Читать книгу Angel Mine - Sherryl Woods, Sherryl Woods - Страница 7

Todd was living here? Heather gazed up and down the main street of Whispering Wind and wondered if she’d somehow landed on the set for Annie Get Your Gun. The downtown was no more than a few blocks long and dominated by a handful of old-fashioned storefronts, ranging from a diner and a general store to a hardware store and a feed-and-grain supplier. Feed and grain? Something told her that wasn’t a gourmet grocery, catering to vegetarians.

The place did have a certain rustic charm, she supposed, but Todd, here? Todd Winston, the ultimate yuppie even when he hadn’t had a dime, in a town that didn’t have a Starbucks or department store in sight, much less a skyscraper? Where was he buying his designer shirts? Where was he going for sushi? Where were the theaters? Megan O’Rourke must have the persuasive skills of a hostage negotiator.

“Mama?” Angel tugged on her hand and gave her an imploring look. “Want ice cream. Now.”

Now was Angel’s second favorite word after no. It usually meant trouble was just around the corner unless Heather complied with her wishes. Since it was a tantrum that had brought them here, Heather was willing to do almost anything to avoid one now.

“In a minute, sweet pea,” she said, trying to buy a few minutes to look around, to absorb not only the simplicity of the town, but the fact that the temperature seemed close to freezing even though it was already mid-May. She shivered and tugged her sweater more tightly around her, then checked the zipper on Angel’s coat which she had a way of tugging down.

“Now!” Angel repeated. “Want ice cream now!”

Heather sighed. She had barely had time to breathe since dropping their belongings off at a motel on the outskirts of town. Angel had been too excited to take her usual afternoon nap. This walk was supposed to settle her down, so Heather could have some quiet time to make plans, including coming up with a less expensive alternative to the car she’d been forced to rent at the airport.

On the flight to Laramie, she’d given more thought to exactly how she needed to handle things with Todd. She couldn’t expect to drop Angel on his doorstep and simply walk away. Father and daughter were going to need time to get to know each other, time for Todd to accept the situation. Spending the summer sounded about right.

Surely after three months she and Todd could come to some sort of an agreement. Shared custody, maybe. Child-support payments. She wasn’t sure exactly what was fair, which meant she probably ought to see a lawyer before making contact with Angel’s daddy. She’d noticed a sign for an attorney—Jake Landers—right across the street. She doubted there was more than one in a town the size of Whispering Wind.

“Mama!” Angel’s face was scrunched up, indicating that tears were on the immediate horizon.

“Okay, baby, let’s get ice cream.”

As they walked down the block to the ice-cream parlor Angel had spotted thanks to the colorful giant cone out front, Heather noticed the Help Wanted sign in the window of the diner. Now that she’d had a look around the town, something told her that waitressing was about the best she could hope to do here. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to it.

“Baby, let’s stop in here for a minute,” she said, turning Angel toward the diner.

Angel let out a wail that could have put a car alarm to shame.

“I’m sure they have ice cream in here, too,” Heather consoled, for once undaunted by the building sobs. She hunkered down and touched a silencing finger to Angel’s lips. “But if you don’t stop that crying right this instant, you won’t get any. Okay?”

The tears magically stopped. “Okay,” Angel said agreeably, as if that had been her plan all along.

The Starlight Diner was spotless, but there was no mistaking the wear and tear on the red vinyl seats, the initials that had been scratched on the Formica tabletops, the jukeboxes in every booth that boasted hits from the sixties. It was the kind of place where generations of teens had probably courted, where old men came daily for a cup of coffee and local news. It had tradition written all over it. Some of the places she’d worked in in New York might have been fancier, but they had opened and closed faster than a bad Broadway play.

At nearly two o’clock in the afternoon, there was only a lone customer left at the counter, a man wearing a rumpled pin-striped suit and black leather cowboy boots. His gaze followed the waitress as she briskly wiped tables, but the woman seemed to be deliberately avoiding him.

Heather slid Angel into a booth, then sat across from her. The waitress, a tall, thin woman with short-cropped gray hair and a ready smile, came up with an order pad in hand. She grinned at Angel.

“Hey, there, aren’t you a cutie. I haven’t seen you in here before. I’m Henrietta Hastings, by the way,” she said to Heather. “What can I get for you?”

“Ice cream for her. Chocolate, if you can bear the thought of half of it winding up on the table or floor.”

“Honey, you’d be amazed at how much winds up on the table or floor, put there by folks a whole lot older than this little one. Don’t worry about it. Messes are just part of the business. Now, how about you? Ice cream, too? Although, if that’s what you’re after, I’d recommend you head on down the street. They have a fancier supply than I carry in here.”

“I’ll have coffee for now and maybe some information?”

Henrietta tucked her pencil behind her ear. “Sure. What can I tell you?”

“Do you know if the job’s still available, and if it is, when I might be able to talk to the owner?”

The woman looked as if Heather had just offered her a million bucks. “The job’s open and you’re talking to the boss. Let me get that ice cream and coffee and we’ll talk. It’ll give me a chance to get off my feet. The lunch hour was a real bitch today.” She scowled in the direction of the remaining customer as if he were one of the primary offenders. “Half the people couldn’t make up their minds, and the half that could didn’t like what they’d ordered when it turned up. We’ve got a new cook who keeps trying to gussy up the old standards. I almost had a rebellion when he tried to put avocado on the burgers. I should have known better than to hire someone whose last job was in southern California.”

She went back behind the counter to pour the coffee and dish up the ice cream, still pointedly ignoring the man seated on a stool near the register.

“More coffee, Henrietta,” he said.

“You don’t need it,” she retorted. “Besides, you’ve got court in ten minutes.”

“They can’t start without me, can they?” he shot back.

“Might be better if they did,” Henrietta replied.

The man sighed heavily. “Okay, how much do I owe you?”

“Same as yesterday and the day before that. You’re in a rut, old man. Just leave the money on the counter and don’t bother with a tip. I don’t want your handouts.”

She marched past him with Heather’s order. The man watched her starchy movements with a resigned expression, put a couple of bills beside his plate and left.

“Are you that way with all your customers, or is he special?” Heather inquired curiously.

“Foolish old man,” Henrietta muttered, her gaze following him nonetheless. “He’s a judge. Harry Corrigan. Thinks he’s God. I’m here to tell him otherwise.”

Heather hid a smile. “Interesting.”

Henrietta turned her attention from the departing judge to Heather. “I haven’t got time to waste talking about the likes of him. Tell me about you.”

Heather gave her the short version, leaving out any specific mention of Todd. An hour later she had the job, a place to stay—in the rooms upstairs—and a new friend.

“This is just temporary,” Heather reminded her.

“Girl, you’ve told me that half a dozen times. You’ll go when the time is right and I’ll be no worse off than I am today. Who knows, maybe you’ll decide to stay. You could do worse than Whispering Wind. It’s a nice little town for raising kids. And I imagine Buck over at the service station can find you a deal on a used car.”

Heather knew with absolute certainty that staying wasn’t an option, but she’d been as honest about that as she could be. “Thank you. You’ve been very kind.”

“Kindness has nothing to do with it. You’re bailing me out of a jam. I’m tired of working dawn to dusk, seven days a week. Having you around to share the load will be like going on vacation.”

“Maybe so, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I never expected to be lucky enough to find work on my first day in town.”

“You want to run across the street and see Jake now, you go right on and do it,” Henrietta told her. To her credit she hadn’t asked Heather why she needed a lawyer when she’d barely set foot in town. “Business won’t pick up for a while yet. I can keep an eye on Angel for you.”

Heather hesitated. She hated taking advantage of a woman who’d already been so generous. “Angel can be a handful,” she warned.

“Believe me, you don’t know the meaning of the word until you meet the two hellions I’ve got living with me.”

“You have kids?” Heather asked, surprised. She would have thought Henrietta was old enough for grandchildren, not little ones of her own.

“Oh, they’re not mine, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s a long story and best saved for another day. They’ll be along any minute once they’ve finished with their tutor. Both of them are smart as whips, but they missed a lot of classes a while back. They’re getting caught up after regular school lets out. They can keep Angel company till you get back.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Go. You might as well get whatever’s on your mind taken care of. Much as he tries to demonstrate otherwise, Jake’s a good lawyer and a decent man. He’ll do right by you.”

“I won’t be long,” Heather promised. There was no need to reassure Angel about her absence. She’d already crawled into Henrietta’s lap, where she was being rocked to sleep.

Maybe for once in her life, Heather concluded, she had done exactly the right thing. Not only was Angel going to gain a daddy, but it looked as if she was going to pick up an extended family, as well, something there had been little time for Heather to cultivate in New York.

And if the byplay she’d observed between Henrietta and the judge was anything to go by, the next two or three months would be downright entertaining.

The secretary in Jake’s office regarded Heather with fascination.

“Honey, do I know you? You look real familiar to me.”

“I doubt it,” Heather said. “This is the first time I’ve ever been here.”

The woman continued to stare, then snapped her fingers. “Wait. I know who you are. Hold it a sec. It’s right here.” She opened a file drawer in the desk and began tossing things out of it until she finally came up with an old issue of Soap Opera Digest, the one with Heather’s picture on the cover. “I knew it. That’s you, isn’t it?”

Heather couldn’t decide whether to be flattered or dismayed. She had played dozens of parts in her career, but it appeared that that particular one was going to follow her forever. Unfortunately there was no denying that she was the woman on the cover. “Afraid so,” she said finally.

“Well, I’ll be. What on earth are you doing in a one-horse town like Whispering Wind? I’m Flo Olsen, by the way. If you’re here to see Jake, he’s out. Of course, he’s usually out. That man works less than any human being I’ve ever known, and now that Megan’s pregnant, he’s impossible. He hovers over her like he thinks she’s going to break. She keeps calling here and begging me to come up with some big emergency that’ll get him into town and out of her hair, but I ask you, what sort of an emergency is a lawyer likely to have around here?”

Her expression brightened. “Of course, telling him that a famous actress is here to see him ought to do the trick. Just a sec. Have a seat. I’ll track him down.”

Heather sat. Since the only apparent reading material was the soap magazine, she had little to do but stare around at the office, which was surprisingly well-furnished for a man who supposedly did very little work. Suddenly what Flo had said clicked.

“Did you say his wife’s name is Megan?” she asked Flo when the secretary had hung up, her expression triumphant.

“Yes. Megan O’Rourke. I’m sure you’ve heard of her. She’s our very own local celebrity. Have to say she and I didn’t hit it off too well at first. She’s my little girl Tess’s legal guardian. Tess’s father was Megan’s granddaddy. He was taking care of Tess for me when he died, and he specified in his will that Megan was to take over.”

A grin flitted across her face as she told the story. “Sounds like something that would happen on a soap, doesn’t it? Leaving Tess with Tex O’Rourke wasn’t one of my best moments, but everything’s working out now. I get to spend a lot of time with Tess, but Megan and Jake are real good to her. I think things happen for a reason, don’t you?”

“I do,” Heather said, since nothing more seemed to be expected. This situation was getting increasingly fascinating. She couldn’t help wondering, though, just how wise it was to spill her secrets to the man married to Todd’s boss. She knew how much Megan relied on Todd. How would she feel about anything or anyone who upset the man’s orderly existence? Just to protect her own interests, would she throw a monkey wrench into Heather’s plan?

Heather was still debating what to do an hour later when Jake Landers finally came through the door, looking harried and nothing at all like a lawyer. Instead, in his worn jeans and chambray shirt, he fit her notion of a rugged cowboy to a T. Rugged and handsome, Jake exuded masculinity.

“What’s the big emergency?” he asked Flo.

Flo jerked her head in Heather’s direction. “You have a client.”

Jake gave Heather a once-over, then focused his attention on Flo once again. “I thought I told you not to schedule any appointments without consulting me, not until this baby thing is wrapped up.”

Heather stifled a grin at his naive belief that there would be a time in the near future when the “baby thing” would be wrapped up. Wasn’t she here precisely because that never happened?

“Your wife is pregnant, not sick,” Flo told him. “I’m sure she can spare you for a few minutes. Besides, this isn’t just any client. This is Heather Reed.”

When Jake failed to look impressed, Flo added pointedly, “Liza Whittington, you know, on ‘Heart’s Desire.’”

Jake looked more perplexed than ever. “Excuse me?”

“On television,” Flo said. “The soap. The one I watch during lunch.”

Understanding dawned, though the man hardly looked as if he’d finally realized he was in the presence of greatness as Flo seemed to be implying. He shot an apologetic look at Heather. “Sorry. I don’t watch a lot of daytime TV.”

“It’s okay. I’m not on anymore, anyway.”

“Jason shot her,” Flo said. “Good riddance, too.” She regarded Heather apologetically. “Sorry, but you have to admit you were a real schemer.”

“The worst,” Heather agreed. It was what had made the part so appealing initially. It had been a chance to play against type. Usually she was somebody’s perky sister. Only later, when she’d realized the ramifications with the fans, had she regretted the decision to take the role.

Jake appeared to have heard enough about the soap opera. After one last scowl at Flo, he motioned for Heather to follow him.

In his office, he gestured toward a credenza along the wall. “Coffee?”

She shook her head. He poured some for himself, then took a seat behind an impressive desk. That desk, combined with the bronze sculpture she recognized as a Remington, reassured her that despite his reportedly lackadaisical ways, Jake Landers was very successful at what he did. But could she trust him?

Right now he was studying her with what she supposed passed for an appropriately somber, lawyerly look, though on the soaps the men cast as attorneys rarely had such a twinkle in their eye.

“What can I do for you?” he asked. “I don’t do a lot of entertainment law.”

“I seem to remember that you played a big role in getting that syndicator to back down when he threatened to pull the plug on your wife’s syndication deal,” she said, recalling what she’d read in the trade papers at the time. She’d followed the story avidly, just as she did anything that might include a mention of Todd. Of course, if anyone had accused her of that, she would have denied it.

Jake grinned. “Let’s just say that in that instance I was highly motivated.”

Heather fiddled with her bangle bracelets, something she did only when she was nervous. Finally she said, “Look, maybe you should tell me about this lawyer-client confidentiality thing before we get started.”

He nodded. “Okay. Anything you tell me, I am ethically bound not to repeat.”

“Not to anyone?”

“Not to a living soul.” He regarded her closely. “You haven’t killed someone, have you?”

Startled by the question, Heather stared at him to see if he was serious, then caught that twinkle back in his eye. Normally, she enjoyed black humor, but at the moment she was way too tense to appreciate it.

“No, of course not,” she said. “Nothing like that. It’s just that you know the other person involved.”

“I do?”

“Todd Winston.”

Jake nodded slowly, apparently digesting that. “Is he in some sort of trouble?”

She grinned at his disbelieving expression. “I know. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? Dudley Do Right in trouble.”

“Todd strikes me as a very ethical man.”

“He is,” she agreed, then took a deep breath and added, “He’s also the father of my child.”

Jake very nearly choked on the sip of coffee he’d just taken. “Would you mind repeating that?”

“Oh, I think you heard me.”

“Does he know about this?”

She shook her head.

“I see.”

“Is this going to be a problem for you?” she asked, regarding him with concern. “I know how tight he is with your wife. That’s why he and I broke up, in a way.”

Jake held up his hands. “Whoa! Back up. What does Megan have to do with this?”

“Nothing, not directly, anyway. It’s just that when Todd went to work for her and gave up the dream we shared to be on Broadway together, it pretty much ended our relationship. We split up.”

“And you had his baby?”

She nodded. “After he’d left.”

“And he doesn’t know?” Jake asked again, as if he might have misunderstood her the first time.

“Nope.”

“How old is this child?”

“She’s three.”

Jake whistled. “Does he know you’re here now?”

“Not yet. I just got in. I took a room at a motel, but Henrietta gave me a job at her place across the street. She said I could use the apartment upstairs for as long as I’m here.”

“You don’t plan to stay?”

“Only long enough to settle things with Todd.”

“Settle things how?”

Her bangles clinked noisily. “I’m not exactly sure. That’s why I came to see you. I can’t manage on my own anymore. Angel’s the greatest blessing in my life, but she’s a handful. And trying to be an actress doesn’t exactly bring stability. She deserves to have more than I can give her. It took me a long time to admit that. It’s not too late, is it?”

“No. I’m sure we can get you child support. Fortunately, I have an in with his boss.” Jake allowed himself a smile. “I’ve seen the books. I know what she had to pay him to get him to move out here. You won’t have any financial worries.”

“That’s not it,” Heather said, leaning forward in her chair. “Not exactly. I know with money I could hire a nanny or something, but I want Todd to help out. Maybe shared custody. Angel needs to spend time with her daddy.”

“Oh, boy,” Jake murmured, but not so low that Heather missed it.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You sounded like you don’t think he’s going to go for that.”

“Really, I shouldn’t have said anything. This is a different situation entirely.”

“Different from what?”

“Never mind. Heather, let me think about this. Can you stop by tomorrow? We’ll go over your options and decide on the best course of action.”

“Sure. What time?”

“Make it eleven. Megan’s taping then, so I can get away from the studio for an hour and still be back to see that she eats a proper lunch.”

Heather bit back a smile as she recalled what Flo had said about his hovering. “I’ll be here. I won’t have long, though, since I imagine Henrietta will want me to help with the lunch crowd.”

“Folks around here show up promptly at noon, leave by one. You’ll be okay.”

“What about the judge? I notice he was there much later than that.”

Jake chuckled. “The judge tries to snatch whatever private moments he can with Henrietta. His schedule drives everyone at the courthouse nuts. She doesn’t seem to appreciate the gesture, though.”

“I noticed.”

“Did she run him off again today?”

“Pretty much.”

“Henrietta has a stubborn streak, but so does the judge. He’s been after her for years now. My bet’s on him.”

“Even though she’s held out for years?” Heather said skeptically.

“Believe me, if Henrietta really wanted him gone, he’d be gone. She’s just tormenting him.”

“An interesting technique.”

“It’s certainly fun for the rest of us,” Jake said. “Now, as for Todd, if you run into him in the meantime, try not to get into anything with him just yet. We need a plan first.”

“No problem. You’ll probably see him before I will,” she said.

He glanced toward the window, which faced the town’s main street. “Oh, I doubt that,” he said dryly. “Where’s your daughter right now?”

“With Henrietta.”

“Well, don’t look now, but Todd is about to join them.”