by Fredrick, MJ
She looked up, surprised to see Beth standing there. “What are you still doing up?”
Beth forced her shoulders to relax, though everything inside her was churning. “Making sure you’re okay.” She leaned the mop against the counter and forced a smile as she glanced down at Jonas. “Did he enjoy the movie?”
“He was fine.” Linda closed the door, then bent down to unbuckle Jonas. Beth’s fingers itched to hold him, to check to see if he was okay, not too cold, not too hot. Once again she had to remind herself he wasn’t her baby. Linda straightened with him in her arms. “Go ahead and yell. You know you want to.”
She did want to. She wanted to demand Linda grow up and be responsible, but really, all the girl had done was take the baby down to the lake—where so much could have gone wrong,but didn’t.
“No, I’m just going to go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Linda’s expression was incredulous as Beth walked past her, into her bedroom, and closed the door.
***
The town had come alive the last few weeks, and it was more than the warmth and sunshine of June. The people of Bluestone seemed to want to spend time together, as witnessed by the Friday night movies and the formerly-impromptu-now-weekly baseball games on the field by the church.
Beth walked past the field on the way home from the grocery store, where she’d had to go buy the next size diapers for Jonas. Honestly, the old ones had fit just fine yesterday. If Beth didn’t know better, she would have suspected Linda of bringing home the wrong baby. But no, one look into those sweet brown eyes and she knew it was her boy. He’d just turned into a little pig, and the diaper tape had barely fit that fat little belly. So she had walked to the store, adding wipes to her purchase as well—one could never have too many—and walked home behind the back stop where a game was in full-swing. She paused, knowing Dale liked to play and thinking she should probably say something to him after that kiss last night. What she’d say, she had no idea. It had been a nice kiss, one she’d replayed over and over in her head when she couldn’t sleep last night, but…
But what, she had no idea. A relationship with the town doctor would be respectable, and she liked him, liked talking to him. That should be enough. So why wasn’t she more excited?
A familiar gimme cap caught her attention and she stopped despite herself. Maddox Bradley was on the field. He was on third base, legs spread, ready to run, his attention on the batter. She heard someone call, “Strike!” and Maddox relaxed a little, pulling the tail of his T-shirt up and wiping his face with it.
Ho-leee…Despite her better judgment, Beth let her attention fall to his flat stomach above the low-riding waistband of his jeans. Maybe not a six-pack, but some definite definition there, accented by a treasure trail he hadn’t had when he’d gotten her into the back seat of his car. Her tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth as she remembered exactly what it pointed to.
“Foul ball!”
She registered the words milliseconds before something smacked her on the side of the face, sending her sprawling in the dust. She heard cheers and shouts of alarm, and looked up into Dale’s concerned eyes. Her cheek stung like hell and she lifted a hand to it.
“Did the ball hit me?”
“No, I did.” Quinn crouched on her other side, holding the ball in his gloved hand, a kind of triumphant smile twitching his lips. He reached out to touch her cheek with the tip of his finger. “Sorry about that. Better a glove than a ball. Should get some ice on that.”
“Thanks, Doc,” she muttered as she let Dale help her to her feet, to a scattering of applause. “I’m sure there’s something in the boss’s code of ethics that says you can’t beat up on your best waitress.”
“It’s going to leave a bruise,” Dale said with a sigh, pressing a blue ice pack from the first aid kit against her cheek and holding it there, even when she reached up to hold it herself. He grinned at her, a kind of testing grin, either to make sure she wasn’t hurt too badly, or to see if she’d given any thought at all to the kiss. She had just bolted last night afterwards.
“I’ll have a matching one on my butt,” she muttered, shifting to rub the spot where her bottom had hit the ground.
“I’ve got two ice packs and two hands.” Dale winked.
She gave him a rueful smile. “Nice try.” She drew away and glanced about. Great, everyone was watching her, including Maddox. She wouldn’t notice the way his shirt was stretched out, or the way his jeans hugged his slim hips or—was he wearing biker boots to play baseball?
“Come on, we’ll go into the bar and sit down,” Dale said, letting her take the ice pack and closing his hand around her arm.
“I’ll be fine. I’m mostly stunned, is all.”
Dale drew back a bit, the corners of his mouth turned down. Oh, great, she’d hurt his feelings. He should know her well enough to know she didn’t like a fuss being made over her. Too late, she realized he’d just intended to get her alone. Oh, dear. She was going to have to figure out how she felt about this and then they were going to have to talk. God, she really wished she knew if her reluctance to accept his gesture whole-heartedly was because of her feelings for Maddox or for a myriad of other reasons.
“I’ve got to go get these diapers to Linda anyway.” She smiled and touched his cheek, which seemed to appease him. “You go enjoy your game. I’ll see you at the bar in a few hours.”
And again, she bolted.
“Dad called,” Linda said as Beth walked through the door with her burden.
With the screen door slamming shut behind her, Beth thought—hoped—she misheard. She set her load down on the counter and turned to her sister. “What did you say?”
Linda stepped forward, concern furrowing her brow. “What happened to your face?”
Beth waved her concern aside. “Got in the way of a baseball game.” She lifted the ice pack to her face, easier to do now that she wasn’t carrying the bags of baby supplies. “What did you say?”
Linda rocked back on her heels, her expression closing. Because of Beth’s reaction to her concern, or because of the news she was about to deliver, Beth didn’t know.
“Dad called,” Linda said again.
Beth’s heart did a slow, terrified thud. How much of her past was going to rain down on her this week? “Wanting?”
“Money.”
She had known that was the answer the moment the question left her lips. She did her best not to show Linda her panic. She was barely making enough for the three of them to live. “How much this time?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. He said he’d call back to talk to you.”
Which meant it was a lot. Which she didn’t have right now. But she’d have to find a way, so he’d keep his distance. “Did he say anything else?” The last time he’d called, Linda had been pregnant, and he’d promised to send money to them for a change. Of course, he’d probably gotten drunk right afterwards and forgotten. No money had arrived. She wondered what else he’d forgotten.
Linda shook her head, no doubt thinking the same thing.
“You didn’t talk to him about Jonas?”
Linda scrunched up her nose. “Why would I?”
Good point.
“Why doesn’t he call Adam or Joey?”
“He doesn’t have their numbers.” Because she wouldn’t give the information to him. Her brothers had escaped his abuse, barely, and were free. She wasn’t going to drag them back in.
“Well, he should. We shouldn’t have to bail him out all the time.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can take care of it.”
Linda’s shoulders snapped square and she blew a frustrated breath out through her nose. “We barely have money for ourselves. I mean, we can’t even afford to hire a babysitter when I go to school, so you’re working nights and then babysitting. It’s not fair.”
Beth appreciated her sister’s outrage on her behalf—and wondered where it was the rest of the time. “We’ll be okay. I promised you
it would, didn’t I?”
“But why does it have to be so hard? We don’t have anything and he wants more from us.”
“And I’d rather give it to him than have him come back.” She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She needed to think about what she was going to do, how she was going to make more money. She was doing better in tips since Maddox came, but she should have known better than to hope it would give them some kind of cushion. “Now, do you know if we have any ibuprofen?”
“Beth, honey.”
Her father’s voice carried soft and low over the phone lines. He was drunk, she knew. When he wasn’t drunk, he was uptight and angry and took his frustrations out on his family. She remembered coming home from school and being grateful to see empty bottles in the trash. That meant the evening would be peaceful, until his hangover hit.
Those memories meant she was able to keep her shields up when she responded. “What do you want?”
“I’m in some trouble. I borrowed some money and I’m having some difficulty paying it back.” He spoke precisely, as if he didn’t want her to know he was inebriated.
“You borrowed money why? For child support?”
He stumbled then. Apparently, her hostility penetrated his haze. “No. I—I was trying to strike it big. I placed a few bets on a horse that was a sure thing, and we were going to be free and easy the rest of our lives, baby. But you know how these things go.”
Oh, she knew how money went with her dad. Like it had wings. “Got it.” She cut him off, not caring to hear his excuses. “How much?”
“It’s—seven grand.”
Beth’s stomach plummeted at the amount. She’d hoped to pay him off to keep him out of their lives, but now…She still had Linda and Jonas’s hospital bills to pay, as well as rent, and expenses, and formula and diapers. Well, at least he sounded ashamed.
“We don’t have it. You do remember your youngest daughter had a baby, and we don’t have insurance, right? You’re just going to have to figure out another way.”
“I’m your father and it’s your duty to help me.” His tone changed to the militant tone he’d used when she was a child. She tamped down the fear. He wasn’t here. He couldn’t hurt them. She could fight back safely, for now.
“I didn’t ask for you to be my father, and you’re the last person who should be talking to me about duty.”
Behind her, Jonas whimpered at her loud voice, so she stepped out onto the back deck, lowering her voice so the neighbors wouldn’t hear.
“You will send me money, or I’ll come get it.”
Despite her outward bravado, that was exactly what she feared. She’d do whatever she had to do to keep him away from her family.
Beth let the pencil fall to the counter and she sat back, dragging her hands through her hair, pulling it loose from its ponytail. No matter how she figured it, the answer was the same. She didn’t have enough money, and she wouldn’t unless she got another job.
Only with Jonas, another job was out of the question. Linda had to go back to school this summer to make up for the time she lost when Jonas was born. Beth couldn’t afford to pay a babysitter.
The only choice was to quit Quinn’s and get a job at the casino on the other side of the lake. She’d worked there a year ago, when she figured Linda was old enough to take care of herself and Beth could work later. That had bitten her in the ass, because Linda had taken advantage of the lack of supervision and gotten herself pregnant. But Beth could see no other choice. The hours were long and the uniform was degrading, but business was better over there, where people were trying to regain their fortunes, and she’d make money in tips.
Her heart ached at the prospect. Working at Quinn’s might not be the best job in the world, but she loved the bar, enjoyed the people who came in, enjoyed arguing with Quinn. And he was good to her, giving her the hours she needed, but also cutting her slack when she had to deal with Linda. And she could walk to work. Now she’d be driving half an hour each way.
Just thinking about what trouble Linda could get into in that amount of time made her shudder.
But tomorrow she’d find time to drive over and apply.
Hopefully by then, she could stop feeling sorry for herself.
“Quinn, can I talk to you?”
Beth had come into the bar before her shift to talk to him, before the crowds Maddox brought in, but quite a few lunch patrons remained, more than the usual lunch crowd, and more than a few unfamiliar faces. Maddox seemed to be drawing people to Bluestone already.
Already she felt distant from it all. She’d gone to the casino and her former manager was still there, and glad to see her. She’d been rehired on the spot and been given her uniform, skin-tight black briefs and a snug red T-shirt. A Hooters girl would look dressed for church in comparison.
Now she had to walk away from this place she loved to go to that place that was loud and ugly and smelled sour. She would not cry.
Quinn looked up from the paperwork he was doing at one end of the bar. “So, talk.”
“Not here.” She looked down the bar at Leo Erickson and Delia Smart, the postmistress.
Quinn followed her gaze, huffed out a breath, and inclined his head toward his office. She was shaking as she led the way into the tiny room. She sucked in a deep breath when he closed the door behind her.
“I have to quit,” she said without preamble.
She’d never seen Quinn look surprised before, so she could only interpret his sudden stillness as that. “Why the hell, Beth? You’re my best waitress.”
“I—need more money. It’s nothing personal, but with the hospital bills and—I got a job at the casino.”
He made a sound of disgust. “I’ll give you a raise. And with Maddox playing here, I thought you were doing pretty good.”
She gripped the back of the chair across from his desk, aware it revealed her anxiety but not caring. “You can’t afford to give me the raise I need, and Maddox won’t be here forever. I’m sorry, Quinn. I know you’ve done a lot for me.”
He scowled. “Apparently not enough. What about Jonathan? Jonas is his baby, too. Is he giving Linda any support?” He took her silence for the answer it was. “I’ll talk to his parents.”
Her pride hadn’t allowed her to give Jonathan a thought, not in the months before Jonas was born, or in the months after. “Quinn, you don’t need to get involved.”
“I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me. You’re my best waitress, this is my busiest time, and I can’t afford to lose you.”
She shook her head. “Whatever Jonathan can pitch in still won’t help. And his family is struggling, too.”
“Doesn’t matter. His baby, his responsibility. More his than yours.” He walked behind the desk to pick up the phone.
Beth put her hand on it to stop him. He raised his gaze to hers, eyebrows arched.
“You’re right,” she said. “You’re right, and I’ll talk to his parents.” It wasn’t his place, and to send him begging on her behalf turned her stomach more than begging on her own. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I need this casino job. I’d keep both if I didn’t have to babysit Jonas.”
Oh, she shouldn’t have said that, because his gaze sharpened.
“I may know someone who could help you out with babysitting.”
She shook her head. “I don’t need another expense.”
“I said she could help you, not that she’d charge you. Let me talk to her.”
And then she’d be working two waitressing jobs. Her feet ached just thinking about it, but the money… “Thanks, but for now, I have to work there. I can work here until Thursday, but after that…I’m sorry, Quinn. I know I owe you more.”
Tears tightened her throat, so she pivoted and fled, right into the arms of Maddox Bradley.
Maddox grasped Beth’s arms as she dipped her head, and bent to look into her face. Her stubborn chin was set, her nose pinched, and—hell, she was about to cry. He looked past her to
Quinn, whose own jaw was tight.
“What did you say to her?” he demanded.
Quinn’s eyes widened. “I—nothing!” He flung his hands in her direction. “Talk to her. I sure as hell can’t.”
Maddox glanced about and saw people starting to notice them. He didn’t want an audience right now and was pretty sure she didn’t either. So he dragged her across the narrow hall and into the ladies’ room. She snapped her head up then and glared at him.
“Are you crazy?”
“You want to tell me what’s going on?”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Not your business.”
“You come out of Quinn’s office ready to cry, I’m making it my business. Or his.”
She glared at him then, nostrils flared. “When did you become such a meddling old lady?”
Good question. Since he came back to Bluestone, apparently. “What has you so upset?”
“Nothing. It’s just hard to leave a job. I’ve worked here for years.”
Surprise snapped his spine straight. “So why are you leaving?”
“I can make better money across the lake at the casino.”
He’d been to that casino. He hated the place, with its flashing lights and ringing machines and cigarette smell. He didn’t want to imagine Beth wandering around serving drinks to the men there, with no one there to look after her, no one to remind them they needed to respect her.
A thought occurred to him. “Is it because I’m here? You’re going to work over there to get away from me?”
She made a dismissive sound and her gaze flickered down. “Don’t flatter yourself. You won’t be around that much longer, so quit butting in.” She twisted free and stormed out of the bathroom, and out of the bar.