by Becky Harmon
Apparently she remembered more than she thought or maybe the roads hadn’t changed much in twenty years because she had driven straight to the dirt lane which led to Dorothy’s house. The road seemed longer and the house bigger, but the flashback of memories were clear. She pulled to a stop in front of the two-story white plantation house and braced her hands on the steering wheel. The huge front porch that wrapped around both sides of the house still held Dorothy’s rocking chairs. She closed her eyes, letting the pictures and sounds flood her mind, hearing Stephanie’s squeals as they had raced around the house playing hide-and-seek. Stephanie’s fear of bugs had kept her out of most hiding places, and finding her before she could return to base had never been a problem.
Stephanie. Steph. The anguish she had felt the day her mom took her away consumed her again and she fought back a sob. She didn’t know what Stephanie had been told when her best friend left and never came back. She was sure, though, that Stephanie didn’t understand that while Dorothy might have just passed away, for her that loss was twenty years old.
As a teenager, Jemini had rehearsed the words she’d say when she was old enough to return on her own. When her mother finally explained the real reason they had left, though, Jemini was old enough to know she would never be able to return.
She rubbed the moisture from her face. She didn’t allow herself to cry, especially not over memories, but she could still remember what it felt like to be pulled onto Dorothy’s broad lap. How everything was instantly better the second she was wrapped in her loving arms. Skinned knees, bee stings, and a variety of other kid ailments always brought snuggles and cookies. To this day, she avoided baking anything sweet in order to avoid being reminded of Dorothy and the love she had felt.
Movement behind the curtain in a downstairs window caught Jemini’s eye and she quickly wiped her eyes. Who was inside Dorothy’s house? Was it Stephanie? Her pulse raced at the chance to see her again, but she knew at the moment she wasn’t strong enough to face her. She needed the few hours until the reading of the will to tend to the brokenness inside her. Throwing the car in reverse, she turned around and headed for Riverview.
* * *
“Steph.”
Steph glanced onto the porch encircling the plantation house. Agnes sat in her favorite rocking chair. Steph hesitated, waiting for Dorothy to join them, before remembering that Dorothy’s memory would be the only thing joining them ever again. The two elderly women would never rock together again while Dorothy waited for whatever needed to be removed from the oven. She searched Agnes’s face for signs of the pain she must be feeling.
“Everything okay?” she asked, hesitating in front of Dorothy’s chair and then dropping onto the porch steps.
“Oh, child. Come up here with me. Dorothy would want you to sit in her chair.”
“Not yet, Ms. Agnes. I just can’t do it yet.” She rubbed her face to clear the memories. “Is everything okay? Did you need something?”
Already lost again in her own thoughts, Agnes continued to rock.
Steph watched her. Agnes was only a year or so younger than Dorothy. She couldn’t help to wonder if she would soon have to say good-bye to her too.
Agnes finally spoke. “There was a car earlier.”
“Where?”
“It pulled up to the house and then just sat there. I hurried inside when I heard it and then was afraid to go back out when they didn’t show themselves. I watched from inside the house until they left.”
“That’s always the best idea when you aren’t sure who’s out there. Could you tell what kind of car it was?”
“It was black.”
Steph nodded. Apparently that was an adequate description as far as Agnes was concerned. “Did it have two or four doors?”
“It had four. I’m sure ’cause I remember thinking it looked like Kim’s car, except it was black.”
Steph remembered the black sedan she had passed on the road, which had indeed looked like Kim’s Honda Accord. Now she wished she had turned around and returned. She didn’t like that Agnes had been worried or that someone had been snooping around.
“I’ll keep an eye out for it. Try not to worry for now. It was probably a solicitor and they didn’t think anyone was at home.”
Agnes nodded, her chair creaking with each push of her feet.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me to the reading of the will this afternoon?” Steph asked.
“No. No, Dorothy told me everything she needed me to know before she died. I can’t imagine her written wishes will surprise me.”
Steph hesitated and then took the plunge. She wished she was as confident as Agnes about knowing everything Dorothy wanted her to know. Maybe Agnes knew something about Jemini that would make things clearer. “Jemini is in town.”
There was a subtle delay in Agnes’s rocking before it returned to its normal pace.
Steph watched her face, but her expression remained the same. “Do you think Dorothy left the house to her?”
Agnes’s eyes met hers and she nodded.
The angry fire she had been pushing away burned through her again and she jumped to her feet. “Why would Dorothy do that to us?”
“She wanted to bring Jemini home.”
“This is not her home!”
Agnes shrugged. “Dorothy would tell you to listen to your heart. You know what to do.”
This was the worst thing that could happen as far as she was concerned. Agnes seemed resigned to whatever the outcome of new ownership might bring, but Steph was going to put a stop to it all. She would fight.
“I need to shower, but I’ll be around for another hour or so if you need anything or the car returns.” She tried to keep her voice from being harsh. It wasn’t Agnes’s fault they were in this situation.
Agnes gazed off the porch at something only she could see as the chair continued its soothing pace.
Steph followed the path back to her cottage, looking around at the beautiful blooming flowers. Steph’s father had been Dorothy’s caretaker. When he passed away, her mom had continued his landscaping duties, assisted by Steph, who had moved back to the cottage to help out. She had purchased the cottage from Dorothy after her mother died. Her parents had always been fine with the rental arrangement, but Dorothy had understood that Steph needed something more permanent. She had spent countless hours keeping the yard as her parents had designed it—with the supervision, of course, of Dorothy, who had eagerly played the role of Steph’s grandmother, especially after Jemini had left. Steph wished her parents were here to tell her what they could of Dorothy’s secrets. She missed them all very much and couldn’t remember ever feeling so alone.
As she climbed the two steps leading to her small porch, she glanced back at Dorothy’s beautiful house. Dorothy had never complained about outliving her husband and her son or both of Steph’s parents. In fact, she could never remember Dorothy complaining about anything. No matter the situation, Dorothy’s glass was always half-full, never half-empty. Over the years, she and Dorothy had talked about everything—well, everything except why Jemini and her mother had left that day. She had tried to get Dorothy to explain what happened but eventually had given up.
Stomping through her kitchen, she realized she was angrier now than before her run. When Dorothy’s attorney, Gerald Cross, had explained to her that he wouldn’t be able to do an official reading of the will until all involved parties were notified, she had felt sick. Dorothy didn’t have any family other than Jemini and her mother; Gerald had to be referring to them. Given the way they had left and all the years that had passed, she had been confident that neither of them would appear. She’d been wrong obviously. She wasn’t surprised Dorothy had discussed her wishes with Agnes, but she wished she could have had a chance to plead her case against Dorothy leaving everything to Jemini. What would Agnes and Kim do if Jemini sold the house? She had to convince Jemini that it was the wrong thing to do.
Chapter Three
Je
mini unwrapped the charging cord and plugged it into her cell phone and the USB port in the car. Instantly the cell phone display lit, telling her it was charging. She dialed her office.
“Thompson, Myers and Rivers. Ms. Rivers’ office, can I help you?”
“Hey, Karen. It’s me.”
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling all morning.”
She was always fascinated that Karen could sound reprimanding and sweet at the same time. Her life had gotten a lot easier when she hired her as her administrative assistant. A single woman in search of a career made her the perfect person to keep Jemini’s work schedule organized. She was always at the office whenever she was needed, and her efficiency kept them both looking professional and competent.
“I forgot my phone charger and I just picked up a new one,” she explained.
“Are you coming back today? Judge Stevens wants to hear the Watson case on Friday. I tried to explain to him that you were out of town due to a death in the family, but he said he wouldn’t have another free date for two months.”
She stared out the car window, barely noticing the people passing. She had been pushing to get the Watson case before a judge for almost three weeks.
“I’ll be back before the hearing. Text me the details.”
“Should I email you the files too?”
“Yes, please. I’ll call you after the will is read this afternoon.”
“I’m really sorry about your grandmother, Jemini.”
“Thanks, Karen. I’ll call you later.”
She ended the call and tossed the still charging phone onto the passenger seat. She was in limbo until she knew what was in the will. That and what was wrong with her car. Looking at the garage across the street, she could see her car suspended in the air, two bodies standing close together underneath it. She recognized Greg from their meeting earlier in the morning. The other set of coveralls must belong to the shop owner, Jo. Given the androgynous clothing she was wearing, it was hard to tell she was a woman, but Jemini had remembered the pronoun Greg had used.
Her stomach grumbled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten yet today, and she looked around for the diner Kathleen had mentioned. She would stop and check on the car after she got something to eat. Maybe she could find a way to expedite the repairs. She didn’t want to remain in Riverview a second longer than necessary.
Taking her laptop, phone, and charger, she entered the diner. Everyone glanced up when the bell over the door chimed, and she quickly searched for a secluded spot. The diner was larger than it had appeared from the street. A white counter with eight red, padded swivel chairs stretched along the center of the floor. A cash register stood in the middle where a gap in the counter allowed access to the kitchen and serving area. Wrapping around the kitchen were traditional red plastic booths with Formica tables. Both sides had an additional room blocked off in the rear with square tables and chairs. She spotted an open booth in the back corner and quickly slid onto the plastic bench.
Instantly regretting her decision to sit with her back to the wall, she tried to distract herself by turning on her computer, plugging her phone in, and then opening the menu she found tucked in the metal caddy holding condiments and napkins. She was used to the occasional look and could easily ignore them. These diners however seemed to be fascinated with her, and she met several of their stares as she glanced around the room. Their eyes seemed to be merely curious, though, not hostile. She tried to put them out of her mind by focusing on the menu. The seconds passed slowly until a shadow crossed her table. The young waitress’s eyes met hers with a touch of sympathy as she set a glass of water on the table.
“What can I get for you? I mean, besides a privacy bubble.”
She smiled but didn’t acknowledge the attempt at humor. “Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and home fries, please.”
“And to drink?”
“Coffee would be great.”
“Coming right up. I’m Vikki, by the way, if you need anything.”
Jemini’s smile was appreciative when she returned quickly with her coffee. There weren’t as many eyes on her now, and she gave a relieved sigh. She hated being the center of attention unless she was in the courtroom. As a young attorney, she had quickly made a name for herself. Never staying for long at any job, it was clear she had been searching for something when she joined the law offices of Thompson and Myers.
The rotating pictures on her laptop’s sleep screen caught her eye and she watched the memories of her life flip by. Graduations and birthdays from years ago were a blur to her now, but the picture she loved most was the day she signed as a partner at Thompson and Myers. The smile on her mother’s face was huge and she knew Aries had been proud of her. Her mother’s own attempt to get a college degree had been cut short by their move to Chattanooga. Without Dorothy’s monetary assistance and childcare, being a single mother took precedence.
She had lived with her mother until she graduated from college. Law school had been demanding and was followed by eighty-hour workweeks. Even though they were still in the same town, she hated to admit that she hadn’t made time to visit. The move from Florida and the loss of Dorothy had scarred them both.
Looking back now, though, she could see that her mother had made bigger strides to move past the betrayal than she had. There hadn’t been a large number of women moving into and eventually out of her mother’s life, but with each failed relationship, she hadn’t given up looking for that special someone. Soon after Jemini had graduated from law school, she had found Cindi. Their relationship had allowed Jemini to withdraw further without even realizing it.
She had always thought when things slowed down they would take the time to process through their issues, but then her mother had gotten sick. Cindi took great care of her and Jemini was left to bury her head in work. When she finally came up for air, her mother was gone and she was alone in the world. Permanent relationships had become something she wanted to avoid. Cindi would have been willing to remain a part of her life, but she knew she hadn’t even tried to keep in contact with her. She barely made time for dating. Robin, her current girlfriend, if you could even call her that, didn’t even know why she was in Florida. In fact, she wasn’t sure she had even told her where she was going.
All this reminiscing was giving her a headache. She pulled her laptop in front of her and, seeing the available Internet access, clicked on her email. Karen had already sent the Watson file, so she quickly saved it to her hard drive. She would be able to work on it tonight wherever she was. Assuming that whatever happened at the lawyer’s office this afternoon didn’t derail everything.
She rubbed her aching forehead, refusing to allow herself to consider the possibilities of what Dorothy’s will might contain. She knew she wouldn’t have been invited to the reading if she wasn’t included in the will somewhere. Dorothy hated her and her mother, though, so it was a mystery why she would include either of them in anything she had to give away. Maybe this was to be one last effort to humiliate her. Making her come back to a town where everyone probably knew why she and her mother had left. Small towns gossiped about everything and everyone.
Like all of the other diners, Jemini glanced up when the entrance bell chimed. A woman about Jemini’s height slowed just inside the door while her eyes adjusted to the inside lighting. Giving a few waves around the room, she crossed straight to Jemini’s table and slid into the booth opposite her.
“Thanks, Vikki.” The woman barely glanced up as a coffee cup appeared on the table in front of her. Her intense gaze on Jemini, she took a sip of the coffee. “I’m Jo. Greg saw the rental and we thought you might be in here getting some breakfast. I hope you don’t mind the intrusion.”
Jemini reached her hand across the table. “I’m Jemini.”
“Right. Right, Ms. Rivers.”
Jemini froze as the room went silent. She forced her face to remain blank and resisted the urge to challenge the open stares.
Jo shrugged. “Don’t
mind them. They knew who you were the second you walked in the door. Small town and all.”
Jemini kept her gaze on Jo. “How’s my car?”
“She’s going to be fine. I was able to get a new fuel pump from a parts shop in Pensacola. It’s been installed and Greg’s wrapping things up right now. We’ll give her a test drive, too, but she’ll be ready by the time you finish here.”
“That’s good news. I was afraid I was going to have to save the pig from the town butcher to trade for parts.”
Jo laughed clearly understanding her reference to an 80s movie in which a doctor headed for a plastic surgery career in Hollywood is forced to offer his services to a small town after he takes out the judge’s handmade white picket fence with his car. She paused for a second seeming to consider the suggestion. “We would never force you to stay in Riverview, but we could always use a good lawyer.”
“Too many lawsuits?”
“No, too much scum leaking out of Pensacola.”
“I’m mostly a child advocate these days, but I’m not against locking up the scum. I don’t plan on staying, though.”
Vikki slid a plate in front of Jemini. “Need anything else?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
Jo waited for Vikki to drift away and then met Jemini’s eyes. “It’s not a bad town.”
“I’m sure it’s not.”
Jo placed both hands on the table and slid from the booth. “I’ll let you enjoy your meal. Stop by when you finish.”
Jemini nodded.
Jo dropped a few bills by the cash register and was gone as fast as she had appeared. Jemini hated to admit she liked anything about this town, but Jo’s easygoing manner was hard to dislike. She finished her breakfast, using her laptop to keep from being disturbed by the occasional stares still coming her way. Vikki appeared at her elbow as she was taking the last bite.