Chapter Thirteen
Liam
He’d heard Willow when she came in from work. He’d been asleep on the sofa and the sound of her keys jangling in the lock had pushed him from sleep. He glances at the clock now and sees it’s almost six-thirty in the morning. He eases off the sofa and creeps toward his bedroom, peeking in the door at the Frank. The little boy is a tiny lump in the center of Frank’s bed, his thumb shoved into his mouth and a tattered bunny clutched beneath his chin. Liam steps back to the sofa. Might as well let the boy sleep.
Liam drops back onto the sofa and punches at the throw pillow under his head, trying to soften it up. He’ll see if he can get a couple more hours’ sleep, too. And he might as well let Willow have some rest since she didn’t get home ’till almost dawn. He yawns and decides he’ll take Frank to breakfast in a few hours when he wakes up. He tries to get comfortable on the sofa and finally drifts back off, thinking of Willow, warm in her bed in the room next door.
Small fingers tap at his cheeks. Liam jerks away and stops himself from grabbing at Frank just in time. The little boy is grinning at him, his dinosaur-covered pajamas rumpled and his hair standing on end, his stuffed bunny dangling from his tiny fist.
“Hey, mornin’ kiddo,” Liam mumbles.
“Morning, Liam.” Frank warbles brightly. “I hungry.” He pulls up his pajama top and rubs at his little belly.
“Yeah, okay. Want some pancakes?”
“Yummy!”
“Okay,” Liam sits up and stretches out his back. “Let’s go down to the diner. Just us buds, let your momma sleep some.”
“Just us bugs!” Frank says.
Liam grins and rumples the kid’s hair.
Liam helps Frank change his clothes and they head to the diner, Frank hanging onto Liam’s hand as he skips down the sidewalk. They push open the door to the restaurant, moist heat and the smell of coffee washing over them. Liam leads Frank to a booth in the far corner and helps him into a booster seat so he can reach the table.
Liam has to admit, having the kid around has been pretty fun. Last night they’d watched a cartoon about a lost fish. Liam hadn’t watched cartoons in years and was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. They’d pushed Frank’s little truck around the living room and had a late-night snack of leftover pie. Then, they’d settled in for another cartoon about talking cars. Frank had slumped over and fallen asleep on Liam, his little body warm and heavy against Liam’s side. Liam had carried him to bed, watching for a few minutes as the tiny child’s chest rose and fell with his deep, sleepy breathing. It was too damned precious, Liam decided.
Placing their orders, Liam settles back into his seat, sipping at his coffee and watching Frank color animated bacon and eggs on the sheet the waitress had given him. It’s comfortable in the diner, the air fogged with the scent of eggs and pancakes, the grill sizzling and giving off big clouds of steam. Liam has just let himself be lulled by the lazy morning routine when a heavy hand clamps onto his arm.
Liam spins, his coffee cup clattering to the floor, and seizes the hand in a vicious pinch, grabbing the flannel-covered arm and pulling up behind the broad back of the owner. Who is laughing uproariously at Liam.
“Shit, man. Relax. It’s me, Tony,” the man laughs.
Liam drops his arm.
The man shakes his arm out and pulls at his shirt, a big grin splitting his pock-marked face. “Fancy seeing you here, Blacke. Mind if I join you?” He slides into the booth across from Frank and points at him. “Who’s the kid?”
Liam picks up his coffee cup and mouths a “sorry” at the approaching waitress before easing into the plastic booth seat next to Frank. “Neighbor’s kid. Just doing a favor.”
“Cute kid. Must have a cute momma, too. Especially if you’re doing favors for her.” Tony smirks at him.
“Hi, mister. We’re bugs.” Frank pipes up.
Liam hands Frank a crayon and points him back to his coloring sheet. “Watch your mouth around the kid, Peters.”
Tony raises his hands in a mock surrender. “Whatever you say. What are you doing around here anyways? This the last place I expected to see you.”
“Not much. Watching a lot of TV. Being bored.”
“Even with the pretty momma around?”
“I said watch it.” Liam growls.
The waitress arrives with plates stacked high with pancakes and bacon. The table is quiet as Liam helps Frank cut his pancakes and pour his syrup over the top. Tony orders a coffee and watches them with a little smile on his face.
“So, you and the chick…?” Tony says as he points to Frank.
“I told you, no. Just a favor.” Liam doesn’t want Tony knowing anything about Frank or Willow. They’d been in the joint together, and while Tony Winters wasn’t exactly a bad guy he wasn’t the kind of guy Liam wanted around Frank and Willow. He was sneaky and shifty and would sell his own mom for a buck. But he’d helped Liam in prison, so he didn’t want to be rude. Hopefully, they’d just have a quick breakfast and Tony would go on his way.
Liam shovels a pile of pancakes into his mouth, talking around the syrupy sweetness. “It’s nothing. I swore off women after Harriet, you know that. They’re just my neighbors and she’s having a hard time with work.”
“Whatever you say.” Tony gives him a grin that says he thinks differently. “Anyhow, speaking of work, how you makin’ your cash these days?”
“Just…living off my savings right now. More coffee?” Liam gestures to the waitress for more coffee, hoping to get Tony off the subject.
“Well, that ain’t gonna last forever.” Tony says.
“Yeah, well…” Liam crunches down onto a piece of bacon.
“Well, I’m in town on a little job right now. You ever think of getting back into the game?”
Liam glances at Frank, who is singing under his breath and stacking his pancakes into little buildings. “Hm. Not really.”
“Thanks, sugar.” Tony holds out his coffee cup and winks at the waitress as she refills it. “Well, like I said, that money ain’t gonna last forever.” He takes a sip of his steaming coffee. “How about you take my number. Whenever you run outta your money, give me a call. I can fix you up with something.”
“That’s really not necessary, Peters. I’m fine. I’m not into that anymore.”
“Still, no harm.” Tony stands up and pulls out a card, dropping it onto the table in front of Liam. “Call when you’re ready.” Then he drops a fifty-dollar bill onto the table on top of the card. “Breakfast is on me. Take it easy, bug.” He salutes Frank and strolls out of the diner, the open door letting in the noise of the street outside before thunking shut behind him.
Liam finally picks up the card, turning it over and over between his fingers. He looks back at the door Tony disappeared through before slipping it into the inside pocket of his jacket.