8
Damn, she was tired. Ally wiped her forehead and
concentrated on stacking the pile of dirty glasses on the tray. It
was quieter in the diner now, the breakfast rush over and the lunch
crowd not yet in sight. With a sigh, Ally hefted the tray and
headed back to the kitchen, using her shoulder to push through the
swinging door.
She took the glasses and plates off the
tray and started to load them into the middle of the three sinks.
Mal, the dishwasher, wasn’t at his post, so she contemplated
washing the dishes herself.
“Ally? There are five tables to clean
out here!” Lauren yelled.
Fig, the fry cook, gave her a
sympathetic grin as she gathered up a clean wet cloth and her
cleaning stuff and went back out. “You’re doing good, Ally. Boss is
just in one of her snits.”
Ally nodded and kept going. Lauren
waited on the other side of the door, her expression impatient, her
foot tapping. “Can’t you go any faster? We need them all cleaned
and reset before lunch.”
Ally didn’t bother to try and defend
herself. She probably was slow compared to Leon, the other busboy.
She headed for the first of the tables and started loading things
onto her tray.
Lauren followed her and Ally tensed.
“Make sure you clean properly, and don’t leave that
there!”
Ally bit her lip and kept moving as
fast as she could. Her feet hurt and her back was already killing
her. She didn’t dare glance up at the clock in case Lauren saw
her.
“Boss?”
Lauren turned back to the kitchen door
where Fig was waving at her. “What?”
“Someone on the phone for
you.”
Ally watched Lauren’s retreat with a
grateful sigh. Was Lauren going to be like this every day,
literally on her back critiquing everything she did? It seemed
likely. With a soft groan, Ally kept clearing up, wiping tables and
stacking dirty plates. One thing she’d learned was that hard work
never killed anyone. She had to think about all the money she was
saving for college. And at least it stopped her thinking about
other stuff she didn’t want to deal with right now.
She took the full tray back to the
kitchen and sorted out the stuff. Mal was back at his post cleaning
dishes and putting the glassware in the small machine by the side
of the end sink. Ally’s phone beeped, and she surreptitiously drew
it out of her pocket to check it.
“I hope you’re not using your phone at
work, Ally.”
She looked up to see Lauren frowning at
her. “Actually, my shift finished five minutes ago.”
Lauren carried on as if she hadn’t
heard her. “I don’t allow cell phones.”
“I get that.” Ally eased the cheap
phone back into her pocket. “As I said, I’ve already finished for
the morning. I’ll be back at nine tonight to clean up,
okay?”
Lauren stepped out of the way, her
expression still sour, as if she was almost disappointed that Ally
had lasted this long. “Don’t be late.”
“I won’t be.” Ally manufactured a smile
and headed for the back door. Fig met her coming the other way. He
handed her a small wrapped parcel. “Here’s your
lunch.”
Ally glanced back at Lauren, but she
was deep in conversation with one of the waitresses. “I don’t think
I get lunch.”
Fig shrugged. “Take it with you. It’s
an egg muffin sandwich.”
“Thanks, Fig.” Ally clutched the paper
bag in her hand. “That’s really nice of you.”
“No problem. See you
tomorrow.”
Ally nodded and walked out, the heat
from the wrapped sandwich warming her hand, much as Fig’s
thoughtfulness warmed her heart. The waitresses hadn’t been too
friendly with her either. But then she hadn’t expected them to be.
Her name was mud in this town and that was that.
She opened the paper bag and bit into
the soft egg, fighting a moan of pure greed. By this time she was
almost home, so she slowed down to finish the sandwich and then
tucked the paper into her pocket. She heard her name being called
and looked up to see Jane waving at her and managed a smile.
“Hey.”
Jane strolled over, a small white dog
peeking out of her big plaid purse. She wore a blue denim dress
that reached midcalf and matched her eyes. “How are you doing,
Ally?”
“Okay, I guess. How about
you?”
“I’m fine.” Jane fell into step beside
Ally. “What were you doing in the diner?”
“I’m working there, just
temporarily.”
“Doing what?”
“Clearing tables, taking out the trash,
the usual stuff.” Though Ally tried to keep her voice light, she
knew from Jane’s shocked expression that she wasn’t buying it.
“Where are you working now?”
“I teach fourth grade at the elementary
school. That’s why I’m not exactly busy right now.” Jane shuddered.
“The thought of teaching summer school this year was too awful to
contemplate.”
“Actually, I’m going back to college in
the fall to train to be a teacher. That’s one of the reasons I’m
working through the summer, so I can save up some
money.”
“You’re going to be a teacher?” Jane
smiled politely. “Well, good luck with that. I’m just about ready
to retire, but the benefits are too good to lose.”
“I’m sure it’s very hard work,” Ally
said diplomatically. Jane wasn’t the first teacher who had warned
her off the career. Ally turned the corner onto her street and
paused.
“Well, I have to get home now. I’m sure
I’ll see you again.”
But Jane was already looking past her
to the sight of Jackson’s big black truck parked in Ally’s
driveway. “Is that Jackson in your drive?”
Ally pretended to squint. “I’m not
sure. Is that his truck?”
“It sure is.” Jane started walking
again. “I wonder what he wants.”
It seemed from Jane’s fierce expression
that although she had forgiven Rob, and even Ally, for what had
happened to her sister Susan, she didn’t feel the same way about
Jackson.
Jackson straightened up as Jane and
Ally approached him and wiped his hands on an old rag. His black
hair glinted with blue lights in the fierce sun.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” Jane
demanded. “Don’t you think Ally has enough to put up with without
you bugging her?”
Over the top of Jane’s head, Jackson
met Ally’s gaze. “I just came by to fix her truck light. I clipped
it at the gas station the other evening.”
Ally frowned. “I already said you
didn’t have to do that, Jackson.”
Jackson shrugged, his muscles shifting
under his black T-shirt. “It’s no bother. Much cheaper than going
through my insurance.”
Jane swung around to stare at Ally. “Do
you want me to call Rob and have him get rid of
Jackson?”
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine with it.” Jane
opened her mouth as if to argue and Ally continued. “But thanks for
asking.”
Jane patted her dog’s head. “Someone
has to look out for you.” She directed a final glare at Jackson.
“Now, you just finish up and leave Ally in peace,
okay?”
Jackson nodded, his expression unmoved.
“Yes, ma’am. It’s already done anyway.”
“Then you can leave,” Jane
stated.
A corner of Jackson’s mouth kicked up.
“I sure can. Later, Ally.”
He got into his truck and backed out of
the driveway, waved to Ally, and disappeared down the street. Jane
watched him go.
“Well that’s the end of
that.”
Ally shaded her eyes as the truck
turned the corner. “I suppose he was only trying to be
nice.”
“Nice? That man isn’t nice. He broke
Susan’s heart—probably killed her as well.”
Startled, Ally stared at Jane. “You
think Jackson killed Susan?”
Jane waved away the suggestion. “He
might as well have. He messed up everything for you, Susan,
and Rob, didn’t he?”
“I hadn’t really thought of it like
that,” Ally said carefully, uneasy at the underlying venom in
Jane’s tone. “As far as I remember, I was the one who caused all
the problems.”
“Huh, I always reckoned Jackson had a
lot more to do with it than anyone thought. Who told Susan where to
find you and him? That’s what I’ve always wanted to
know.”
Ally took out her door key and edged
past Jane. “Thanks again, Jane. I really have to get
going.”
With a shake of her head, Jane started
smiling again. “No worries, Ally. See you ’round.”
Ally closed and locked the front door
and watched until Jane took herself down the street. It was common
for someone who suffered a violent bereavement to fixate on the
causes and place blame everywhere, even when it obviously wasn’t
due, and it seemed that poor Jackson was Jane’s chosen target. From
what she’d seen, Jackson had no more forgiven himself for what
happened that night than Ally had.
Ally paused to open the door into what
was supposed to be the dining room of the house. She’d wondered,
too, how Susan and Rob had known exactly where to find her and
Jackson on that fateful night.
She snapped on the light and blinked at
the closely packed boxes. What on earth had been going through her
mother’s head the last few years of her life? Had she ever thrown
anything away? If there was a computer in
here, it would take a while to find it. Ally rubbed her cheek and
felt the accumulated grime and grease from the diner
kitchen.
With a shudder, she retreated down the
hall to her bedroom and then to the shower. A wash, a short nap,
and she might be able to face the dining room again. It would have
to be cleared out at some point.
Jackson knocked on Rob’s door and went
in. “Hey, I fixed Ally’s truck.”
“She let you?”
Rob looked up from the report he was
typing into the computer. Well, typing was
perhaps too technical a word for the hunt-and-peck method he
apparently favored.
Jackson straddled the chair in front of
Rob’s desk. “I didn’t tell her I was going to do it, although she
caught me just as I was finishing up.”
Rob grinned. “And how did that
go?”
“She had Jane Evans with her, so she
couldn’t really lose it, and Jane was pissed off with me
anyway.”
“She’s always pissed off with
you.”
“I know. She flat out tells everyone
who’ll listen that I killed Susan.”
Rob frowned. “She’s never said that to
me.”
“Well she wouldn’t, would she? Number
one, she doesn’t want to make it official because it’s not true,
and two, she’s infatuated with you and she knows we’re good
friends.”
“She’s not infatuated. We share a good
time occasionally, but there’s no pressure.”
“Jeez, Rob, are you really that
clueless? In her mind, she’s already got you measured up for your
wedding tux.”
Rob chose to ignore that. “Jane’s
always struck me as a levelheaded woman. Maybe she really has
forgiven Ally.”
“Yeah, maybe because she’s decided that
it’s all my fault.”
“Do you want me to talk to her about
it?”
“And say what? ‘Jackson doesn’t like it
when you are mean to him’? That’s gonna work.”
“Then what do you want?”
Jackson studied Rob for a long moment.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure why Jane was hanging around Ally
either.”
“Why shouldn’t she?”
“Because most people blame Ally and me
for Susan’s death, and you’d think Jane would be the first on that
list.”
“I don’t blame you or Ally. I’m way
more interested in what Ally’s mom was up to.”
“Really? I can’t wait to hear you try
and explain that to Ally. She might think you’re looking up this
old case to bring her down.”
Rob snorted. “As if I’d do
that.”
“It sure would be a great revenge on us
both, wouldn’t it?”
Rob gave Jackson his full attention.
“Just drop it, okay?”
“I’m not sure I can. I’ve just got this
weird feeling that Ally coming back has changed
everything.”
“Because we’re both fucking
her?”
“Maybe that’s it. Maybe I’m waiting for
it all to go wrong again.”
“That’s because you’ve gotten used to
not having anything good in your life. Why not just enjoy
it?”
“Easy for you to say when you’re just
trying to get her on your side so that you can solve a forgotten
case.”
“That’s bullshit.” Rob’s lazy smile
disappeared. “Don’t tell me what I’m doing.”
Jackson opened the door. “I wouldn’t
dare. Trust me. It will all come back and bite you in the ass
anyway.”
Ally’s cell phone beeped, and she
checked the time. She couldn’t believe she’d spent three hours
trying to sort out the junk in the dining room. The place looked as
packed as ever, and she was coughing and sneezing up dust like a
coal miner. With a groan, she studied the space she had managed to
clear. There was definitely a dining table under there and what she
thought were six chairs. After that was anyone’s
guess.
The doorbell rang, and welcoming any
excuse to move, she went to answer it. Jackson stood there, dressed
in his tan uniform, his black hair tamed and still wet from the
shower.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.” Ally stepped back to let him in
and kept going toward the kitchen. “What can I do for
you?”
Jackson paused at the open door of the
dining room. “Jeez, you’re cleaning in here now?”
“There’s a rumor that my mother had a
computer. I’m trying to find it.”
Jackson edged into the small space
she’d created. “Have you checked the wall sockets for power cables?
You might be able to work your way back to the
computer.”
Ally groaned. “Why didn’t I think of
that?”
He produced his heavy flashlight and
turned it on. “This might help.”
Ally gave a cry of triumph as she
noticed the twin black cables arching away from the wall and up
toward the table. “It must be here! Help me pile this stuff up onto
the other end of the table.”
With Jackson’s help, Ally uncovered an
old screen, a keyboard, and a square box. “I wonder if it still
works?”
Jackson touched her shoulder. “I have
to get to work.” He hesitated as she turned toward him. “There’s
something I wanted to ask you.”
“About what?” Ally’s smile faded as she
studied him.
“Last night. I didn’t use a
condom.”
“And you’re wondering if you’ve caught
anything from me? It’s a good point, seeing as I’m an ex-drug
user.”
“Ally . . . it’s not that. I was
wondering if you could get pregnant.”
She swallowed hard. “It’s okay. I’m on
the pill.”
He let out his breath. “That’s good. I
wouldn’t want—”
“To start a family with someone like
me.”
He put his hand over her mouth. “Stop
finishing my sentences and don’t put yourself down. I just wanted
to make sure you were okay and tell you that health-wise I’m
clean.” He bent to kiss her nose. “Now I really have to
go.”
Jackson retreated down the hallway and
let himself out, leaving Ally leaning against the wall. He was so
quiet and gentle with her—apart from when they had sex, where he
seemed to want to dominate her. In many ways he was the opposite of
Rob, but at the core they were more similar than people would
believe.
Ally glanced at the old clock above the
fireplace and calculated how long she had before she had to go back
to work. Lauren had made sure to give her the most awkward shifts.
No surprise there. Ally remembered the relieved expressions on the
three waitresses’ faces when Lauren had declared they wouldn’t have
to share their tips with Ally. Not that she’d expected to get
tipped. Most front-of-house servers hated pooling tips let alone
sharing them with the kitchen staff.
It was just that minimum wage wasn’t
going to take her very far in her efforts to clean up the house and
save for college. But there was nothing she could do about that,
and she’d definitely learned that patience was a virtue. A
reluctant smile curved her lips. Sometimes it paid to look on the
positive side. If she made enough money to get by and she got to have sex with Rob and Jackson for a
little while longer, how could a girl complain?