A Hope Undaunted (24 page)

Katie cradled the icy mug in her hands and allowed her thoughts to drift as Betty, Luke, and Parker bantered over the strengths and weaknesses of the Red Sox vs. Yankees. She took a sip of near beer and felt contentment in her bones, as if she belonged here, an integral part of these people she’d come to love and admire. Not like with Jack and the gang, where her sharp tongue and driving ambition always set her apart, elevating her to a point where she felt removed. True, she liked the control she seemed to have over her old group, but this – this was different. A caring, a depth that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Relationships that were less surface and more substance, providing a connection that was so new to her. She released a quiet sigh as she settled back in the booth, smiling as Betty took a potshot at Luke.

And speaking of “new,” she thought with a sideways glance, her feelings for the man beside her were totally unprecedented. Even Jack couldn’t flutter her stomach with a look or a word like Luke McGee, and she was very careful to admit that the thought still scared her silly. But true to his word, since the night they had sealed their friendship with a handshake, Luke had treated her with the same unassuming warmth and camaraderie he enjoyed with Parker and Betty. And Katie had reveled in it. A loner by nature, suddenly she didn’t feel so alone anymore.

Of course, initially Parker hadn’t been happy about her and Luke’s newfound friendship, just as Luke had predicted, and Katie wasn’t really sure why. She took another sip of her drink and studied him now, this strong, silent man who was Luke McGee’s best friend. He’d begun to open up with her over the course of her term at the BCAS, and Katie knew without a doubt that Parker Riley was both a high-caliber man and the true definition of a friend. He was the quietest of the three, but somehow Katie sensed he was also the strongest, possessing a fierce allegiance to Luke and a protective kinship with Betty. A silent support, who unlike Luke with his charismatic personality or Betty with her dry wit, was more than content to fade into the background while his two best friends took center stage.

“Oh, no, you two aren’t going to start talking shop on my birthday!” Betty’s threat disrupted Katie’s train of thought.

Luke reached for Betty’s hand, stroking it with his thumb. “Come on, Bets, this is Gabe we’re talking about here. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Parker since his meeting with Carmichael.”

Betty’s lower lip jutted, prompting a smile and a plea from Luke.

“Just a few minutes more, I promise,” he said with a boyish grin, “then I’ll kiss your feet for the rest of the night.”

Betty’s lips pulled into a faint smile. “Throw in a back rub, and you have a deal.” She leaned close to Katie as Luke turned to Parker. “Royal suckers for a woman’s pout, both of ’em.”

“No, he can’t do that!” Luke’s outburst recaptured their attention. “We can barely keep tabs on her here in Boston – it’s sheer suicide to send Gabe on a train to the Midwest by herself.”

“She won’t be by herself, she’ll be with ten other orphans and the Tuttles, remember?”

Luke groaned. “I forgot about the Tuttles – Gabe will eat them alive! No, Parker, we can’t let Carmichael do this to her – or to them.”

“We don’t have a choice, Luke, Carmichael’s made up his mind.” Parker’s eyes reflected the same pain as his friend’s. “Unless you can find an iron-clad arrangement for Gabe before the end of the month, she’ll be on that orphan train to the Midwest whether we like it or not.”

A faint hiss of a swear word parted from Luke’s lips. “It’ll kill her,” he whispered, “not to mention what it’ll do to me.”

“Maybe not,” Parker said quietly. “As long as she’s in Boston, Gabe has her heart set on living with you, which we both know is impossible. The Midwest might be just what she needs.”

Luke stared, his face a study in anguish. “God knows how I wish I could adopt her.”

“You know better than that. For one, Carmichael wouldn’t allow it, and two, Gabe needs a solid home with both a mother and father.”

“I know,” he whispered, his gaze lost in the murky depths of his near beer.

Betty reached over to tug at his hand. “Come on, Luke, cheer up. You’re always harping on me to pray about every little thing. So pray for Gabe – that God finds her the perfect home. Then trust him to do it – isn’t that what you always tell me?”

His gaze shifted to Betty. “You mean you actually listen when I spout off? I always thought you were just humoring me.”

She patted his hand with a sympathetic smile, then took a sip of her drink as she eyed him over the rim. “I am, honey, but you seem to eat that stuff up, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

“Move over, people, the party is here!” Bobbie Sue blew in with all the bluster of a Georgia hurricane. She sidled in next to Luke, promptly butting him into Katie who elbowed Betty to move over. “Sweet Robert E. Lee, y’all look like somebody died.” She sniffed at Luke’s half-empty Bevo and wrinkled her nose. “No wonder. Too cheap for the real stuff downstairs, eh, boss men?”

Parker smiled and nursed his drink. “We don’t need alcohol to have fun, Mrs. Dulay, at least not with you here. And yes, we are too cheap. Not to mention it’s against the law.”

“Tsk, tsk. Well, I figured as much, so I came prepared.” She winked at Betty and lifted her skirt to reveal a hidden flask tucked into the garter on her leg.

“Come on, Bobbie Sue, this is a dry party.” Luke tried to grab the flask, but she held it away.

“It may be dry for you and the boss, Mr. Priss, but this here birthday girl and I are going to celebrate the way the good Lord intended.” She leaned to toss the flask into Betty’s lap. “When the Good Book bans liquor from its pages, I suspect I will too. But till then, Miss Betty and I plan to have a proper toast on her birthday.”

“Bless you,” Betty said with a chuckle and poured a touch of the flask into her half-empty Bevo, ignoring both Luke and Parker’s looks of disapproval.

“You’re a big girl, Galetti,” Luke said. “If this place gets raided, I’m not bailing you out.”

She grinned and quickly slipped a hefty pour of the flask into Katie’s drink before Luke could object. “If this place gets raided, McGee, you’ll be in the cell next to mine. Only you’ll be stone-cold sober while I’ll be warm and gloriously tipsy.”

“With a glorious headache in the morning, no doubt,” Parker said with a wry smile.

Luke reached for Katie’s glass, but Katie jerked it away, clutching it to her chest like it was the nectar of the gods. “Oh no you don’t, McGee, I’m a big girl too, remember?”

His eyes narrowed. “Eighteen doesn’t qualify as ‘big girl’ to me, Katie Rose, and besides, while you’re with me, I have a responsibility to your father. Give me your glass – now.”

“You’re not my father.”

“No, but I’m the man who has his ear
and
your employer. Hand it over.”

“Come on, Luke, don’t be such a fuddy-duddy. It’s my birthday, and I want Katie to have a toast.” Betty shifted closer to Parker, inching Katie along with her.

Ignoring Betty’s plea, Luke trained his eyes on Katie. “Give me the drink, or so help me, I’ll be forced to tell your father.”

“You wouldn’t . . . ,” she whispered.

The blue eyes never blinked. “Try me.”

Heat blistered her cheeks and suddenly all she could see was Cluny McGee, besting her once again. With a quick flick of her wrist, she downed half a spiked beer in three horrendous gulps before Luke could jerk the glass from her hand. Betty chuckled and slapped her on the back while Bobbie Sue whooped loudly, both ignoring the fire in Luke’s eyes.

Katie choked, the alcohol burning her throat in a delayed reaction, and Luke shoved his near beer into her hands. She took a long gulp and handed it back, chest heaving.

He seared her with a look. “You’re a brat, Katie Rose, and two and a half months confinement is not near long enough.”

“Well, I’m quite sure you’ll remedy that,” she said with a defiant tilt of her chin and suddenly realized she could care less. A relaxing warmth oozed through her that made her feel almost giddy. Whenever Jack had tried to get her to drink alcohol, she’d adamantly refused, determined that no man or substance would ever control her. But now, when Luke had ordered her to turn over her drink, she found herself less concerned with the substance than the man. It was bad enough her father had license to order her around; the last thing she needed was for Luke McGee to think he could do the same. A shiver traveled Katie’s spine. Sweet saints, deliver her from a husband like that! Thank heavens for Jack, because no man – other than her father – was going to order her around.
Especially
Luke McGee.

Betty tossed the flask back to Bobbie Sue. “Don’t be such a killjoy, Luke, it’s my birthday. Besides, you and Parker could do with a nip or two yourselves, you know.” She shot him a grin. “Especially you,
Mr. Priss
. You were a whole lot more fun when you drank.”

Luke scowled. “And what’s with the ‘Mr. Priss’ stuff? It’s Parker who wears the starched shirts and aftershave that makes him smell like some rich-boy pantywaist.”

Parker appeared wounded. “Hey, McGee, I’m not the one attacking you here, remember?” He lifted his Bevo with a crooked smile. “Besides, my family may have money, but I’m a working stiff just like you. And since when does good grooming qualify as prissy? Let’s face it – you’ve earned the name fair and square with your obnoxious clerical demands on these lovely ladies.”

“Hear, hear,” Bobbie Sue bellowed with a tip of her newly spiked beer. “You preach it, Mr. Parker. This boy here’s given me more headaches than my eight kids put together.”

“I’m particular, so sue me,” Luke muttered in a hurt tone. He glanced past Bobbie Sue at Shirl, who was headed their way with a tray heaped high with dinner. “Good – now you people can chew on something other than my hide.”

Shirl plopped the hefty platter on the table and started unloading plates all around. She set Luke’s down with a wink. “Double bacon cheeseburger, extra bacon, just how you like it.”

“Thanks, Shirl,” he said with a ready smile, “and we have one more order, if you don’t mind, along with another round of Bevo. Tell her what you want, Bobbie Sue.”

Bobbie Sue glanced at Luke’s food and opted for the same, sending Shirl on her way with another over-the-shoulder smile at the man of her dreams.

Katie’s gaze flitted from the thick stack of bacon on Luke’s burger to the two measly pieces on each of hers. She frowned. And his pile of fried potatoes was downright obscene too. “You must have a pound of bacon on that burger. For pity’s sake, what’d you do, bribe her?”

He pulled several pieces of bacon off and handed them to Bobbie Sue. “This’ll tide you over till your food comes.” His eyes shifted to Katie’s plate. “Unless Miss-Eyes-Bigger-Than-Her-Stomach can part with one of her burgers till Shirl delivers yours.”

Katie pushed her plate toward Bobbie Sue, who grinned and took a sandwich. “Why, thank you, sassy girl, much obliged.”

Luke lifted the mammoth burger to his lips, pausing to give Katie a weighted gaze. “Bribe her? No,
Katydid
, because unlike you, some women actually enjoy doing what I ask.”

“Ask maybe, but force? Do they enjoy that?”

He bit into his sandwich and chewed slowly, a smile surfacing at the edges of his lips. “Sometimes,” he said, heating her with a shuttered look while he took a slow swig of his drink.

Katie’s cheeks flamed hot, and she itched to slap that smug smile off his handsome face. Instead, she turned to Betty while nibbling a scrawny piece of bacon. “So, how are the ribs?”

With a swipe of her tongue, Betty licked the remains of barbecue sauce from the corner of her mouth. “De-lish,” she said with a dreamy smile, “and well worth the money, especially since Luke and Parker are paying the bill.”

Katie grinned and popped a pickle in her mouth. Whether from Bobbie Sue’s vodka, Luke’s presence, or the company of good friends, a warm glow spread through her as the evening continued. Shirl kept them supplied with plenty of Bevos while Luke, Betty, and Bobbie Sue supplied them with plenty of laughter. With a contented sigh, Katie pushed her empty dessert plate away and sneaked a reluctant peek at her watch.
No!
She leaned back in the booth and closed her eyes, her friends’ laughter filling her with longing. It was eight o’clock, she thought with a wave of frustration, and Father had warned her to be home early. A silent groan lodged in her throat.

“Betty?”

Katie’s eyes jolted open as a tall brunette strolled over to their booth, scarlet lips agape and a glazed look in her eyes. The scent of alcohol clung to her like a cheap perfume as she waved on a group of lady friends who were heading toward the door. “What in the world are you doing here?” the woman asked, her bloodshot eyes narrowing. “And where’s Leo?”

Betty’s face leeched to the color of the napkin still pressed to her lips. Her fingers shook as she lowered it to her lap. “I’m j-just in town for the weekend, to visit friends.” She swallowed hard. “Leo had to work.”

The woman’s eyes shifted to Luke, and a sneer lifted the corners of her mouth. “With him? Does Leo know?”

Luke half rose to extend his hand with a forced smile. “Imagine running into you here, Roberta. Small world.”

She ignored him and returned her gaze to Betty, whose face looked as pale as if she had just thrown up. Or was about to. “Since I moved to Boston a while back, I don’t get to see Leo all that often. A pity, really.” Her black eyes glittered with scorn. “But maybe I’ll just have to give him a call soon . . . you know, to reconnect.”

Betty sat up higher, shoulders squaring and chin lifting despite the pallor of her skin. “You do that, Roberta. And I’ll be sure to tell him on Monday that I saw you.”

“Please do,” she said with a cold smile. Her eyes scanned the table with obvious disdain before she turned on her three-inch heels and traipsed toward the door to join her friends.

Betty sagged back into the booth with tears rimming her eyes.

Luke tapped Bobbie Sue on the shoulder. “Let me out.” Bobbie Sue complied and Luke edged out of the booth with suit coat in hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and tossed it on the table. “Pay the bill when Shirl comes, will ya, Parker? I’ll meet you outside.”