Elizabeth August - Marrying O'malley

Chapter Two

Sarita looked at the clock. It was nearly three. The normal hours for the diner were from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Constantly reminding people that he was semiretired, Jules reserved the rest of the day to work on recipes for the cookbook he was creating or pursuing his second passion...golf. Normally the last of their customers cleared out by two-thirty. Today the place was still half-full. And Jules wasn’t helping to ease the customers out, either. He’d closed down the kitchen and come out front, but instead of subtly mentioning that the afternoon was getting late, he was pouring coffee and entering into the various conversations about Wolf’s return from the grave.

The general consensus was that Katherine would be furious and she was a dangerous woman when riled.

“But Wolf O’Malley can be just as dangerous. Even more so,” Vivian Kale said, loud enough for all to hear.

Several others nodded knowingly.

Sarita knew what they were thinking. Her sense of fairness refused to let her remain silent. “There was never any proof those rumors were true.”

“What rumors?” Jules demanded.

“Some people think he pushed Katherine down the stairs when he was fifteen. Broke her arm,” one of the men said.

“The story she told was that she fell on her own,” Sarita reminded them all.

“Yeah, but her telling that tale never rang true to my ears. Could be she said it to keep peace in the family and the police out of it,” Vivian argued. “And, as I recall, Frank shipped Wolf off to that military academy right afterward.”

“Because his highfalutin stepmom had been trying to get rid of Wolf all along. Wouldn’t put it past her to have faked that fall down the stairs.” Charlie entered the fray. He didn’t usually come back for lunch, but Sarita had noted that several who only came for breakfast had come a second time today. And she was grateful Charlie was there. It was only right that Wolf should have at least one customer who would stick up for him.

“Her broken arm was no fake,” Vivian retorted.

“Could be she didn’t plan on breaking it,” Charlie rebutted.

“You’ve never liked Katherine O‘Malley,” Vivian fumed. "You’d take Wolf’s side if you’d seen him doing the deed."

Charlie glared at her. “Wouldn’t lie for no man nor woman.”

“Now, now. Keep your tempers under control,” Jules soothed.

One of the men laughed. “This ain’t nothing compared to what’s probably going on at the O’Malley place right now.”

The rest nodded, almost in unison.

“My money’s on Katherine,” another customer called out from a side table.

“You weren’t around when Wolf came back to town after college,” another spoke up. “Never seen a man so cold or in control.”

“Looks like six years away hasn’t changed him, either,” Vivian said. “When I passed him on the street a little bit ago, he gave me an icy stare that sent chills down my spine.”

Vivian, Sarita noted, was really getting on her nerves. “He’s probably had people staring at him all day. He was just returning tit for tat.”

Vivian snorted. “I don’t know why you’re so intent on defending him. I don’t recall the two of you being such good friends.”

Sarita was surprised herself by the intensity of her desire to defend Wolf. It was very close to a need. “We weren’t, but I don’t think it’s right to sit here and condemn him with unsubstantiated gossip.”

“Bradford Dillion obviously likes him,” Jules pointed out. “I’ve always thought he was a good judge of character.”

“Bradford Dillion was a friend of Wolf’s mother and her family. I don’t think he ever approved of Frank’s marriage to Katherine,” Vivian said.

Sarita found herself fighting the urge to shove a pie into the woman’s face. Shocked that she would consider going to such lengths on Wolf’s behalf, she reminded herself that Vivian had always gotten on her nerves.

“And the fact that Katherine has made it clear she intends to petition the court to have Dillion removed as executor of Frank’s estate and Greg Pike put in his place might have something to do with Dillion’s joy at seeing Wolf. Wolf will fight her tooth and nail to see that his father’s wishes are followed to the letter, especially any that go against hers,” one of the men from the back offered.

“If I were Katherine O’Malley, I’d hire a bodyguard.” Vivian gave her head a violent nod to add emphasis to her words.

Sarita’s patience came within a hair of snapping. “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.” When only Charlie added a grunt of support, it did snap. She glared at the assembly. “Don’t you all have something better to do with your afternoon than sit around and rehash old gossip?”

Jules looked at her worriedly, then a look of apology spread over his face as his gaze swept his customers. “It is past three.”

In a mild flurry of activity, the patrons paid and left.

When he, Gladys and Sarita were alone, Sarita braced herself to be fired. Instead Jules studied her with interest. “I’ve never seen you lose your temper. Is Wolf O’Malley an old flame that hasn’t quite died?”

“I didn’t know you even knew him,” Gladys muttered, also studying Sarita. “The two of you didn’t act like old friends when he was in here this morning.”

“When he was still going to school here, we were in the same class. And, you’re right, we weren’t friends. But I felt someone should stick up for him. It was like a lynch mob in here.” Not wanting to answer any more questions, she looked to Jules and said stiffly, “Now are you going to fire me or shall we get this place cleaned up so we can go home?”

“It’s been a long day. Let’s clean up this place,” he replied.

Both Gladys and Jules allowed her to do her work in peace, but she could feel them covertly looking her way every once in a while and was glad when she was finally on her way home.

The old rambling adobe ranch house she shared with her grandfather was a couple of miles out of town. In bad weather she drove. In good weather she preferred to walk. As she neared the end of the long, dirt driveway, she could see Luis Lopez seated, as usual, in his cane chair on the front porch, whittling. The chair was balanced on the two back legs, and his feet were propped up on the porch railing.

“Abuelo, did you hear the news?” she asked, mounting the porch, then leaning against one of the pillars holding up the roof.

He grinned, causing the deep weather-induced wrinkles of his permanently tanned skin to become even more pronounced. “If you’re talking about Wolf O’Malley returning, I did. I was weeding Mrs. Yager’s flower garden when the young Ballori woman came by to tell her. Seems his reappearance has caused quite a stir.”

Sarita nodded. “This turn of events should stop Greg Pike from pestering us about purchasing this land.”

“You’d think so.” Luis’s grin disappeared. “But it hasn’t. When I came home for lunch, he was on our doorstep with an even bigger offer. He says that since we have the spring on our property, Katherine can still build her spa.”

“Once she gets a notion, she’s like a dog with a bone,” Sarita muttered.

“I’ve been thinking that maybe I should sell.”

Shock registered on Sarita’s face. “You can’t be serious. You love this land.”

“I’m an old man. I’m satisfied with my life. But you...you could take the money to travel, to see the world.”

Sarita saw the worry in his eyes and guessed what was really on his mind. “I like it here. This land is as much a part of me as it is of you. It’s where I belong. And if I want to see the world, I’ve got enough saved up to take a trip.”