”

  “This dog has more brains than you’ll ever have, Vera Wilson. At least he cares about me!”

  Kati’s startled gaze flew to Mr. Billings. Why did she get the feeling these two were not arguing about the dog, the booth or who the number-one customer was, but something altogether different?

  “I care about you, too,” Vera snapped, giving her hat a hearty shove.

  “Then why’d you say you wouldn’t marry me?” Mr. Billings demanded, glaring at Vera and daring her to answer. Kati was really confused, looking from one to the other. What on Earth was going on? Mr. Billings asked Vera to marry him? She bit back a smile. Good Lord, they’d kill each other before the honeymoon was over.

  “Because you don’t even know how to propose decently,” Vera whined in a hurt voice.

  “What’s wrong with the way I proposed?” Mr. Billings demanded, pushing his face into Vera’s again.

  Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Vera tried to control herself. “Mr. Billings,” she declared haughtily, lifting her chin and drawing the words out carefully, “no woman wants to be told it will be cheaper living together than living apart. That’s no kind of proposal.”

  “Well, it’s the truth, ain’t it?” Mr. Billings countered, and Kati’s eyes flew back to him. This was getting interesting, she decided. “It will be cheaper for us to live together than to live apart. So what’s wrong with that?”

  “No woman wants to be treated like…like…a tax deduction!” Vera shuddered. “That’s not the way to propose. Any fool knows that!”

  “Who you calling a fool, Vera Wilson?” Mr. Billings yelled, and Kati quickly jumped between them. This wasn’t getting interesting, it was getting dangerous.

  “That’s enough!” Kati yelled, and they both turned to stare at her. “Now, both of you stop this right now!” she instructed, her voice stern.

  “Kati Rose! What on Earth’s the matter with you?” Vera asked, clearly confused. “Why are you yelling at us?” Vera glanced at Mr. Billings, and Kati could see they were about to join forces and leave her hanging out here in the middle—again. She should have known better than to try coming between these two.

  “Where’s Luke?” Vera asked suddenly, glancing around. “He’d know how to settle this. He knows how to settle everything. And he never yelled at us,” she
scolded, looking at Kati as if she’d taken leave of her senses.

  “Yes, where is Lucas?” Mr. Billings asked, jumping on the bandwagon. “He’ll be able to settle this. He can handle anything, can’t he, Vera?” They both turned to look at her, and Kati sighed and shook her head. At the moment these two weren’t the only ones who needed Luke, she thought sadly. But Luke wasn’t here anymore, and she didn’t want to go into a lengthy explanation as to why, particularly to Vera. She knew how attached Vera was to Luke. There was no sense upsetting her any more than she already was. She’d have to remedy this on her own. But Kati had to admit, she wished Luke was here, too.

  “Vera, do you want to marry Mr. Billings?” Kati asked, no longer willing to put up with any more nonsense from these two.

  Vera fluffed her hair. “Well, I’d like to. If the man would propose properly,” she added, glaring at Mr. Billings. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly Kati raised her hand to stop him.

  “And you, Mr. Billings,” she asked. “Do you want to marry Vera?”

  “I asked her, didn’t I?” he grumbled, glancing up at Vera.

  Thinking quickly, Kati grabbed each of their arms and walked them toward the door. “It’s only three o’clock. If you hurry, you can get to the Village Hall and get your license before they close.” They both opened their mouths to protest, but Kati pushed them out of the diner and slammed the door behind them. “Hurry up, now,” she called through the glass. “You don’t want to be late.” Heaving a sigh of relief, Kati slumped against the door.

  “That was some mighty fancy footwork, Kati Rose,” Bessie called from behind the counter. “One down, one to go.” She nodded toward Patrick who was sitting at a back booth drinking coffee.

  Kati nodded and headed toward her brother. She hoped that Patrick had his fill of roaming around the country. She hoped that now he was ready to settle down, stay in Libertyville and work the diner. With Luke gone, she really could use another helping hand, she decided, wondering how on Earth she had managed before Luke arrived.