Flamingo Diner (23 page)

“Believe me, I know that better than anyone.”

Her expression softened. “I do love you, you know. I love the way you’ve been there for me every step of the way since I got back here. I love that you’re here right now, despite all the mean, hateful things I said to you earlier.”

“I deserved some of them.”

“You deserved all of them,” she corrected. “But I forgive you.”

“And I forgive you for being pigheaded and stubborn about going back to D.C. when you know you could be happy here.
We
could be happy together.”

She frowned. “Maybe we’d better not discuss this right now.”

He grinned. “Whatever you say.”

Just then the phone rang. Matt looked at Emma,
who was staring at it as if there were no one in the universe she wanted to speak to.

“Want me to get it?” he asked.

She nodded.

He stood up and grabbed the phone. “Killian residence.”

“Matt, is that you?”

“Hi, Mrs. K. Where are you?”

“Is Emma with you?”

She sounded upset. Matt immediately braced himself for bad news. “She is. What’s up?”

“It’s Jeff. He’s in intensive care at the hospital.”

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said at once, his gaze on Emma who was regarding him with an increasingly worried expression. “How’s he doing?”

“Just hurry, Matt, please. And if you see any sign of Andy, bring him along. I think he and Lauren Patterson went to the movies.”

Matt didn’t like the sound of urgency in Rosa’s voice, nor was he crazy about the way the color was draining out of Emma’s face as if she were already anticipating the worst.

“Hang in there, Mrs. K. We’re on our way.”

Emma was already on her feet by the time he’d hung up. “What happened to Jeff?”

“He’s in ICU. Your mom didn’t say why, but it’s not good. We need to get over there. She said Andy went to the movies. She wants us to look for him on the way.”

“Drop me off first, then you go and look for him,” Emma said, racing ahead of him to the car.

“The theater’s on the way,” Matt reminded her, as he backed out of the driveway, tires squealing. He sincerely regretted not having his car, so he could
head for the hospital with siren blaring and lights flashing.

As it was, he broke more than one law en route to the multiplex, where the early show was just letting out. Emma spotted Andy in the crowd and shouted for him. Looking puzzled, he loped over to the car, his date following more slowly.

When Emma didn’t speak up at once, Matt said, “Hey, kid, we’ve got to get over to the hospital. Something’s up with your brother and your mom wants you there.”

For an instant Andy looked defiant, as if he might refuse, but then the reality of the situation hit him. He nodded at once and turned to the girl. “Lauren, I can drop you off first.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I can ride along, if it’s okay.”

“Good idea,” Matt said. “Then I’ll give you a lift home, after I drop Andy and Emma off.”

They climbed in the back seat and Matt eased into the traffic now streaming out of the theater parking lot. Emma still hadn’t said anything.

Andy reached over the seat and squeezed her shoulder. “You okay, sis?”

She forced a smile. “Of course,” she insisted, reaching up to pat his hand. She even managed a smile for his date. “Sorry to spoil your evening.”

The teenager waved off the comment. “I just hope Jeff’s okay. That’s all that matters.”

Matt skidded to a stop at the emergency entrance and Emma and Andy piled out. “Emma,” he said, drawing her distracted gaze back to him. “I’ll be back in ten minutes, tops. Hang in there, okay? And give your mom a hug for me.”

“I will.”

He sat there, watching the two of them walk inside the hospital, shoulder to shoulder, holding hands. It was hard to tell who was comforting whom, but he was relieved that they had each other. If this was a drug overdose, as he very much feared it might be, they were going to need all the support they could get.

Rosa had seen Jeff for a total of twenty minutes on two separate visits to his cubicle in the ICU. Each time she’d been horrified by how pale and lifeless he seemed to be. Her boy had always had so much energy, so much spirit. If she were being totally honest, she knew it was more than the drugs that had drained that spirit out of him. Things had been bad, but not this bad until she’d forced him to face facts about his father’s death being a suicide. He hadn’t been ready to hear that, even if the suspicion had been eating away at him. In the end, maybe she’d done as much damage to him as the drugs.

She sat beside his bed and held his hand. “Jeffrey Killian, you are not running out on me, not like this. Do you hear me?”

She kept up the chatter for the entire length of her visit, alternately badgering him and telling him how much she loved him. When the nurse signaled that her time was up, she gave his hand one last squeeze.

“Emma and Andy will be here soon. I expect you to be wide-awake by then, okay? I love you.”

She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I know things have been bad, my darling boy, but we’re going to fix it. I promise.”

She was at the door to his cubicle when she heard the raspy whisper.

“Love you, Mom.”

Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away as she ran back to the bed to look into those precious dark brown eyes so like her own. “Oh, sweetie, you scared the daylights out of me,” she scolded.

“Sorry.”

“But you’re going to be okay now,” she said smoothing her hand across his brow. “We’re all going to be okay.”

He sighed and his eyes drifted shut just as the doctor came in to check on him.

“He was awake. That’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

“It’s a start,” he conceded. “Let me check him out and I’ll let you know how things are going.”

Rosa drew in a deep, relieved breath and went back to the waiting room. “He woke up,” she announced to her friends just as Andy and Emma arrived.

“Mom, what happened?” Emma asked.

There was little point in trying to cover up the truth. Everyone here knew how much trouble Jeff had been in lately. And secrets had a way of leading to tragedy.

“An overdose,” she said. “He had a heart attack.”

“But he’s just a kid,” Andy said, clearly shocked.

Rosa reached for his hand. “And let that be a lesson to you about what drugs can do to you,” she said fiercely.

He gave her one of those too-grown-up Andy looks. “As if I’d ever be dumb enough to try drugs.”

“There was a time when Jeff would have said the same thing,” she reminded him.

Andy caught sight of Marisol just then. “It’s her
fault,” he accused bitterly. “What are you doing here? You have no right to be here. You’re not family. Get out.” He started toward her as if he intended to physically drag her from the waiting room.

Rosa understood his anger all too well, but she grasped his hand and stopped him. “You can’t blame all of this on Marisol,” she told him quietly. “Your brother is an adult. He made his own choices. And if it weren’t for Marisol’s quick thinking, your brother might have died tonight. She brought him to the hospital in time.”

Emma regarded the girl with surprise and went over to sit beside her. “Thank you.”

“Andy’s right,” Marisol said, looking shattered. “This was my fault. I just wanted to have some fun. I didn’t know anything like this could happen from smoking a few joints.”

“You were doing more than smoking pot, or at least he was,” the doctor said, apparently overhearing her as he emerged from the ICU. “But he’s showing some definite signs of improvement. I think there’s reason for some cautious optimism.”

Rosa began to weep at the news, shedding the tears she hadn’t permitted herself until now. Emma guided her to a chair, then sat beside her.

“I’ll get you some more coffee,” Helen said.

“Tea,” Emma corrected. “Herbal, if they have it.”

“I’ll go,” Andy said, shooting another bitter look at Marisol.

She returned his gaze with a defiant look of her own. “I’ll come with you. You can’t carry enough drinks for everyone.”

He looked as if he might balk at the offer, but typical of Andy, he could never be deliberately mean to
someone and his anger rarely lasted more than a minute. Rosa watched him with pride as he walked away.

“That child has had to deal with too much,” she said. “It’s a wonder he hasn’t fallen apart.”

“He’s strong like you, Mama,” Emma said.

Rosa squeezed her daughter’s hand. “And like you. I don’t know what I would have done without you these past months.”

“You’d have survived,” Emma said confidently. “Maybe if I hadn’t hung around, it would have been better.”

“How can you even say such a thing? I want you here. This is your home.”

“Washington is my home now.”

Rosa gazed into her daughter’s eyes and saw the turmoil. “Is it really?” she asked quietly. She glanced up in time to see Matt coming into the waiting room, his gaze immediately going to Emma. “Are you sure you haven’t found something here that’s more important?”

Emma didn’t answer, but she smiled at Matt when he sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulder.

My God, Rosa thought, those two were so in love, it made her heart ache. If only there were some way to make Emma admit it before it was too late.

Tomorrow, she thought wearily. She would worry about that tomorrow. Tonight she had just enough strength left to pray for Jeff’s full recovery.

E
mma could have slept for a week, but instead, she intended to open the diner right on time at 6:00 a.m. at her mother’s insistence. She knew it had to be done. In fact, she knew better than anyone how critical every dollar was these days, but she would have given anything for even an hour in bed after spending most of the night at the hospital.

An icy shower helped to revive her, but it was the sight of Matt waiting for her in the driveway that made her pulse sing. He hadn’t left her side all night. When he’d brought her by the house earlier to change clothes, he’d said he would be back and he was, despite her argument that he needed sleep. She could count on him to do exactly what he said he’d do. His reliability was something she’d come to prize, to say nothing of the way his touches could inflame her. She’d been trying hard not to dwell on that. It got in the way of doing what she knew she had to do.

“I told you to stay home and get some sleep,” she scolded, even as she got into the front seat of his car. She had to fight not to lean back against the cushions and close her eyes. If she fell asleep now, she’d sleep for a month.

“I told you the same thing. Guess we’re both stubborn,” he said mildly. “I knew you’d insist on Andy
staying home. Somebody has to help out at the grill. You can’t do it all.”

“I could have managed,” she insisted.

“But now you don’t have to.”

She gave him a grateful look. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. You know that.”

She did. Even when she’d been furious with him for not telling her he’d been involved with Jennifer, she had known that he would never in a million years let her down. Not really.

“I spoke to your mom a few minutes ago,” he told her. “She says Jeff is doing better. He’s more alert this morning and they’re bringing him breakfast in a few minutes.”

“Thank God for Helen, Sylvia and Jolie. They haven’t left her side for a minute.”

“That’s what friends do,” Matt said. “Especially in a town like Winter Cove.”

Emma looked at him and knew that she’d found the same steadiness in him, and so much more. “I know,” she said softly. “You taught me that.”

For a minute it looked as if he might press the subject, but then they were at the diner and there were a million and one things to do to be ready for the breakfast rush. She was relieved not to have to deal with all the questions he was bound to have about their future. He deserved answers, even to the unspoken questions, but she knew he wasn’t going to like them and she dreaded making him unhappy.

Thankfully, she had little time to worry about it. Every customer who came through the door that morning seemed to have heard about Jeff, yet not a one of them said anything judgmental. Emma wanted
to cry at the concern they expressed. Even Gabe and Harley in their own gruff way tried to help.

“You need me at the grill, I suppose I can make eggs as good as Matt’s,” Gabe said, looking at the scrambled mess that had been made of his over-lightly order.

Emma laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“It’s not like we come here just for the food,” Harley added. “This place is home and you guys are family. I could make a big pot of gazpacho for lunch. Some cold soup might be just the thing on a steamy day like this.”

Emma stared at him as if he’d just spoken in Swahili. “You can make gazpacho?”

“And a lot more,” Gabe told her, regarding his friend with evident pride. “Before he moved here, Harley retired as an executive chef at one of them fancy hotels over by Disney World.”

“My God, why didn’t anyone here know that?” Emma asked. “Did you ever say anything to my mother?”

“No need to,” Harley said. “Rosa and Don knew what they were doing. And you were doing just fine without me interfering.” He gazed pointedly at the eggs. “Least you were till you let Matt get a spatula in his hand.”

Emma’s mind was whirling. “Would you be…” She shook her head. “Of course not. It’s a ridiculous idea.”

Harley regarded her with a curious expression. “No idea’s ridiculous. Some just need a little fine-tuning.”

“I’d have to talk it over with my mother, but would
you consider pitching in here part-time once Andy goes back to school? I doubt we could pay much.”

Harley grinned. “Have my doubts about that, too, but the truth is that I’ve missed having a crowd of folks to cook for. You think your mom would let me try out a few new recipes? Saw something with chocolate the other day that made my mouth water. No point in making something like that just for me. And I’ll be darned if I’ll get married again just to have someone around who appreciates my cooking.”

Emma laughed. “Oh, yes. I think you just said the magic word. Mama’s never turned down anything chocolate in her entire life. We’ve never had a fancy dessert menu, but I’ll bet it would work with all the new yuppies in the neighborhood. If Mama agrees, we could stay open later. We’d be the place to go for coffee and dessert.”

“Well, then, you two talk it over and then we’ll sit down and see what we can do,” Harley said. “I imagine I’ve still got a few good years of cooking left in me.”

Emma leaned over and impulsively planted a kiss on his nearly bald head. “I think I love you, Harley Watson. And in case I haven’t said it before, thank you for poking around till you found that date book.”

Harley’s eyes turned even brighter. “Then it did help?”

She nodded. “It did.”

“That’s all that matters,” he said.

She regarded him with surprise. “You don’t want to know what happened?”

“Well, of course, we do,” Gabe said testily, then quickly added, “but we’re not nosy.”

Emma laughed at that, then went back to pick up
more orders from the grill. She grinned when she saw the food on the plates. “You know, it’s getting a little hard for me to tell who these orders belong to,” she teased Matt. “They all look alike.”

He scowled at her. “You want to trade places?”

“No,” several of the customers at the counter said in a chorus.

Emma regarded them with surprise. “You’d rather have him cooking, than me?”

“Your food might be an improvement,” Jess Davis conceded. “But the last time Matt had a coffeepot in his hand, he came close to spilling it all over me. I can eat eggs that are hard as rubber, but I ain’t interested in being scalded by hot liquid.”

“Same here,” several others chimed in.

Matt frowned at them. “Talk about ungrateful.”

Emma stood there listening to the byplay and felt something ease inside her. She wasn’t quite ready to admit it yet, not to herself, and definitely not to Matt, but this really was home, and she was beginning to wonder why on earth she’d convinced herself that she belonged anyplace else. Sheer stubbornness, most likely. It was yet another trait she’d had in common with her father. Even as the thought crossed her mind, she realized with a shock that thinking about her father didn’t make her feel quite so sad. Maybe the wounds were healing at long last.

Jeff was finally getting out of the hospital today, and it couldn’t be soon enough for him or for Rosa. She shook her head as he complained about everything from the constant intrusions by the staff to the food.

“I want to get out of here,” he grumbled yet again.

“As soon as the doctor signs the release papers, we’re going,” she reminded him.

“Well, it won’t be soon enough for me.”

“So I gathered,” she said wryly, even as she gave his hand a quick squeeze.

Just then she saw Marisol standing hesitantly in the doorway. She’d been coming by a lot, but it seemed to Rosa that Jeff had been less and less eager to see her. His reluctance had clearly been apparent to the girl.

“May I come in?”

Jeff nodded. “We need to talk before I get out of here.”

“Would you like me to leave?” Rosa asked.

Jeff shook his head. “No, you need to hear this, too.”

Marisol looked him straight in the eye. “You’re dumping me,” she said with obvious regret. “I don’t blame you.”

“It’s not that I don’t care about you,” he said hastily. He glanced at Rosa, then back to Marisol. “But I’ve got to make some changes.”

“I know,” Marisol said sadly. “Me, too. And it would be too hard to do it together.”

Rosa regarded them both with surprise. Maybe there was more to Marisol than she’d given her credit for. As for her son, she’d always believed he was a good kid, but he’d shaken her faith lately. And, truthfully, she hadn’t been expecting such evidence of maturity from either of them, but it gave her hope. “I think you’re making a difficult, but very wise decision,” she told them.

“Maybe when we both get our acts together, we
can hook up and see how it goes,” Jeff suggested to Marisol.

“Maybe,” Marisol responded, but she didn’t look as if she believed it would ever happen. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah, me, too. And you’re going to be okay, too.”

She gave him a brave smile. “Yes, I am,” she said confidently. “And in a way, it’s thanks to you. I’m gonna stay with my great-grandpa for a while. He won’t put up with me getting into any trouble. I’ll be working for him at his shop, getting it ready to be sold. Stop by if you’re ever taking a walk in the neighborhood. It’s not that far from the diner.”

Rosa regarded her curiously. “What shop is that?”

“Mullins Junk Shop on Palm Drive,” Jeff answered. “You know Mr. Mullins, Mom.”

“Well, of course, I do.” She smiled at Marisol with genuine warmth for the first time. “He’s a wonderful man. You tell him we don’t see nearly enough of him at the diner anymore.”

Marisol beamed. “I will. He’s not too steady on his feet these days, but if I came with him, he could walk over. Would that be okay?”

Rosa gazed at her son and saw the hope in his eyes. “I think that would be fine,” she said, then added, “In a few weeks.”

Marisol nodded. “I understand. Well, I guess I should go.”

She whirled around and left before Rosa or Jeff could even say goodbye. Rosa looked at her son. “Are you okay with taking a break from her?”

He nodded, though she thought she detected the sheen of tears in his eyes.

“It doesn’t have to be forever, you know. I think she has some growing up to do and I think Joshua Mullins can help her with that. Then, who knows what might happen?”

Jeff met her gaze. “Have I told you what a great mom you are?”

She smiled at him. “Yes, but it’s always nice to hear.” She brushed his hair back from his face. “I wish I could make all of this easier for you.”

“I know, but I got myself into this mess and I’m the only one who can do the hard work it’s going to take to get out of it.”

“Emma, Andy and I will be there for you, though.”

“I don’t deserve that, not after the way I bailed on all of you.”

“Well, we’ll be there just the same,” Rosa said. “That’s what families do, they stick together when things get tough.”

And if God was merciful, things wouldn’t get any tougher than they had been for them since the night Don died.

A week later, Rosa looked around the dinner table and thought how lucky she was to have all her children alive and well. She’d made Jeff’s favorite,
picadillo
with black beans and rice. He was eating it with gratifying enthusiasm. In fact, he looked almost like his old self. The sparkle was back in his eyes and he’d even managed a joke or two during the meal. A week out of the hospital had made a real difference.

Andy seemed to be slowly getting over his resentment of his big brother and was eager to help Jeff get back on his feet. They were talking about shooting
some hoops in the driveway after dinner. They sounded so normal, Rosa almost cried.

“No basketball,” she said sternly and with regret. “Not for a few more weeks, Jeff. You heard the doctor.”

“Then how about Monopoly?” Andy suggested. “I can whip you at that, even though you almost have that fancy business degree from college.”

“As if…” Jeff retorted, making Andy grin.

Rosa smiled at them, then turned her attention to Emma. She and Matt could hardly keep their eyes—or their hands—off of each other. If those two didn’t do something to solidify their relationship soon, Rosa was going to be tempted to propose on Matt’s behalf.

Rosa was about to utter a sigh of satisfaction, when Emma carefully put aside her fork and regarded her with a look that made her very nervous. Dreading whatever her daughter was about to say that had put such a serious expression on her face, Rosa almost told her to keep her announcement to herself.

“Mama, there are a couple of things I think we need to talk about,” Emma said in a dire tone that only increased Rosa’s anxiety.

Rosa regarded her with concern. Whatever was up to make her daughter push aside her apple pie untouched couldn’t be good news. Was this it? Was Emma about to announce that she was going back to Washington? If so, Rosa might be tempted to shake her until she woke up and looked around at all she had here. She had family and friends and a man who loved her unconditionally.

“What’s on your mind?” Rosa asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.

“First, I’m not sure how you’ll feel about this, but
I discovered something the other day I’ve been wanting to tell you about. I think it could be a solution to a lot of our problems.”

Rosa noted that Matt stared at her with surprise. Whatever Emma was about to announce was obviously not what he’d been expecting. “Okay, I’m listening,” Rosa said.

“Did you know that Harley was an executive chef in Orlando before he retired?”

Every single person at the table stared at her as if she’d just announced that the stuffy mayor of Winter Cove could tap-dance.

“You’re kidding,” Matt said. “Is that what the two of you were huddling about the other day?”

Emma nodded. “He said he’d be willing to work for us part-time, if you’re interested. Andy’s going back to school soon and Jeff will be, too.”

“I don’t know about me, sis,” Jeff protested.

“You’re going back,” Emma and Rosa said simultaneously.

Jeff seemed startled by the fierceness of their responses. “How?”

“We’ll find a way,” Rosa said. “I imagine we still have some clout in the banking community in this town. It’s your senior year. It would be a waste for you not to finish.”