Bluestone Song (7 page)

“But why does it have to be so hard? We don’t
have anything and he wants more from us.”

“And I’d rather give it to him than have him
come back.” She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She needed to
think about what she was going to do, how she was going to make
more money. She was doing better in tips since Maddox came, but she
should have known better than to hope it would give them some kind
of cushion. “Now, do you know if we have any ibuprofen?”

“Beth, honey.”

Her father’s voice carried soft and low over
the phone lines. He was drunk, she knew. When he wasn’t drunk, he
was uptight and angry and took his frustrations out on his family.
She remembered coming home from school and being grateful to see
empty bottles in the trash. That meant the evening would be
peaceful, until his hangover hit.

Those memories meant she was able to keep her
shields up when she responded. “What do you want?”

“I’m in some trouble. I borrowed some money
and I’m having some difficulty paying it back.” He spoke precisely,
as if he didn’t want her to know he was inebriated.

“You borrowed money why? For child
support?”

He stumbled then. Apparently, her hostility
penetrated his haze. “No. I—I was trying to strike it big. I placed
a few bets on a horse that was a sure thing, and we were going to
be free and easy the rest of our lives, baby. But you know how
these things go.”

Oh, she knew how money went with her dad.
Like it had wings. “Got it.” She cut him off, not caring to hear
his excuses. “How much?”

“It’s—seven grand.”

Beth’s stomach plummeted at the amount. She’d
hoped to pay him off to keep him out of their lives, but now…She
still had Linda and Jonas’s hospital bills to pay, as well as rent,
and expenses, and formula and diapers. Well, at least he sounded
ashamed.

“We don’t have it. You do remember your
youngest daughter had a baby, and we don’t have insurance, right?
You’re just going to have to figure out another way.”

“I’m your father and it’s your duty to help
me.” His tone changed to the militant tone he’d used when she was a
child. She tamped down the fear. He wasn’t here. He couldn’t hurt
them. She could fight back safely, for now.

“I didn’t ask for you to be my father, and
you’re the last person who should be talking to me about duty.”

Behind her, Jonas whimpered at her loud
voice, so she stepped out onto the back deck, lowering her voice so
the neighbors wouldn’t hear.

“You will send me money, or I’ll come get
it.”

Despite her outward bravado, that was exactly
what she feared. She’d do whatever she had to do to keep him away
from her family.

Beth let the pencil fall to the counter and
she sat back, dragging her hands through her hair, pulling it loose
from its ponytail. No matter how she figured it, the answer was the
same. She didn’t have enough money, and she wouldn’t unless she got
another job.

Only with Jonas, another job was out of the
question. Linda had to go back to school this summer to make up for
the time she lost when Jonas was born. Beth couldn’t afford to pay
a babysitter.

The only choice was to quit Quinn’s and get a
job at the casino on the other side of the lake. She’d worked there
a year ago, when she figured Linda was old enough to take care of
herself and Beth could work later. That had bitten her in the ass,
because Linda had taken advantage of the lack of supervision and
gotten herself pregnant. But Beth could see no other choice. The
hours were long and the uniform was degrading, but business was
better over there, where people were trying to regain their
fortunes, and she’d make money in tips.

Her heart ached at the prospect. Working at
Quinn’s might not be the best job in the world, but she loved the
bar, enjoyed the people who came in, enjoyed arguing with Quinn.
And he was good to her, giving her the hours she needed, but also
cutting her slack when she had to deal with Linda. And she could
walk to work. Now she’d be driving half an hour each way.

Just thinking about what trouble Linda could
get into in that amount of time made her shudder.

But tomorrow she’d find time to drive over
and apply.

Hopefully by then, she could stop feeling
sorry for herself.

“Quinn, can I talk to you?”

Beth had come into the bar before her shift
to talk to him, before the crowds Maddox brought in, but quite a
few lunch patrons remained, more than the usual lunch crowd, and
more than a few unfamiliar faces. Maddox seemed to be drawing
people to Bluestone already.

Already she felt distant from it all. She’d
gone to the casino and her former manager was still there, and glad
to see her. She’d been rehired on the spot and been given her
uniform, skin-tight black briefs and a snug red T-shirt. A Hooters
girl would look dressed for church in comparison.

Now she had to walk away from this place she
loved to go to that place that was loud and ugly and smelled sour.
She would not cry.

Quinn looked up from the paperwork he was
doing at one end of the bar. “So, talk.”

“Not here.” She looked down the bar at Leo
Erickson and Delia Smart, the postmistress.

Quinn followed her gaze, huffed out a breath,
and inclined his head toward his office. She was shaking as she led
the way into the tiny room. She sucked in a deep breath when he
closed the door behind her.

“I have to quit,” she said without
preamble.

She’d never seen Quinn look surprised before,
so she could only interpret his sudden stillness as that. “Why the
hell, Beth? You’re my best waitress.”

“I—need more money. It’s nothing personal,
but with the hospital bills and—I got a job at the casino.”

He made a sound of disgust. “I’ll give you a
raise. And with Maddox playing here, I thought you were doing
pretty good.”

She gripped the back of the chair across from
his desk, aware it revealed her anxiety but not caring. “You can’t
afford to give me the raise I need, and Maddox won’t be here
forever. I’m sorry, Quinn. I know you’ve done a lot for me.”

He scowled. “Apparently not enough. What
about Jonathan? Jonas is his baby, too. Is he giving Linda any
support?” He took her silence for the answer it was. “I’ll talk to
his parents.”

Her pride hadn’t allowed her to give Jonathan
a thought, not in the months before Jonas was born, or in the
months after. “Quinn, you don’t need to get involved.”

“I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for
me. You’re my best waitress, this is my busiest time, and I can’t
afford to lose you.”

She shook her head. “Whatever Jonathan can
pitch in still won’t help. And his family is struggling, too.”

“Doesn’t matter. His baby, his
responsibility. More his than yours.” He walked behind the desk to
pick up the phone.

Beth put her hand on it to stop him. He
raised his gaze to hers, eyebrows arched.

“You’re right,” she said. “You’re right, and
I’ll talk to his parents.” It wasn’t his place, and to send him
begging on her behalf turned her stomach more than begging on her
own. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I need this casino job.
I’d keep both if I didn’t have to babysit Jonas.”

Oh, she shouldn’t have said that, because his
gaze sharpened.

“I may know someone who could help you out
with babysitting.”

She shook her head. “I don’t need another
expense.”

“I said she could help you, not that she’d
charge you. Let me talk to her.”

And then she’d be working two waitressing
jobs. Her feet ached just thinking about it, but the money…
“Thanks, but for now, I have to work there. I can work here until
Thursday, but after that…I’m sorry, Quinn. I know I owe you
more.”

Tears tightened her throat, so she pivoted
and fled, right into the arms of Maddox Bradley.

Maddox grasped Beth’s arms as she dipped her
head, and bent to look into her face. Her stubborn chin was set,
her nose pinched, and—hell, she was about to cry. He looked past
her to Quinn, whose own jaw was tight.

“What did you say to her?” he demanded.

Quinn’s eyes widened. “I—nothing!” He flung
his hands in her direction. “Talk to her. I sure as hell
can’t.”

Maddox glanced about and saw people starting
to notice them. He didn’t want an audience right now and was pretty
sure she didn’t either. So he dragged her across the narrow hall
and into the ladies’ room. She snapped her head up then and glared
at him.

“Are you crazy?”

“You want to tell me what’s going on?”

She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Not your
business.”

“You come out of Quinn’s office ready to cry,
I’m making it my business. Or his.”

She glared at him then, nostrils flared.
“When did you become such a meddling old lady?”

Good question. Since he came back to
Bluestone, apparently. “What has you so upset?”

“Nothing. It’s just hard to leave a job. I’ve
worked here for years.”

Surprise snapped his spine straight. “So why
are you leaving?”

“I can make better money across the lake at
the casino.”

He’d been to that casino. He hated the place,
with its flashing lights and ringing machines and cigarette smell.
He didn’t want to imagine Beth wandering around serving drinks to
the men there, with no one there to look after her, no one to
remind them they needed to respect her.

A thought occurred to him. “Is it because I’m
here? You’re going to work over there to get away from me?”

She made a dismissive sound and her gaze
flickered down. “Don’t flatter yourself. You won’t be around that
much longer, so quit butting in.” She twisted free and stormed out
of the bathroom, and out of the bar.

He stared after her, wondering why the hell
she had to be so stubborn.

Beth collapsed in her deck chair at three in
the morning, a bottle of diet root beer beside her and the
mosquito-repellent lantern burning beside her. Today had been
rough. After she’d gathered herself after leaving Quinn’s, she’d
called Jonathan’s mother, and arranged to meet her before she went
in for one of her last shifts at Quinn’s.

The woman hadn’t been particularly
sympathetic.

“If Linda had given up the baby as she and
Jonathan decided, the adoptive couple would have paid all the
hospital expenses,” Mrs. Bomer pointed out.

“I understand, but this is Jonathan’s child,
too. We wouldn’t be in this position—”

“If your sister hadn’t wagged her tail at
him.”

Beth’s face heated. “Teen-agers—”

“You could at least have put her on the
pill.”

“She’s been on the pill since she was
fourteen.” But she didn’t always remember to take it, the little
fool. “That’s all water under the bridge. The fact remains,
Jonathan has a responsibility to this child.”

Mrs. Bomer’s face hardened. “He signed away
his responsibility when he signed the adoption papers. He doesn’t
want anything to do with Linda or the baby.”

“This is your grandchild, Mrs. Bomer. Don’t
you want to be a part of his life? He’s a sweet little boy and
needs lots of love. You can just dismiss him like this?”

The older woman leaned forward. “Jonathan has
a future. He’s going to college. We’ve planned for this all his
life. He doesn’t need a baby or a girl holding him back. I’m sorry,
Beth, but you girls decided to keep the baby. He’s your
responsibility.”

The conversation had so closely mirrored the
one they’d had when Linda had turned up pregnant, Beth didn’t know
why she was surprised. But now her precious little Jonas would grow
up without either set of grandparents.

Just like she had, and she’d turned out,
well, she’d turned out.

Later, Trinity Madison had walked up to her
in the bar, when she was unloading a tray of dirty glasses. The
other woman barely spoke to her as a rule, more because, well,
Trinity had friends and Beth didn’t, so Beth was speechless for a
minute. That gave Trinity the time to launch into her spiel.

“Quinn tells me you need a babysitter, and
I’m out of school now, and as you guessed, pregnant. I could sure
use the practice.”

Beth looked past the pretty blonde to where
Quinn and Leo Erickson, Trinity’s fiancé, stood at the far end of
the bar, pretending they had no idea what was going on.

Her first instinct was to say no. She didn’t
accept help from other people, wasn’t beholden to other people,
because she wasn’t able to return the favor. But she was in pretty
desperate straits here. She looked back at Trinity, with her
earnest eyes and folded hands. She almost couldn’t make the
acceptance leave her mouth. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t
pay you.”

Trinity’s face brightened. “I don’t need you
to. Like I said, I need the practice.”

Beth jabbed a thumb in Leo’s direction.
“Don’t you have a wedding you should be planning?”

Trinity waved a dismissive hand. “It’s not
like it’s going to be a grand wedding or anything. Very simple. And
it will just be while your sister’s in school, right? She’ll take
over after that?”

Beth resisted the urge to close her eyes. One
more reason she didn’t ask for help. She didn’t want others to know
how irresponsible Linda could be. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Trinity said. “I’ll
talk to her.”

That would make Linda so happy, a stranger
talking to her about her responsibilities. “I don’t know if this is
such a good idea.”

“I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t want to,”
Trinity said, placing a cool white hand on Beth’s wrist.
“Seriously. I would have offered before, but I just got out for
summer vacation. I have time on my hands. Let me do this,
Beth.”

Right. Trinity was the counselor at the
elementary school. Beth wished that made her feel better about
accepting help, but all it did was make her feel more
vulnerable.