The Sugar Hill Collection

by M. L. Bullock

  When she got about ten feet from me, she stopped and surveyed me, then watched the departing carriage without fear. No, this was no slave. I blinked against the heat. The dust settled, and I blinked again. Surely I was seeing things, for I would have bet my soul that I was looking into the face of my own mother, Sulli! Only a darker version of her.

  “Sulli? Mother?”

  “No, girl. I am not a ghost. My sister, Sulli, is long dead. I am very much alive. As are you. You may call me Minnie.” She shook a bag of beads, or bones, that she pulled from her pocket, just as Sulli would have done. Keeps the ghosts away. You can become one just by saying that word too much.

  “Why are you here, Minnie?” I was certain she wanted something.

  “I can see I have waited too long. Well, that can’t be helped. But I am here now.” She stood next to me and stared me in the eyes. Oh, such a familiar face. How badly I wanted to see my mother, and it was almost as if she were here now.

  “You’ve been with the spirits too long. I see them stealing your light, Susanna. Time to let the ghosts go.”

  And at those words, I cried. She held out her arms, and I fell in them sobbing as if I were lying on my mother’s breast.

  “There now. Minnie is here. We’ll fight the ghosts together.”

  We walked back into the cool halls of Sugar Hill and left the heat and dust behind us.

  Chapter Three – Handsome Cheever

  Handsome scrubbed at the splattered love bugs that covered the grill of the old Cadillac. What would happen if they called him from the big house and the car looked like this? That wouldn’t do at all. Not at all. He couldn’t drive the lady around with a car covered in bug guts. Thankfully, it was Friday. He always washed the car on Fridays.

  Somehow, Lucas didn’t understand that. His son had surprised him today by showing up and declaring that he was cooking Handsome dinner. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet! Lucas had brought his wife and son, Alice Marie and Arnold Lee. Handsome was happy to see his grandson, but after a few seconds the boy hugged his legs quickly and then ran past him to the cow pasture behind the house with his ragged kite rattling in his hands. The boy was always building a kite, trying new designs. Arnold Lee had smarts, like his father. Not like Handsome. Handsome felt certain he didn’t have too many smarts, but he sure knew how to keep the car clean.

  And he knew a few other things too. Like how to keep the ghosts of Sugar Hill calm, and how to hear Miss Billie, even on days when she was quiet. And she’d been real quiet recently. It had been so long since he heard her singing, he was beginning to think he’d never hear her lovely, raspy voice again. He needn’t have worried. He could hear her loud and clear this afternoon. She was singing. And that could only mean one thing.

  Handsome smiled as Arnold Lee ran up and down the pasture tugging at his kite. The boy never managed to launch his kites by himself. There wasn’t much of a breeze today, and even if he could get the kite up, it wouldn’t stay up. Not in this dead heat.

  “Dad, did you hear me? I’ve got hot dogs, and Alice Marie made macaroni salad. And she brought you some peach tea. Wasn’t that nice?”

  “Oh, very nice. Let me rinse these here bugs off, and then we’ll have some of that tea.” Lucas wanted Handsome to stop what he was doing immediately—he knew his son well enough to know that—but Handsome had no mind to quit in the middle of the job. That just made more work for later. These love bugs weren’t going to come off by themselves, and their smashed bodies got like cement if they stayed on the car’s grill and windshield overnight.

  After a few seconds of hesitation, Lucas said, “I’ll start the grill, Dad.”

  Handsome didn’t hear him. Instead, his mind was focused on the sweet, lingering notes that began to swell loudly in his ears.

  All of me…why not take all of me…can’t you see…I’m no good without you…

  “Yes, Miss Billie. I hear you. I’m no good without you neither.”

  Handsome glanced over at Lucas, who was tossing charcoal into the clean but rusty grill. He only used that grill when Lucas came to see him. Most of the time he just picked up something from Chester’s Chicken or one of the burger joints on Jackson. There were so many to choose from nowadays. He could see Alice Marie in the kitchen window. With a frown, like the one she always wore, she watched Handsome and clucked her tongue over something that didn’t please her. Who knew what that could be? Probably mad because he hadn’t washed the breakfast dishes yet. Didn’t she understand this was his house? She was just a visitor here. He could leave the dishes undone if he wanted to.

  Take my lips…I want to lose them…take my arms…I’ll never use them…

  That wasn’t Miss Billie’s voice he was hearing. That was a child. A child singing Miss Billie’s song. But he could hear her too. Miss Billie sang. The child sang. Handsome sang too.

  He dropped his sponge and stared in the direction where Miss Billie’s singing was coming from. He strolled past Lucas, who was arranging the briquettes in the grill tray. Such a tidy boy. He’d always been a tidy boy.

  Your goodbye…left me with eyes that cry…how can I go on, dear, without you…

  Arnold Lee ran right past Handsome with all his might, but Handsome heard the words. He plainly heard the words. The boy was singing Miss Billie’s song. And then Lucas was beside him. “How long he been singing with Miss Billie?” Handsome asked.

  Lucas tossed the red and white checkerboard cloth over his shoulder. His hands were on his hips, and he watched Arnold struggle to get the kite off the ground. “Does it matter? Alice Marie thinks he’s got something wrong with him. She thinks he inherited a mental disease from you. She says if I don’t get him to the doctor, if I don’t get him fixed, she’ll leave us.”

  Handsome tore his eyes from his grandson and looked at his boy. “Lucas, he’s not crazy. I’m not crazy either. It’s not something you can fix. He’s just special, is all.”

  Lucas wiped at his eyes—Handsome couldn’t be sure, but he thought maybe he was crying just a little. If Handsome was married to Alice Marie, he’d cry too. “The world isn’t kind to special people, Dad. I thought maybe you could talk with Arnold Lee. Tell him how to make it stop.”

  Handsome glanced over his shoulder at Alice Marie’s sour face in the window. He wanted to tell his son that if she left, good riddance, that Lucas would survive and could do so much better. But he didn’t. Handsome couldn’t deny that she loved Arnold Lee, and she even loved Lucas in her own way. Although Alice Marie and Handsome had never been friends, he had some softness toward her. But not much. “I can’t tell him how to do that because I don’t know how to do that. What’s wrong with hearing a little singing? Don’t you hum tunes from the radio? Can’t you call up a song you like, remember the rhythm and the words and sing it back? The boy is just like that. Like a radio, only there’s just one singer, and that’s Miss Billie.” Handsome rubbed his nose against the dust the boy was kicking up. “It is just Miss Billie he hears, right?”

  “I’m not sure, Dad. Maybe you can talk to him?”

  “Maybe. But he’s having some fun right now. Why don’t you let him stay the night? He can help me make my rounds tomorrow, and we can talk then. I’ll tell him what I know. What he should know.”

  “Would you, Dad? That would be perfect. That means a lot.”

  “Sure thing, son.”

  You took the part…that once was my heart…so why not take all of me?

  “All of me…” Arnold Lee sang as he finally caught some wind. “Look, Dad! I got it! I caught a cloud, only it’s invisible! You can’t see it, but it’s there! I found it!” Arnold Lee let out a whoop, and Handsome and Lucas clapped for him. “I did it by myself!”

  “Good job, Arnold!” With one last worried look, Lucas walked back to the grill while his wife covered the picnic table with a red and white checkered tablecloth. She must have brought it with her because Handsome didn’t recall having one. He rinsed the car one last time and turned off the water
hose. He checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed a call from the Big House. Nothing yet, and he’d expected to get a call.

  There was a gathering today. Handsome had watched the cars speeding up Jackson all day. Danforth, Pepper, Mr. Jack and the others. Some of the cars he recognized, some he did not. That could mean one of two things. There was a homegoing or a homecoming. In this case, it was a homecoming. Bray Dufresne and his wife were returning to Sugar Hill. And from what Handsome heard, they planned to stay awhile. Miss Summer asked him to pick them up from the airport, and he had been glad to do it. Even gladder to drop them off at Sugar and leave.

  The sad thing was, ever since Handsome dropped that man and his wife there, Miss Billie had been singing up a storm. The spirits were stirred up, and Miss Billie knew all about it. Handsome popped the trunk to make sure he had what he needed. Yes, it was there. Four ten-pound bags of salt. He was going to need every one of them and more, probably. He closed the trunk quickly before anyone saw.

  Your goodbye…left me with eyes that cry…How can I go on, dear, without you?

  “Never, Miss Billie. You’ll never be without Handsome. We’ll go up together tonight. After the boy goes to sleep. It’s going to be all right, Miss Billie. You’ll see.” Handsome placed the chauffeur cap on the dashboard just in case he needed it. He locked the car and dropped the keys in his pocket, humming as he smiled at Alice Marie.

  “Now that looks mighty tasty.” Handsome hummed a bit but remembered to keep his singing to himself. Arnold Lee looked at Handsome and grinned. Lucas pretended not to see either of them. But that was the way it was with Lucas. That was how he coped with it all. Handsome guessed he felt bad that he didn’t hear the music too.

  But Arnold Lee did. And that was something.

  Chapter Four – Avery

  “Avery, I think you are making a terrible mistake. If you leave now, you’ll only be adding fuel to the fire. Bray doesn’t have a leg to stand on—despite what he says, your DNA has nothing to do with your being matrone.” Reed ran his hands through his dark hair and followed me around the bedroom putting my clothes back in drawers.

  “Stop that, Reed. It will matter to some of them. Let’s stop pretending it doesn’t. It all boils down to which is my relative, Athena or Susanna, doesn’t it?”

  “It only matters to them. The family covenant is for all of Chase’s children, all of them, from both wives. He made provisions for all of them. And you are his descendant.”

  “You don’t need to lie to me. It’s about Susanna. I have her ring. Am I her relative or not?”

  “I don’t know for sure. Aunt Anne never revealed the results of those tests to me, but…”

  “But what?”

  “I know for a fact that Summer is Athena’s descendant.”

  That stunned me into silence. What could that mean? Was Summer behind this move? I couldn’t imagine my cousin would betray me like that, but did I really know her?

  “I don’t need your help right now. And if DNA didn’t mean so much, then why on earth did Miss Anne have us tested? What’s the big deal? The board obviously thinks it’s a big deal—I mean, look out the window. All of them are circling Bray like he’s the next big thing. So they can have it. I’m sick of them all!”

  Reed touched my arm and gave me his I’m-being-so-patient-with-you look.

  Summer tapped on the door with a glass of tea in her hand. What was it about this family? Everyone thought a glass of iced tea could fix anything. I found that hard to believe. I didn’t really like it anyhow. She said sweetly, “Hi. I brought you something to drink. If you don’t stay hydrated, you might pass out again. And I hope you aren’t taking Bray too seriously. Hey, what’s all this?”

  I closed the suitcase and fastened the lock. It was a struggle. I had no idea what I just packed, but I was pretty sure it was just my underwear and sock drawer. I was not good at packing on the fly. I learned that from my reporter days. Other journalists got a call for an assignment and headed out immediately. Not me. I needed at least twenty-four hours to plan my packing list.

  “I’m leaving. I’m done with these ungrateful bastards. If Bray thinks he knows so much, let him be matrone.”

  “What? You can’t just leave. You are the matrone.” She pointed to my finger with wide eyes. I had been ignoring the warm feeling, and now I tugged on the ring. It would be so perfect if it actually came off and I could throw it at someone. No such luck. It was stuck for sure. As always.

  “I don’t give a damn about any of it. You know what really ticks me off, Summer? It’s not Bray. It’s that the entire board is down there hanging on his every word, like I don’t mean a damn thing to them. Like we haven’t done great work! It’s obscene, and quite frankly, I’m done with it all.”

  “Avery, that’s not true. You have many supporters, not just Reed and me. Pepper thinks the world of you, and so does Lindsey. Danforth doesn’t like anyone, not even me. It’s not a popularity contest. There is no contest. You are the matrone.”

  I stomped to the bathroom and filled a bag with cosmetics and toiletries. When I walked back out, they were still there. I felt bad for them. “I know you guys love me. I love you too. And I’m grateful for the little support I do have from the board, but it’s not enough. This has been coming for a long time. It’s time for me to get away for a while.”

  Reed spoke up now, and he was clearly aggravated. “If you abandon us, it will be harder to lobby for you. If you walk out of Sugar Hill right now, you’re basically saying you agree with Bray’s assumptions. And that’s what it is, assumptions. He doesn’t know diddly squat. And like I said, it really doesn’t matter.”

  “Apparently, it does. At least to the entire Dufresne family.” But the point about leaving Sugar Hill did bother me. Sure, I was mad. Mad as hell, actually. Mad that I’d fainted, mad that I’d thrown a party for a man who was determined to destroy me. Mad for many reasons. However, the idea of not coming back home for some time, of not returning to Sugar Hill at all, bothered me no end. I crumpled on the bed.

  “Fine, but I can’t stay right now. What do I do? I need time to think.”

  “Go to Thorn Hill,” Summer suggested. “I know it’s not your favorite place, but at least you’ll still be on the property, technically speaking.”

  I frowned at that idea. “What else you got? Hey, I could stay at the Rose Cottage. I’m sure Mitchell wouldn’t mind.”

  “He wouldn’t, but he has the only set of keys. He had the locks changed when you gave him the house, and the other cottage is in disrepair. I think it’s Thorn Hill or nothing, cousin.”

  I cast a “help me” look at Reed, but he just shrugged. “I don’t think you should leave at all. You should be downstairs telling him to leave. This is your home. You are the matrone, Avery. Don’t go.”

  I looked from one face to the other. I was never one to run from a fight, but this was a fight I wasn’t going to win. Not today, anyway. “As much as it pains me to leave, I am going. I’ll go to Thorn Hill until we can get this sorted out. I want to know one way or another whose child I am. What’s so scary about my DNA that would disqualify me from serving as matrone? Find out, Reed. I’m depending on you.”

  I hugged him and Summer, who patted my back. “Well, I’m not leaving,” she said. “I’ll stay right here and make sure our guests leave. All of them. Including his high-and-mightiness, Bray Dufresne. There will be no squatters here today!” I knew she meant it.

  “Thank you, Summer. Oh, one more thing. Reed, will you grab that box for me, please? I might as well get into the real nitty-gritty while I’m away.” I pointed at the box of VHS tapes and Vertie’s journals. I’d been happily avoiding those resources the past few months, but I could no longer do that. I had to get to the bottom of all this. It was time to look at the Dufresne family tree without the rose-colored glasses. And if there were fewer branches than we all believed, or many more, then so be it.

  “I’ll help you out. Let’s take the servants’
entrance. Do you want me to call Handsome?”

  “Yes, please. That would be great.”

  Summer scampered out as Reed helped me carry my luggage down the servants’ staircase and into the foyer. People didn’t use this portion of the house much, not even the staff.

  “Make sure Robin knows I’m gone. I’d hate for her to cook me breakfast and have me not be here to enjoy it.” I sniffed at what felt like a potential tear.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to go back upstairs and put these things away.”

  “I am very sure. I need a break. Might as well go back to the scene of the crime. Hopefully all is quiet there now. At least Jamie’s not around to stir up anything.”

  “I heard he didn’t get the job. Chief Harper says he didn’t pass the psych exam.”

  “I don’t approve of you snooping on my friends.”

  “Is he your friend, Avery? I mean, he’s not all there. I wouldn’t advise continuing that particular friendship.”

  “Are you warning me as a dutiful cousin?”

  “No, I’m warning you because I care about you.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “You don’t feel the same way?”

  We were only a few feet apart. I don’t know what made me do it, but I closed the distance in a few seconds and kissed him. I’d never forgotten our first kiss, and I’d been dying to do it again. Besides, he wasn’t my true cousin. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, was there?

  Kissing Reed was like tossing gasoline on an open flame. He kissed me back with everything he had. Before I knew it, hands were flying, and if Handsome hadn’t pulled up I don’t think we’d have stopped. I stepped back and straightened my wild blond hair, then opened the door. Reed tidied himself while he reached for the suitcases. Handsome’s tall, lean frame stepped out of the vehicle, and a young boy tagged along with him.

  “Good afternoon, all. I hope you don’t mind that I brought my helper with me today. This is my grandson, Mr. Reed. This is Arnold Lee.”