22. Mike
MIKE
T he Carpe Diem Café is busy when we get there, so I’m glad I called ahead.
Sierra shows us to that table in the front corner, that one with a lot of elbow room, and I’m glad of the extra space.
Carson and Bryan are big guys, as tall as me.
They’re not delicate little flowers who can perch on a barstool while they eat a substantial meal.
After a good game like the one we had today, we’re all famished.
Carson is sniffing the air with obvious anticipation and Bryan is looking around as he takes off his coat.
They want to know when the café opened – i.e.
, how long they’ve been missing out – and I tell them a bit about it as we get settled.
Bryan claims one seat against the wall of windows, the one that gives him a better vantage of the street, the door and the restaurant as a whole.
Bryan always needs to see all the women.
I sit beside him and Carson, who will be all about food so long as he’s here, sits opposite Bryan.
I’m not sure how I’ll decide what to try tonight, then Sierra slides into the empty seat across from me .
“Mike,” she says in an undertone, her gaze boring into mine. “We have a problem.”
My daughter. My heart squeezes so tightly that I can’t even breathe.
“Kitchen ran out of food,” Carson suggests.
“No more beer,” Bryan offers and they grin at each other.
Sierra gives them a hostile glance, which doesn’t visibly trouble either of them. “This is a private conversation,” she informs them, frost dripping from her tone.
“No, it isn’t,” Carson argues. “Not since you started it right beside me.”
Sierra loses the stare-down and I fight my smile.
“Are these your friends?” she demands of me.
“Yes.” I keep it simple. “Carson and Bryan. This is Sierra.”
Carson offers his hand but Sierra doesn’t take it.
I clear my throat. “Small town lesson number one. You never know when you’ll see someone again, so be nice.”
Sierra’s eyes narrow. “Hi,” she says to my friends. Then she gives me a look as if to ask whether I’m satisfied.
“You might see more of them in the fall,” I tell her. “They both teach at Havelock Central High.”
“I only care if one of you teaches math.”
Carson raises a finger. “That would be me. You like math?”
“I tutor math. I love math.”
“Good. Always looking for tutors for my classes. It’s better if they’re girls.”
“Why?”
“Because a lot of girls think that math isn’t for them.”
“Math is for everyone,” Sierra informs him and his grin widens.
“Exactly. They need their expectations challenged. I’ll be counting on you to help, Sierra.” He offers a fist and she hesitates only a moment before bumping it. Carson grins.
She smiles back, as he is apparently forgiven.
I notice that she’s already hiding her mouth with her hand when she smiles, a sign that she’s becoming self-conscious about that snaggle tooth.
Abbie used to do that, when she wanted her teeth fixed and Dad refused.
It was Candace who argued in her favour and won, insisting that teenage girls need every bit of confidence they can get.
Orthodontics need to go to the top of the list.
Carson lifts his menu. “So, I’m going to talk to Bryan here – History and Geography, by the way – while you have your private conversation with Mike.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Carson turns and does just that, asking Bryan about Yves’ technique in scoring his second goal. She listens to him consider the angle of the shot and I know he’s going to work in the square of the hypotenuse somehow. He usually does.
“Problem?” I remind her and she turns back to me, but not after a quick glance toward Sylvia.
“We went last Saturday to that place and those trailers rock.”
I’m pleased but just nod. “Thus far not a problem.”
“But Mom has concerns .” She says this word as if it has quotes around it.
I’ll guess it was Sylvia’s choice of word.
“She thinks they’re too expensive – not overall, but for us.
She was supposed to apply for a mortgage this week but she hasn’t done it.
She said she didn’t have time, but she’s nervous. I can tell.”
“Why would she be nervous?”
“Mom hates banks. She says they like saying no to women.”
I think that a bank might not be too keen to offer a mortgage to someone working part-time in a restaurant. Bankers like people with full-time jobs, ones with pensions and benefits.
I’m starting to understand the income disparity between myself and Sylvia a little better.
Sierra sighs. “Merrie then says a lot of stuff about patriarchy and we still have one bathroom .” She holds up a finger. “One, Mike. One .”
I nod sympathetically so she continues. “Lynn said it’ll be okay to put the trailer at Una’s place, but Mom wants to be sure.
She doesn’t know how she’ll move one to Una’s either, even though Mindy said she’d deliver it.
” She raises her hands. “It’s like she doesn’t want to move out of Una’s place ever . ”
She waits a beat then fixes me with a look. “I will die , Mike, if we don’t have another bathroom.”
“Right. I remember that the situation was dire.” I feel the guys trying not to laugh.
“It’s not funny.” She leans closer, looking as fierce as only she can. “You have to fix it.”
“Why me?” Too late I realize the reason she might give and almost hold my breath.
“Because you fix stuff,” she says with heat. “It’s what you do. It might even be your best trick.”
“She’s got it in one,” Carson murmurs.
“I always hit up Mike when I have a problem,” Bryan agrees, both of them ignoring the dark look I give them.
“See?” Sierra leans closer. “You had the idea. Now you have to help to make it happen.”
“I’m not doing anything without your mom knowing about it first.”
This earns me a herculean sigh and a death stare. I shrug. She spares a glance for Sylvia, then pulls out her phone. “You at least have to let me send you the pictures,” she says and I realize I haven’t given my number to her yet.
“You will not make me regret this,” I say and she grins, clearly confident that she’s won.
I beckon and she gives me her phone. I add myself to her address book and hand it back.
She spins out of the chair, phone in hand, to hurry back to the kitchen.
Within seconds, my phone is chiming. Seventeen pictures, it warns.
I sigh and agree, then it downloads them.
Of course, they’re huge. There are twenty-three more after that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are even more.
I look up to find Carson watching me. “New friend?” he asks, raising a brow.
“Something like that,” I say, still feeling my way through this minefield. I don’t know how much Sylvia expects me to tell people, so until I have an all-clear, I’ll be circumspect. “I went to high school with her mom.”
“And now she’s back?” Carson turns to look after Sierra. Sylvia is giving her instructions, probably telling her to put her phone away and do her job.
“Mother and daughter,” I say and Bryan gives a low whistle.
“Very nice. She with you?” he asks and I must be visibly startled because he grins. “Just checking if she’s off-limits.”
I shrug as if I’m not annoyed by the idea of Bryan hitting on Sylvia. “Sylvia makes her own choices. Sierra and I are finding common ground.”
“How so?” Carson asks.
“She wants to grow herbs for the kitchen here, start up a business of her own. We’re going to be putting a greenhouse on the roof.”
“And you can share your insider wisdom,” Carson nods approval. “That’s great. You’re a natural teacher, Mike.”
Sylvia arrives then and tells us about a special that isn’t on the menu – roast boar with kim chee – plus gives us the news that the lentils are sold out. Bryan turns on the charm and I appreciate that she is polite but sufficiently disinterested that even Bryan might get it.
I decide to live dangerously and choose the boar, earning myself a little smile of approval from Sylvia. How pathetic is that that one look will keep me warm all night?
It’s a couple of hours later when I excuse myself to go to the washroom. My real plan is to pay the bill before Sylvia brings it to the table. The way I figure it, the guys have driven from Havelock for dinner here at my suggestion. Least I can do is make it my treat.
The café is getting quiet and has become darker.
It’s more intimate now, and feels almost private.
There’s a tall kid loading the dishwasher in the kitchen, under instructions from Merrie who has firm ideas about the placement of plates and bowls.
Sierra has vanished, likely having gone back to Una’s after the big rush of dinner service.
Sylvia brings me the machine for my credit card, lingering while I add the tip and put through the transaction.
“So, they know Sierra is my daughter,” she says, her gaze cool when I look up.
“I didn’t realize it was a secret.”
“Do they know she’s yours?”
I shake my head. “I wanted to tell them, but I don’t know what you want me to say and what you want to keep private. Until you give me the all-clear, that’s still private.”
“Thanks, Mike.” She frowns across the restaurant as she gives me my receipt. She does seem to be agitated, just as Sierra said.
“What’s wrong, Sylvia?”
“Nothing that’s your fault.” She winces. “There are guys who think a single woman with a child is an easy score.”
I shake my head. “Bryan thinks all women are easy scores. Actually, I think he believes he’s irresistible. ”
Sylvia smiles a little. “He’s very easy to resist.”
I have to like the sound of that. Our gazes meet and hers seem to glow a little. I could drown in this woman’s eyes, no doubt about it.
The glow fades. “I’m guessing Sierra wanted something, given how she targeted you as soon as you stepped in the door.”
I smile. “She wants me to fix something.”
“What?”