“A private office?”
“No, the offices are all on one side. This is a separate little room. No windows. Big padlock on the door. Someone needs to check out the other locations and see if they’re set up the same way.”
“Not you,” said Laura. “If you go, he’ll find out.”
“I’ll ask Billy to hire a private investigator.” Luke shook his head. “I don’t think Earl could handle another business, Laura. And if he’s got something else going, what’s he doing with the money? He’s not paying his bills on time.”
“Florence said Earl had a criminal past. He could be letting someone use his business as a cover.”
Luke unlocked his car and held the door open for her. “Now that wouldn’t surprise me. I wish we could get in there and get a look at the books.”
After Luke sat beside her and started the engine, Laura asked, “Are all Earl’s businesses near the coast, or does he have some inland, in Orlando and Ocala and Gainesville and places like that?”
“They’re all near the coast. Every one of them.”
“Drug smuggling?”
“Could be. That would explain how he could afford to expand as fast as he did.”
“But he has loans.”
Luke pulled out on the highway. “His loans are only on the property. He owns the business free and clear, but you can’t start a business without money. He had to stock the merchandise and get started. No bank would loan him the full amount on the land and buildings, either.”
“What did he do before? Did he have another business?”
“No, and that’s another thing. He had no experience running his own business and no money, yet within three years he had eleven locations. People work for years building their business before they get to that level.”
Laura didn’t tell Luke that Earl was the one who’d pushed Florence into selling her body. He and Hank had turned a young girl into a prostitute.
What else had Earl done?
<>
Luke had a long talk with Billy the next day and laid out all their suspicions about Earl’s business. “We don’t have anything at this point but speculation, so hire a private investigator to check things out. If we find something, we can take it to the authorities.”
“When do you want to start foreclosure?”
“Hold off on that until we see what the authorities want to do.”
“All right. We have his house loan now, too,” said Billy. “The bank couldn’t wait to get rid it. He’s so far behind they were about to foreclose. Did you see the news last night?”
“No.”
“Channel four did a piece outside Earl’s house. He’s still trying to avoid the press.”
“Does he know we own the loans?”
“He was notified, but I’m not sure he knows who’s behind the corporation.”
“He’ll find out soon enough.” When he did, Earl would be furious.
<>
Laura moved into Luke’s room at the ranch. They slept together every night and made love in the stillness of the early morning and again before they went to sleep at night. Luke’s tender love made her feel cherished and adored. Their intimacy strengthened the growing love between them, but Laura was so insecure she wasn’t sure it would last. Luke had been with other women in the past, but he was her first. She didn’t want to appear needy or clingy, but the thought of him leaving tore her up inside. Yet, she couldn’t picture a happily-ever-after with Luke. Her life was at Queenie’s, and his life... wasn’t in Kingston.
One afternoon in the living room of the ranch, Luke wrapped his arms around her. “I’m falling in love with you, Laura.”
Her heart wanted to sing, because she loved him, too, but she had to know something before she could tell him she loved him. “What happens when all the work is done at the motel and café? Are you going to move on to another project?” Her voice dropped. “To another woman?”
He pulled back to gaze deeply into her eyes. “To another project, but not to another woman, not unless you don’t want me around.”
Ivy came in the back door with a plate of cookies, interrupting their conversation. “Oops, sorry.”
Laura backed away from Luke. “Come on in, Ivy. Luke and I can talk later.”
Luke was glad for the interruption. He loved Laura and wanted to marry her, but this wasn’t the time or place to ask her. He wanted to get this mess with Earl behind them and the renovations finished at the motel before he made that kind of commitment. And he had to talk with his mother about the corporation. If he and Laura married, he didn’t want to be gone from her all the time. He either had to work from home or she had to go with him. He didn’t want them to be separated for weeks at a time. It was no way to begin a marriage.
“That baby is really growing,” said Laura.
Ivy rubbed her tummy. “Barbara says I have another two months to go. I’ll explode by then.”
“Are you keeping your baby?”
“I can’t keep it, but I don’t want to give it to someone I don’t know. Are you guys getting married?”
Luke glanced at Laura and back at Ivy. “Why do you ask?”
“I didn’t mean to pry. I just thought...”
“Are you looking for someone to take your baby?”
Ivy nodded.
Laura sat on the sofa with Ivy and took her hand. “Ivy, I’m honored that you’d think of us. I’d love to have a baby someday, and I’d love to have your baby, but I’m not ready to be a mother any more than you are. This baby deserves parents who are ready to be parents, and I can’t take care of a baby right now. I can barely take care of myself. Why don’t you ask your doctor? Or Billy? He probably knows someone.”
Ivy stood. “I’d better get back.” She rushed out the back door, leaving Luke alone with Laura again.
It was a good time to ask. “Do you want kids someday, Laura?”
“I don’t know, Luke. What do I know about being a mother? I grew up without one. Dad did his best, but I always felt like there was something missing in my life.”
Luke grew up with one parent, but he didn’t miss what he didn’t have. He had a great mother, and no kid needed a father like Earl.
He wanted kids of his own, but he didn’t want his kids to grow up without the love and support of both parents. If Laura didn’t want kids, maybe she wasn’t the right woman for him.
<>
Laura and Luke went to check on things at the café and motel late Saturday afternoon. Stan Brown and his crew were just finishing the paving. He ignored Laura, as usual, telling Luke he’d be back Monday or Tuesday to paint the parking stripes.
Laura spoke slowly and firmly. “You’ll have it done Monday or you won’t be paid.”
For the first time, Stan Brown looked at her as if she had some authority. “I’ll do my best.”
She stared him down. “Then we’ll do our best to pay your bill.” She’d found that jerk’s soft spot.
The new paving still smelled, but it looked nice, smooth and even and slightly sloped so the water would run off. No more Lake Whitfield. He’d left a space for bushes down by the street, as they’d asked, and that space in front of the new apartments was left unpaved, too. He’d also left room for the sunroom and another big space along the back of the café. She pointed. “Luke, what’s that for?”
“I thought we’d better leave room to add on, if necessary. If we don’t need it, we’ll put some landscaping in there.”
She doubted that would happen anytime soon, especially if this new buffet idea didn’t take off. The business had been built on friendly service, and if they took that away, they could lose the customers they already had.
The special table Luke ordered was already in place in the café. They had to remove two tables to make room for it. Luke glanced around. “It’s cramped with that table in here. We’ve got to get moving on the sunroom. Do you know what you want?”
“I have a picture in my mind, sort of.”
“That’s a good start. The designer should have some ideas, too. I’ll ask Jay to find someone to paint the outside.”
“Charley Fenderman is a painter. He’s here nearly every morning for breakfast. Why don’t we see what he can do?”
“Okay, ask Charley for two estimates, one on the café and another on the motel. Not pink, Laura.”
“How about off-white with blue trim, to match the roof? With the tinted windows on the sunroom and the landscaping, that should be enough color outside. The flowers will add color, too.”
Luke nodded. “Okay.”
There were times when Laura found it hard to believe that this was still Queenie’s Café, the dump she’d inherited from the mother who wasn’t a mother. If Queenie had let Dad borrow the money to improve the property, the motel might have done better, but Queenie could never have done this well in the café unless she let someone else run it. Her surly personality and greasy food chased customers away.
Carmen gave Laura one of her old real estate open house boards. Jay painted it and Laura stuck on the plastic letters:
OPEN TUESDAY
all you can eat
B U F F E T
Laura carried the sign out and propped it by the street. The sun was bright and hot. Someone beeped at her. She didn’t see who it was, but she waved. The town of Kingston was so small, she knew nearly everyone.
She cleaned up the litter along the highway and looked back at Queenie’s. The new roof looked great, but the walls were a mess. The stucco was faded and streaked. She’d tried to wash off the brown streaks, but that stuff wouldn’t come off. The walls were an ugly color anyway. They had to get the outside painted, and soon.
On Monday, she bought fresh flowers for the tables, started the cinnamon rolls, and made several salads for the lunch buffet. She wasn’t sure how much food they’d need, but she didn’t want to run short. If they made too much, they’d use it the next day.
Laura’s stomach fluttered with nerves. It was risky to try something this different, but opening the café in the first place had been a risk. If the buffet didn’t work, she could go back to the old way.
Maybe.
Queenie’s voice echoed in Laura’s mind.
You’re lazy... lazy... lazy... lazy.
Queenie was wrong, and Laura had to prove it not just to herself, but to her father and Florence.
And Queenie.
<>
Billy called Laura that afternoon. “I found a connection between Florence’s husband and the man in Tennessee.”
“Is it the same man?”
“No, but listen to this. Hank Peters, the man in Tennessee, is an old friend of the Ralston family. Florence’s husband, Hank Ralston, was named after him.”
How did Queenie know him? Or did she?
“Laura, Hank Ralston didn’t drown. Peters said Ralston got mail from some woman in Florida. He forwarded it on to him in California. I asked this guy if Ralston was still in California. He said he didn’t know, that he’d lost touch with him years ago.”
“Then he could still be alive.”
“It’s very possible.”
If Dad and Florence knew Hank didn’t drown, that explained why they didn’t get married when Queenie died. But it still didn’t explain why Dad stayed here in Kingston with a wife he despised.
As Laura hung up the phone, Judy burst through the door, calling, “What can I do to help?”
“I made four big salads – potato, pasta, tuna, and lettuce – but I’m not sure how much more to fix.”
“Plenty,” said Judy, “especially if you expect Jay and Charley.”
Feeding her two favorite customers would definitely eat into the profits.
“Is your mama comin’ back?”
“In a couple weeks. She and my dad are both coming. I hope we can talk them into moving back for good, but I don’t know. Florence is afraid she’ll embarrass me if she stays here.”
“Why?”
“She was a prostitute. I thought everyone around here knew.”
Judy didn’t even blink. “She ain’t doin’ it now, is she?”
“No.”
“Than it don’t matter to me. Can she cook?”