“Not so fast, Melanie,” Wilton said. “You and I are going to have a little talk.”
Blair tossed a triumphant smile her sister’s way before she disappeared down the hall.
Chapter Eleven
The bar beckoned to him with neon lights promising pool tables, poker machines, and the coldest beer in town. Kane pulled off the main road and parked his motorcycle. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed a cold beer. Certainly not in the last three years.
A wall of cigarette smoke hit him as he walked into the Wayside Tavern. It was a poor sight inside: concrete floor, battered tables, and fake leather chairs with the stuffing spilling out in places. A badly scuffed bar ran the length of one wall.
Several people stopped what they were doing and stared as he crossed the room and grabbed a barstool.
A plump middle-aged woman with frosted hair and a too-tight skirt ambled his way. “Well, hello there, Tall, Dark, and Handsome. What can I get you?”
Kane pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and offered her a polite smile. “Whatever you have on draft is fine.”
She grabbed a cold glass from a cooler and filled it. “That’ll be one twenty-five,” she said, putting it in front of him.
He handed her the money plus a tip, then stood and carried his drink to the back where the pool tables were. Various games skirted the room. He dropped four quarters in one of the pinball machines, and it came to life. He was on his second game before he realized someone was watching him.
“You’re pretty good at that,” a tall, angular man said.
Kane continued to play in silence.
“I ain’t seen you in here before. You must be new in town.”
“Yeah.”
“Where you from?”
Kane didn’t bat an eye. “Leavenworth Prison.”
“No kiddin’?” He looked impressed. “What brings you to Hardeeville?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
He held up his hands as though surrendering. “Hey, I’m just being friendly, that’s all. You don’t want no company, just tell me to get lost.”
Kane turned fully around and offered his hand. “Name’s Kane Stoddard. I thought I’d try to find me a job here.”
The man shook his hand. “I’m Harry. What kind of work you lookin’ for?”
Kane noticed he smelled and wondered when he’d last bathed. “Whatever’s paying.”
“Good luck. I been out of work since last fall.”
“You don’t say.” Kane wondered how hard he was trying. He hadn’t shaved in probably a week, and his clothes looked dirty. He wouldn’t make much of an impression in an interview.
“So where d’you live?”
“I’m staying with the Abercrombies until I find a place.”
“You mean Wilton Abercrombie and his daughters?” the man said in disbelief. He let out a low whistle. “Oh, man! I know all about the Abercrombie girls!”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He leaned closer and whispered right in Kane’s face. “I hear tell the youngest one will let anybody in her britches, but the older one won’t so much as let a man get near her. Everybody knows Harper Beckwood’s been trying these past few months.”
Kane’s arm shot out before he even had time to consider what he was doing. He grabbed the man up by the collar and jerked him close. “I’d appreciate it if you’d kindly refrain from saying anything bad about the Abercrombies,” he said. “Especially Melanie Abercrombie.”
The man swallowed nervously. Several others paused at the pool tables and stared. “Hey, man, I didn’t mean nothin’ bad by it. Everybody in town thinks the world of that family.” Kane released him, and he adjusted his collar. “I just cain’t figure out what a guy like you is doing there,” he went on. “Nothing personal, but—”
“You saying I’m not good enough?”
“No, no, I’m thinking you got to be bored outta your mind there.” The man gave him a nervous smile. “C’mon and let me buy you a drink. You look like you need to relax and have a little fun. You’re all wound up.”
Kane drained his glass and followed Harry to the bar, where it was promptly refilled. He was all wound up, had been since he’d laid eyes on Mel.
Harry took a long drink of his whiskey and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. He chanced a look in Kane’s direction. “So what were you in for?”
Kane decided he was desperate for a friend. “I killed a man with my bare hands,” he said. “For asking too many questions.”
Harry paled before his eyes. Just then a woman sat on the other side of Kane and asked him for a light. Harry handed him a pack of matches. “I’m going back to play pool so you can talk to the lady,” he said, as though anxious to escape.
Kane turned in the woman’s direction and lit her cigarette. Her nails were long and as red as fresh blood. She inhaled deeply and mumbled a word of thanks.
“So what’s your name, stranger?” she asked in a voice that was soft and fuzzy around the edges, suggesting this wasn’t her first drink of the day.
“Kane Stoddard.” She was attractive, with thick chestnut hair and lips the color of cinnamon sticks. On closer inspection he noted faint lines near her eyes and mouth that told him she wasn’t as young as she appeared at first glance.
“Mine’s Bitty. You live around here?”
Kane nodded, but didn’t offer any information. “I’m new in town.”
“I thought so. I would’a remembered you.” She took in the length of him, then finished her drink in one clean gulp. “You wanna dance?”
Kane glanced around the tavern. There wasn’t a jukebox in sight. “I don’t hear any music.”
“There’s music at my place,” she said.
He arched one dark brow. “Oh yeah? What kind of music?”
“I got anything you want, honey.”
It was almost too easy. Kane stood. “I wish I could, Bitty, but I’ve got somewhere I’m supposed to be. Maybe another time.” He walked out the door without a backward glance.
# # #
It was after midnight when Kane walked into the back door of the Abercrombie house and found Wilton sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of milk. “My stomach was acting up,” the older man confessed. “You want a glass?”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Kane made his way to the refrigerator for the milk.
“So how was your evening?” Wilton asked once Kane joined him at the table.
“I played pinball at the Wayside Tavern.”
“What’d you think of the place?”
Kane was thoughtful. “I think it’s kinda sad.” He thought of Bitty, how tempted he’d been to go home with her a split second before common sense had kicked in. He’d ended up taking a long ride on his motorcycle.
“I had a talk with my daughters tonight,” Wilton said, changing the subject. “Blair seems to think there’s something going on between you and Mel.”
Kane froze, the milk glass poised halfway to his mouth. He put it down. “Mr. Abercrombie, I want you to know right now that I have in no way jeopardized your daughter.”
“That’s not what I’m asking you, son. I want to know how you feel about her. Are you in love with Mel?”
Kane pondered it. “Maybe I am. I care for her an awful lot.” It was the only excuse he could think of for not going off with Bitty when he had the chance. Lord knew his body was eager. But for once in his life, he knew who and what he wanted, and it wasn’t a one-night stand from a woman he’d met in a sleazy bar. Only problem was, he didn’t know how to go about getting what he wanted. In the past he’d simply taken it. This time he wanted to do it right.
“Do you think she has fallen in love with you?” Wilton asked.
“I wish I knew.” Kane sighed heavily. “I’m not really in a position to make any demands on Mel,” he said. “I have nothing to offer her.”
“You have yourself.” He studied Kane’s forlorn expression. “You don’t think that’s
enough, is that it?”
“Something like that, yeah.” He paused. “I was working toward a degree in prison, but I still have a ways to go.”
“How far?”
“Another year and a half, maybe longer.”
“So what’s the problem? There’s a four-year college in Pelzer, not more than twenty-five miles from here.”
Kane shrugged. “I’d be thirty-two or three by the time I graduated.”
“You’re going to be that age anyway. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your degree by that time?” When Kane didn’t answer, he went on. “If you applied now, you could be accepted by fall. What’s stopping you?”
Kane’s face clouded. “All I want to do is get my life together right now. In prison I had nothing better to do with my time than work on a degree. It sort of kept me going. Now I want to find a job and get a place to live.”
“I don’t want you to move out, Kane,” the man said. “If there’s a chance my daughter has found the man she wants to spend her life with, I want him close by.”
“I’m an ex-con, Mr. Abercrombie. Harper Beckwood would make a better husband.” It galled him to say it, but he knew it was true.
“You’re the most honest man I know, Kane. As I see it, my daughter would be lucky to have you.”
Kane took a sip of his milk. He couldn’t remember when anyone had ever said anything nicer to him.
# # #
Wilton and Blair left for Biloxi the next morning. Mel could see that her father was in no mood to drive the girl, but Blair wasn’t about to let him out of it. Mel wondered if he was still mad at her for hiding the letters Adelle had written. She’d tried to explain why she’d hidden them—that she didn’t want her mother hurting them anymore, but he insisted on seeing the letters anyway. He’d spent the rest of the evening in his room with the door closed, while Mel had stayed in hers feeling guilty. She realized she’d had no right to keep the letters from him.
Now he looked tired and preoccupied. “I’m ready for Blair to go back to New York,” he whispered to Mel before he pulled out of the driveway in her car. “She’s driving me crazy.”
“Don’t worry about a thing here, Daddy,” Mel told him, her eyes pleading for forgiveness. “We should have most of the store finished up by the time you get back tomorrow.”
# # #
It was obvious Petals-n-Things was having a slow morning as Mel walked through the front door. She found Eunice sipping coffee and reading a tabloid boasting a new diet on the front page that promised a twenty-five-pound weight loss in fourteen days. The headlines also stated that Elvis was indeed alive and living in Spokane.
Eunice looked surprised to see her. “Well, hello, stranger. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten all about me.”
Mel leaned against the counter and regarded her with a quizzical look. “Last time I was here, you accused me of being neurotic about this place and told me to leave.”
“Yeah, but that’s before I heard there was a new man in your life. Word has it he’s spent time behind bars. Imagine my surprise when I heard. Here we are, practically best friends, and you didn’t even tell me.”
Mel didn’t miss the injured tone in her voice. “I wanted to tell you, Eunice, but I couldn’t. You have such a low opinion of men that I figured you’d flip out when I told you about Kane.” She went on to tell her about how she’d written to him in prison the past year. “He wants to make a fresh start, that’s all.”
“And you believe in him?”
“Very much so.”
Eunice seemed to ponder it. Mel wondered if she was about to get a lecture. She knew Eunice could recall each and every bad experience she’d ever had with the opposite sex, beginning in third grade. Mel had heard them all numerous times. Had she let it cloud her own judgment?
“I’m sorry you felt you had to keep it from me because of my bad attitude,” Eunice said. “I run my mouth a lot without thinking. That’s probably one of the reasons I have such rotten luck with men.” She smiled gently. “I want you to be careful, honey. Sometimes that heart of yours is too soft for your own good. I’d hate to see it broken.”
Mel nodded. Finally, she changed the subject, concentrating instead on business: what they had in inventory and what they expected to receive on the delivery truck that afternoon. There were two weddings on the books, but both were going to be small and wouldn’t require anything out of the ordinary. If somebody needed something at the last minute, there were plenty of silk and dried flower arrangements from which to choose.
“If something comes up, I can always work in the evenings,” Mel told her assistant. “We’re not having choir practice this month since so many church members are taking their vacations right now.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Eunice said, pausing from time to time as though she hoped Mel would say something more about the man everybody was talking about.
Mel didn’t. But as she drove toward Abercrombie Grocery, her friend’s warning rang out loud.
Sometimes that heart of yours is too soft for your own good. I’d hate to see it broken.
# # #
Kane was hard at work on the cabinets behind the meat case when Mel returned. She changed into her work clothes and spent the morning cleaning the windows inside and out till they sparkled. Then she mopped the floor, getting down on her hands and knees with a scrub brush.
“Come tell me what you think,” Kane said, motioning for her to join him behind the meat case.
“It looks wonderful,” she told him, and meant it. He had put cabinet doors on the shelves to prevent them from looking cluttered. Not only that, he’d scrubbed the shelves and the meat case until they looked new. “All that’s left is painting them. Dad and I can do that.”
Kane looked pleased with her comments. “I can help if you need me, but I’ve set up a few interviews for tomorrow.”
# # #
They returned home tired and dirty. Once they took turns showering, Mel rummaged through the refrigerator for leftovers. There was still plenty of cold fried chicken from a couple of nights before.
“I hope this is okay,” she said as they sat down at the table.
“This is great. I appreciate it.”
They filled their plates and ate in silence for a moment. Mel was the first to speak. “I heard you and Dad up talking last night,” she said. “What was that all about?” She had wanted to ask him all day, but hadn’t.
Kane glanced up from his plate and wondered how much of the conversation he should share. “He wanted to know how I felt about you.”
Mel was clearly surprised by his words. “Wh- What did you tell him?”
Kane put his fork down. “The truth. I told him I thought I was falling in love with you.”
She felt the room spin. “Why did you do that?”
“That’s how I feel. What was I supposed to tell him?”
Mel put her own fork down and covered her face with her hands. She wasn’t ready for this. All her insecurities sprang to life. “What did he say?”
“Actually, he took it very well.”
Doubt gnawed at her. “I specifically asked you not to say anything about us or the way we feel,” she said.
“Why are you so afraid for people to know?”
“I told you, it’s personal.” She started to take a bite; instead, she put her fork down and shoved her chair from the table.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not hungry.” She picked up her plate and carried it to the sink.
Kane stood as well and approached her. “Look, I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn, but I happen to like your father. I didn’t want to lie.” She kept her back to him. He could feel his anger stirring. “And you wouldn’t feel the need to hide your own feelings if you weren’t ashamed of me.”
Mel whirled around and faced him. “I’m not ashamed of you. But I refuse to let you make a fool of me.”
Now he was confused. “How will I do that?”
“Kane, you aren’t going to want to hang around this town forever. One day you’ll get a wild hair, and you’ll be gone.”
“Just like your mother, right?” The color drained from her face. “Isn’t that what this is all about?” he demanded. “You’re scared I’m going to leave you the way she did.”
“One has nothing to do with the other.”
“I think it does. I think that’s the only reason you go out with Harper Beckwood. He’s not likely to run off.”
“You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?”
“Not at all, the only thing I know is that I’m crazy about you.” He pulled her into his arms. “And I think you feel the same way about me.”
She collapsed against him. Tears stung her eyes. “Why are you saying these things to me?” she cried.
“Because I mean it, baby.” He put his hands on either side of her face and raised it so that she was looking directly into his eyes. “I cared for you long before I ever met you. You showed me the good things in life … things I hadn’t seen much of. You’ll never know what your letters meant to me, Mel.”
His own eyes teared, and he shook his head sadly. “There are things you don’t know about me, Mel. I can’t make you understand how bad it was back there. I watched a man beaten to a pulp for snitching on someone. I saw another man raped in the basement while a gang of the worst scum you can imagine held him down.”
“Oh, Kane.” She put her arms around him. She felt like sobbing. “How do you ever get over something like prison?”
He kissed her forehead. “You take one day at a time, babe. You try to find something good around you. It’s easier for me to deal with because of you.” He kissed her softly.
Mel felt her heart burst with emotion. “Kane?”
“Hmmm?”
“I wish we had planned ahead,” she paused and swallowed. “I want to make love.”
At first he thought he’d misunderstood. He gazed at her, searching her face for some sign of uncertainty. He saw none. “Is that what you want?” He held his breath for her answer. She nodded, and he was suddenly thankful he’d visited the men’s bathroom at the Wayside Tavern. He’d been seventeen years old the last time he’d purchased a condom in such a place.
Miss Goody Two-Shoes: Contemporary Romance Page 12