B00CZBQ63C EBOK (21 page)

She ran her fingers down his lapel. “My father would never hurt me. He’ll be better off without the booze, Daniel. You did the right thing.”

He placed a hand over her fingers, stilling their progress. “I’m only a piece of the puzzle. And a small piece, at that. What are you going to do about Johnny?”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Daniel’s brow furrowed. “You cannot make this decision for your father. He has to come to it on his own.”

She pulled her hands free, his words pricking her skin like a needle. How could he possibly understand? “I have to do
something
. The men in my family are all throwing their lives away and mine with them.”

“So, what will you do?” Daniel pulled off his coat, draping it around her shoulders.

She laid her head on his arm. “I don’t know. Protect them. Clean up all this . . .”—she lifted a hand to the sky—“mess. The only trouble is, once I have one mess contained, they go and create another.”

Daniel took her hand, cradling it against his shirt front. “It’s not your job to protect them. How would you do that, anyway?”

She chewed on her lower lip. How much could she tell him?

“I think the person you need to protect is yourself. Is your father as volatile as he seemed today? Should you really be staying there?”

“Maybe I should let him cool off a little.”

He stroked her back. “Maybe I could help you kill some time until he’s calmed down.”

She smiled. “Maybe you could.”

The sun dipped lower in the sky as he leaned toward her. Laurie held her breath as their lips touched. Keeping her face close so she could feel his warm breath against her temple, Laurie reached up with one hand and touched his rough jaw line.

His voice whispered in her ear, “I’ve wanted to do that since the first night we met.”

“Me, too,” she sighed.

Chapter
36

W
hy would you do that?” Red spots flared before Laurie’s eyes as
she glared at her brother. “He was supposed to work tonight and you gave him booze?”

Johnny lounged on the back steps of their house. “He’s at work, Laurie. If I hadn’t of given him enough to take the edge off, he’d have scoured the town until someone else did. Then he’d be dead drunk.”

Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I told you, you can’t make his choices.”

She folded her arms, the evening crickets rankling her nerves.

Johnny curled his lip as he stared at Daniel’s hand. “So, Amelia was right? You two are officially an item?”

Laurie looked away. She didn’t owe him any explanations. “You’ve got to stop supplying him booze, Johnny.”

Johnny ran his hand through his hair. “We’ve been over this before. If I don’t give it to him, someone else will. Plus, when he gets desperate, he gets mean. You know that.” He glared at Laurie. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Daniel’s grip tightened. She shook it off and stepped forward. “I can watch out for myself, but I’m sick of taking care of his drunken messes. He showed up at the exchange today. How long will I keep my job if he shows up there drunk? How long will he keep his job at the mill?”

Johnny spit on the ground. “How long is he going to keep his job if he’s spending all his time searching for booze?”

Daniel took a seat on the steps next to Johnny. “I know of places that could help him, but he needs to be willing. If you and Laurie talk to him together and convince him he needs the help—”

Johnny’s eyes flashed. “You mean a hospital? Like my mom? Now I’m the one paying for that, ten years later, just to keep my family afloat.”

Laurie’s heart jumped. “What do you mean?”

A shadow crossed his face. “Nothing. Forget it.”

Daniel cleared his throat. “If he learns how to lick this, you and Laurie can get on with your lives instead of keeping an eye on him all the time.”

Laurie lifted her hand. “Wait—Johnny, what did you mean by that?”

“I said, forget it.”

Claws ripped at her heart. “No. I won’t. Tell me!” She took another step toward him.

Johnny jumped to his feet and stormed up the creaky porch steps.

She turned to Daniel. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

Daniel’s eyes closed briefly, his head lowering.

Laurie’s heart dropped in her chest. “You do.”

“That’s his story to tell you, not mine.

Laurie pushed free of Daniel’s arm and ran up the stairs, bursting through the door.

Johnny sat at the kitchen table, the newspaper spread in front of him like nothing had been said.

Laurie snatched the paper away. “I want answers. Now.”

His eyes blazed. “I was reading that.”

She crushed it in her hand and pushed it behind her back as Daniel entered the room behind her.

Johnny blew his breath between his teeth. “There are still bills from Mama’s hospital stay.”

“That was ten years ago.” She sank into a chair across from him.

He rapped the table with his knuckles. “That don’t stop the bill collectors from knocking.”

“Didn’t Daddy . . . ”

He looked up at her, his eyes tired. “He’s put every extra dime into the whiskey bottle and you know it.”

Laurie grabbed the edge of the table. “How much does he—do we—owe?”

Johnny leaned forward. “That’s just it. I’m almost done paying it off. With what I’m getting from the weekly runs—and what Dad’s donating through his ‘purchases,’ I’m almost done paying. I’ll be able to quit.”

Laurie looked between Johnny and Daniel, her heart swamped with emotions and questions. “Why—why didn’t you tell me?”

Johnny shrugged. “You already take on more than your share of responsibility. You try to do everything, for everyone. You didn’t need one more burden.”

“I could have helped.”

He smirked. “With what you make as an operator? Not likely.”

Daniel spoke softly. “Johnny, I could help. I’ll loan you the rest, you can pay me back slowly, from your wages at the mill.”

Johnny shook his head. “No more loans. I’m not going to be beholden to anyone ever again.”

Laurie pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose as she struggled to process all that her brother was telling her. “This has all been for hospital bills? You weren’t trying to buy a ring for Amelia?”

Johnny laughed. “Is that all you girls think about? No, I wasn’t doing this for a ring. Dad gave me Mama’s ring for her. I’ve had it for months.”

“Then why haven’t you asked her?”

“I figured I’d wait until I was done with the rumrunning. I didn’t want to give her a reason to say no to me.” He looked at his hands, a shadow crossing his face.

“You dope.” Laurie shook her head. “As if she could ever say no to you.”

A smile turned the corners of his lips. “Well, maybe it was more about being worthy of her.”

Laurie patted her brother’s hand, casting a glance at Daniel. “I’m sometimes wonder if any of us are worthy of love.”

Daniel reached for her other hand and squeezed it.

Daniel rocked on the back legs of his chair, watching the two siblings dance around the delicate issues without declaring war on each other.

His chest ached with words left unsaid. His story—his recovery—could give Laurie and Johnny reason to hope. He gazed at Laurie, her face pinched in worry for her family. If he spoke up . . .

Several times he opened his mouth only to snap it shut, his stomach churning. How would Laurie react? Would he ever see her again?

Laurie filled her coffee cup from the pot on the stove. “I don’t like it.”

Johnny straddled his chair and rested his chin on the back rail. “I got two or three more shipments to go and we’ll be free and clear.”

“Not if Samuel gets a hold of you.” Laurie drummed her fingers on the table.

Daniel settled his chair legs back on the floor. “Brown’s out for blood, Johnny. He strikes me as the type to shoot first and deal with the consequences later.”

Johnny lifted his hands. “Laurie’s keeping an eye on him. And we keep switching the landing zones. He’s never going to catch us.”

A chill washed over Daniel. “Keeping an eye on him?” He sat up in his chair. “You’re still seeing him?”

She glanced up at him, her chin tucked low. “It’s not like that, exactly.”

The force of emotion in his chest surprised him. “Then tell me what it’s like.”

“I’m just—well—I don’t have any feelings for him. . . . ”

“And that makes it all right?”

The hurt on her face was unmistakable. “What are you accusing me of?”

Daniel pushed his hands across his eyes, his pulse echoing in his head. “It sounds like you’re ‘seeing him’ socially—leading him on, perhaps—in order to protect your brother and his cronies.”

Johnny turned. “Hey—”

Daniel lifted a hand to prevent his interruption. “Does Brown already know about Johnny’s activities?”

She bit her lip. “I think he’s suspicious.”

“If he already knows, then what kind of information are you hoping to get from him?”

Her gaze darted between him and Johnny. “I’m hoping he’ll tell me if he plans to go after them.”

Daniel leaned across the table. “Did it ever occur to either of you that he may be using
you
to get information on Johnny?”

After a pause, she nodded.

“Then why are you still doing this?”

Johnny’s expression darkened. “Laurie?”

Her scarlet-colored lips pressed into a thin line. “After you were arrested and I went to tell him you were innocent . . . ” Her voice quavered. “He said he would let you go, if . . . ”

Daniel’s palms grew damp. “If what?”

Johnny’s hands closed over the chair back, his nostrils flaring. “You’d better not be saying what I think you’re saying.” His back tensed, as if he were preparing to leap over the table.

Daniel thrust an arm across Johnny’s chest. “Easy.” He took a deep breath. “Laurie, what did you . . . ”—he swallowed, acid crawling up his throat—“what did you promise the man?”

Her skin paled, but she lifted her chin in defiance. “I only said that I’d keep seeing him. Nothing else.” She pushed up from her chair.

“I’ll kill him,” Johnny growled.

Daniel lowered his arm, fire crawling through his chest. Brown had extorted him, arrested him, and trashed his office. And now he had the gall to threaten Laurie? He clenched his jaw. “You might have to beat me to it.”

Laurie’s blue eyes flashed. “I make my own choices, remember?”

“This wasn’t a choice. You were bullied into it.” Johnny banged his hand on the table.

She settled a fist onto one hip. “I tell you what. I’ll stop seeing him—on one condition.”

Johnny’s brow furrowed. “Oh, you’re going to stop seeing him, all right.”

“Listen to me.” She glared at them. “I’ll stop seeing him, if you two agree to stop selling—or giving—Dad any more booze.”

“We’re not cutting bargains here, Laurie.” Daniel braced one hand on the table. “I don’t think you understand the risks you’re taking.”

“I choose who I see and who I don’t.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

The implied threat in her words came like a punch to the stomach. He pulled his coat from the back of the chair. “I think it’s time for me to leave.”

Johnny grabbed his arm. “Hold it. I need you on my side, here, Daniel.”

Daniel crushed his coat in his grip. The floor swayed as if he stood in a canoe. He could no longer deny the depths of his feelings for Laurie Burke, but he refused to allow her to trifle with him.
Save those tricks for Brown.

Daniel’s jaw ached. “I’ve already stopped supplying your dad with liquor. You really expect Johnny to stop providing him whiskey just so you’ll stop socializing with Samuel Brown?”

Laurie nodded.

Daniel shook his head. He’d expected more from her. Maybe he didn’t know her at all.

Johnny growled, running a hand across his chin and neck. “Done.”

Chapter
37

I
ain’t going to no hospital.” Her father threw the chair back
from the table.

Laurie kept a safe distance, choosing not to argue.
Plant the seed and give it time to grow.

“Hospitals are for sick folk. There ain’t nothing wrong with me.” He grabbed another biscuit from the platter and trudged from the room.

She cleared the table, consumed by thoughts of Daniel. A sharp pain gouged through her heart every time she pictured his distraught face and remembered the door closing behind him.

Lord, you sent me an honest man and I shattered any chance I had with him.

“You’ve forgotten that your mother died in one of those places. Like I’d ever step foot there, again.” Her father’s muffled voice echoed from the far end of the house.

Laurie carried the dishes to the sink and stopped to gaze out at the darkening sky. She hadn’t dared stop in at the drugstore this morning. And the curb outside the exchange remained empty.

Her lips tingled with the memory of their evening on the bluff. One kiss. That’s all she got? She blinked away the tears. No good would come from dwelling on it.

Johnny would be going on his second-to-last shipment tonight and he’d promised not to bring any of the whiskey to their father. She stopped and closed her eyes.
Lord, keep him safe.
A lump formed in her throat. Was it wrong to pray protection over someone who was knowingly committing a sinful act? She opened her eyes and swished a hand through the warm soapy water, tiny waves splashing over the dirty dishes.

“No hospitals!” Her father hollered down the hall.

Maybe she was praying for the wrong family member.

The telephone rang, causing Laurie to jump and splash suds across the floor.

“Aren’t you going to answer that? Isn’t that what they pay you to do?” Dad’s voice floated in between rings.

She grasped the receiver and lifted it to her ear. Out of habit, she straightened her neck and summoned her most melodic voice. “Hello, Burke residence.”

“Hello, Miss Operator.”

“Johnny?” She sputtered, all pretense vanishing. “What are you doing? I thought you were out—working, tonight.”

“Johnny?” Her dad stuck his head into the kitchen. “He ain’t working tonight. Is that him on the telephone?”

She covered the mouthpiece. “Just a minute, Dad.” She lowered her voice and moved her fingers away. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t talk, Sis. But I need help. One of our guys can’t make it.”

Her heart lurched. “Why are you calling me? What can I do?”

“We need a spotter. I don’t know who else to ask.”

Laurie leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. “I couldn’t possibly . . . ”

“It’s just one night, Laurie.”

She tugged on her earlobe. “No. Just call it off for tonight.”

She could hear Johnny’s breathing through the receiver. “Not possible. We already put in an order; we’ve got to be there to get it. All you got to do is take Dad’s Ford and drive out to the water. When you spot our light, flash the headlamps to show us it’s safe. Come on, Laurie, I’m desperate.”

She dug her fingernails into her palm. “Johnny—”

“Let me talk to him.” Her father stomped into the room, gesturing for the telephone.

Laurie’s stomach dropped. “Dad—”

“Give me the telephone, Laurie.”

She passed it to him, her fingers trembling.

His large hand closed over the receiver. “Johnny?” He stopped and listened as Laurie stepped backward.

“Yeah, you got more for me?”

She turned and walked back to the sink, the muscles in her neck tightening into a hopeless knot. Her father’s voice rose in pitch as he talked.

This was shaping up to be a rough night.

She rinsed the last dish and lifted it from the dripping water just in time to hear her father return the receiver to the telephone with a disgusted grunt.

“Johnny said he’d meet you at 3 o’clock at Freshwater Bay.” He turned and scowled at Laurie. “You two got a picnic planned or something?”

Laurie stood mute, water dripping from the plate suspended in her hand.

He rubbed his shoulder and grimaced. “I’m going out. Don’t wait up.”

Laurie shut her bedroom door, her heart hammering in her chest. She paced to the window and laid her forehead against it.
God, what do I do?

The half-moon shone its thin light down on the side of the house and across the empty spot normally occupied by the Model T. Now, even if she wanted to help Johnny, she had no automobile.

Laurie pressed her hand against her stomach. She needed to do something, but every choice seemed impossible. As soon as her father had left, she’d tried telephoning Johnny, but the line had gone unanswered.

I can’t let him land without a spotter.
She pulled away from the window and stumbled back to the bed. She could call Daniel, but he didn’t approve of the rumrunning any more than she did. Did she want to admit to him that she was considering helping out with it?

How could she not?

Laurie pulled her sketchbook from under her pillow. It lay open to the portrait she had drawn of Daniel at Crescent Beach. Rather than the shadowy figure of that first night, in this one he stood on the shore, a rock in his hand and arm cocked to skip it along the top of the water. His handsome face shone with a trace of little-boy glee.

She closed the book and pushed it back under her pillow.

Could she now call him and ask him to return to the beach to help with a whiskey delivery?

What choice do I have?

Laurie drove her fist into the pillow. How dare Johnny put her in this position? She hit the pillow a second time, momentarily placated by the lovely “thwump” sound it made. Picking it up, she slammed it hard on the bed, feeling the tightness in her arms easing with the movement.

Casting the pillow aside, she strode to her closet and pulled out an old wool sweater and a scarf to wrap around her head. Somehow, she was going to be on that beach by the time the boats arrived—even if she had to steal a car to do so.

Laurie sprinted toward town, the road flying by under her hurrying feet. Once she decided, she didn’t want to give herself a moment to doubt. She clutched a cloth bag against her side, her father’s military flashlight nestled cozily with his old army knife. She might as well have pulled on his uniform while she was at it, since she raced toward an impossible battle.

Daniel, I need your automobile. I’ll bring it back, I promise.
The very idea made her laugh, tears stinging her eyes.
Daniel, think how romantic the beach is by moonlight.

Maybe she could just borrow the Buick and have it back before he even missed it.

As she approached the edge of Lincoln Park, she slowed to a stop and clutched at her sweater in aggravation. “I can’t do this,” she whispered. First a liar, then a bootlegger’s assistant—now a thief?

Her insides roiled. Wrapping both arms around herself, she rubbed hands up and down her sleeves, shivering in the cool night air. Stars dotted the sky, an example of God’s artistry at work. Her heart slowed.

Daniel had said, “People make their own choices. You can’t protect them from the consequences.”

Just as she’d made her choices and lost him.

She pulled her eyes away from the stars and noticed a Model T parked askew in the shadows of the trees. A man’s arm—clad in a familiar twill sleeve—dangled out over the door, his head lolled back on the seat as if asleep.

Or worse.

A prickle raced up her neck. She crept up and peered in at her father’s sleeping form, his snores rattling the seat springs. The stench of alcohol was unmistakable, even if she hadn’t seen the empty bottle splayed across his lap.

She blew out a hissing breath. As if this night couldn’t get more complicated. Laurie prodded his arm. “Dad, wake up.”

Her father slumped to the side, the bottle rolling from his lap onto the floor. He mumbled a few unintelligible words into the seat cushion.

She banged a hand against the door and reached for the handle. “Move over, I’ll drive you home.”

Laurie yanked the door open. “I should leave you here. It would serve you right.” With a sigh, she tossed her bag onto the floor and wedged her arms under him. Grunting, she dug her shoes against the earth and heaved. Managing to slide him a few inches, she braced herself against the car door and jostled him a little further before collapsing against his shoulder.

Walking to the far side, she pulled open the passenger door and leaned across the seat. Pushing aside his jacket and vest, she hooked her fingers on his waistband. Jerking hard, she managed to slide him across the seat. His head lolled toward her and landed heavily on her shoulder. Pushing upward, she goaded him back into a sitting position.

Closing the door, she leaned against it, panting.
God, can this night get any worse?
She wiped her hands down her skirt.
Forget I asked that.

She settled herself in the driver’s seat and glanced over at her father, his head lolled to the side and his mouth hanging open. “I’m not responsible for your choices, Dad.” She blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes and adjusted her hat with one hand, keeping the other locked on the wheel. “And yet, somehow I’m always the one forced to pick up the pieces.”

She gripped the wheel. Now that she had the automobile, Johnny’s desperate voice tugged at her heart. How could she just leave him out there without a light to guide him? She wouldn’t really be breaking the law, would she? She’d just be flashing the headlamps a few times, bringing some sailors home. Who would know?

God would know.

Laurie pushed her fingers against her eyes. A man of honor—that’s what she kept asking from God. She lowered her head against the cold wooden steering wheel.
I’d be breaking the law as surely as if I were holding the oars.

Her father coughed and shifted in his sleep, making Laurie jump and open her eyes.

A woman of honor,
she thought.
I’m sorry, Johnny.
She reached for the ignition and cranked the Ford’s engine. Turning on the headlamps, she inched backward onto the road and turned toward home, the twin beams cutting through the murky blackness.

The dark image of an automobile parked a block ahead, caught her eye. As she drove past, her headlights glared off a memorable grill and illuminated the face of the man sitting inside. Laurie’s heart lurched. She jerked her gaze back to the road.

Samuel.