“You have a visitor,” Sadie said, coming back into the kitchen to get me. We were ready to close for the day and I’d already checked out.
“A customer?” I asked and wanted to groan. We were minutes away from locking the doors.
“By the looks of him, I doubt it.”
Him? I hoped it wasn’t Richard. Frankie wouldn’t take kindly to Richard coming inside the café. I wiped my hands on my apron and headed out front. It didn’t take me long to see Drew’s son, who sat in a booth with his back to me. Mark’s head was bowed and he didn’t look at me when I approached.
“Mark? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
He looked up and I gasped. His left eye was nearly swollen shut and was turning black and blue. “Mark, oh my goodness, what happened? Wait, let me get some ice. It will help take the swelling down.” Rushing behind the counter, I grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with ice.
The young teen groaned slightly when I set the makeshift compress against his face.
“It will feel better in a few minutes,” I assured him as I checked him for any other injuries. It looked like his lip was cut, too, as there was evidence of blood.
“School’s out,” he said, answering my question.
“I take it you got into a fight?” I continued to hold the ice against his face and gently pushed back the hair from his forehead. “Do I want to see the other guy?”
The question brought a hint of amusement, but then he grimaced, as if smiling caused him pain.
“I don’t want to go home,” he murmured, not making eye contact. “Dad’s going to be mad.”
“You sure about that?”
Mark nodded. “He doesn’t believe in fighting.”
“He’s right, you know. If there’s another way out of a confrontation, then you need to take it.”
“That sounds good in theory,” he muttered.
From what I knew of Mark, I strongly suspected he wasn’t a fighter. I’d wager that whatever happened hadn’t been instigated by him. “But it isn’t always possible to avoid a fight.”
“You’re telling me!”
I laughed, and after a few minutes I removed the ice to see if the swelling had gone down. It had, but only slightly. “You’re going to have a doozie of a black eye.”
His shoulders sagged, as if this was the last thing he wanted to hear. “I was afraid of that.”
As much as I longed to hug and comfort him, I didn’t think Mark would appreciate it. “You want to tell me what happened?”
“Not really.”
I was tempted to reach for my phone and text Drew. Because both our schedules were busy, mine with work and night classes, we’d taken to communicating by texting several times a day.
“Would you come home with me and talk to my dad?” Mark asked, keeping his head down, but he raised his eyes up to meet mine as if he wasn’t certain what I’d say.
I had night classes that evening, ones I couldn’t miss. “I’ll go to the church office with you so you can talk to your dad, if that’s what you want.” I wanted to give Drew a heads-up that we were on the way, but I knew he was busy that afternoon.
Mark’s shoulders fell when he realized he was going to have to be the one to explain the fight to his father. Slowly he nodded. “Okay, but you’ll still come with me?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“I do. Dad won’t yell as hard if he sees you.”
That was nice to hear, although I doubted it was true. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll walk to the church with you.” I’d be able to catch a bus to the community college from Fourth Street easily enough.
I returned to the kitchen, finished up what I needed to do, and bid Sadie, Alice, and Frankie goodbye before collecting my purse and coat.
“The kid okay?” Frankie asked before I joined Mark. Apparently, he’d caught sight of Mark’s shiner.
“I think so. He wants me to go with him while he talks to his dad.”
“His dad that preacher guy? The one who comes in, orders the special? The one you can’t keep your eyes off of?”
My gaze shot to Sadie. It seemed she’d mentioned my fascination with Drew to Frankie. My friend didn’t even pretend to look guilty. I was sorry I’d said anything to Sadie. I couldn’t be upset with either of them, though. Frankie refused to let me pay for the coffee I brought to Richard. He didn’t get upset when Chuck started showing up every so often, either. He was gruff about it, not wanting my appreciation or Richard’s.
“Yes, Mark’s dad is the pastor of Seattle Calvary.”
Frankie grumbled something under his breath. “Well, then, don’t keep the boy waiting.”
Grinning, I scooted out of the kitchen. When he saw me, Mark slid out of the booth and headed for the front door. I noticed a couple boys his age hanging around across the street. Both were much bigger than Mark, who was small for his age. I wondered if those were the boys he’d tangled with earlier. I was about to ask but decided against it. As soon as they saw me, the two other boys took off in the opposite direction. That got me to wondering if Mark had come into the café in order to avoid another confrontation. Maybe having me walk with him the rest of the way home was a safety measure.
When we arrived at the church office, Mary Lou looked up from her computer and gasped. “My heavens, Mark, what happened?”
He shrugged, avoiding answering her. “Is my dad here?”
“He’s in a meeting.” She glanced down at the corner of her computer screen. “He’ll be out shortly; do you want to wait?”
“Okay.”
He took a seat in a small waiting area and I sat in the chair next to him. He looked small and his shoulders were slumped forward again, as if he dreaded confronting his father. The wait probably wasn’t helping any.
“Have you finished any more pages in the math puzzle book?” I asked, making conversation, hoping to take his mind off talking to his dad.
Mark nodded. “All of it.”
“The entire book? Already?”
He chanced a look in my direction and grinned. “They were easy.”
“Were not,” I argued. Before I’d purchased the book, I’d flipped through the pages and read a few of the word problems and felt they might be too complex for Mark. Heaven knew they were well above my own capabilities.
Mark was about to say something more when the door to Drew’s office opened. A man and woman stepped out. Drew followed, caught sight of his son, and did a double take. Right away his gaze shot to me. It seemed, and I could be wrong, but when he looked at me, his eyes softened.
Without a pause, Drew turned his attention to his assistant. “Mary Lou, make an appointment with Mr. and Mrs. Wilkens for next week at the same time.”
“Will do.”
Not speaking, he gestured to his son to come into his office.
Mark looked to me and I stood with him.
Drew noticed and raised questioning eyes to me. “Mark asked me to accompany him.”
As soon as we were in the room, Drew closed the door. Mark stood in front of his father’s desk and straightened his shoulders. He looked like a young soldier ready to face a firing squad.
“You hurt?” Drew asked his son.
Mark shrugged. “I’m okay. My eye hurts, but the ice Shay put on my face helped.”
“I have aspirin in my purse, but I didn’t want to give it to him until I’d talked to you,” I interjected.
“You need aspirin for the pain?” Mark asked his son.
Mark shook his head.
Standing behind Mark, I placed my hands on his shoulders while Drew leaned back in his chair and waited, finally expelling his breath. “You want to tell me what happened?”
Mark was quiet. “Not really.”
“Could you have avoided the fight?”
Mark answered with a shake of his head. “I tried, but as you can see, that didn’t work out so well. Are you mad?”
Drew locked eyes with me. “No. But I’m disappointed you let this get physical.”
Mark tensed and I suspected he’d clamped down hard on his jaw as if biting back an explanation. “In that case, I’d rather you got mad and shouted.”
Time was fast approaching when I’d need to leave. I hated to go and glanced at my wrist, silently praying that I’d be able to catch a bus quickly.
“Head on home, Mark. We’ll talk about this more later.”
Mark stood steadfast. “I’d like to get this over with now, Dad. I don’t want to sit at home, wondering what you’re going to do. It’s all right if you want to yell, but I’d like it if you did it all at once. Okay?”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to them both. “I need to leave or I’ll be late for my class.”
Drew’s focus was on his son. He nodded, letting me know it was fine for me to go. Giving Mark’s shoulders a gentle squeeze, I turned and left the office. As I waited for the bus, I had a sneaky suspicion that there was more to the story of Mark’s black eye than he was letting on. I remembered the two bigger boys who were waiting on the other side of the street when we’d left the café. If he’d gone up against those boys, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. My thoughts remained troubled and I felt the need to tell Drew what I’d seen and share my suspicions.
Once on the bus, I took my seat and reached for my phone, texting Drew.
Can I give you a call tonight after class?
I hadn’t heard back by the time I reached the school and was distracted for the entire class. As soon as class was over, I grabbed my phone and saw that Drew had responded.
Sure.
Not wanting to have the conversation while on the bus, I waited until I was home before I called.
Drew answered on the second ring. “Hey,” he greeted.
“Hey,” I returned. “Everything okay with Mark?”
“Yeah, I think so, but he wouldn’t give me any details of what happened. It isn’t like my son to get into a fight. And he didn’t have a good reason for not taking the school bus home.”
“Drew, the reason I called is because I’m not sure Mark was in a fight.”
Drew paused as if he needed to take in my words. “What do you mean?”
It was then that I mentioned the boys I’d seen, who appeared to be waiting for Mark.
“You think those boys might have beat him up?”
“I don’t know, but that’s my guess. Did he say anything about them?”
“Not a word. In fact, he’s remained stubbornly silent about the entire incident. I don’t want to pressure him to tell me what happened.”
I could understand that. Mark’s pride was badly hurt, and talking about the incident would humiliate him all the more. Still, two against one was bad enough, and two much larger boys against a smaller one was grossly unfair.
Drew was silent again. “I appreciate the call.”
“Sure, anytime.” I was ready to hang up when Drew spoke.
“Do you have plans for Saturday? You aren’t working, are you?”
My heart rate quickly accelerated. “No, it’s my free Saturday.” I worked every other Saturday and Sunday. I’d planned to stay home and study, but if Drew asked me out I’d find another time to hit the books. He’d broken our last almost-date and he hadn’t asked me out since.
“I was wondering if you’d mind staying with the kids for a couple hours?”
He wanted me to babysit? Well, that was definitely a letdown. “Sure, I’d be happy to.”
“Sarah wants you to do that thing you do with her hair again, if you would?”
“Of course.” To the best of my ability, I hid my disappointment.
“Great. Does eleven-thirty work for you?”
“Sure.”
“Great, I’ll see you then.”
Drew sounded chipper and pleased with himself.
My heart sank with disappointment.
So much for him asking me out on a real date. I’d apparently been relegated to the friendly babysitter.