“Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe Lindy would let you have the rest of the day off.”
She almost laughed. “For what? I’m not going to curl up in a ball and cry, if that’s what you’re thinking. This…parenting stuff is just new to me. And no, having a depressed teenage boy to suddenly take care of isn’t easy. But we’ll figure it out. Noah’s a good kid, Mike.”
He gripped her arm. “I know, honey. I’m just afraid if you don’t get him under control now, you’re going to have a tough road ahead of you. Believe me, I have firsthand experience. I took a pretty destructive turn after you left town. Started hanging out with the Dugans, drinking, fighting, stealing—among other things. After my fourth arrest, Mom and Dad shipped me off to live with my Uncle Dave in Milwaukee. He’s a cop. Wasn’t much fun, I can tell you that.”
Speechless, Bernie could only stare at him. She had no idea he’d had such a hard time of it after she left Redemption. Well, she knew he’d moved down to Milwaukee, but she didn’t know why. Didn’t know he’d taken such a bad turn. Jake and Braden Dugan had been notorious troublemakers from grade school on, which wasn’t such a great surprise if rumors of their home life had any truth to them. Bernie never really knew either brother, but she had heard Braden ended up serving time for armed robbery sometime after high school. She certainly didn’t want that kind of a future for their son.
“I appreciate your advice, and I will definitely be keeping a much closer eye on Noah from now on.”
He reached out and lightly grasped her fingers. “Bernie, I—”
“Mike, I really have to go,” she said, gently disengaging from his grip. “Lindy’s waiting, and we’re already running late. Thanks again, I… I’ll see you later.”
Frustrated, Mike watched as she rushed to the car and slid into the front passenger seat. Lindy gave him a quick wave as they drove off, though Bernie never looked back.
With a somewhat heavy heart, he hopped in his squad car and drove straight to Coffee To Chai For to return Matt’s phone.
Thankfully, the lunch rush was over, so he strode up to the counter and waited for his friend to finish delivering plates to Mr. and Mrs. Cominsky.
“Hey, man. Glad you came back for your coffee, though I’ll make you a fresh one.” The shop’s co-owner gave him a thump on the back as he strode past and walked behind the counter.
“Thanks, I appreciate it. But I’m actually here for another reason.”
Matt poured fresh coffee into a large to-go cup and added a splash of cream. “So, what can I do for you?” He pressed a lid onto the cup and set it on the counter.
Mike pulled the phone from his pocket and set it down next to his cup.
His friend frowned as he picked up the cell. He met Mike’s gaze with curiosity. “Hell, I’ve been looking all over for this. Where’d you find it?”
He slid onto a stool and blew out a hard breath. “In Bernie’s brother’s locker.”
Hollywood’s frown deepened as the truth dawned. “Are you saying the kid stole my phone? I’m pretty sure I had it on my dresser at home.”
Mike explained about finding Noah and Holly in his bedroom. “I don’t know if he planned to steal it. Could be he was just playing around with it when I startled him. Probably figured he’d get in trouble if he set it back down in front of me.”
Matt clearly didn’t know what to say, and no doubt was afraid to be critical of Bernie’s brother since he knew—along with everybody else in Redemption—that Mike and Bernie had history.
“How in the world did you end up in his locker?”
“Remember the call I got earlier? A classmate of Noah’s accused him of stealing his iPod, so the school called the station. I spoke to him before Bernie got there and asked him about taking your phone, which he denied. But when we walked him down to retrieve the iPod from his locker, I saw a cell phone on the top shelf and recognized it as the one he was using the day of your party. Bernie told me he didn’t have a cell phone, so I knew it had to be yours. I pointed it, out and he gave it to me without hesitation. Though, if looks could kill…”
“Yeah, I imagine you’re not his favorite person right now.” Matt slipped the phone into his apron pocket. “Poor Bernie. She’s really got her hands full with that one.”
“That she does. But…I really do believe he’s a good kid,” Mike felt obligated to say in Noah’s defense. “He’s just having a hard time adjusting after everything he’s been through. And who could blame him? He lost both his parents in a horrible accident, then had to leave the only home he’s ever known to live in a strange town where he doesn’t know anyone.”
“He’s acting out,” Matt supplied with a nod of compassion.
“Exactly. So, I hope you’re not considering pressing charges…?”
His friend’s brow scrunched. “Of course not. I mean, I’m annoyed. But I do feel for the kid. More than that, I feel for Bernie. She has enough on her plate right now. I’d never add to it.”
“You’re a good guy, Hollywood,” Mike teased as he picked up his coffee.
Matt gave his head a shake. “I hate that nickname.”
“It’s those red carpet good looks, man. I can only imagine what a hardship it must be to walk around with that mug.”
Spalding rolled his eyes, then leaned his hip against the counter and crossed his arms. “You’re worried about her.” It wasn’t a question.
“I’m worried about both of them.” He took a sip of his coffee. “But, yeah. I still…care.”
“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” He immediately waved his statement away. “Sorry. None of my business.”
Because Mike liked Matt, he decided to open up a bit. “I’ve been in love with her since the fifth grade.”
His friend nodded in support. “I know we don’t know each other all that well, but if you ever need to unload, I’m a good listener. And I know how to keep my mouth shut.”
Mike didn’t have many close friends, but there was something about Matt that inspired his trust. Somehow, he knew he could, in fact, trust the guy. And it sure would be nice to get a male perspective on the situation.
“Everybody knows Bernie and I dated in high school, but very few people know why it ended. Just my mom and sister, and her parents…well, her mom and step-dad. Maybe her step-sister. Bernie’s always been a very private person. I can’t imagine she shared the truth with anyone else.”
“Well, you’ve certainly got me curious.”
Mike gave a self-deprecating smile. “Bernie and I started dating towards the end of eighth grade. We were thirteen. Sophomore year, sometime before Christmas, she…told me she was pregnant.”
Matt’s brow shot up. “Wow, that’s young. I had no idea you two have a kid.”
“We don’t. Thanks to me.” Before Matt could respond, he pressed on. “I didn’t take the news well—hell, I was scared shitless. Told her to get an abortion.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.” He massaged the bridge of his nose. “I regretted the words as soon as they were out of mouth, but Bernie slammed the door and refused to talk to me. A couple weeks later, she told me she’d miscarried. I was devastated. I mean, it was my damn fault.”
“You’re not God, man. It wasn’t your fault. Just some really rotten cosmic timing.”
He shrugged. “I carry the guilt all the same. Probably always will.”
“Did she ever give you a chance to explain?”
He blew out a hard breath. “She was so distraught over the whole experience, her mom sent her to live with her father in North Dakota. I didn’t take the news well, ended up getting myself into a shitload of trouble, until my parents sent me away as well. I lived with my uncle and aunt in Milwaukee until I graduated high school. I had such respect for my uncle that I decided to follow in his footsteps and join the police academy.”
“I’m really sorry, Mike. For both of you.” Matt picked up the coffee pot and gestured for him to open his cup before topping him off. �
��Any chance the two of you can start over?”
“That’s the million dollar question, Hollywood. I’ve been trying for the last two years just to get her to have a conversation with me. I was about to finally give up when I decided to give it one more shot at Caleb and Lauren’s wedding. When we were dancing…I don’t know. I could feel there was something still there.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re right. I’ve seen the way she looks at you.” He gave a thoughtful smile. “Pretty much the same way you look at her.”
“Order up,” Carrie called.
“I’d better run that out. If Mr. Alger’s soup isn’t scalding hot, I’ll hear about it for the next month.” Matt shot him a grin, then strode off to deliver the councilman’s soup.
Feeling somewhat better for having gotten some of that old baggage off his chest, Mike took a sip of his coffee and stood, ready to head back to the station. He’d only taken a step when his sister burst through the door. She grabbed his arm as she stormed by and tugged him along in her wake.
“Uh, hello to you, too.”
“You have to talk to Mom,” she said without preamble.
“About…?”
Gracie dragged him to the last booth on the left side of the shop. She slid in, tossed her purse down, and glared at him in annoyance. “Why did you tell her I want to work in her store?”
“I didn’t,” he defended, sliding in across from her. “I just said that maybe she should offer you a job since you’re going to be sticking around for a while.”
“Well, I wish you hadn’t.”
With her lips pursed and her brow knit, she looked so put out, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Why is this such a big deal? Unless you have a trust fund I don’t know about, I figured you’d be happy to make a few bucks so you don’t have to dip into your savings.”
She heaved a sigh. “I can barely stand the smell in that place, how in the world am I supposed to work there? Cleaning stinky dead fish from the tanks, scooping rabbit poop from little cages, dealing with creepy-crawly things. Uh, no thanks.”
He full-on grinned. “You’re afraid of the tarantulas.”
“Well, no shit, Sherlock,” she bit out before waving Matt over.
He approached the table with obvious caution. “Can I get you something?”
“Matt,” Mike began, “I’d like you to meet my sister, Grace. Grace, this is Matt Spalding.”
“Nice to meet you, Grace.”
“Nice to meet you, too.” The bite in her tone eased as she eyeballed Hollywood. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she flipped the menu open and quickly perused it. “Can I get a cup of the summer vegetable soup, and chicken salad on whole wheat, no red onion.”
“Whole or half sandwich?”
“Half, please. And a large glass of the strawberry lemonade.”
Matt smiled. “I’ll get your order right in.” He switched his gaze to Mike. “Can I get you anything else?”
Since he never did have a chance to eat lunch, he took a quick peek at the menu. “Yeah, I’ll take roast beef on one of those big rolls, extra horseradish mayo, and a large bowl of the chicken tortilla soup with extra chips.”
“Got it. I’ll be back with your soup in a few minutes.”
As soon as he was out of earshot, a saucy smile transformed his sister’s face. “Wow. I had heard he’s a cutie, but what an understatement. He’s downright gorgeous. Carrie is one lucky chick.”
“I’m sure he would tell you he’s just as lucky. That guy is one-hundred percent committed to Carrie. Just for the record.”
She rolled her eyes. “And I’m not the least bit interested, ‘just for the record.’ Hot as he is, he’s not my type.”
“Which is a great segue into something else we need to talk about. What exactly is going on between you and Coop?”
Chapter 9
The hiss and groan of Noah’s school bus as it screeched to a halt out front had Bernie tightening her grip on her mug of tea. She waited, nervous, angry, her yearning to comfort him at complete odds with her need to yell and punish him for his bad behavior.
He slammed through the front door and stalked into the kitchen, tossing his backpack onto the floor before yanking the fridge open to peer inside.
“We need to talk.”
He closed the fridge and opened the freezer. She was about to repeat herself when he snapped, “I don’t want to talk.” He pulled out a frozen pizza and tossed it on the counter.
She set her mug down with a thunk and shot to her feet. “I don’t give a damn what you want. I trusted you, I believed you, and you lied to me. You stole that kid’s iPod¸ you stole Matt’s phone—yes, I know about that. And you also stole the tip jar money from Hutch’s the day you helped him clean, didn’t you?”
“Who told you that, Officer Dumb Shit?”
“Noah, that’s it! You are going to apologize to Hutch and return the money, and you are also going to apologize to Matt for stealing his phone.”
His face grew mottled with rage. “I didn’t steal his phone! I was just looking at it while I waited for Holly. Then that stupid cop showed up and freaked me out, so I stuck it in my pocket. I was gonna put it back, but never got a chance. Again, thanks to that frickin’ cop.”
“It’s easy to blame Mike, but none of this is his fault, and you know it. Take responsibility for your own actions, dammit, and man up.” Okay, so he was years away from being a man. But he was old enough to know right from wrong, and stealing was wrong. Period.
“I told you,” he gritted through his teeth. “I didn’t steal the phone. I was gonna put it back.”
“Well, you didn’t put it back, and now the police have it. You stole from my employer’s brother. Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?”
“I’m so sorry I embarrassed you,” he sneered. “But I didn’t ask to come here. I hate it here.”
“So you’ve said.” She propped her hands on her hips and tried a different approach. “Look, I understand this hasn’t been easy on you. You lost your parents and your home in one fell swoop. But your reckless behavior is only going to get you into trouble. You don’t need to steal, I can afford to buy you what you need. In fact, I’d planned to buy you a cell phone this week.”
He was quiet for a moment while he absorbed that. “Really?”
“Really. Though some changes are going to have to happen before I do.”
He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I promise I won’t…take anything else that doesn’t belong to me.”
“That’s a good start. Now, where is the tip jar money?”
He stared at her for a few second, then rolled his eyes and ran upstairs. When he returned, he handed her a rolled up wad of bills.
“Noah…why? Those people work hard for their tips, why would you steal them?”
He shrugged, though she could see a flare of remorse in his eyes. “I just wanted to have enough money to get back home. I don’t fit in here.”
“Noah, Redemption is a wonderful town, and you do fit in here. I know it’ll take some time, but eventually, it will feel like home to you.”
“I just don’t understand why I had to leave. Why couldn’t I have stayed with my grandma, or aunt?”
She tried not to take offense. “Honey, Trina can barely take care of herself, let alone a teenage boy. She’s wheelchair bound, you know that. And your aunt would’ve taken you if she could, but you have to remember, she has a full house with five kids. Besides, I don’t know if they ever told you this, but your…parents had it in writing that if anything ever happened to them, they wanted me to raise you.”
“So, that’s why I’m here, because you had no choice?”
The hurt simmering in his eyes cut her to the quick. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him. “I had a choice. I wasn’t legally obligated. I wanted you to come live with me. I love you, you know that.”
He cleared his throat. “I love you, too. But I’m not so sure you really wan
ted me here. You’ve been acting…different since you came to get me.”
“I was scared, I’ll admit it. I don’t have any…I’ve never had to take care of anyone before, except myself, and I was so worried I’d be a big screw-up.”
“No worry there since I’m the frickin’ screw-up.”
She frowned and grasped him by the shoulders. “You are no such thing. You just lost your parents and your home. You’re scared. Anyone would be. And you’ve done some acting out…which comes to a stop today, got me?”
“Pffft. I’m not scared of anything.”
Lord if he didn’t sound just like Mike. “Except horror movies. I seem to recall you hiding behind the couch when we watched The Shining.”
“I was eight!” he defended with a laugh.
She grinned. “Fine. But we’ll have to have a horror marathon one of these weekends so you can prove it.”
“How about tomorrow night? Not like I have anything to do since I don’t have any friends.”
He was half-teasing, she knew, but it still made her feel bad. If he would lose the chip on his shoulder, his charming self would shine through, and he’d start to make lots of friends. Noah had been in the popular crowd back home, according to Dad, so she knew it was only a matter of time before he grew comfortable here in Redemption.
“As a matter of fact, we have plans this weekend. My mother invited us up to her place for some boating and Jet Skiing. They have a beautiful home with tons to see and do. You’ll have a great time, I promise.”
He shrugged, grabbed his frozen pizza, and mumbled, “I guess,” as he ripped off the plastic wrapping.
She walked over and turned on the oven for him. “Seriously, I think it’ll be good for you. Besides the Jet Skis and speed boat, your gr…my mom and step-dad own a pontoon and a paddle boat. I’ve taken the paddle boat out just to read a time or two. It’s super relaxing. And if you like to fish, you can catch perch and lake trout right off their pier.”
He playfully rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, I get it. Great fun, blah, blah, blah.” He slipped the pizza onto a pan and tossed it into the oven. “Dad took me fishing once; not really my thing. But I wouldn’t mind learning how to drive a Jet Ski. Hey, any chance we could invite Holly and her dad to go with us?”
Say You Love Me (Welcome To Redemption #9) Page 7