Page 2 of Twisted Fate

“Sure, be right there.” Keily paused to clock in as Lisa walked out of the area designated as the office and stared out of the little window in the swinging door. Lisa’s table was the only one with customers so far. Keily had time to get prepped for the evening then. She’d be there until the place closed at 10 pm, and a little later cleaning up, but she had work to do first.

She checked to see how many salads were in the cooler, how many slices of the ‘homemade’ pie they sold but really bought from a mass producer were left, and made a fresh pot of coffee. Their clientele tended to be on the older side and plain coffee was what they wanted. Coffee chains might have the younger generation suckered in but the older one just preferred plain coffee, without sprinkles, whipped cream, or cinnamon.

“Hi, Mark, how are you?”

“I’m good, Keily. Burned myself on the grill earlier, but I’m okay.” Mark held up his thick forearm to show her a wide bandage at the midpoint between his wrist and his elbow.

“You’re more of a klutz than I am.” She laughed good-naturedly and he smiled. He was a fluffy pillow of a man, as tall as he was wide and obviously loved to eat, with black hair and smiling brown eyes.

“My wife tells me that all the time,” Mark answered with a rueful nod. “You’re both right.

Mark was the cook for the evening shift and had been with the place since he was 18 years old. He was 38 now and still there. Lisa, on the other hand, had only started there a couple of years before Keily came along, but they were the same age. Lisa had moved to town with her husband when his father became too disabled to take care of himself. Her job at the diner was a break from her life at home and some much-needed extra income.

Both were nice and much easier to deal with than the owner. “Thad gone for the day?” Keily asked as Lisa walked up to her and Mark. She asked it as nonchalantly as she could but from Lisa’s smile, Keily knew it was obvious she didn’t want to see the guy. He wasn’t her favorite person on good days. She couldn’t handle the thought that he might come back in tonight. He did sometimes, just to keep an eye on them, she knew.

“No, he’s decided to annoy his kids and take them to see that new animated film. The one about the dogs.” Mark rolled his eyes as he spoke.

Thad’s kids were 17 and 18 years old. They didn’t want to be seen in a theater watching a kid’s film, not at that age.

“You know he just wants to see it himself; those kids of his will die if he makes them see it with him.” Lisa chimed in and Keily smiled in agreement.

“Oh, it’s definitely him.” Keily agreed, ready to talk about anything that would keep her mind off of Logan but she had to pick up an order pad and call out a greeting as a group of five came in and headed for one of the booths in her section.

The rest of her evening went by in a rush and before long, Keily was back at the trailer she now called home, staring at a secondhand television she’d bought from a group on Facebook. It was an older television, but she could watch Netflix with the help of an Android box, at least.

A quick shower when she got home, a change of clothes, and she was now on the couch that came with the trailer, covered by one of the blankets she’d bought when she was with Logan. She hadn’t wanted to move into a trailer, she’d have preferred an apartment, but they were out of her price range and she had no credit since everything had either been in Joe’s name or Logan’s. She couldn’t get into a nice, safe apartment even if she wanted to spend the money.

The trailer was tucked between two others and both her neighbors were sweet elderly ladies. The dark blue trailer behind her belonged to Mildred. It was a newer trailer and had better appliances than Keily’s had. Sally lived ahead of her in a white doublewide that was roomy and comfy. Keily’s, in the middle, was light brown, probably a product of the 80s, but enough for her. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and came with a dishwasher. There was no pool or gym, but she was within walking distance of her employer, if it came down to that.

When she’d first realized Logan wasn’t coming back, she sold some of the earrings and a watch he’d given her. That brought in a good chunk of change, it was quality stuff, and she found the best price for it that she could, but she had to be careful. She had three babies on the way and that was going to get expensive fast.

At least Logan had kept her insurance paid up, thankfully. That was a saving grace, her insurance card worked every time she used it, and lately, she’d used it a lot. Keily glanced down at the ultrasound scans on the coffee table where she’d left them. Her babies.

All three of them.

A smile replaced the grim sadness on her face. Life wasn’t so bad, knowing she had them on the way. She’d like to have her sister and parents by her side, but she’d burned those bridges, well, her mom had as far as her parents were concerned. Violet was justified in ignoring Keily’s attempts at reconciliation. Keily had been a selfish bitch when she was living at her sister’s and didn’t blame Violet a bit for walking away.

If only Logan hadn’t walked away too.

Keily looked around her living room with its brown carpet and brown wallpapered walls. It was like a brown coffin. Keily thought bringing some of her stuff from the apartment would cheer the place up, but it only made it more hideous somehow. At least it was warm and dry though.

The kitchen had white appliances and was decorated with a cows and chickens theme, even the wallpaper sported the creatures. The floor in there was linoleum meant to look like pine slats, but it cleaned easily at least. The master bedroom was a garish yellow, as was the master bath, even the bathtub, while the other bedroom was a neutral olive green. At least the guest bath was plain white.

The things she’d brought looked odd in the old place and might make someone wonder if the items were stolen, but Keily needed everything she’d brought. She’d sold some of the things for a good price, but most of them she’d kept. The most expensive gifts Logan gave her, things like jewelry, were all in a safe deposit box at the bank. She wasn’t naïve enough to keep those here at the trailer.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen, babies,” Keily murmured and cradled her slight bump at the same time. “Once upon a time, Mommy had a husband, a house, and everything she thought she wanted. Now, all she has is a savings account with a little bit of money in it, a car that isn’t really hers, some jewelry your daddy gave her, and she lives in a trailer. But she has you and that might just be everything she needs.”

A wave of nausea rolled over her in the dark room, lit only by the TV. “And I think you all hate me.”

She groaned and pushed up from the couch to go to bed. Most nights, if she got to sleep before the nausea turned into vomiting, she could sleep through the night. But, if she waited too long, she’d be up for hours in the bathroom, wishing it was all over and done with.

At four months she was over a third of the way through to having her babies, but it still seemed like a long time away when everything ached and she was sick all the time. On some of the worst nights, she’d cry and wish Logan were with her, but only on those nights. Other nights she planned the babies’ bedroom, trying to come up with a plan to situate three cribs in the tiny room. There’d need to be a dresser too, a changing table, a rocker.

In the back of her mind was the reminder of what the doctor said, triplets made her high risk, and there was a higher risk of complications for the babies too. She’d have to be careful and not get her hopes up too high that this would be smooth and painless. She’d learned her lesson about that already, hadn’t she?

Her heart was broken, it was definitely broken, but she couldn’t call Logan or ask for his help with the babies. He’d think she got pregnant on purpose, to trap him. And after what she did, after what Joe did, she couldn’t face him. Not knowing who he was. Not knowing that she’d walked away all those years ago, hadn’t stopped what had happened. Instead, she’d turned her back on him and made herself forget that she’d watched Joe assault and mutilate Logan’s butt cheek with her keychain. She couldn’t bear to look him in the eye again, not even when she needed him the most. Not even if it was the one thing in the world she wanted most, besides for her babies to be healthy. She’d just have to get on with life, without him. Somehow.

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