Jenny sighed. "Hardly," she admitted. "But you're not me, and we're not talking about Josh. What did Jake say when you asked him for time to think about it?"
Kate's lips curled into a tiny smile. "Just what you'd expect him to say. That it doesn't matter to him and he's not going anywhere unless I throw him out, which I have no intention of doing."
"Okay, I am officially confused," Jenny said. "Why, exactly, did he buy you an engagement ring?"
"He just thought I might like being asked,” Kate replied softly.
"Oh dear God," Jenny said, squeezing her sister's hand. "That may well be the sweetest, most romantic thing I have ever heard in my life."
"Yeah," Kate admitted, still looking down. "Pretty much."
“Well," Jenny prodded, "did you like being asked?”
Kate finally looked up, her eyes open and vulnerable. “Part of me likes it,” she said, “and the other part of me wants to run like a scared rabbit.”
Jenny sat back, shaking her head. “God help these men who try to take up with us Lockwoods," she said. "They hoe a hard row with us."
"Joe Bob made out okay with Mandy," Kate pointed out.
"He got lucky," Jenny said. "She's only half Lockwood."
Kate regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "Suddenly you're finding the Baxters easy to deal with?"
Jenny laughed. "To answer that question, dear sister, we need more coffee," she said, getting up and carrying both of their cups to the counter.
"Uh-oh," Kate said. "Is coffee all we need?"
"For now," Jenny answered, returning to the table. "But I've had a whole weekend to think about this and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I've been wrong and right about Josh."
"Come again?" Kate asked, blowing across the rim of her cup to cool the steaming liquid.
"Well, try this one on for size," Jenny said. "What if he was working for Marino and then had a change of heart? That would put a different spin on things, wouldn't it?"
"A change of heart because he fell in love with you?" Kate asked.
Jenny scowled at her. "You don't have to say it like that," she scolded. "I am not without my charms."
Kate shook her head. "Women make no sense," she said. "I know I am one, and I ought to understand, but no sooner do we give an old boy the gate than we want him to still be wanting us even though we don't want him any more."
"Okay. I'm not even sure I understood that sentence, much less the concept behind it," Jenny admitted. "But seriously, nothing Josh did from the time you were shot until the day he left this ranch points to him doing anything but helping us. I think it's possible he did have a change of heart."
Leaning back in her chair, Kate considered the idea. "Okay, that's fine," she said. "I'll buy your theory up a point, but what about now? Josh is hanging around with Rafe Jackson and that black-widow spider, Retta Thornton. How do you explain all that?"
"I can't," Jenny said. "Josh is going to have to do that. I think I should try to talk to him."
Kate shook her head. "Normally, I would agree with you," she said, "but not this time. "If you talk to Josh and tell him about our suspicions and he is bad to the bone, you've just showed all our cards. The only advantage we have right now is that none of these people know we're on to them."
"Damn it," Jenny said. "When are we ever going to get past secrets in this family?!"
"I hope we are past them," Kate said. "This isn't trouble of our making. If Josh was involved with Robert Marino in some way, that's all his doing, not ours. I know you'd like to get this business all cleared up with one honest conversation, but how would you even know Josh was telling you the truth?"
Jenny looked away, swallowed hard, and then met her sister's gaze. "I shared that man's bed for more than a year," she said roughly. "I cannot believe every single part of our relationship was a lie. No one is that good an actor. He loved me, Katie. I know he did."
Kate sighed. "That's what it looked like from the outside, too, honey," she said, "but that doesn't mean his kind of love was the love you needed. And it doesn't mean that he came on this ranch expecting to meet you. I've been doing some thinking, too."
Jenny reached for her coffee, trying to wash away the lump in her throat. When she could trust her voice again, she said, "When, exactly, are you not thinking?"
"Pretty much never," Kate admitted.
"Okay. Go ahead," Jenny said. "What have you come up with?"
"We don't really know the full extent of what was going on out here before Daddy killed himself," she said, "just that Marino was trying to get Baxter's Draw. When Daddy committed suicide, he threw a monkey wrench in the whole business. And he was damned smart about how he did it, sticking a thousand dollar felt hat on his head in hot weather and putting a bullet through it."
Nodding mournfully, Jenny said, "I think ruining that hat must have hurt Daddy a hell of a lot more than a bullet to the head." They both let a beat pass and then burst out laughing.
"We are terrible," Kate said. "I don't think you're ever supposed to laugh about somebody killing himself, much less when it's your own father."
"Oh, come on," Jenny said, wiping her eyes. "You know as well as I do that if Daddy got up to the Pearly Gates and St. Peter asked him what he had to say for himself, the first words out of his mouth were, 'I can explain about the hat.'"
Still chuckling, Kate said, "But you see, that's just it. Daddy wasn't here to explain about the hat. He trusted us to figure everything out. He just didn't think it was going to take this long or that we'd manage to peel back quite so many layers."
"What do you mean?"
"All we really found out two years ago was that John Fisk watched Daddy commit suicide," she said. "I think Daddy knew damn good and well that Marino would kill John for failing to get Baxter's Draw for him. In Daddy's twisted mind, costing George his son was the ultimate act of revenge before he checked out of this life."
Jenny's mouth set in a hard line. "It was a cowardly thing to do," she said. "All that thundering talk about the strength of the Lockwoods, and then Daddy gets a diagnosis he doesn't like and kills himself because he can't face it, but he makes damn sure he hurts somebody else in the process."
"ALS is not a pretty way to die," Kate said, "but I agree with you. Daddy literally killed two people with that bullet. He didn't have to live with a debilitating illness and he signed John Fisk's death warrant."
"If that's true," Jenny said, "Daddy was a hell of a lot colder than I thought he was. But do you think he intended for us to find out about the cave?"
"We'll never really know," Kate said, "but I am sure that he wanted us to know about Alice Browning. Beyond that? Daddy couldn't have predicted the can of worms that would get opened up over Baxter's Draw. He certainly didn't know Alice was living in town as Elizabeth Jones, and I doubt he expected us to be asking questions about a poker game that happened in 1937."
"Wait a minute," Jenny said, looking horrified. "Are you trying to tell me you think there's something else about that damned cave we don't know yet?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Kate said. "Think about it. We've been assuming that whatever Rafe and Retta are up to with this supposed land deal, they need Josh because he's a Baxter. What if they really need him because he still has access to the cave and an ax to grind against us?"
"God," Jenny said, covering her eyes. "Now what do we do?"
"I think we have to try to find out the truth about that poker game," Kate said.
"Short of digging up our grandfather and asking him," Jenny said, "exactly how are we supposed to do that?"
"By bringing together the two best sources of information on local history and gossip that we have at our disposal," Kate said. "Elizabeth Jones and Ida Belle Banners."
"Bringing together?" Jenny asked uncertainly. "You mean in the same room?"
"I do."
"Will Elizabeth agree to that?"
"All we can do is ask her, but I think if it will help us, yes, she
will. "
Elizabeth Jones did agree to help, and to Kate's surprise, Ida Belle demanded no additional information when Kate asked her to "meet with a friend of the family to help us with some unanswered questions."
The day before the street dance, Kate, Jenny, and Mandy picked Ida Belle up at her home and drove to Elizabeth's house behind the cemetery. Hortencia greeted them pleasantly for once, and to the sisters' shock, Ida Belle and the usually sour housekeeper carried on a conversation in fluent Spanish as they all walked the short distance to the front door.
They found Elizabeth in her usual place in the parlor. As the group came into the room, the old woman rose stiffly to greet them. Ida Belle stepped forward and held out her hand. "So," she said, "we meet at last."
"Oh Lord," Jenny groaned, rolling her eyes. "Here we go again."
To their utter astonishment, the two elderly women laughed. "Elizabeth and I have been corresponding about local and regional history for years via electronic mail," Ida Belle explained. "I had so hoped to have a chance to meet her in person some day, but I have always been respectful of her desire for privacy."
"Please," Elizabeth said, "all of you sit down."
As they each found a chair, Kate asked Elizabeth in a cautious tone, "Just how much have you told Miss Ida Belle?"
"I'm afraid I've left a great deal out," Elizabeth admitted. "If you will allow me a few minutes, I'll remedy that now."
Succinctly and without reservation, Elizabeth related the entire story of the night she "died" as Alice Browning, and the elaborate cover-up that created her reclusive existence.
Ida Belle's expression didn't change as she listened intently. When Elizabeth finished, Ida Belle said, "Your mother was a resourceful and determined woman. I should not have liked to cross swords with her."
"That's it?" Mandy asked. "You don't have anything else to say about the whole story?"
Ida Belle fixed her with a probing look through her gold-rimmed spectacles. "My dear child, when one passes the age of 90, it takes a great deal to achieve any element of shock."
Kate, smothering a laugh, said, "Okay, now that we've covered Elizabeth's history, let me explain why we're all here today."
Both of the older women remained impassive during Kate's narrative. When she was finished, Ida Belle said, in clipped tones, "Jedediah Williams was an imbecile. His so-called theology was a thin veil for his bigotry and his hatred of women. While I am sorry his daughter lived such a difficult upbringing, it would appear she inherited her father's vengeful and vindictive spirit." She turned to Elizabeth, "Have you been approached to sell any of your land?"
"Her land?" Kate asked with surprise. "You own land, Elizabeth?"
"Approximately 20,000 acres in various parts of the county," Elizabeth said placidly.
"But, that's twice the size of the Rocking L!" Kate exclaimed.
"Yes," Elizabeth agreed. "I was never quite certain that your dear father wanted me nearly so much as he wanted the real estate I would have inherited. We Texans can be quite mercenary in matters of the land."
Ida Belle clucked in the back of her throat. "Mercenary is a harsh word, Elizabeth," she said. "It is a fortunate woman who holds the deed to the family ranch in her own name. It makes for a much more stable marriage."
"Oh," Elizabeth said, "I quite agree. The McAllister women always understood that." When she was met with blank stares, she added, "My mother's people. We followed a matrilineal tradition."
Mandy frowned. "Matri-what?" she asked.
Elizabeth smiled at her fondly. "In my family, the daughters were always the ones to inherit the land and the money. In fact, many of them never married and if they did, their husbands died suddenly at quite a young age."
Mandy started to say, "Oh, that's so . . ." and then the unspoken implication behind Elizabeth's statement dawned on her. She searched desperately for a word and finally said, in a weak voice, "practical."
"We've always thought so," Elizabeth agreed. She turned to Kate. "Am I correct in my assumption that you girls would like to know more about the infamous 1937 poker game?"
"Yes, ma'am," Kate said. "We think there must have been more to the transfer of Baxter's Draw to our grandfather than Daniel Baxter being foolish enough to raise on a pair of fours."
Ida Belle let out a snort that sounded very much like something Horsefly would say. "There most certainly was," she agreed. "Alice's great uncle, Simpson Browning, went missing a few days before that poker game, and the night of the card game itself, Sod Fenton was killed on New Wreck Road."
"You say that as if all of the events were connected," Jenny said. "Were they?"
Elizabeth said, "There is no proof of that. Only supposition. Ida Belle, perhaps you will share the rumors with them?"
"I will share the facts with them," Ida Belle huffed. "I do not trade in rumors."
"Of course not, dear," Elizabeth said smoothly. "Forgive my clumsy choice of words."
Mollified, Ida Belle said, "Simpson and Benton Browning were twin brothers."
Kate half raised her hand as if asking for permission to speak and Ida Belle paused. "My father and Benton were friends, weren't they?" Kate asked.
"Yes," Elizabeth said. "Grandfather was one of the most popular English teachers in the history of our high school. Although he was dead by the time your father and I would have been of an age to take his class, Langston knew my grandfather well through me. Grandfather kindled Langston's love of reading the classics. I was quite touched when you told me Langston had grandfather's desk, although I have no idea how he acquired it."
"Langston bought the desk from the high school," Ida Belle said. "He made an enormous donation to the building fund in exchange. I have been told that he examined every desk in the building until he found the correct one. There were, apparently, ink stains on the wood that he recognized."
Alice laughed. "Yes, grandfather was a bit of a menace with a bottle of ink. The top of his desk looked rather like a piece of impressionist art. Langston and I were in his classroom one afternoon after school. We could not have been more than ten. Grandfather spilled an entire bottle of ink. It covered one corner of the desk. The mark would have been unmistakable."
Kate smiled. "The ink is still there," she said. "I have some books sitting on top of the stain, but I'll show you the next time you're at the ranch."
"I should quite like that," Elizabeth said. "I loved my grandfather dearly, and so did Langston."
"Benton and Simpson were both lovely gentlemen," Ida Belle said. "The whole community was devastated with Simpson went missing. He was an historian of note and quite taken by the pursuit of archaeological inquiry. He was most persuasive in his ability to gain egress to land throughout the county so that he might search for fossils and other artifacts."
"What happened to him?" Mandy asked.
"No one knows for certain," Ida Belle said. "The entire Browning family was vacationing on the coast. Simpson chose to stay behind. No one ever saw him again."
"This was all before I was born, you understand," Elizabeth said, "but it was quite the family legend. Grandfather never truly recovered from the loss of his brother. As is the case with identical twins, they were quite deeply bonded."
"Okay," Kate said, "that's the official story, but you said there were rumors?"
Ida Belle fixed her with a disapproving frown. "There were plausible suppositions based on facts that pointed to a different explanation of the disappearance."
Kate nodded her head contritely. "Thank you for clearing that up, Miss Ida Belle," she said. "Would you mind explaining those suppositions to us?"
"That is what I have been attempting to do," the old woman said curtly. "If you will cease these interruptions, I will continue."
Everyone in the room nodded obediently and Ida Belle continued. "Although Simpson did not tell anyone where he was digging in the days before his disappearance, those people who did speak with him described him as unusually animated. The fact that Clod Fe
nton was killed in the immediate aftermath of the disappearance and a remote section of the Baxter land fell into Lockwood hands led to the speculation that Simpson had been working in the draw where some mishap befell him. The suggestion was that he might have been murdered and his body hidden to protect the culprit."
"Who was supposed to have killed him? Kate asked.
"That has long been a matter of debate," Ida Belle said. "But the most likely suspects are, of course, your own grandfather, Daniel Baxter, and Sod Fenton. There is more, however. Although Simpson's car was never seen again, approximately 10 years after the disappearance, a 1937 license plate was found lodged in a pile of debris after a flood on the South Llano River. The plate had been issued to Simpson Browning."
Kate frowned. "So, the theory is that someone killed Simpson Browning, hid the body — I am presuming in Baxter's Draw — and then dumped the car in the river?"
"Correct," Ida Belle said.
"But that doesn't help us point a finger at anyone since both Lockwood and Baxter land has acreage on the South Llano."
"Also correct," Ida Belle agreed.
"What does Sod Fenton have to do with all this?" Jenny asked.
"Sod worked for Daniel Baxter," Elizabeth said. "While the wreck might indeed have been a simple accident, there has always been talk that he was killed before he could lose his nerve and report the killing to the authorities. What made his death all the more sad is that a few days later, his wife gave birth to a daughter whom she named Pauline. Sod's given name was Paul."
"Pauline?" Kate asked. "As in Pauline Fisk?"
"Yes," Elizabeth said. "Pauline Fenton was a spinster with no chance for marriage until Langston took your mother away from George. He and Pauline were married in a matter of months."
"Do you think she would know anything about her father's death?" Jenny asked.
"That would be a question to ask Pauline," Ida Belle said. "I should think that would be rather obvious, Jennifer."
The Lockwood Legacy - Books 1-6: Plus Bonus Short Stories Page 88