Wishing
“You’re an evil woman, Mrs. Wade,” Luke said as he walked into the kitchen. But before he could give her morning kiss, he stumbled on one of Robbie’s toys on the floor.
“Are you okay?” Emily asked.
“Yeah,” Luke said, picking up the offending toy from the floor. “Where does this go?”
Emily waved her hand toward a toy box that was stuffed to overflowing. “Theoretically, there. But as you can see—”
“Yes. No room at the inn.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck. They needed a larger space but hadn’t been able to find one they could afford. “Emily, I don’t know what you got me, but I hope you considered our space limitations.”
Emily put a piece of banana on Robbie’s tray and laughed.
“Hah,” Emily laughed. “Is this your way of trying to pry information about your present out of me?”
“You’re such a tease.”
“As I seem to recall, you like me being that way,” Emily said seductively.
Luke bent and gave Robbie a kiss on the top of his head. His son beat his highchair tray excitedly. “Dada!” he called.
“I thought we said we’d never have secrets from each other.”
“Christmas secrets are different.”
“I reserve the right to torture you for information.”
“I look forward to said torture, sir,” Emily replied with a sly smile.
“Tease.” He stole a piece of toast off the table. “So, what are you doing today?”
“Angela’s picking me up for lunch.”
“Are you telling me to take the SUV?”
“I’ve some cleaning to do, and plans to make for the Christmas party. It’ll involve a lot of phone calls, so by the time I’m done you’ll be home, anyway.”
“Date for the party all set? I heard at the club that’ll be Friday, right?”
“A week from Friday, I believe.”
“Uh-huh,” Luke said distractedly, making the mental calculations. “Ten days before Christmas.”
“Perfect,” she said brightly.
“Are you sure we can pull it off by then?”
“Yupper. I’ve already put up the notice on the club’s website and all I need to do is make calls to set up the food. I can order meat and vegetable plates from local grocery stores. Just restock the clubhouse’s liquor, which you should do today or tomorrow to make sure we have it by then.”
“Okay, babe. I’ll do an inventory.” He pulled on his leather jacket. Emily stood and grabbed a wool scarf from the hooks by the front door and wrapped it around his neck.
“I don’t want my man to catch cold.”
“Babe, just thinking about you makes me hot.”
She put her hands on his chest and kissed him. “Sweet-talker. Have a good day.”
Luke deepened the kiss. Her lips parted and he entered, taking in the sweet taste of his wife. She was delicious, and he didn’t want the kiss to stop. Suddenly she pushed him away.
“You’d better go, before you’re late.”
“I’m not anywhere near late,” he protested.
“But you will be if I have my way with you. Now git.”
“You’re cruel as well as sinful,” he complained. “I’ll have to punish you later.”
“Promise?”
“Wicked woman.” He gave her one more kiss, this time on the cheek, and opened the door. Immediately he regretted his decision and wanted to shut the door and stay home with Emily and Robbie. But he braved the icy air, thinking about Christmas presents as his boots hammered the concrete steps to the parking lot.
As the SUV warmed up, Luke remembered he had to drag Mrs. Diggerty’s garbage cans off the street. He also remembered the light bulbs she needed. When he got the SUV back on the road, he stopped at a local hardware store and purchased those.
“Hey, look who it is.”
Luke turned, resisting the urge to groan. Pez, the president of the Connecticut Rojos, grinned at him. He had grown a goatee but there was no mistaking that red headscarf and broken smile of the Hispanic one- percenter.
“What’s going on, Pez?”
Pez held up a couple cans of paint. “Painting the new digs. We’ve moved our clubhouse.”
“Oh, where is it?”
“We bought an old farm a little past Westfield.”
“Really? I didn’t know there were any farms left.”
“It was a dairy, where they kept cows. It’s close to the highway so it makes it easy to move around. And the barn’s the perfect place to store the bikes.”
“Good to hear,” Luke said as he moved in line to the cash register.
“You still hang out at the Red Bull?” persisted Pez.
“No. We have our own clubhouse now. You know that.”
“Still, I hear things aren’t copasetic between you and your prez. You go sometimes to just to hang out, no?”
“No,” Luke replied firmly. “I’m busy with the business, my wife, and my son.”
“Ai, I heard that, pendajo. Tied down, eh? No more bitches for you.”
Luke paid for the light bulbs, took the bag the clerk offered and, with his jaw tight, turned to Pez. “I don’t look at that way, pendajo. And if you were smart, you’d try it yourself. But then, you never were smart.”
The gang leader’s eyes narrowed as he stood for a long uncomfortable minute, face to face with Luke. Then Pez chuckled and threw his hands in the air. “Got me there, pendajo. I was just seeing if you know anything about those guys, you know what I mean?”
Yeah, Luke knew what he meant. The people who owned the Spawn’s old hangout, The Red Bull, were organized crime wise guys. There was no other way to put it. The Rojos and Hombres came within inches of a war with them before Robbie was born. The result was Pez and the Rojos were no longer welcome at the Red Bull despite that establishment’s policy of neutrality in serving alcohol to motorcycle clubs and gangs.
“Can’t help you,” said Luke. “And in case you haven’t gotten this bit of news, the Spawn are a social club. There’s no one-percenter bullshit going on with us.”
“Yeah, yeah, Spade,” Pez said, using Luke’s club name. “Like your prez can keep clean of that.”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked. The Spawn’s president always maintained the story that Aces, the former vice-president who moved into Oakie’s spot when he went to prison, set him up. Now Aces was in jail, and Oakie pardoned from his crimes. It would piss Luke off to find Oakie wasted the effort Luke put in to help. It would be a monumental slap in the face to him and the Spawn who had backed him.
“Hey, I’m just saying, where there’s smoke...” He let his voice trail to silence.
“When you see an actual fire, let me know. Gotta go.” Luke pushed away from Pez, trying to shake off his annoyance. The one-percenter wasn’t worth his time or energy. One day he’d up in jail, like so many of his compadres.
But Pez wasn’t done with him. He hurried out of the shop without his paint and stopped Luke as he opened his car door. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be a dick to you. What I wanted to ask you was if you could give us tips on the bikes for winter. That barn’s cold and some of these guys don’t have a clue, and the others argue about what should be done. We could use professional advice.”
Luke wanted to say no. There was no way he’d step foot on Rojos property. But it was never good business to anger the leader of a one-percenter club.
“I’m booked with the clients I have. But if you come the shop, I’ll show you what to do.”
“That would be great, ese,” Pez said with a smile.
“Call the shop before you show up to make sure I’m there.”
“Sure,” Pez responded. “Later, hombre.”
Luke shivered and not with the cold as Pez ambled away from him. The last thing he wanted to do was get involved with the Rojos or their affiliated street gang, the Hombres. While it was Pez who had alerted Luke to who kidnapped Emily, he didn’t like the man. Pez was mixed up into too much bad business to be trusted.
The clock on the dashboard read 7:30, and he had to get to the shop. Still, he stopped by Mrs. Diggerty’s to pull the cans back to the side of the house.
Again, he found Mrs. Diggerty outside, yanking one trash bin behind her. He shook his head as he parked the SUV and dashed up the driveway. “What did we tell you?”
“Luke,” she said, exasperated. “I’m not helpless.”
“I know, but what if you slipped on a patch of ice? You know we worry about you, don’t you?”
“Well, you might not have to anymore. I’ve been thinking. You and Emily are right. This house is too big for me. I shouldn’t live by myself. A nice retirement community is the best thing for me.”
“But what about the house? Your tenants?”
“Well, it's true the first-floor people went to Florida but, Luke, I told you a fib because I didn’t want you or Emily to worry. They moved to Florida. And Emily’s old apartment? Well, I haven’t been able to rent it. Turns out not too many single people can afford to live by themselves these days.”
“So you’re alone in the house?”
“I’m afraid so. And lately I haven’t had the energy to get either apartment ready for new renters. It’s become obvious I can’t keep up this house.”
“You should’ve said something. We would’ve helped you.”
“Yes, you would. And I’d be grateful. But, Luke, I’m an old woman. I can’t keep young people like you at my beck and call, because you’re too softhearted to tell an old lady what she should know. I shouldn’t live on my own and I’m selling the house.”
“Mrs. Diggerty, please don’t do anything hasty. Let’s talk this over with Emily. If you need to sell the house, let us help you. Emily’s sister’s husband is a lawyer. I’m sure he can give you good advice.”
“Without the rent, I can’t afford much of a lawyer.”
“Don’t you worry. You were terribly good to Emily when she lost her job. And we never did pay you that money. So, let us take care of this.”
“I confess, you’ve taken a load off my mind.”
“Good. Now go upstairs, and I’ll finish up around here. I bought light bulbs, so you won’t be walking out here in the dark.”
Mrs. Diggerty patted Luke’s arm. “You’re a good man, Luke. Emily’s lucky to have you.”
She shuffled into the garage and up the steps that led to the second floor while Luke put in the light bulb and tested it. Satisfied she climbed the stairs safely, he pulled up the last garbage can and shut the garage door.
Luke scanned the building. It needed a fresh coat of paint; he didn’t know the condition of the inside, but the roof looked sound.
He wished he had the down payment to buy the house. It would be a great Christmas present, not just for Emily but the whole family. But his savings shrank to nearly nothing dealing with the problems of the past two years. He secretly harbored his parents’ money held in trust for him since he was a child. It sat in an off-shore bank. The government, despite his uncle’s assurance it was a gift, was more than ready to confiscate it as the fruits of a criminal enterprise. Luke couldn’t transfer a dime without them taking his assets.
Some days he couldn’t catch a break.