Indivisible. Part 14

"I saw him. I saw his face." He gave her a pointed look. "He was very angry."

"That's because he talked to Tia. They're always mad at each other."

He clearly disbelieved her. "Why?"

"They have a love-hate thing."

He moaned. "I'm dead."

"You're making this worse than it is. Come out of the pantry."

He shook his head.

Sighing, she reached for the broom. "I'm going to sweep the front. You can sneak out the back or come up and have something nice and warm from the case."

She went out to the front. The few tables had emptied, and no one waited at the counter. He must have run in when she had the kitchen door propped open to let out the smoke. She wouldn't think such a natty dresser would sit on the floor, but that was probably his least concern.

Starting in the front by the window, she whisked the broom over the floor. A few minutes later, she sensed motion behind her and turned. The man was standing nervously beside the counter, watching her. She pointed toward the case. "What would you like?"

His Adam's apple moved in his neck. "There are no fig and pine-nut sticky rolls."

"No."

"No spinach, kalamata, and goat cheese."

"Sarge doesn't like me doing anything different."

He studied her solemnly, then pointed. "A cheddar roll, if you wash your hands."

She set the broom against the wall. "One cheddar roll coming up." She washed at the small sink, pulled on a glove, and used a tissue to hand him the food. "It's on me."

His brow puckered. "You don't want me to pay? It's free of charge?"

"Yep. But you should tell me your name. If we're meeting in closets and all."

That surprised an uneasy smile onto his face. "It's Miles."

"Like miles to go before I sleep?"

"Like Miles Standish."

"Your last name is Standish?"

"I won't tell my last name. Then you could find me." He jerked a glance over his shoulder, a strange gesture for such a big guy.

"Well, you can find me."

"Only here. At work. Not where you live."

"Okay." She smiled. "I'm Piper."

They didn't shake hands. Standing in front of the counter, he devoured the roll without dropping a crumb.

"So here's what I think, Miles. We should talk to the police chief, let him know it was an accident, and offer to help Tia."

"No. I can't. You didn't see see him." him."

She had the other night when he'd upset Tia. He looked hard and edgy. Maybe the chief did have a dark side. What did she really know? "Well, think about it, okay?"

When he'd gone, she took the broom and finished sweeping, straightened the chairs around the tables, and then placed the call.

The chief strode in a half-hour later. "You have information for me?"

"His name is Miles. He didn't mean to cause trouble, and he's afraid of you."

"Of me?"

She nodded.

"He's never even seen me. What are you-"

"He saw you leaving Tia's shop, and you looked mad."

Jonah planted his hands on his waist. "Saw me from where?"

"I don't know. I found him in the pantry."

"What?" The edge was back.

"He was scared."

"Help me understand. He tore up Tia's shop, then hid over here?"

"He didn't mean to do that."

"He injured her."

"What?" She searched his face. "Tia's hurt?"

"More than she's admitting."

Miles hadn't said a word about hurting Tia, not a word. How could he not say anything? "I need to see her." She locked the register and scooted out around the counter.

"Piper." His voice was low and even. "I want to talk to him. If he comes back, you let me know."

She'd have to. "Fine." She motioned him out the door and locked it, flipping her sign, then rushed next-door.

Startled by the knock, Tia b.u.mped her elbow on the shelf and rubbed the pain away as she unlocked the door.

"Are you all right?"

"It's just a b.u.mp."

"I mean everything."

Tia slumped. "Yeah well, it's kind of a mess."

"Jonah said you're hurt."

"Jonah should keep his mouth shut."

"He's worried."

"It's none of his business."

"Yeah, that's hard when he's in love with you."

Tia straightened as though jerked up by a rope.

"Come on, Tia. It couldn't be more obvious if his forehead flashed neon."

Tia stepped back and winced again.

"Your leg looks bad."

"It feels worse." She grimaced.

"Did you take something?"

"I found an old Percocet in my purse, but it hasn't kicked in yet. Aren't you open next-door?"

"Only to clean up and close down." She fished a pottery shard from under a shelf and added it to the pile Tia had swept up. "Tia, Miles didn't mean to do this."

"Miles?"

She nodded. "The Lego man. His name is Miles. He didn't mean-"

"I know that. But ..." She spread her hands, encompa.s.sing the scope of it.

"He's scared he'll go to jail."

Tia frowned. "Why would he go to jail?"

"Because the chief of police looked so mad when he walked out of here. I told him you and Jonah get mad every time you see each other, but-"

"No, we don't." Tia leaned on a shelf, taking the weight off her leg.

"You need to put that up. I'll make an ice pack." She returned to the bakery, fashioned Tia a bag of ice wrapped in a towel, then hurried back.

Tia gingerly lowered herself to the stool behind the counter. She bent her knee and positioned the bruise onto the pack. "Thanks. That'll help."

"I'm sorry this happened."

"I'm all right."

"Can I make you some tea?"

"I'd like that."

Piper heated the electric kettle in the back, brewed a cup of strong sweet tea. Wasn't that the remedy for all that ails? "Here you go." She set the cup and saucer next to Tia's leg.

"Thanks."

"Can I do anything else?"

"You should finish up next-door. Just lock up please, when you go out."

"I'll come back when I'm done."

"No need. I'll see you at home."

Tia looked grim, but Piper let it be. She had work to finish, and Tia knew where to find her-if she'd ever ask for help. Piper hated the parasitic tendencies of her clan, but could someone be too self-sufficient?

As the heat of her injury melted the ice pack, Tia leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The shop grew dark, and the tea turned cold, but Piper's insight regarding Jonah weighed on her. If she could see it in so short a time, what must others think? Had she only been fooling herself?

Dark thoughts closed around her, skeletal fingers boring into her skull, evil whispers in her ears. She could name the demons. Self-loathing. Regret. Despair. They had no power she didn't give them. But they clung to her now as memories of Reba flowed one into another.

Her beautiful, sweet sister with strawberry blond hair, their dad's fair skin, and a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Reba didn't hate her freckles. She knew they made her cute, fresh, wholesome. And they had mostly disappeared by adolescence.

Sarge had likened her to Hayley Mills, the young heartthrob of the fifties, Pollyanna bringing sunshine to the world. Then came Tia, favoring her mother's side, with her darker skin and the shape and snap of her eyes. She had none of her mild father, his soft voice and pliant nature. Strong-willed, they'd called her. Tempestuous.

She didn't remember what she'd fought about. It probably hadn't mattered. It was all intangibles, needs that drove impulses and drew reactions. She wished she could say she didn't care. But every slicing criticism had drawn blood that only Reba saw.

Tia closed her eyes. Jonah could have made it right. If he had begged and apologized, Reba would have forgiven him, forgiven them.

Tears came.

She'd spent the years since studying psychology for an explanation-an excuse?-for her behavior. If nothing else, she had to know she would never make such a mistake again. She'd wanted to help others to avoid pitfalls, to understand their fragilities. But even with two college degrees, that desire had come to nothing.

Her leg grew numb. She dropped her head to her chest, letting the fog cloud the memories, then yelped when someone rattled the door. She swung her leg down and peered at the night-filled window. Jonah, hands pressed to the gla.s.s, peered back. She prayed he wouldn't see her in the dim security lights concentrated overhead. No luck.

"Go away."

He knocked. "Come on, Tia."

She braced herself against the counter, itching as blood flowed back to her toes. Her calf howled with pain. Limping to the door she freed the lock. "What?"

"Piper called. She's frantic. She tried your cell and both doors."