You and Me Baby Page 9

  He’d been depressed enough about the heavy burdens she seemed to be carrying that he’d been just as silent as she was on the drive back to town. When he’d dropped her off at the Dive, he’d gone to drop the materials off at the clinic, then had come right back, where he’d started drinking, just like normal.

  He’d shrugged off a drive back to the rent house and had simply walked there instead. In the morning, he’d also walked to the church.

  Yes, church. He didn’t go because he needed any kind of hoo-doo voo-doo revelation from God or anything. He didn’t go because he especially wanted to, either. He went because he was back home for the first time in forever, and it was a habit. He wasn’t sure what it was about this town and Sunday mornings, but he couldn’t convince his hungover self to go back to sleep when his eyes popped open in plenty of time for him to get up, take some ibuprofen, and get ready for church.

  His dad had been plenty surprised to see him, as had his mother, who’d gone over to him immediately, with a muttered apology for having kicked him out of his childhood home and all… then with a snide comment about how it was for his own good.

  “I’m not sure if that was an apology or an insult, Mom,” he’d told her as she’d flitted away to go and greet other people, leaving him to the legions of senior adult women who soon had him surrounded on all sides.

  Seriously, they were everywhere.

  More people began to flood into the sanctuary as the ladies kept chatting him up, signaling the end of Sunday school. He knew this from experience and wondered how many more senior adult ladies would now be making their way over to him (could he make it to one hundred kisses?), just as he spotted some younger people.

  Travis and Laurie were there in the group.

  “If you ladies will excuse me,” he said, trying to extricate himself from the group with a generous smile, “I see some friends I need to go say hello to.”

  The ladies all sent him off with waves and pats, and he made his way over to where Laurie was now sitting down with Travis still chatting with her, laughing over some story he was telling.

  But all the laughter and talking stopped when Aiden stepped up to them. Both Laurie and Travis looked at him as though he was an alien.

  “Good morning,” he said with a bright smile.

  “Good morning,” Travis said, after hesitating for a long moment, then holding his hand out for Aiden’s.

  “It is a good morning,” Aiden said, shaking his old friend’s hand. “How are you, Laurie?”

  “Fine,” she said, staring at him.

  Travis was still staring at him, too.

  “Did one of my ladies leave lipstick on my face?” he asked them, his hand to his cheek.

  “Noooo,” Travis managed, looking around for these kissing ladies.

  “The seniors,” Aiden murmured. “Senior adults, that is. Why are you staring at me?”

  “You’re at church,” Travis said.

  “Yeah,” Aiden nodded. “So?”

  “I didn’t know you went to church,” Laurie said.

  Ouch.

  “Been going here my whole life, just like Travis,” he said. “Raised and baptized here.”

  “Really?” she asked doubtfully.

  “Yeah,” he said. “And you know what, Laurie? I don’t remember ever seeing you here before now.”

  Seriously, he didn’t remember ever seeing her here. He’d not been all that observant back then, when he and Travis had been back row Baptists in every sense of the word, but surely he would have remembered Laurie.

  She hadn’t been here back then.

  Her mouth settled into a thin line at this, and he wondered if he’d offended her somehow. She was so easy to offend. If he breathed just a little louder, she’d probably be offended.

  Why, then, did he want to spend all of his time around her?

  “It’s a new thing,” she said softly, looking up at him with just a hint of embarrassment in her eyes.

  There. That was it. When she wasn’t offended or angry or sarcastic, she was genuine. Hey, maybe she was genuine when she was all those other things as well, but this Laurie, who spoke to him and not at him was the Laurie he wanted to know better.

  He plopped down in the seat next to her, hopeful that he could start getting to know her even better now. “Anyone sitting here?” he asked.

  “Travis was going to,” she said, glancing over at him.

  Aiden followed her eyes, noting the tight frown that Travis gave him.

  Was there something going on with these two? He looked from one to the other, trying to assess things. For all that Aiden couldn’t do, he was really good at reading people.

  Travis was looking at Laurie with admiration, clearly. Attraction, too, likely, given the irritated glance he shot Aiden’s way for taking his seat. The smile he turned back to Laurie, though… oh, yeah, he was into her.

  Aiden glanced over at Laurie and saw… nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  Maybe he couldn’t read all people well.

  “Well, I would’ve sat there,” Travis muttered.

  “You can sit on this side,” Aiden said, patting the seat next to him, not willing to give up his seat next to Laurie.

  Travis met the challenge in his eyes for just a few seconds. “No, I can’t,” he said. “I have to sit in the back. Doing usher duty today and have to help the latecomers find a seat.”

  “Should be good at that since you helped me to this seat and all,” Aiden said, enjoying rubbing it in. Probably not a smart move and all since Travis was his boss and landlord now, but…

  Eh. Whatever.

  “Then, I guess I’ll see you guys later,” Travis murmured. “Want to do lunch with me, Laurie?”

  “I can’t,” she said. “I have a shift at the Dive.”

  Travis nodded his disappointment then waved to them both before leaving.

  Aiden watched him walk to the back of the church.

  “So, Travis has got a thing for you,” he noted, glancing over at Laurie.

  She frowned at him. “No, he doesn’t,” she said uncertainly.

  “Oh, yes, he does,” Aiden said. “I saw the way he was looking at you. Then, inviting you out to lunch like that. He probably does that every week, doesn’t he?”

  Laurie didn’t say anything as she busied herself with the Bible in her lap.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” Aiden said. “But I’m guessing that you turn him down every week, too.” He laughed a little. “Good.”

  “I don’t see how what I do or don’t do is any business of yours, Aiden,” she said, her eyes still on her Bible.

  “Probably not,” he said. “So, you go to this church now?”

  “What other church is there to go to?” she asked, giving him a look.

  Truth. Only one in town, after all.

  “Okay, so you go to church now. Is that better?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “When did that happen?” he asked. “I don’t remember you going when we were in high school.”

  “I didn’t,” she said. “I only started once I came back from medical school.”

  “But you said it was a new thing,” he said. “You’ve been back from medical school for years now.”

  She gave him an uncertain look, glancing around them to see if anyone was listening. “Can I be honest with you?”

  He wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “Sure,” he said. “Be just as honest as you want to be.”

  “I started coming years ago as a… well, a PR move,” she said softly.

  PR. She was talking his language now.

  Except he was unsure how church fit into this.

  “How is coming to church a PR move?” he asked, just as softly.

  “It helped the clinic,” she said tightly, smiling as people walked by their pew, looking for seats. “Helped my reputation in town if I was seen at church, if they knew or thought I was… you know, a good person or whatever. Especially since my dad owns the town bar and all.”

  “Something I’ve always liked about your dad,” Aiden said.

  She refrained from rolling her eyes. “Yeah, well, I’ve been coming for a long time, and for most of that time, it’s been for appearances.”

  Going to church for appearances. Well, Aiden would know a thing or two about that, seeing as how he’d been the dutiful son, going to church alongside his parents all these years as the preacher’s kid, even though none of it made any real difference in his life.

  But this seemed beneath Laurie.

  “Is it still like that for you?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “That’s why I said it was a new thing.”

  What had changed? Aiden looked to her, waiting for an explanation.

  “What?” she said, just a little irritated. “Haven’t you asked enough questions?”

  “No,” he said, “because I’m still confused.”

  She took another breath and looked over at him. “Some bad stuff happened a couple of years ago, and… well, your mother was really there for me. And I don’t know. Her living what she said she believed, what your dad preaches from the pulpit… I guess I had a change of heart. Granted, it still took a long time from that point for things to be different, but… well, they’re different now. This isn’t about PR anymore. This is about me.”

  He blinked at this. Was she saying…

  “Oh, no,” he said. “Are you into Jesus, too? Like Travis?”

  Her eyes flashed with just a hint of amusement. “Into Jesus. Well, I’ve never heard it phrased quite like that. But I’m starting to think, to feel that… I don’t know. I’m still working through it all.”

  “How long have you been working through it?” he asked, thinking that Jesus was getting everyone in thi
s town, slowly but surely. Like some sort of infectious Jesus disease…

  “The past couple of months,” she said. “Your dad and I have had a few talks about it. And I’m going through a study with your mom.”

  Crazy. “Well, then,” he said, “good for you, I guess.” Then, after a moment of thinking, “If you’re a Christian, why are you so mean to me?”

  She shot him a look. “If you’re a Christian, why do you spend half of your life drunk?”

  Ouch. Again.

  “Sorry,” she said. “That I said that. And that I’m mean. I at least feel bad about these things now, Aiden, which is saying a lot because I’ve spent the last two years just being angry and bitter and…”

  What exactly had happened to her?

  “Anyway,” she said, taking another breath just as the choir got up to sing and his dad made his way to the pulpit. “I’m not even sure I am a Christian, honestly. It’s all new, so you know. It might take a while for it all to really make sense.”

  And even as the choir director motioned for them all to stand to their feet to sing along, Aiden wondered if any of it would ever make sense to him.

  “It all makes sense now.”

  Laurie plopped the burger and fries down in front of him and narrowed her eyes. “What makes sense?”

  “I know how we’re going to raise money for your clinic,” he said. “Enough money to finish up all the repairs!”

  She shook her head. “Okay, I don’t have time for this,” she said. “Give me a second, okay?”

  And she was off again, to deliver drinks to the table in the corner then back to the kitchen to get the next round of plates.

  It was all good. She could take her time because Aiden was still thinking through the details.

  While he couldn’t understand how or why she’d gotten herself into such extreme debt with the clinic, he knew business was good. It was good enough to sustain the payments and to keep a staff, but the profits weren’t enough to upgrade the building at the rate it needed to happen. What Laurie needed was a boost. She needed a good lump sum of money to help her with those repairs, then they could herald the opening of the “new” clinic, get even more patients, and really be on their way.

  Brilliant.

  “We’re going to raise money?” Laurie asked, swinging by his table again, this time to replace his empty bottle with a new one. “And that’s your limit, by the way.”

  “Two?” he asked, disbelieving. “Since when?”

  “Since it’s one o’clock on a Sunday,” she said. “It’s too early to drink yourself into a stupor.”

  “Fine, I’ll be back tonight,” he said.

  “Now what’s this about raising money? And what do you mean we?” she asked.

  “We’re going to do a fair,” he said. “Downtown businesses, businesses all around town, paying to be sponsors and have their names printed everywhere. They all need the exposure. Town’s growing and all, especially with younger families. We can throw a fair right there downtown, even bring the church in, the schools in, to set up booths and games and information. We charge admission –”

  “We?” she asked again skeptically.

  “You and me, baby,” he said, grinning up at her as she frowned at the endearment. “We charge admission, and the profit comes back to you to beautify that building of yours.”

  He held his hands up ready for her applause.

  “That’s not going to work,” she said.

  “How do you know it won’t work?” he said. “Have you ever tried it?”

  “I haven’t had time to try it,” she said. “Have you noticed how busy I am? With the clinic? Here? Oh, hang on…”

  She was off again, tending to another two tables, seating a new set of guests, and trying to keep all the plates spinning.

  Or not spinning, as the case would be. Maybe she was just trying to put all those plates, full of food, down on the tables.

  When she finally made it back to him, he jumped right back into the conversation, as if she’d never left. “Trust me,” he said. “I know it’ll work. This is what I do for a living, after all. You can leave it all up to me, and I’ll show you. Let me help you.”

  “The way you can help me now is to grab up a few menus and wait on that table I just seated,” she said. “We’ve had two servers call in sick.”

  “Done,” he said, standing to his feet and putting his beer down.

  “Aiden,” she said, looking at him incredulously. “I was just kidding.”

  “No, I want to help,” he said. “Where are the menus?”

  “But…” She stared at him openly for a long moment. “If PR is your job, then why are you staying here? Why aren’t you pounding down doors with your resume in hand? Why are you helping me so much?”

  All those questions he didn’t have answers for… except that last one.

  “Because you need it,” he answered, as if that was adequate.

  Perhaps it was, as Laurie, after watching him for a long, thoughtful moment directed him to the menus, told him about some changes, and sent him off to wait those tables for her. As he went about his work, he thought about her question.

  He’d sent out those resumes, but these things took time, of course. He probably should be sending out more, but even if he’d canvassed the world with resumes, it would take a while to hear back from any of these places with any real, firm offer. He was making the best of the time he had, not wallowing around in self-pity or asking too many difficult questions about where his life was going.

  Well, actually, he was keeping himself busy so he wouldn’t have to entertain any of those questions.

  That was the honest truth.

  And if they did this fair… well, then, he could send out a few resumes, keep on with life, and still not have to ask any of the hard questions.

  She was doing him a favor, letting him help her like this.

  “Aiden.”

  He was so lost in his thoughts and the task on hand that he hadn’t noticed Laurie until she was right there next to him, her hand on his arm.

  He loved that, just her hand on his arm. What kind of sad sap did that make him?

  “Yeah?” he asked, looking down at her.

  “You should take a break,” she said, wiping her face on the sleeve of her shirt. “The crowd is finally clearing out.”

  “Let me finish up with the two tables I’ve still got left,” he said, nodding over at them. “Then, I’ll take a break before the dinner rush starts.”

  “Aiden,” she said, smiling at him genuinely. Wow, he loved that. “You worked straight through the dinner rush. I shouldn’t have let you, but I needed the help. You did a great job.”

  He looked at his watch, marveling at how much time had passed. “Did I make any tips?” he asked lamely.

  “Yeah,” she laughed.

  He loved that laugh, too.

  “Good,” he said, thinking about how much he enjoyed being with Laurie, even if it was just working alongside her. “Then, put that towards buying more of that blue paint you like.”

  “You need to take the money you’ve earned,” she chided him. “I’m serious about that, Aiden.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said. “That’s what I’m spending the money I earned on. Blue paint. And maybe I’m going to sponsor a table at the fair, too.”

  “Well, you didn’t bring in that many tips,” she said. “And what would you advertise at your table?”

  “Travis’s sisters’ cupcakes,” he said. “Seriously, have you tried them?”

  She smiled again.

  “And I’m taking the change in your demeanor as your consent to this whole fair idea,” he said. “Agreed?”

  She bit her lip for a moment, watching him.

  Then, she smiled, very tentatively.

  “Agreed,” she said. “Let’s do it. But I have to do something for you, to thank you for all that you’ve –”

  She stopped talking, then frowned.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Wipe that smirk off your face, you pervert,” she said. “I’m not doing that.”

  He wasn’t sure what she was talking about (though he could certainly think of a few good possibilities), but he nodded repentantly.

  “I could help you search for more jobs,” she said.

  “Okay,” he shrugged, thinking that he’d appreciate any time with her, doing whatever she wanted to do. “I can bring my laptop up here and work from the Dive tonight, on your breaks.”