The Way Back to You

by Sharon Sala

  Ruby grinned. “Not everybody in Texas is wealthy.”

  “Oh, I know,” Vera said. “But I just waved goodbye to some who sure are.”

  “What’s even more special is having family to lean on in the sad times and the bad times,” Ruby said.

  They all knew Ruby had no family left, which was why people often called Ruby Sister instead, because she was loved by the residents of Blessings as if she were one of their own.

  * * *

  In another part of Blessings, Melissa was in her office working on payroll, while Sully was on his way to Elliot Graham’s house with the letter his adoptive mother had written to him, revealing their deceit in keeping the circumstances of his birth a secret.

  The GPS directions were precise and easy to follow, and he was soon turning up into Elliot’s drive. It was ten o’clock on the dot as he parked. He couldn’t help but admire the stately elegance of the house, but it was obvious all through Blessings how the landscaping of the homes had suffered through the storm.

  His stomach was in knots by the time he rang the doorbell, but when Elliot appeared at the door, his anxiety disappeared.

  The smile that dominated the little man’s face was framed by the soft sweep of cotton-white hair, bright-blue eyes almost dancing with secrets, and the ascot he was wearing beneath a black velvet jacket.

  “Mr. Raines, I presume?” Elliot said, and then chuckled. “Do come in.”

  “Thank you for seeing me,” Sully said.

  “Of course,” Elliot said as he led Sully into his library. “We’ll sit here,” he said, indicating a leather sofa near a massive fireplace.

  Sully sat at one end of the sofa, and Elliot sat at the other end, then turned to face him.

  “Where are you from, Mr. Raines?”

  “Please call me Sully, and I’m from Kansas City, Missouri.”

  “Missouri… It’s a beautiful state,” Elliot said. “Even though I already know the answer to this from Dan’s phone call, would you please state your intentions for coming?”

  “I’m looking for my birth mother and have been following leads through several states with help from a DNA researcher I hired. I didn’t know I was adopted until after her passing, and she wrote an apology letter and left it for me.”

  He got up and handed the letter to Elliot, who put it in the palm of his hand and then closed his fingers over it.

  “Please continue,” Elliot said.

  “The last lead I had was a letter from my birth mother with an address here in Blessings, but I have found no evidence of her being still here, despite searches in court records, land deeds, and back issues of the Blessings newspaper. Oh…I almost forgot. Her name was—”

  “Yes, Janie Chapman, but you’re looking for a Janie Carter, is that right?”

  Sully nodded, assuming Elliot had heard this from locals who knew why he was in town.

  “Do you have any leads on your birth father, Marc Adamos, yet?”

  Sully nearly fell off the sofa.

  “I didn’t know his name! Is that his name? It wasn’t on my original birth certificate.”

  “Oh. Sorry. I assumed you knew, or I would not have blurted it out so carelessly.”

  “Don’t apologize,” Sully said. “This is good news. It just startled me.”

  Elliot nodded. “Your adoptive parents were afraid your love and allegiance to them would be transferred to your birth mother, if you knew.”

  “Why would they think that? They were amazing parents. I loved them.”

  Elliot shrugged.

  “Can you tell me if she’s still alive?” Sully asked.

  “I know she’s not in the spirit world.”

  Even though Sully was puzzled by the roundabout way Elliot had of imparting information, hearing this was a relief.

  “Okay, good,” Sully said. “Can you tell me where she is? Do I need to search in a different area of the country?”

  “Don’t leave Blessings,” Elliot said.

  Sully’s stomach was in knots. The suspense was killing him.

  “So she’s here?”

  “Don’t leave Blessings. That’s what I’m supposed to tell you. This and nothing more. I cannot tell more than what Spirit wants me to say.”

  When Elliot stood up, Sully was startled but followed suit. Obviously, the meeting was over. Elliot handed the letter back to Sully and smiled.

  “It was a pleasure to meet you, and I am most impressed by how you saved our dear Melissa Dean. She is your soul mate, but of course you already knew that. I wish you both a long and happy life.”

  Sully was nodding and trying to absorb all this, so he completely missed the fact that Elliot had escorted him right to the front door and was holding it open.

  “Thank you, Mr. Graham—for your time, for your help, and for your kindness,” Sully said.

  Elliot smiled. “We’re going to be great friends.”

  Sully was so surprised that he laughed out loud. “That’s an awesome thing to know, sir. Have a nice day.”

  Just as he walked across the threshold, the door behind him shut with a firm thump, followed by a click.

  “He locked me out, too,” Sully said, and smiled all the way back to his car. These were things to celebrate, and he knew how he wanted to do it.

  * * *

  Melissa was at the cleaners handing out paychecks and talking to the employees about the newly installed machine.

  “How’s it working for you guys?” she asked, and was inundated by the vocal appreciation for her getting it.

  “It cuts down time tremendously and does a much better job,” her manager said.

  “Then that’s what we wanted, right, Randolph?” She held up two envelopes. “These are Gus and Rhonda’s paychecks. I know they’ll be by sometime today to pick them up, so I’m leaving them in the office.”

  “Works for me,” Randolph said. “Oh, we have Mr. Raines’s laundry ready.”

  “I’ll take it, and this is on me, so mark him paid,” Melissa said. “I could do his wash forever for saving my life and still would not have repaid him enough.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Absolutely,” the manager said, and got the laundry. “I’ll carry it for you, ma’am.”

  “Thank you,” Melissa said, and held the door open for him before going to unlock her car. “Just hang it all on the hooks,” she said, and as soon as he was finished, she smiled. “Okay. Then I’m out of here. Have a great day, and you all know how to get in touch, should an emergency arise.”

  She waved goodbye, then noticed as she was getting in the car that the sky was clouding up.

  She glanced at the time and thought of Sully, wondering if magic had occurred for him today, then started the car and headed for home so she could get his laundry inside before the rain started.

  * * *

  Sully drove straight to the flower shop. A bell rang as he walked in, and an older woman in a colorful floral smock appeared from the back.

  “Hello. I’m Myra. How can I help you?”

  “I want to get a bouquet of flowers. Do you have some made up?”

  “Yes. Here in the cooler behind this stand of stuffed toys. But if you don’t see what you want, I can easily make something else while you wait.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Sully said. “Let me check these out first.”

  “Seeing as how fall is upon us, we have several different sizes of fall bouquets, and with different kinds of flowers. And, of course, the roses,” Myra said.

  He pointed to a bouquet of red roses in a crystal vase with a ruby-colored base.

  “Those, in that vase with the ruby-colored base. How much are those?”

  “Well, it’s a dozen American Beauties, and the vase is crystal, which makes it a bit pricier than others. It’s one hundred and ten dollars.”

 
“I’ll take it,” Sully said.

  Myra beamed. Her husband, Harold, had fussed at her nonstop because she’d used a vase that expensive, and now she could say “I told you so.”

  “Wonderful,” she said, as she removed the bouquet from the cooler and carried it to the register. “Will this be cash or credit card?”

  “Card,” Sully said as he pulled it out of his wallet.

  “If you want to sign a card to go with the flowers, you can pick from these,” Myra said, pointing to the little rack on the counter.

  “No card, I’m handing them to her in person.”

  Myra pulled up a new screen on the computer. “Your name, sir?”

  “Sully Raines.”

  Myra gasped. “You’re the man who saved Melissa Dean’s life, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “This is wonderful. I’m glad to meet you. Everybody loves Melissa.”

  Sully smiled. “I’m finding that out, but I’m not surprised. She was a sweetheart when we were kids, and she’s only gotten better with age.”

  “You knew each other! Wow. Then you must have been really frantic when you were trying to get her out of the burning car.”

  “I’d only arrived in town about an hour before it happened. I didn’t know anybody here, and I sure didn’t know it was her until we were in the ER. The last time we’d seen each other, we were thirteen.”

  “Oh my! What an amazing story. If these are for her, please give her our best.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Sully said, and then they finished the purchase.

  He made the drive back to Melissa’s house slowly and carefully, and he was happy to see her car in the driveway when he arrived. He got out carrying the vase, and then instead of using the key she’d given him, he rang the doorbell.

  When Melissa opened the door, her eyes widened in delight.

  “Delivery for the prettiest woman in Blessings,” he said.

  She laughed. “I think you must have the wrong house.”

  “Nope. I know exactly where I am, and these are for you. Where do you want me to put them?” he asked.

  “I think here on this table in the foyer. That way I’ll see them all the time, coming and going.”

  He set them on the table, then turned around and hugged her.

  “Does this mean Elliot gave you good news?” Melissa asked.

  “He gave me news,” Sully said, and felt the knowing of meant to be when he kissed her.

  Melissa’s heart fluttered from the gentleness of the kiss, but she was dying for information.

  “But what news? Did he know where she was?”

  “That man talks around a subject more than anyone I’ve ever met. He told me my birth father’s name, thinking I already knew.”

  “Oh my gosh! What is it?”

  “Marc Adamos. I never found the name on any papers, but now I know.”

  “And your mom? What did he say?”

  “He told me not to leave Blessings.”

  Melissa frowned. “But what does that mean, exactly? That she’s here? Then where?”

  “He just kept repeating, ‘Don’t leave Blessings,’ so I’m not leaving.”

  Melissa laughed and hugged him. “Don’t expect me to be sad about that.”

  “He also said you were my soul mate and wished us a long and happy life together.”

  She gasped. “Did he really say that?”

  Sully nodded.

  Melissa sighed. “Well, it took us long enough to find each other again. Maybe that is why it was so easy to fall back into this.”

  “Works for me,” Sully said, then kissed her again until he heard her moan. “The feeling is mutual.”

  Melissa felt like her whole body was humming—like someone had turned up the energy in the room.

  Sully saw her shiver. “Are you afraid? Don’t be afraid. This is not anything to act on until we’re ready.”

  “Afraid? Of you? No, Sully. I just don’t know what to do with what I feel.”

  “Then don’t do anything. When the time is right, there won’t be any confusion. That I can promise.” He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s all good, love. It’s going to be all right.”

  “I feel like a forty-something idiot. This should not be so hard,” she muttered.

  He chuckled, and when he did, she started to push away, then felt his heartbeat. Without moving, she put her other hand on her own. Their heartbeats were in rhythm.

  “What’s wrong?” Sully said.

  She reached for his hand and put it over his own heart, and then put his other hand on hers.

  “Feel that?” she asked.

  “Feel what… Oh, wow! We’re in sync.” Then he laughed. “I love this.”

  “I know,” she said. “It’s pretty amazing. I adore the roses, and I adore you, too, Sully Raines.”

  “Is this where I sweep you off your feet and take you to bed, or is this where we go eat pie?”

  Melissa burst into laughter, and once the joy bubbled up, more kept coming, and she laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

  Sully grinned and then put his arm around her and led her to the kitchen.

  “I think it’s pie.”

  “Just because you went to see a psychic doesn’t mean you’re turning into one.”

  He stopped in the middle of the kitchen floor. “Are you saying it’s not pie?”

  “Not pie. Cake!”

  “You and your sass,” Sully said, and kissed the laugh right off her face.

  Chapter 9

  Barb Holland and her family arrived at the funeral home ahead of the scheduled visitation. She had given specific orders that the casket would be opened only for the family to view and closed for the public, and she wanted to make sure that order was being carried out.

  Their so-called friends had shown her what they thought of Niles, and the last thing she was going to do was put him on display. He was to be cremated after the service, and she was taking his ashes with her back to Dallas.

  And per Barb’s request, she and her family arrived at the funeral home in full array of their wealth and status, knowing the people who had betrayed Barb’s friendship would be taken aback.

  Her daddy, Jake Austin, was standing tall in a black western-style suit and gray alligator boots. And his turquoise bolo tie was starkly beautiful against his snow-white dress shirt. Aunt Belle’s hair was as silver-white as her brother Jake’s, but hers was coiled and coiffed and tastefully sprayed into an immovable helmet. She was in a black Vera Wang sheath, red Jimmy Choo heels, and dripping diamonds from her ears, around her neck, and on her fingers.

  Brother Bobby was sporting clothing similar to his daddy, but instead of a turquoise setting in his bolo tie, his was black obsidian mounted in Navajo silver. His wife, Wynona, was also in black, wearing silver Jimmy Choos and a single diamond on her finger the size of a quarter. The dangle earrings were diamonds, as was the choker around her neck.

  Barb’s cousins Frank, Eddie, and Waylon were brothers from the Houston side of her family, and they, too, were wearing black western-style suits and boots. The family as a whole was striking. They were Barb’s payback to the friends who’d broken her heart. Shame them into silence. Dare them to say one denigrating word about Niles. And if they did, Wy and Belle were waiting to step in with a razor-sharp comment and a smile.

  But it was Barb the people knew, and it would be her they would remember best long after this ordeal was over. The updo Ruby had suggested had changed her entire appearance. From the smooth cap of dark hair pulled away from her face to the soft fall of curls topping her head like a crown, she was elegance personified.

  Her black dress had a mandarin collar and three-quarter-length sleeves, with a hem that ended just at her knees. Her heels were Louboutins, and the dashing red soles for
which they were known were obvious only when she walked.

  She was wearing her mother’s diamonds, as well as the ones Niles had given her over the years. With her hair up, her earrings, which were two-carat studs, caught the light every time she turned her head. She had six diamond tennis bracelets on her right wrist, along with the emerald-cut diamond in her wedding ring on her left hand and her mother’s diamond rings on her right. Without shoes, Barb was just shy of six feet tall, but in her red Louboutins, she stood eye to eye with both her daddy and her brother.

  “Mrs. Holland, visitors will be arriving in a few minutes,” the director said. “Is there anything else you need, or anything I can do for you or your family?”

  “No, but thank you for asking,” Barb said.

  “Of course,” he said, pausing to straighten the floral casket piece and then slipping out of the room only moments before the first guests arrived.

  “Sugar, when one of your so-called friends comes in, just point them out. Wy and I will handle anything that isn’t proper,” Belle said.

  “Yes, I will,” Barb said, and gave her aunt’s hand a quick squeeze. “I don’t know what I’d be doing right now without all of you with me.”

  She was dreading the first arrivals, and as fate would have it, the first couple to arrive was Don and Retta Durrett.

  “Well, shit,” Barb muttered. “Both of them bad-mouthed Niles, and Retta made me cry.”

  Belle’s head went up. She caught Wy’s eye and then patted her hair, just to make sure every strand was still in place.

  The Durretts did a double take when they saw Barb and her family.

  “Well, lordy,” Retta whispered. “Barb said she came from money, but I didn’t expect this.”

  “Just flashy Texans,” Don muttered, but he was secretly envious. He didn’t know anything about Retta’s little visit to Barb the day Niles died, nor did he know his own wife had outed him for bad-mouthing Niles. He was just expecting to be received as the old friends they were. “Barb, we are so sorry. This is such a tragedy,” Don said.

  Barb looked at the both of them without responding, then began introducing them to her family.

  “Daddy, this is Don and Retta Durrett. They were friends from the club. Niles golfed with Don.”