Page 38 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

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Allie sat on the big plush couch in the living room of the head loan shark she’d met yesterday, eating some of the most delicious ribs she’d ever had. Turned out his name was Henry. It’d taken everything in her to keep from laughing her head off when she’d heard that. But after she’d had her panic attack, he’d been so nice to her, it was the least she could do.

Apparently, her tears had sent him into a state of anxious horror. He’d had no idea how to handle a crying woman, and that had worked in her favor. Although, he had given her a hankie, which she’d thought was adorable. Who even carried hankies these days? Loan sharks, she guessed.

“These ribs are marvelous,” she said, tearing the rest of the meat off one bone and tossing it to Honey. Normally she’d never give him bones like that, but someone had kidnapped them. He may be a dog, but she felt some sympathy for him.

Honey wagged his tail and munched down.

“The casino’s restaurant rivals the best in Vegas,” Henry said, from his spot on the sofa across from her. He was gnawing on his own bone, between his two guards she nicknamed Wide Nose and Blondie. They were also eating, bibbed up and all.

Henry had had Blondie, whose name was Greg, and Wide Nose, or Jason, grab her anything she could need. A paper bag to hyperventilate into, water, a cool cloth for the back of her neck—but by that point she’d been fine and wondering what on earth was happening. Even Honey hadn’t growled at them as they’d fawned over her.

After that, Henry had canceled his day, and the three men had spent it with her. They’d called Tony several times, and even after they’d left him a message letting him know she was with them, he still didn’t answer, and he never called back. She should have said something in the messages so he’d know she really was with them. Next time.

She’d long since figured out that these men had had no intention of hurting Tony. Henry explained that dead men, even maimed men, were impossible if not hard to get money from. They just wanted to talk, maybe push him around a bit and remind him of his debts. Maybe take his BMW.

She remembered the bruise she’d seen on his arm the night he’d shown up late to Mirabelle’s night ride that he’d promised to be on time for. She was sure now both the bruise and his tardiness could be explained by the three men who were currently sitting in front of her chomping on ribs, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. The sad part was that she couldn’t muster up an ounce of sympathy for him.

As far as she was concerned, they could take Tony’s car for all she cared. She’d never liked it, anyway. It’d been a point of contention when he’d purchased it. They’d just gotten engaged and were working out the expense of their wedding. Even then, three months ago, she’d known that they’d have to keep the cost down, and had consoled herself by picturing the ceremony on her family farm out by the river, like how her father and mother had gotten married.

Then he’d shown up with that vehicle she’d assumed he’d purchased with credit cards.

Not long after that, the bank had come and told them they had one month to make a payment larger than what she and Jo would ever be able to pull together or they would foreclose on their home. She and Jo had had no choice but to sell the house.

It’d really bothered her when Tony had tried to comfort her from the seat of his brand new sixty-thousand-dollar vehicle. She’d said nothing. At the time she’d wondered where he’d been able to get the money for that car, she’d known he wasn’t making that kind of money working atSticky and Sweet. And it had hurt her, it’d never occurred to him that that money could’ve helped save her family home.

She was glad he hadn’t helped her with that money now that she knew where it came from. Next time she saw him, he was getting an earful.

Things had been going downhill in their relationship since then. And of late, he’d been distant and weird with her.

But, if she were honest, she’d known the ring he’d gotten her had been more than he could afford and she hadn’t minded that. There was blame to go around—mostly on him, but she was introspective enough to admit she’d kept quiet about a lot of things when she should’ve said something. What kind of person did that make her? It was humbling to wonder.

Henry pushed away his plate and glanced down at his watch. He’d been doing that more and more as yesterday turned into today, and day stretched into night.

She sat down the bone she’d been nibbling on and sighed. “He’s not going to call. I think we both know that.”

“Don’t say that, Miss Allie,” Henry said, with a look of fear in his eyes that made her wonder if he worried she might start sobbing again. “He might not be the best with money, but he’s not an idiot. He’s got to know what kind of treasure he has with a gal like you.”

She smiled. “That’s sweet, but we both know he’s not calling.”

Henry looked at the carpet, while Greg and Jason suddenly became very fascinated with the eggshell white of the walls.

“Has anyone taken this long to call back or respond when a family member has gotten caught in the middle?” She tried to avoid possible trigger words and phrases, like “caught in the crosshairs,” or “kidnapping.” She blamed Tony, not them. They just wanted their money back, like she wanted the last six months of her life back. Looked like Tony was going to disappoint both of them. “You can be honest with me. I’m not going to cry again.”

He looked hesitant.

“I promise.” She crossed her heart. She didn’t have any tears left. She’d cried so much over her dad, her house, and Tony over the last six months that she suddenly felt dried up. And if there were any tears left, she wouldn’t waste them on him. Not anymore. Not after what he’d done. He’d be lucky if he got out of this unscathed, let alone not cried over.

She thought of Jo. Of how calm she’d been, even though her heart had been breaking too. She thought of how she’d held it together so they could do what they needed to do to survive everything. She thought of how she’d lay awake at night with Allie and their mom, comforting them through their tears, and suddenly felt ashamed.

Henry nodded. “I imagine he’s trying to gather the money.”

She straightened her spine. “What’s next, then?”

“If it’s amenable to you, we’ll have you stay one more night,” Henry said.

It was amenable. He’d let her have her own master sweet. It had a bathtub the size of a jacuzzi with jets, and all the cable she could handle. It’d actually been nice. “And then?”

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