Best Kept Secrets Page 5

  “She’s bad news. Just keep your distance from her. Okay? Trust me,” Evan would say without any further explanation. But Paulette wasn’t sure she believed that, even if for years she had respected her big brother’s wishes and had not attempted to contact Leila on her own. But after hearing that Leila was going through a painful divorce and Evan had ignored Paulette’s wishes and had kicked Leila out of the wedding, Paulette felt she had to break ranks. Evan was acting like an unreasonable bully. She owed Leila a chance to explain her side of the story.

  Especially after what she did for me way back when.

  Paulette would be forever indebted to Leila. That was reason enough to pay her old friend a visit.

  Chapter 5

  LEILA

  Leila glared down at the scratched laminate top of the restaurant’s table and eyed the tip her customers had left behind.

  “Seventy-five cents? Come on!” she griped under her breath.

  It had been a forty-five-dollar tab. They couldn’t spare four bucks? The family of five had had her jumping like a kangaroo from the kitchen and service station to their table with their requests for more sodas, more napkins, and new forks. Then the mom had complained that she had wanted French fries, not onion rings. The father had said he wanted his burger “medium well” instead of “well done.” Leila had met all their ever-changing demands. A ten percent tip was at least warranted. She thought she had done a good job.

  Despite her outrage, Leila dropped the change into her apron pocket. She was too broke to turn down anything. She sighed dejectedly and began to clear the restaurant table of dishes and glasses. They were shorthanded today so the waitstaff had to do their own table busing.

  Her mother, Diane, had done waitressing jobs like this one most of Leila’s childhood, slaving away for meager tips from rude customers.

  “I work my fingers to the bone so you won’t have to do the same when you get older, honey,” her mother had tiredly confessed to her one evening when Leila was a teenager. “I want better for you.”

  And here I am doing the same damn thing, Leila thought as she continued to clear the table, disappointed in life and herself.

  She should have been more self-reliant. Before she married Brad, she had had dreams of becoming a graphic artist, of maybe owning her own stationery and graphic arts studio. Instead, she had dropped out of school one semester shy of graduation to get married. She had quit her job when Isabel was born and had let Brad become the sole breadwinner of the family. She had put all her trust in him.

  And look where that got me!

  Now she was waitressing at Dean’s Big Burger and working part-time as an office assistant for a local law firm. Together, the jobs made for a decent wage that allowed her to pay everyday bills and her debts, but it was still a struggle to survive, especially now that Leila knew she would soon have the added burden of covering rent on just her salary once the bank foreclosed on Diane’s home. They’d have to find somewhere else to live.

  “Remind me to never have kids,” murmured one of the other waitresses, Hannah, as she walked past Leila, breaking into Leila’s weighty thoughts.

  “Why?” Leila carried her plastic tray of dirty dishes to the restaurant’s kitchen, trailing behind Hannah. “I happen to like mine.”

  “Yeah, because Isabel’s a cutie pie, but not that pint-sized jerk at table six who pegged me with his ice cream sundae!” the tall blonde exclaimed over her shoulder. She then pointed at the vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup on her uniform, showing Leila the oozing evidence. “I swear he waited until I leaned over before throwing it at me.”

  Despite her earlier melancholy, Leila couldn’t help but laugh at Hannah’s outrage and the oozing ice cream. She handed off her dirty dishes to one of the restaurant’s dishwashers. “I’m sure it was an accident,” she said between giggles.

  “No, it wasn’t! That little demon had it in for me ever since I told him we ran out of crayons for the children’s table mats.”

  Leila laughed again. “Well, at least the lunch rush is ending. No more little demons for another few hours.”

  Hannah nodded. “Thank God for small favors.” She looked down at her chest. “I’m going to try to get some of this off.” She then strode toward the women’s bathroom.

  Watching Hannah walk off in a huff, Leila decided that life could be worse. At least she wasn’t broke and covered in ice cream.

  Leila returned to the front of the house a few seconds later with a wet rag in hand. She leaned over and started to wipe the crumbs and spilled ketchup from the tabletop and then the pleather seat cushions.

  “Leila?”

  At the sound of her name, she looked up to find Paulette Murdoch smiling down at her. The young woman seemed out of place in the low-end burger joint with its bad fluorescent lighting and bubble-gum-encrusted rugs. Paulette looked like the embodiment of youth and wealth with her expensive-looking pink sundress and heels. A Gucci handbag was on her arm. Leila watched as Paulette pushed her purple-tinted sunglasses to the crown of her head.

  “Sorry, I . . . I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” Paulette said quickly. “I just wanted to—”

  “No!” Leila assured. “You’re not interrupting. I’m just cleaning up.” She held up the dirty rag in her hand. “So what brings you here? I didn’t take you for a cheeseburger kind of girl.”

  Paulette shrugged. “I heard that you worked here now and I . . . well, I didn’t get the chance to talk to you at the wedding. Antonio and I got back from our honeymoon a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been so busy settling into our new home, but I finally got a break. I thought I’d stop by to say hi. You know . . . pay you a visit. Talk for a bit.”

  Leila inclined her head. Why had Paulette come all the way to Dean’s Big Burger to talk? Paulette could have just as easily picked up the phone and called her. Her mother’s number was listed.

  “What did you wanna talk about?”

  “Oh, just . . . stuff.”

  Stuff? God, I hope this doesn’t have anything to do with my dust-up with Evan at her wedding, Leila thought. She hadn’t meant for it to be done so publicly and certainly hadn’t meant to shame Paulette.

  Whatever Paulette wanted, she seemed eager to talk about it. Leila had always liked her and was willing to oblige her.

  “Okay, let’s talk then,” Leila said, making Paulette’s smile widen. “Let me tell the floor manager that I’m taking a break. I’ll meet you by the front door.”

  Paulette nodded.

  Minutes later, the two women walked out of the restaurant. It was sunny outside and humid, causing the red polo shirt Leila was wearing to instantly stick to her skin. Leila fanned herself and glanced at Paulette. The young woman didn’t seem at all fazed by the heat. She looked as if she could have just strolled off some sandy beach or yacht with the airy vibe she was giving off. Leila wished she could look that tranquil.

  “How about the little park across the street?” Leila said, pointing to a few wooden benches and a playground on the other side of the sleepy roadway. “We can sit there and talk if you’d like.”

  “That sounds nice,” Paulette murmured, adjusting her purse.

  They settled on a bench near the monkey bars. A few children played on the swing set and slides several feet away.

  Leila waited for Paulette to start the conversation since she was the one who had said she wanted to talk. But Paulette continued to stare at the children in front of them.

  “I hope I have kids one day,” Paulette whispered, her words barely audible above the squeals and laughter surrounding them.

  “I’m sure you will.”

  Paulette suddenly turned to her, looking surprised. “You think so? Really?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  At that, Paulette shrugged. She fell into a quiet reverie again.

  “Paulette, is something wrong?”

  Paulette’s brown eyes shifted toward her. The young woman pursed her lips. A pained expression suddenly crossed her
pretty face. “Well, I’m not sure how to broach the topic with you. It’s a little delicate.”

  “Delicate? Delicate in what way?”

  “Well . . .” She hesitated again.

  “Just say it, Paulette. Please. The suspense is killing me.”

  “Why . . . why did you come to my wedding, Leila?”

  Leila was caught off guard by that question. She struggled to come up with a plausible lie. “I, uh . . . I hadn’t seen you in a while and I heard you were getting married. I watched you grow up. I thought it would be nice to see you walk down the aisle.”

  Paulette eyed her. “So you came to see me, not to talk to Evan?”

  Leila broke Paulette’s gaze. Her eyes drifted to the packed dirt and grass beneath her feet. “Look,” she began, “I know that I—”

  “I mean it’s okay if you did!” Paulette rushed. “It makes sense. You want him to help you, right? With your money issues?”

  Leila raised her eyes. “What money issues?”

  “Well, everyone knows about your divorce, Leila. I know that you’re . . . that you’re broke now.”

  “So that’s why Ev thought I was there? To beg him for money? Is that what he told you?” she asked angrily.

  “Evan didn’t tell me anything! I just assumed—”

  “That I came there begging for cash? Yeah,” Leila said ruefully, “I bet you did. I bet everyone else in town assumed that too. So what else is everyone saying? That Bradley dumped me and left me penniless? That I was in cahoots with his pyramid scheme?”

  “No one’s gossiping about you, Leila,” Paulette insisted though Leila could tell from the look on her face that she wasn’t being honest. “Some of us are really worried about you! We all know you’re struggling. If you need money—”

  “I don’t need money! I came to the wedding to ask Ev for help. My mom’s house is being foreclosed on and Murdoch Bank owns the mortgage. I was . . .” She sighed. Her shoulders slumped. “I was hoping that Ev could say something on her behalf. I wanted him to talk to the bank manager and get them to work something out with mama . . . lower the interest rate . . . maybe, lengthen the terms by a few years.” She threw up her hands. “Hell, I don’t know. I just wanted his help!”

  “And he refused?”

  Leila closed her eyes and nodded. “He wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “Well, maybe I can help.”

  Leila opened her eyes and narrowed them at Paulette. “What do you mean by ‘help’?”

  “I don’t know if I can talk to bank management about your mom’s mortgage, but I can give you money to help get a new place,” Paulette answered, making Leila quickly shake her head. “I’ll give it to you outright. You don’t even have to pay it back!”

  “No,” Leila said firmly. “I’m not going to take money from you, Paulette.”

  She had her pride. There was a reason why she hadn’t declared bankruptcy and why she hadn’t borrowed money from anyone, though some friends had offered. She wanted to prove she could handle this and take care of it herself.

  She had borrowed money once in her life—from Evan—and to this day, she still regretted it. She wasn’t going to do it again.

  “But you have to take the money, Lee! I feel like . . . I feel like I owe you so much.”

  “You don’t owe me anything.”

  “Yes, I do! I’m still grateful for what you did for me. Everyone thinks I’m this spoiled little rich girl who hasn’t had to go through things, but you know differently.”

  Leila fell silent. Her eyes drifted to the grass beneath her feet again.

  “We’ve both made our share of bad choices when it comes to men,” Paulette continued. Her long lashes suddenly began to dampen with tears. “You were there for me . . . and I’ll never forget that, Leila.”

  “I told you it’s what anyone would have done, honey.”

  Paulette wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands. She then opened her handbag and pulled out a few tissues. “No, it wasn’t what anyone would have done. You went above and beyond.”

  Leila remembered. She had been the only one to figure out that sixteen-year-old Paulette was sneaking around with a boy that Paulette’s father never would have approved of. The boy was poor and rough around the edges. He also came with a level of danger and spice that the sheltered Paulette craved.

  Leila had tried to warn her off of him. She had grown up around guys like that in her neighborhood: wannabe thugs with pretty faces who only knew how to get a girl in trouble. Unfortunately, Paulette hadn’t listened. Her walk on the wild side had come with a big price in the end.

  “You went to the clinic with me when he wouldn’t even come,” Paulette whispered. She sniffed and wiped her nose with one of her tissues. “You held my hand in the waiting room and drove me home after the abortion was over. If my father had found out that I had gotten knocked up, Leila, he would have disowned me. He would have kicked me out of the house! I don’t know what I would have done!”

  Leila reached out and placed a hand over Paulette’s. “We all make mistakes. You were young and you needed someone. I’m glad I was there to help.”

  “I’m glad you were there too,” Paulette said as she sniffed again. “You know, I still haven’t told anyone about that. Not even Antonio.”

  “I haven’t told anyone either,” Leila whispered.

  She hadn’t even told Evan. She knew how he idealized his little sister. Besides, when she’d promised Paulette that it was their secret, she’d intended to keep that promise—until the day she died.

  “I’m still so embarrassed, Leila. How could I have been so gullible and so stupid? I’m so ashamed that I—”

  “You have nothing to be ashamed about, honey. Nothing,” she assured firmly, squeezing Paulette’s hand. She watched as Paulette took a shaky breath, then finally nodded. “Look, no matter what happened back then, you don’t owe me anything. You certainly don’t have to repay me for what I did. You don’t have to give me money for it.”

  “But it would be me helping you this time! That’s all. Just tell me how much you need!”

  Leila shook her head.

  “If you and Ev weren’t fighting, he’d give it to you. What’s the difference?”

  “It doesn’t matter because I would never ask him for it. If there’s anyone I don’t want another penny from, it’s Evan Murdoch.”

  She had borrowed money from Evan ten years ago to help Brad, though she had lied and told Evan the money wasn’t for her then fiancé. Leila thought she’d be able to quickly repay Evan because Bradley told her she’d get the investment back within a month or two. She’d get him the money back before Evan figured out she had lied. Needless to say, the money never came. Guilt ridden, she sent Evan a check a year later with an apology for the long delay. She got a terse reply in the mail from him a week later.

  Keep the money. Just don’t ever ask me for another damn dime again, his note had read, with her check also enclosed.

  She should have expected as much from him.

  It was a shame that their relationship had come to this. Watching him from a distance at Paulette’s wedding and reception, she had wondered why she hadn’t fallen in love with him back then. He was attractive and definitely had qualities that most women looked for in a man—intelligence, charm, and wealth. Why hadn’t she seen that back then?

  But that didn’t matter now. Evan was married and he had made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t interested in having a friendship with her. She was done with being rejected by him. She’d rather crawl on broken glass than go to him again for help. She would have to figure this out on her own.

  “Whatever happened between you two?” Paulette asked in bewilderment. “You used to be so close. Now it seems like Ev wants nothing to do with you . . . and you want nothing to do with him.”

  Leila sighed and shifted her gaze to the now-deserted monkey bars. The kids had run off screaming when an ice cream truck drove by. They now stood several feet away on the
curb, all shouting their orders, trying to be heard over the tinkling sound of Pop Goes the Weasel, which played on the truck’s loud speaker.

  “It’s complicated,” Leila finally confessed.

  “Is it because he was in love with you and you weren’t in love with him?”

  Leila’s eyes snapped back to Paulette. “How did you know that?”

  “How did I know that? Leila, I may have seemed like a ditzy teenager, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t blind either! Everyone could see how Ev felt about you!”

  Everyone but me, Leila thought forlornly.

  “Did you do something to him?”

  Leila considered Paulette’s question. She struggled to remember what she had done to make Evan so bitter and angry.

  “I lied to him once. It upset him . . . disappointed him too.”

  Paulette’s frown deepened. “That’s it? One lie?”

  “I honestly don’t know, Paulette. He’s never told me the real reason why. I guess one day he will, and maybe then, we’ll be able to be friends again,” Leila conceded, though she doubted it. “I guess it’s just going to take more time.”

  “Well, even if you guys don’t come around, I hope we can stay in touch, especially now that you’ve moved back to Chesterton. I feel bad for not reaching out to you all these years. I hope we can start over again.”

  Leila wrapped an arm around the younger woman’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “Of course, we can, honey.”

  The two women stood from the park bench and walked back across the street.

  “Here’s my number,” Leila said, scribbling her phone number on her order pad. She ripped off a sheet of paper. “Give me a call and we’ll meet up soon. Maybe we can go to lunch.” She glanced at the smiley face on Dean’s Big Burger’s glass door. “It’ll be a nicer place than this one though . . . and we won’t eat burgers. We’ll have something more sophisticated.”

  Paulette laughed as she took the sheet of paper from Leila and tucked it in her purse. “I’d like that.” She sighed. “Well, I guess I should say good-bye now. I’ll let you get back to work. And I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.”