Chapter 27
“Thanks for the ride, Luke,” Liz said gratefully as he held the door to Kelly’s open for her. She had been released from the hospital that morning, and had a terrible time finding someone to drive her to the diner. For obvious reasons, she couldn’t ask Jason or Sonny, and Carly was still recovering from her surgery and hadn’t been released yet. Bobbie was working, so she called Luke and asked him to pick Liz up.
“Not a problem, darlin’,” he said, following her inside and taking a seat at the counter.
Having heard the bell over the door jingle, Lucky came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron. Liz couldn’t help thinking how cute he looked in it.
“Stop that!” she muttered.
“Stop what?” Luke asked, smirking. He had noticed the way she had been watching Lucky just then, and was pretty sure she hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
“Oh, um, nothing. I was just talking to myself,” Liz answered, trying to keep from blushing
“What are you doing here, dad?” Lucky asked, pouring him a cup of coffee and glancing over at Elizabeth, who had busied herself by messing with her sling.
“Liz needed a ride over here from GH, and I seemed to be the only person around with nothing better to do this early in the morning,” he answered, grinning at Liz so she would know he was only kidding.
“Thanks again,” she said sincerely. “I was afraid I’d have to take a cab for a while there.”
Luke smiled and shook his head. “Forget about it, it was nothing. You’re like a daughter to me,” he said, looking pointedly at Lucky, who rolled his eyes and walked back into the kitchen.
Just as she promised in the hospital, Liz insisted on working that afternoon. Even though she only had use of her right arm, she managed to do a good job. She would memorize the customers’ orders, then carry them out on a large tray, usually with Lucky trailing behind her, certain she would drop it.
Once the lunch rush was winding down, she sat at one of the empty tables to rest. “Hey, I should get shot more often!” she said with a laugh, counting through the tip money she had collected so far. “I’ve made more in tips today than I did all last week!”
Lucky came out of the kitchen and grinned. “That’s because people feel bad for cripples,” he said, dodging away from her as she swatted at him.
“Careful, Spencer, I’ve still got one good arm!”
The bell jingled as Emily came into the diner. She took a seat at the counter and asked Lucky for some coffee, then turned around to look at Liz.
“Shouldn’t you be recovering? What are you doing working already?”
“Don’t waste your breath, Em,” Lucky said. “I’ve tried to get her to give up, but she refuses to leave. I think she’s doing it just to spite me.”
Liz rolled her eyes. “You would think that, wouldn’t you. Sorry, but believe it or not, the world doesn’t revolve around you. I’m here because this diner is my responsibility, and there’s no way I’m leaving it with you totally unsupervised for an entire day!”
“Oh really?” Lucky asked, growing annoyed. “In case you forgot, I was working here long before you ever came to Port Charles! I think I can handle running it for a day without you looking over my shoulder the whole time!”
Sensing that this could get ugly, Emily decided to change the subject. “Liz, I heard what happened with my brother. I’m sorry.”
Liz shrugged, then winced as a pain shot through her shoulder. “It’s okay, it’s probably for the best. Oh, that reminds me, where is Michael? I know that Laticia is on vacation right now with Reginald, but I was too preoccupied yesterday to ask Jason who was watching him.”
The bell jingled again as Nikolas came into the restaurant. He smiled at everyone, but remained silent, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.
Emily smiled widely at him, then turned back to Liz. “He’s fine. Tammy watched him for a while in the club when you and Carly were being taken to GH, then later Bobbie called Betty to watch him. He’s probably going to stay with her until Jason comes home from the hospital.”
“Who is Betty?” Nikolas asked.
Lucky chuckled. “Betty is the best baby-sitter in Port Charles. Actually, come to think of it, I think she’s the only one here. She used to watch me when I was younger, and sometimes watches Lulu. She’s practically raised Felicia’s daughters, and I know she watches Lucas a lot. You should ask Bobbie for her number some time, in case you need someone to watch Dom.”
Nikolas shook his head. “I’ve got plenty of people in my family willing to watch her, I doubt I’ll need her number. Between Mother, Father, Lesley, Alexis, Liz and for now, you, I never have a problem finding someone.”
“Since when is Elizabeth your family?” Lucky asked.
“She’s Dom’s godmother, I figure that counts just as much as the rest of them.” He looked at Liz, who smiled proudly at him, then turned back to Emily. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” she said, hopping off the stool. They began to walk toward the front door when Lucky called out to them.
“Where are you two going?”
“Late lunch,” Nikolas answered, then added shyly, “it’s kind of a date.”
Liz smiled at them, happy to see them together. Lucky frowned. “So, why are you leaving? We have food here, you know!”
Nikolas chuckled. “As much as I’d love to have you waiting on me, I promised her I’d take her to the Grille.”
“Oh, I see, Kelly’s isn’t good enough now?” Lucky teased. “Fine, I’ll remember this the next time you need to go out of town at the last minute and are begging me to take Dom!”
“That’s fine, I’ll just call Betty, then,” Nikolas said with a devilish grin. Lucky rolled his eyes, knowing he had walked right into that one, then laughed as they left the diner.
He turned to Liz, who was chuckling to herself. “What are you laughing at?’
“You,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that the two of you used to be mortal enemies. You act like real brothers now.”
“Hmph,” he grunted, wiping down the table next to her. “You mean the way we fight constantly?”
She shrugged, this time only with her right shoulder, in order to avoid the shooting pain she had the last time. “My parents always told me that you always fight the worst with the ones you love.”
He laughed, turning to look at her. “Then what does that say about us?” he asked, not realizing what he had said until it was too late. Liz just stared back at him, the significance of her statement not lost on her.
Just then, the door jingled, announcing the entrance of a customer. They both sighed with relief as Lucky walked over to hand them a menu.
“Saved by the bell,” Liz muttered under her breath, then stood up and headed for the kitchen.
