Her Holiday Family. Ruth Herne Logan

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СКАЧАТЬ am. I’ll call Mom, tell her I’m running late. It’s all good.”

      “All right. I’ll open in the morning, so if you need to sleep in, go ahead. I’ll have things covered.”

      “Thanks. I just might do that.” He wouldn’t, but he appreciated the offer, just the same. In fact, looking at the work spread out before him, he wasn’t sure he’d make it home at all, but that was okay. Jenny and Charlie Campbell had rocked him to sleep at night, held him through a phase of unrelenting nightmares and ran him from town to town as he tore up soccer fields across the county. Staying up late to help them out?

      Not a big deal at all.

Chapter Two

      Tina grabbed the hardware store door handle Monday morning, emotionally sorting through the scene she had just passed. A crew of uniformed firemen, sifting through the remains of her café, searching for evidence of arson. Tina shivered at the thought that anyone would deliberately burn a building, risk harming others and destroy property.

      It couldn’t be true. Mild crime was unusual here in Kirkwood Lake. Felony crimes like arson? Assault?

      Virtually unheard of.

      The door swung open beneath her grip, and she stepped in cautiously, looking left and right. Had Max forgotten to lock up? That seemed unlikely for a guy who made his living completing surreptitious missions, but—

      “Tina, is that you? I’ve got coffee back here. Come get some. If you drink coffee, that is.”

      “I owned a café. I live on coffee. Gimme.” She reached for the cup as she entered the back room, then stopped, surprised. “Max. They’re all done. Every last one.”

      The array of broken equipment had been put back together, each one tagged with the owner’s name and the cost of repair. They formed a pretty line along Charlie’s back-room bench, then marched across the work floor, ready to be loaded into vehicles from the rear loading dock. There would be no reckoning with angry customers, no putting folks off, no begging for more time, hoping people understood business limitations brought on by Charlie’s illness. “I can’t believe this.” Tina turned in a full circle, then stopped when she faced Max again. “You stayed all night.”

      “Not the first time I’ve stayed late somewhere. Won’t be the last.” He brushed off the sacrifice like it was no big deal, and that almost made her like him. She’d had enough of guys who promised one thing, then did another. Max’s casual treatment of his sacrifice for his family touched too many of those empty-promise buttons. He directed his attention to the coffee cup. “I wasn’t sure what you like, so I got flavored creamers and regular. And sugar. And artificial sugar.”

      “Covering all the bases.” The fact that he’d gone the distance for his parents surprised her. And that he’d provided for her despite his lack of sleep? Downright sweet of him. “Max, this is so nice. Thank you.”

      “You’re welcome.”

      He hesitated a moment, coffee in hand, as if wanting to say something. Tina prodded him as she stirred hazelnut creamer into her cup. “And?”

      His next words surprised her. Because it was old news or because the sympathy in Max’s voice rang with quiet sincerity? Maybe both.

      “I didn’t realize your parents were gone, Tina.” His gaze showed regret. “I’m truly sorry.”

      Max’s years away had wrought lots of local change. Losing her parents had become a big part of that “new normal.” She sighed. “Me, too.”

      “And your aunt owns The Pelican’s Nest now?” He sipped his coffee and shifted his attention to the east window. The steep peak of the restaurant profile was just visible beyond the parking lot. “I would have thought they’d leave it to you. Or give it to you. Something for all those years of work you put in.”

      “Well. They didn’t.”

      “Because?”

      She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t want to rehash old Martinelli news the whole town already knew. But Tina knew if she didn’t answer, he’d just ask his parents. It wasn’t like anything stayed a secret in a small town. “My aunt and uncle were in a position to buy in. They promised to let me manage the business. My father had developed a bad heart, a combination of genetics and smoking, and he needed to step down. Mom and Dad moved to Florida to escape the tough winters and my uncle booted me to the curb.”

      “He fired you?”

      “Yes.”

      “Oh, man.”

      He was feeling sorry for her, and the expression on his face said he couldn’t understand family acting like that, treating each other that way. Well.

      Neither could she. “It was a long time ago.”

      “Yes. But then you opened a café there.” He indicated the burned-out shell visible through the west-facing window. “With their restaurant right here.” He turned back toward the window facing the parking lot and whistled lightly. “Gutsy.”

      Tina made a face. “Gutsy, yes. And maybe a little mean.”

      “Mean?” He put away a handful of small tools as he scrunched his forehead. “How can that be mean?”

      “Because as my business grew, their customers dwindled,” Tina admitted. “And that made my uncle grumpier than usual, and he was pretty miserable already. That couldn’t have been fun for Aunt Laura and Ryan.”

      He raised one absolutely gorgeous brow at the mention of her cousin’s name.

      “My cousin. Their only child. And now my uncle’s dead, my aunt’s running the place on her own with half the help she needs, and raising a kid who’s hanging with a rough bunch from Clearwater. So maybe if I hadn’t been bullheaded and put my café right under their noses...”

      “Where your success would be painfully obvious...”

      She frowned. “Exactly. Maybe things would be different. Maybe we could actually be like a normal family. Like yours.”

      “Ah.”

      “You have so much to be grateful for, Max.”

      His face said he knew that.

      “So staying away, leaving your parents and brothers and sisters, shrugging them all off...” She set her coffee cup down and faced him. “I don’t get it. I’d give anything to have a family. My parents are gone, my mom died two years after my dad, I’ve got no brothers or sisters, and my one aunt won’t acknowledge me if we pass on the street. I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat.”

      Sympathy deepened his expression. “You know, I never thought of family in terms of temporary until Mom called me with Dad’s prognosis. Reality smacked me upside the head and said head home, soldier. But you’re right, Tina. I’ve got a lot to make up for, but standing and talking won’t do anything but put me to sleep this morning. I’m going to pull the last of those Christmas displays out of the shed and bring them in. СКАЧАТЬ