Knight In Black Leather by Gail Dayton (people reading books .txt) 📗

wheelchair to push him into the dining room, but bent down beside him when he beckoned.

"Is it just me," Eli murmured when she got close enough to hear, "or does it seem like Kate is a little hopped up on speed to you too?"

She laughed. "She's always like that. I've had the urge to strangle her at least once a day since we were kids for being so bright and cheery. I think she has a 'speed' metabolism."

"What's so funny?" Mom demanded as she passed.

"Kate," Marilyn said, surprising Eli. "We were just wondering how much coffee it took for her to have energy enough for everything she does."

"Decaf," Kate called from the kitchen. "I'm decaf all the way these days. The regular kind makes me jittery."

Eli wanted to laugh again, but Mom's glare made him decide against it. He didn't want her to stroke out on her birthday, especially not because of him.

He was pleasantly surprised by the meal. Kate and her fancy appetizers had him expecting something like stuffed duck with green squiggly things on top and unpronounceable, unrecognizable junk on the side. But she served plain roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, garlicky green beans and carrots, and little fresh-baked rolls. The salad had some weird-looking leaves in it, but Eli had learned long ago not to turn his nose up at anything reputed to be edible, so he piled up his plate.

"This looks delicious, Kate," he said, handing the rolls off to Joey next to him at the end of the table opposite Mom. "And it smells even better."

"Why, thank you, Eli." Kate's startled pleasure made him wonder if anyone ever complimented her cooking, or if she just hadn't expected him to have any manners at all. He had manners. Just rusty ones.

"So, Marilyn," Norman said, before the gravy had made it all the way around the table, "have you decided on selling your house? We just had to take over the loan on a nice little place out in Monroeville. You could probably get it for the amount of the note."

"No, she's not selling her house," Mom said. "Julie grew up in that house. Of course she's not selling it."

"I might," Marilyn said.

Eli felt her tension and pressed his knee against hers, hidden under the table. She sat on his right, so he wasn't smacking her with his cast.

"I haven't made up my mind what I want to do about the house," she went on. "I just don't know for sure. The minute I decide, I'll let you know."

She put her hand in her lap like she was reaching for her napkin and touched Eli's knee instead. Thanking him for his silent support? Or telling him to back off? He moved his leg.

Sue started in next. "Are you still tutoring at that youth center? You know, if you want to work with teens, there's an opening for a teacher's aide at my high school. You wouldn't have to go down to that neighborhood."

Eli had tried himself to talk Marilyn out of going there, without much luck. Maybe Sue would have more.

"You'd also get paid for it," she added. "That can't hurt."

"I like working down there." Marilyn used the same arguments she'd used on Eli. "The kids need me."

"So do the kids at my school. There are kids all over town who need your kind of attention. Why do you have to go into that part of town?"

"Because I do. I like it."

"But it's so dangerous," Kate said.

"No, it's not," Marilyn retorted. "I'm perfectly--"

"Yes," Eli interrupted. "It is. Kate's right and you know it. It's dangerous down there." Especially now that Flash was causing trouble again.

What if the attack on him had been orchestrated by the Flashman? What if one of those men had seen Marilyn? What if they somehow connected her to him? Why hadn't he thought of this earlier in the week, when Teresa called? He had to convince Marilyn to stop this particular volunteer job, at least temporarily, and he'd use any tool he had to do it. Even the family that hated him.

"If you get into trouble down there again," he said, "I won't be able to help. Not stuck in a wheelchair."

"What? What's this?" Mom looked like she was about to jump out of her chair. "Did something happen, Marilyn?"

"No. Nothing happened." Now Marilyn was glaring at him too.

He didn't care. "It could have. If I hadn't been there."

"What are you talking about?" Mom demanded to know.

"Nothing." Marilyn's eyes were narrowed, her teeth grinding. Eli was in deep trouble here.

And digging himself deeper without a qualm. "Not all the kids in that neighborhood go to the center." He spoke only to Marilyn. "If you have to go down there, at least wait till I get my casts off, till I can go down there with you."

He could feel everyone at the table staring at him, but kept his attention on Marilyn, willing her to agree. Nothing else mattered. If she didn't give in, he'd have to tell her everything. Keeping Marilyn safe was more important than hiding his secrets.

"You're still going to be around then?" she asked. "After you get your casts off?"

That was what he said, wasn't it? He hadn't thought about it before he said it, so he thought about it now. Would he still be around? He'd offered, hadn't he? "Yeah," he said. "I'll be here. You willing to wait?"

Marilyn's mom made some kind of strangled noise. Everyone ignored her. At least Eli and Marilyn both did. He wasn't watching anyone else.

Marilyn took a deep breath and let it out slow. "I'll think about it."

"Good enough." Eli turned back to his meal.

Stunned silence continued around the table another few moments before Kate piped up with a bright comment about somebody away at college. For the rest of the meal, conversation centered around the three sisters' kids, all in college now that Marilyn's girl had started. One of Sue's kids was even in graduate school and married. That topic