Page 58 of Coffee Shop Girl
Her nostrils flared as she turned away. “He doesn’t want me.”
Any reply stuck in my throat, because I couldn’t deny it. He certainly hadn’t spoken kindly of her; his venom oddly targeted her direction. But no little girl should ever feel that way about her father.
“He doesn’t know much but his own pain right now.”
“He’ll come back.”
“Maybe.” His threat echoed in my ears. “But it won’t matter, because we’ll be able to prove that I can keep you, and you’ll never have to see him again. At the very least, we have until the end of the summer. He promised me.”
Devin tightened his arm around her. She looked so young, so scared, clinging to him. The storm in her eyes deepened until Devin whispered in her ear. Her tense arms relaxed, and she nodded.
Devin looked at me. “Can I take her on the reservoir in my canoe?”
Immediately, I understood. Jim hated the water more than anything. Had a deathly fear of lakes since he nearly drowned as a little boy. I wondered if Ellie had told him. Likely, she had some kind of profile on all her enemies.
Which no eleven-year-old should have.
“Of course. Just don’t go out too far.”
They scrambled down the stairs and out the door. Lizbeth and I watched from the window as they sped into the canoe. Within seconds, they were on the lake, Ellie crouching under the blanket.
Lizbeth toyed with the end of her paperback, rubbing her fingers along a portion of the cover that had torn off. Her tears had dried. I wondered what it had been like for her to sit here, waiting in the quiet, alone. No matter how much I tried to protect them, I couldn’t save them from everything.
Would I be able to live with that?
I set a hand on her shoulder. “You okay, Lizbeth?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Really?”
Her welling eyes met mine, and she shook her head. “No. I ... I don’t ever want to see him again, but ... but I still feel sad. Some ... some part of medoeswant to see him. I mean, he’s my dad. We weren’t really close, but he was still there, and there were some good times ... and I’m so confused.”
“You might be confused for a while.”
“Yeah.”
“But you don’t have to be scared. He knows you’re here. He said he’d leave you alone until school started.” Panic flared in her expression, but I shook my head. “That gives us time to prove you can live here, all right? You’re going to be all right.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For coming. For shoving us into your life. I really thought your dad was here and that we could just stay for a few days until things blew over.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Lizbeth. Coming here was the right thing to do.”
She paused, then said, “I know about the motorcycle. About the debt. I know it’s not likely you can dig yourself out of debt to prove you can keep us.”
“What? How do you know?”
A guilty expression crossed her face. “I’ve been reviewing Maverick’s spreadsheets. His accounting is sound. Statistically, youdohave a shot at pulling it all together, but it’s not a great shot. So ... I guess ... thanks. For giving up everything for us.”
“You’re worth it,” I said quietly.
Tears filled her eyes again. I folded her into my arms and let her shake softly against me as she cried. Her thin body trembled, gripping me hard.
I had two more months to turn this place around and secure their life with me.
