Lights Out (5 page)

“Is Christina coming, too?” Piper asked, perking up at the thought of seeing her little sisters. She also liked her dad’s third wife, Christina.

“No, just me and the girls.”

“Well, I’m usually at the shop by 6:30. Tomorrow I’ll be at the new location until noon. What time will you be there?”

“Don’t know, just early. Look, I have to go,” he said and disconnected.

“Sure,” she said into silence, wondering what was up with dear old dad. He usually was cool as a cucumber, but tonight he’d sounded harried and rushed. She’d find out tomorrow. She turned off the light next to her bed and went back to pretending Joe was here next to her, whispering in her ear, moving within her.

* * *

Third week in June

Mac Knight pulled onto the freeway, and looked at the faces of his youngest girls in the rearview mirror. Taylor, the older of the two, baseball cap on her head, looking like a boy, and Kennedy, the opposite in dress from her sister.

He pulled out his cell and hit the number for his wife, their mother, Christina. No answer. It rolled over to voice mail just as it had the other twenty times he tried it. He was past irritated, really living in the anger zone now.

“Christina, I need you to call me,” he said into the phone, his words tight, like stones being thrown against a wall, hard, one stone at a time, each with the full weight of his body behind it, a hard nick of sound.

He disconnected and looked at the girls again. They were both staring back at him.

“Your sister is looking forward to seeing you,” he said, adjusting the tone of his voice, reducing its hardness.

They nodded.

Taylor and Kennedy looked at each other in silent agreement. They’d tread easily around their father today. He was angry again this morning, as he’d been all of yesterday. They’d mostly stayed in their room while he walked, paced, stomped around their home, phone in hand, calling around for their mother, who was nowhere to be found. He’d told them this morning, after breakfast, that they’d be going to visit their sister for a while and they should pack up. So here they sat with their two dogs in their cages wedged between them, suitcases in the trunk.

They were looking forward to seeing their sister, too. They didn’t know her that well, but anything was better than this, they both thought.

* * *

Joe entered Lights Out mid-morning the following Monday, later than normal. He didn’t have any appointments until eleven, and he wanted to talk to Piper without the regular early morning crowd—those who’d derived enjoyment from watching them spar.

His eyes quickly scanned the room and found her at the counter, her back to the door, leaning against it, hair wild, curly, and full, apron tied around her trim waist.

She was talking to the black-haired girl that worked there too, whose eyes found his as he walked toward the counter, offering him a smile.

Piper turned to see who had come in. Judging by the interest in Shannon’s eyes—they’d kind of glazed over mid-sentence—he must be handsome. Shannon didn’t waste her time on the attractiveness-challenged. She turned to find Joe standing before her, smiling, hair framing his face, touching the shoulders of a tight-fitting polo tucked into expensive grey slacks. Grey eyes stared back at her, looking good enough to eat. He smiled and it did things you wouldn’t believe to her insides. He lifted his eyebrow in question and she looked away, that shy part again.

“Having your usual this morning?” she asked when he reached the counter.

“Yes,” he answered. And then he leaned in close, his mouth to her ear. “So,” he whispered, getting right to the heart of the matter.

“I’ll bring over your bagel and we can discuss it in private. Let me get your coffee first,” she said, shutting down any further discussion in front of Shannon.

Piper turned, reached for a ceramic cup, and sat it under the dispenser as Shannon looked on. Shannon followed Joe’s gaze as it moved down to check out Piper’s ass. It was covered in a stretchy black skirt, wide, big belt resting loosely at hips that dipped and swayed as she moved. Piper turned back and his eyes returned to hers. He took his coffee from her hand and handed over cash.

“Keep the change,” he said.

“Thanks.”

He gave her a final smile before turning and walking over to sit at one of the tables near the middle of the shop.

Piper turned to find Shannon’s quizzical eyes on her.

“Can you handle the counter for a second?” Piper asked.

“Yes.”

Piper placed Joe’s warmed bagel on a plate, grabbed a napkin, knife, and cream cheese, and walked around the counter and over to him. He turned as she reached him.

“So, this weekend maybe?” he asked, getting right to the point, again, single-minded in his pursuit.

“When and where?” she asked, her words knocking the wind from his sails. He sat back in his chair, surprised. That was the last thing he’d expected her to say. His blood boiled in anticipation. He loved that she offered no pretense, no games, none whatsoever, knew what she wanted and went for it.

“So Saturday night tentatively….” he started to say, and before he could get her response, someone shouted “Mac!”

Joe and Piper turned, their eyes landing on a tall man who was making his way toward the front door, and in a hurry.

“Hey, Mac,” the man shouted again, waving his arms above his head, in case the volume of his voice hadn’t gotten everyone’s attention the first time. He was overjoyed and apparently excited at seeing the renowned middleweight boxing champion of old, the famous Mac “Lights Out” Knight, enter the shoppe. Joe sat up, equally surprised. What were the chances that he’d get to maybe meet the famed boxer? He was still in fighting form, Joe noted, taking in the two young girls by his side. One looked to be about ten, the other one maybe pre-teen, near his nephew’s age. Both were light-brown skinned with almond-shaped eyes.

The autograph seeker, a tall, beaming Hispanic male, paper and pen in hand, met Mac just as he and the girls cleared the door. Joe watched as Mac said a few words to the gentleman, smiled, shook hands quickly and signed the paper, distracted, before walking over to them. Joe remained seated, shocked and awestruck.

“Renee,” Mac said, coming to stand next to their table. Joe rose from his chair, then held out his hand.

“I’m a big fan,” Joe said, extending his hand for a handshake. Mac stood for a second, his eyes assessing Joe, before accepting Joe’s hand in his.

“Hello,” he replied, looking between Joe and Piper, who was now smiling at her sisters. “Would you excuse us for a moment, young man?” Mac said to Joe and started toward the back of the shop. He hadn’t waited for a response from Joe. Piper rolled her eyes at the astonished expression on Joe’s face. She hated when her dad did that.

She smiled at her sisters again, reached for their hands and turned to Joe. “I’ll see you later,” she said before turning to follow Mac toward the back of the shop, leaving Joe standing there.

He stood for a minute, watching the foursome as they moved off, entering the hall that lead to the office, before he sat down, amazed by what had just transpired.

“Do you need a refill?” The black haired girl appeared at his shoulder, giving him a start. He’d been engrossed in the scene and hadn’t heard her approach.

“Thanks,” he said, extending his cup to her, watching as she poured.

“That’s the great and famous boxer, MacArthur Knight, in case you didn’t know,” she said.

“I grew up watching him fight.”

“Did you know he was Piper’s dad?” she asked.

“Piper?” he replied, mind still processing. “No, I didn’t,” he said, surprised by that, too.

“Yes, Piper, the woman whose ass you were checking out earlier,” she said, finding humor and pleasure at being able to address what she’d considered to be a slight against her earlier, not to mention just plain old rude behavior.

He ignored the comment, processing this new information about Piper.

“She owns this shop and another shop over on Fifty-fifth Street, her first. Ever been to it?”

Joe shook his head. “No,” he said, another surprise in a string of them today, not that it would have made any difference for what he’d wanted from her.

“Her famous father helped her get started, put up the money for her first shop. Wished I had a dad that helped me. Anyway, he used to co-own it with her, but she bought him out earlier this year.”

“Really,” he said, soaking up the information.

“You’re not one of those guys trying to get to him though her, are you?” Shannon looked over him, speculation in her gaze.

“Nope,” he said, more than a little offended. He didn’t have to use anyone to get to anybody. He worked hard for what he accomplished in his life.

“You can never be sure. I didn’t think you were the type, but like I said, you never know,” she said. He didn’t respond. She kept right on talking.

“I’d like to own a place like this one day. Been saving up to, almost done with school, one year remaining,” she said, looking around the place, desire and aspiration in her gaze.

No response from Joe, who was now looking at his BlackBerry. The bell rang, indicating a customer had entered the shop.

“I better get that,” she said.

“Sure, thanks,” he said, pointing to his cup. His hands moved to his backpack, removing his laptop from it. Booting it up, he was lost in thought. Piper was the daughter of the famous Mac Knight and owned not one, but two coffee shops. He was impressed. Nice, sexy, and smart. He looked around the shop once again, now understanding the source of the boxing themed decor, and tried to concentrate on work.

* * *

“What’s up, Dad?” Piper said, following him into her office, smiling as she looked over at her sisters.

“Hey, Kennikens,” Piper said, using the nickname she’d given to her youngest half-sister long ago and bringing Kennedy into her arms for a hug.

“Hi, you, look at how tall you’ve gotten. Come give your big sister a kiss,” Piper said, standing up and reaching to hug Taylor.

“Too big for hugs, Piper,” she said, walking toward her anyway, allowing herself to be pulled into Piper’s arms.

“How about you and Kennedy go out to the front and ask the girl at the counter for something to drink or eat while I talk with your sister,” Mac said.

“The adults want to talk,” Taylor said, walking from the room, Kennedy following behind her. Piper followed them out the door and down the hall and watched as they walked to the counter. She caught Joe watching them, but had no idea what he was thinking.

She turned back to her dad, leading him back to her office. He turned to her as he entered.

“I think Christina has left me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I think Christina has left me. She’d been talking about going home to Vietnam to visit her mother. I knew her mother was sick and I was okay with that, thought she’d take the girls with her, but I woke up yesterday morning and found her gone.

“The note she left me told me that,” he said, agitation creeping into his voice. “I’ve got businesses to run. I can’t take care of two children. What was she thinking?” His anger quickly took the handoff from agitation as he walked back out into the hall, looking back toward the front at the girls, apparently waiting for their drinks. Taylor had a muffin in her hand.

He’d spent yesterday doing his best to take care of them, but he wasn’t cut out for this day-to-day fatherhood. He’d provided a roof over their heads and money to live. That was enough. The daily care was Christina’s responsibility.

“So,” Piper said, not sure how to respond. “Did you guys have a fight?”

“I do not fight, Renee, unless it’s in the ring, and my boxing days are long behind me,” he said, turning his back to her, walking to the end of the hall, and looking out into the main area of the shop. He turned around and walked back, passing her to enter her office again. This walking back and forth was giving her a headache.

“Are you seeing someone else?” she asked.

He gave her a hard look and then turned away. “I think her mother’s illness was just an excuse. She’s been talking about leaving me, but I just didn’t pay much attention to her. She’s been screaming and throwing tantrums. I don’t have time nor patience for that kind of behavior. She is not three,” he said, still looking at her.

No, but she was really young when you married her and she probably didn’t know how much you like women, Piper thought.

“I have obligations, responsibilities in other areas of the country. I can’t take care of kids. You have to help me,” he said, turning to face her. “I was hoping to leave the girls with you.”

“With me,” she said, eyes wide, taking a step backward.

“It’s the only logical solution I could come up with. I don’t have any support in San Antonio now that Christina is gone. I have the apartment here, so it makes sense that they remain here with you.”

Makes sense to whom? she thought, staring back at him, recognizing that he was indeed asking her to take care of his children.