Chapter 13
MICHELLE
M ichelle attacked the second batch of pancake batter like it had personally insulted her. She had to be the only person in history to feel this dreadful the morning after the best kiss of her life.
Closing her eyes for a second, she tried to bring back those magical few minutes. The feeling of Danny’s lips on hers had taken her breath away, her toes had curled in delight at the touch of his hands on her waist… on her face… in her hair.
Nope… it was no good. All she could focus on right now was the leaden blanket of dread draped around her shoulders. The feud. Even after all these years, it was still standing between her and real happiness.
It wasn’t just her own happiness she was talking about, either, was it? Keith might have been joking last night, but he was right. Until this issue with her dad was resolved once and for all, Michelle could forget about going into business with the Daltons.
The idea of giving up on her dream again was enough to break her heart.
Sure, the old showroom might look like a boarded-up, unloved heap at the moment, but the minute Michelle had first set eyes on it, she’d felt like she’d been gifted a glimpse of the future.
A snippet of light and colour filled with chattering customers, the sound of a jukebox, and the delicious scent of freshly cooked breakfast wafting in the air.
But… if she couldn’t get to the bottom of things and figure out a way to reconcile her dad and Mr Dalton, she’d have to kiss the whole thing goodbye.
‘Damn, the bacon!’ she muttered, bending low to check the grill. Sure enough, it needed turning over.
Abandoning her whisk, Michelle pulled the grill pan out from the heat, rested it carefully on the counter, and started to flip the sizzling rashers of streaky.
She’d had woken up that morning with a clear plan in mind. She’d cook her dad’s favourite dish from the diner menu to soften him up a bit… and then ask him about what had happened between him and Keith. Outright. No nonsense.
‘Urgh!’ she muttered as a shiver of dread ran down her back.
It had seemed like such a great plan to start with!
Her dad had certainly been enthusiastic about the bacon pancakes…
but then things had started to go sideways.
Michelle had just been about to dish up when Brian received a call for a quick, local taxi pickup.
He’d dashed off, promising to be back in less than a quarter of an hour.
‘And that was… twenty-three minutes ago and counting,’ said Michelle, checking her watch before popping the bacon back under the grill to finish it off.
The first pile of bacon and pancakes was sitting on the kitchen table under a piece of silver foil. If her dad didn’t come back soon, this second batch would be cold before he got to it, too.
The sound of the front door slamming brought a smile to Michelle’s face, even as her nerves ramped up a notch. She straightened up, ready to greet her dad… only to do a double take when her mum appeared instead.
‘That smells good!’ she said, carefully placing a Crumbleton Bakery box onto the kitchen table before stripping off her coat. ‘Doing some menu testing?’
‘Yes… and no,’ said Michelle. ‘Kind of?’
‘Okay, I’m intrigued,’ her mum laughed, sliding into one of the wooden chairs.
‘Well… yes, it is a dish from the diner menu,’ said Michelle. ‘But I’m not doing it to test the recipe. If I’m honest, I was hoping it might help soften Dad up a bit.’
‘What on earth for?!’ said her mum.
Michelle frowned. Was it her imagination, or was there something slightly off about her mum’s voice?! She raised an eyebrow, but her mum just smiled at her blandly.
‘Where is Brian, anyway?’
‘He got called out,’ said Michelle. ‘It was only a local fare. He should be back any second.’
‘And the softening him up bit?’ prodded her mum. ‘What’s that about?’
Michelle paused, wondering how much she should say. What if her mum tried to talk her out of the whole thing? Well… it was too late for that. She was determined to get to the bottom of things.
‘Well,’ said Michelle, ‘I’d really like to find out what started the whole thing between Dad and Keith Dalton.’
‘Oh,’ said her mum.
Michelle stared at her. That hadn’t been the reaction she’d been expecting. At all. There was no shock… no surprise whatsoever. Plus, her mum was now avoiding her eye like it was an Olympic sport.
‘Why now?’ said her mum, fiddling with the bakery box and still not meeting her eye.
‘Keith Dalton’s just out of hospital,’ said Michelle. ‘Apparently,’ she added quickly. ‘I just thought?—’
Her words were cut short by the sound of the front door crashing open. They both jumped, and Michelle could swear her mum gave a sheepish little wince as she turned towards the door.
‘Trish? Shelly?’
Brian was back. He thundered into the kitchen looking like a grumpy cloud.
‘Dad?!’ said Michelle. ‘What’s happened?!’
‘We need to call the police is what’s happened!’ chuntered Brian, his face red as he made a dash for the old-fashioned handset on the wall.
Trish got there first, though, blocking Brian’s path and laying her hand on his chest. ‘Is someone in immediate danger?’
‘I… no,’ said Brian.
‘Then tell us what’s happened first,’ she said gently.
‘Your bike. It’s been stolen!’ said Brian, still looking like a bear on a rampage. ‘And I know who did it.’
‘Dad… what…?’ said Michelle. Uh oh!
‘Danny Dalton,’ hissed her dad. ‘That’s what! I’ve always said he was a good-for-nothing. I saw him pulling it out of the back of his tow truck. He left it chained up in the town carpark. He’s obviously stealing to order. Made a dodgy deal and left it there for someone to pick it up, no doubt!’
‘I don’t think—’ started Michelle, not really sure how she was going to finish the sentence.
‘That’s not all!’ said her dad, cutting across her and saving her the bother. ‘There’s this beautiful car parked there at the moment. One of those vintage American things. It’s been there for a few days now… and I swear I saw that boy eyeing it up.’
Michelle caught her mum’s slight eyeroll. ‘I’m sure he was just admiring it, dear.’
‘I wouldn’t put anything past the Daltons!’ said Brian, trying to reach around his wife for the phone again. ‘Either way, he’s stolen your bike, Trish. I checked. It’s gone from the garden. I need to call the police.’
‘No,’ said Trish, her voice firm.
Brian stared at her. ‘But… why?’
Michelle cocked her head, curious to hear the answer. She was grateful that her mum was randomly sticking up for Danny… she just couldn’t work out why.
‘Because… our Michelle needs you right now,’ said Trish, shooting her a look.
‘She does?’ said Brian.
‘Don’t you, dear?’ She added with heavy emphasis.
‘Yes?’ Michelle cleared her throat, doing her best to play along. ‘I do.’
She really hoped her mum was going to chime in and tell her why she needed her dad’s help… because right now, she had no idea what was going on.
‘Your daughter was busy making you a delicious meal, and you disappeared off to work,’ said Trish. ‘So the least you can do is go with her now.’
‘Go with her?’
‘Go with me?’ echoed Michelle, turning off the grill. She’d worry about the state of the bacon in a minute.
‘She’s found a possible venue for the diner,’ said Trish.
‘Well… that’s wonderful,’ said her dad, momentarily distracted. But?—’
‘No buts, Brian. She wants to show it to you. To see what you think.’
It was Michelle’s turn to look poleaxed. ‘I… do?’
‘Yes,’ said Trish, widening her eyes. ‘You do!’
‘But Trish… your bike?’ said Brian.
‘I will deal with the bike,’ tutted Trish. ‘You will go with Michelle.’
‘I… well….’ Brian looked like someone had stuck a pin in him as all the bluster started to disappear. ‘You’ve really found somewhere for the diner?’ he said, turning to Michelle.
She nodded, forcing a smile and shooting another look at her mum. For one thing, how did she even know about the old showroom? And for another… did she have any idea that she’d just rescued her from the frying pan only to dump her straight into the fire?!
‘There’s no time to waste with these things, is there?’ said Trish. ‘It would be a shame for Shelly to miss out on the venue of her dreams.’
‘You’re right, Trish,’ said Brian. ‘I’ll bring the cab round and we can head straight off if you’d like?’
‘No need for the cab,’ said Trish, sitting down again and removing the tinfoil from the first stack of pancakes. She picked up the maple syrup and serenely poured a stream of the stuff all over the plate. ‘Michelle’s going to drive.’
‘I am?’ said Michelle, suddenly wishing her mum wasn’t on her side.
‘You are,’ said Trish through a mouthful of bacon and pancakes. ‘You know… these really are good.’
‘My car’s in the town carpark,’ said Michelle.
‘Perfect,’ said Trish. ‘You walk over and get it, then drive back to pick your dad up. It’ll give him the chance to calm down a bit. You can call the owner of the building while you’re at it to let him know you’re on your way.’
The way her mum’s eyes widened again told Michelle everything she needed to know. Somehow, she knew about the showroom and about the Buick. Michelle had a sneaking suspicion she might even know about her and Danny, too.
‘Come on, Brian love, grab a fork,’ said Trish. ‘You’ve got plenty of time to help me with these pancakes before Michelle gets back.’
The minute she was safely away from the cottage, Michelle pulled up Danny’s number and called him. She needed to warn him that she was about to bring the human thundercloud that was Brian Singer right to his door.
Michelle felt awful. Sure, she’d wanted to get to the bottom of the feud…
but not like this. Not when Keith was freshly out of hospital.
What if it was all too much for him? Maybe there was a way she could stall…
? Perhaps she should just drive her dad somewhere random instead of taking him to the Dalton Garage.
That wouldn’t explain the Buick, though, would it? She’d just have to lie. That would be better than risking making Keith ill again.
‘Hey!’ said Danny, picking up on the second ring. ‘I was just about to call you.’
‘Really?’ said Michelle, her voice high and squeaky. ‘Everything okay?’
‘Yeah… hey, why do you sound like you’ve got wolves after you?’
‘Because my morning’s gone sideways,’ she said. ‘Mum just landed me right in it… I’m not sure how, but she knows.’
‘Knows?’ said Danny.
‘About the showroom… about the Buick… maybe even about us,’ said Michelle, her mind racing. ‘Dad spotted you with the bike when you were dropping it off. He came in ranting and wanting to call the police, but Mum distracted him.’
‘Remind me to thank her,’ said Danny with a little laugh.
‘Why are you so calm right now?!’ demanded Michelle. ‘I’m on my way to grab the Buick to bring Dad over to view the old showroom!’
‘Brian agreed? Just like that?’ said Danny, ignoring her question
‘Only because he doesn’t have a clue we’re coming to your place,’ said Michelle. ‘What am I going to do?’
‘Just… bring him over,’ said Danny. ‘We’ll take it from there.’
‘But what about Keith?!?’
‘Look, this is why I was about to call you,’ said Danny. ‘We’ve worked it out. We know what’s been up with Brian all these years.’
‘You do?’ said Michelle, coming to a surprised standstill. ‘Tell me!’
‘Well, it was your clue about it having something to do with a car that did it. Dad worked out the rest.’ Danny paused. ‘He… erm… phoned a friend, and it all fell into place.’
‘And?’ said Michelle.
‘And… I think it’s a story best told face to face,’ said Danny. ‘I was about to beg you to bring Brian over anyway. Dad wants to talk to him, so this is perfect.’
‘Are you sure Keith’s well enough for all this?’ said Michelle. ‘Dad’s hopping mad. If I’m honest, I’m not sure how he’ll behave.’
‘Do you trust me?’ said Danny.
‘I… yes!’ said Michelle in surprise. This was Danny—someone she’d kind of known forever, and just a couple of days at the same time. But he’d never let her down, and she had a feeling he never would. ‘Of course I trust you.’
‘Perfect,’ said Danny. ‘Hold on to that fact, and get your dad over here as soon as you can. All will be revealed, I promise. See you in a bit.’
Before Michelle could beg for a hint, Danny hung up.
‘Well… this is going to be interesting!’ she muttered, pocketing her phone and sucking in a deep breath.
It was all well and good for Danny. All he had to do was wait around for them to turn up. She, however, had a serious amount of explaining to do before she got her dad anywhere near the Dalton Garage.
‘Like why you’re driving a vintage Buick instead of your usual heap of rust!’ she muttered.