The Bitterest Pill

Ten

Daisy’s was busy. That was kind of like saying the sky was blue. Paradise was a great town, but it wasn’t blessed with myriad restaurant choices. The Gray Gull was okay, but the food was never more than passable. The food at the Lobster Claw was better, though still not Michelin-star material. Both the Gull and the Claw owed the majority of their business to well-run bars, their waterside locations, and a lack of serious competition. There were a few pubs in town, mostly in the Swap, where you could get a good burger, but if you wanted a good breakfast and a great lunch special, you had to go to Daisy’s.

Since Cole had arrived in town and gotten a job at Daisy’s, the frequency of Jesse’s visits had increased from once or twice a week to three or four times a week. He sometimes still couldn’t believe he had a son, and he so badly wanted it to work out between them that he had made a lot of missteps. Nothing he did worked. He paid either too much attention or not enough. Like he’d explained to Molly, he thought they’d turned a corner when they finally spoke about how Jesse had been involved with Cole’s mother, but that understanding had seemed to evaporate. Some progress had been made, just not enough. The thing of it was, Cole’s existence shook Jesse’s famous self-containment to its core, even more so than marrying Jenn or being with Diana ever had.

Daisy smirked at Jesse. She’d noticed his seemingly unquenchable hunger for her food.

“You keep showing up here like this, Jesse Stone, and people will say we’re in love,” she said, pouring him some coffee.

He smiled. “Would that be so bad?”

“I’m not your type. Besides, they’ll take my lesbian membership card away.”

“We can’t have that. Let the kid wait on me.”

She raised her eyebrow at that. “I would, but he’s not here. Took today off. Didn’t he tell you?”

“Tell me? Tell me what?”

Daisy cleared her throat, made some fidgety movements, and excused herself. “I’ll be back in a minute to get your order.”

That’s odd, Jesse thought. Daisy was one of the toughest, most forthright, and least tactful people he’d ever known. It wasn’t like her to be so uncomfortable around him or to dance around a subject, any subject. He shrugged. He was hungry and already had enough on his mind, if not on his lunch plate.

Studying the menu, Jesse became aware of someone standing near his booth, and he began to recite his order. “I’ll have a Cobb salad, no bleu cheese.” He held the menu up.

But when the menu wasn’t snatched out of his hand, he raised his head and saw it wasn’t Daisy standing there. It was Maryglenn McCombs. He handed her his menu.

“Twice in one day,” she said. “May I sit?”

He smiled again, a different smile than the one he’d flashed at Daisy. “Might as well. You’ve already got a menu.”

She sat across from him. “I suppose I can buy you that meal now.”

“I love this place, but you’ll have to do better than a Cobb salad at Daisy’s.”

She smiled. It was a shy, crooked smile. “I don’t eat here very often. What’s good?”

“Everything.”

Maryglenn looked around her, worried she might be overheard. “Daisy, the owner, she’s kind of intense.”

“She sure can be. That’s one way to put it.”

“Last week when I came in, there was a good-looking young waiter here. Handsome, but sullen.”

Jesse laughed. “My son, Cole.”

“You have a son? But I thought—”

“I’m not married and I didn’t know about Cole until a few months ago. Long story.”

“Maybe you’ll tell it to me over that dinner.”

“And what’s your story?”

Maryglenn’s demeanor changed, the shy smile disappearing from her face as if a mask had been yanked off it. What was beneath the mask was unreadable to Jesse.

“I’m sorry,” Jesse said. “Did I say something wrong?”

She deflected. “No, no. I’m just really hungry. Let’s order.” She looked at her cell phone. “I’ve got to get back to school.”

Daisy came to get Jesse’s order and twisted up her face at the sight of Maryglenn sitting across from him. Her expression was equally unreadable.

Maryglenn seemed not to notice, keeping her eyes on the menu. “I’ll have the yogurt-and-granola fruit plate. And I’ll have a Diet Coke with lemon.” She handed the menu to Jesse.

“I’ll have the Cobb salad, no bleu cheese, and coffee.”

He gave the menu to Daisy and waited for her to give him grief about something or other, but all she did was walk away.

“I don’t know what’s up with her,” Jesse said.

Maryglenn ignored that. “Any progress on Heather?”

“I can’t really talk about current investigations. Sorry.”

“I understand.”

Jesse leaned forward. “If you had a kid in class you thought was in some kind of trouble, what would you do?”

She thought about it before answering. “Depends. I think I would probably speak to the student first. I’d ask what was going on, if there was something they wanted to talk about. We owe the kids at least that much. Then I might speak to the parents. But if it was something I thought was serious, I would definitely be obliged to tell Principal Wester and maybe Jane Phelan, the school psychologist.”

“Thanks.”

“Still not going to share?”

“Not yet.”

She smiled. “‘Yet.’ You mean there’s hope.”

He smiled back but didn’t say anything.