The Plan

by Kim Pritekel

  They giggled as they huddled together and wrapped up in the blanket, which helped break the ice, making things far more comfortable. Eleanor was in heaven as she was in a veritable cocoon with Lysette, the world closing down to just them, a car, and a wool blanket. She could feel every inch of the right side of Lysette’s body as they were pressed together side by side. She nearly sighed in happiness as Lysette adjusted her position so she was more facing Eleanor, her right arm wrapped around Eleanor’s back and her head resting on her shoulder.

  “Are you still covered?” Eleanor asked softly, bringing the blanket back up to cover Lysette’s back where it had fallen to the seat.

  “I’m good now,” Lysette murmured. “I love that you let me be such an octopus with you,” she said with a small laugh.

  Eleanor smiled, resting her head against that resting against her shoulder. The arm that was wrapped around Lysette’s body came up so her fingers could run through the cool, silky strands of her hair. “You’re the only person I’ve ever been this way with.”

  “Ever?”

  “Ever.” Her breath hitched when Lysette’s hand rested on her thigh. She could already feel a breast pressed against her side. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” Eleanor asked, needing to get her mind off of where she was being touched, as well as stalling in her own news.

  “Oh!” Lysette said, lifting her head. “As you know, spring break is coming up. We’re going to our house in California, and my parents and I want to take you with us.”

  Eleanor could see, even in the dimness of the car, the excitement in Lysette’s eyes, hear the hopeful tone in her voice. She’d do anything to go, but a lie about a weekend away was one thing, an entire week was a different animal.

  “There’s no way. I mean, absolutely no way,” she said, sorrow in her heart and sorrow in her voice.

  “What could he do to you?” Lysette asked defiantly.

  She met her gaze, hers deadly serious. “Kill my mother.”

  Lysette studied her for a long time, different expressions crossing her face. Eleanor could almost read her thoughts: Is she joking? There’s no way he’d do that. Wait, I think she’s serious.

  “Lysette, he’s making me leave school after this year and marry Gabby,” she said, voice void of any emotion as she had none left to feel regarding that.

  “What?” Lysette whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. “What? How? What did you say? Did you agree to marry him?” she gasped, moving slightly away from Eleanor.

  “Of course not!” Eleanor was stung by the question, by the mere fact that Lysette could even consider that. “What options or choices do you think I have here? Do you think I like having that man in my house? Do you think I like having to duck and weave whenever I’m around him so he won’t cop a feel whenever he can?” Her own tears were beginning, angry tears from so much bottled-up frustration. “I hate this! I hate my father, and I hate William Gabford! I hate the fact that the reason he’s in Colorado is because he murdered two colored men in Texas, and I hate that I’m pretty sure he murdered Samuel!” Finally, the dam broke and everything she’d kept in came out with her sobs.

  “Oh, Ellie,” Lysette murmured, pulling Eleanor into her arms. “God, I’m so sorry.” She rocked her gently, stroking her hair and back. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

  The initial wave of grief, fear, and anger released, Eleanor lost herself in the comforting touch of the young woman who held her. She returned the embrace as her tears slowed then stopped.

  “We’ll think of something,” Lysette said, looking into her eyes and brushing her hair away from tear-streaked cheeks. “I swear to you, we’re going to get you out of this.”

  Eleanor nodded, using the edge of the blanket to wipe at her eyes. “Yeah,” she murmured, feeling hopeless.

  “Ellie, look at me.” Lysette waited until Eleanor met her intense gaze. “I need you to believe me. We’ll make a plan.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Eleanor let out a heavy sigh, tired. For the tenth morning in a row, she was forced to get up at three thirty to get laundry started, then switch over to help her mother with breakfast. Laundry was something her mother used to do during the day while everyone was at the store or school, but Eleanor was now forced to scrub the farmhouse down to Ed’s approval. After that, she would be painting the entire inside, in his words “getting it ready for a nice May wedding.”

  The painting had been skipped in haste of moving back in the house after the flood the previous August. Though it did need to be done, Eleanor was positive all this was nothing more than busy work for her and her mom. She was still going to school, and she was still working at the store, though now she was closing the store nightly, which got her home between six thirty and seven thirty—depending if she got a ride home or not—then she had to get any homework done, eat leftover dinner, and clean it all up. She’d drag herself to bed and start all over the next morning.

  Her saving grace had been seeing Lysette at school. They’d only been back for a few days, but the times they were able to steal away to the bathroom for a lingering hug or when Lysette would steal a kiss or a look across the hall, it made it all okay for just a moment.

  “Eleanor.”

  Yanked out of her thoughts, she turned from where she was cutting up vegetables, amazed she hadn’t lost a finger yet. She met her mother’s gaze from where she stood at the stove, frying bacon. “What?”

  “I need you to take a look at this recipe,” Emma said, indicating the recipe card on the counter near her with a nod.

  Eleanor’s eyebrows drew, and irritation born of exhaustion reared its head; the attitude was evident in Eleanor’s voice. “Mama, I’ve made this same darn breakfast every single—”

  “Eleanor, I need you to read this recipe,” Emma said again, her tone more forceful. The look in her eyes told Eleanor there was no room for argument.

  “Okay,” Eleanor blew out, setting her knife down and accepting the card her mother pulled out of her apron pocket, which confused her. She glanced from the recipe card in her hand to that on the counter and to her mother’s eyes.

  Her mind foggy to add to her confusion, she looked down at the card she held in her hands, surprised to see a handwritten message on it:

  Give this note to your school principal, then come home with Lysette.

  She studied her mother’s face for a long moment but said nothing as the card was taken out of her fingers and replaced with a folded piece of paper. She figured it was the note, so she shoved it into the pocket of her skirt and watched as her mother left the room for a moment, returning without the card. She figured she’d likely set it aflame in the fireplace.

  ****

  “What’s going on?” Eleanor hissed as she was nearly pulled off her feet out the front door of the school, Lysette leading the way holding her hand.

  “We’ve got a meeting,” Lysette said, dropping Eleanor’s hand only when they’d reached her father’s car, which she climbed behind the wheel of.

  Eleanor stood outside the passenger-side door, looking around. “Um, Lysette, you’re not old enough to drive.”

  Lysette snickered from inside as she got the car started. “Who’s going to arrest me?”

  Eleanor considered that for a moment, then shrugged. “True.” She climbed inside and closed the door. Realizing they hadn’t moved, she glanced over at Lysette. “What?”

  Lysette looked at her with such pure, unguarded affection that it made Eleanor’s heart skip a beat. She reached across the seat and took Eleanor’s hand in hers for a moment.

  “I guess I just really want you to know that…that…” Lysette’s gaze dropped to the steering wheel, and she let out a soft breath. “Just that I’m here. Always.” She squeezed Eleanor’s fingers before releasing them and getting the car moving.

  Eleanor studied her profile in the light of the morning and was struck all over again by how beautiful Lysette was. Yes, her figure was stunning, features flawless, al
l the things that had caught Eleanor’s attention and fancy in the first place. But now, many months later, it was so much more. The heart she possessed, so filled with seemingly unending compassion and understanding. Her endless curiosity kept Eleanor on her toes, and the passion that lived in those breath-stealing eyes, well, that nearly felled Eleanor to her knees.

  So much of what she felt for Lysette, she didn’t fully understand nor did she have a word for it all, but she knew it was growing by the moment. Every minute spent with her, every look and every touch drew her in further, deeper. She was a prisoner to Lysette’s whim, and she wondered if that would always be.

  The car pulled up in front of the farmhouse where Davis Landon’s pickup was already parked. Eleanor felt her stomach roil in uncertainty and fear. If her father or Gabby were to drop by the house for any reason, their ship would collectively be sunk, and she had no idea what was even going on.

  “Hey.”

  Eleanor turned to see Lysette looking over at her, the engine turned off and keys in the hand that rested on the seat.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Lysette said, giving her a small smile. “Believe me, okay? Don’t be so worried. You’re far too beautiful to have such a frown.” She caressed Eleanor’s cheek with the backs of her fingers. “Come on.”

  Together they mounted the stairs and entered the farmhouse, the warmth of a healthy fire in the fireplace meeting them, as well as the smell of freshly brewed coffee and coffee cake.

  “Mama?” Eleanor called out, shrugging out of her jacket, as did Lysette, in the entryway.

  “In here, honey,” Emma called out from the direction of the kitchen.

  The two headed in there where Emma, Davis, and Adalyn sat around the table, mugs in hand and plates waiting to be filled with the sweet confection.

  “Girls, there’s boiled water for hot cocoa if you want it, or you can have coffee, your choice,” Emma said from where she sat.

  Eleanor glanced at the two mugs waiting on the counter, then at Lysette, who gave her a little wink before grabbing her mug and heading to the coffee. Eleanor smiled and shook her head before following suit.

  Minutes later, everyone was settled, and Eleanor looked around the table, feeling like she was the only one out of the loop. Hands resting around her mug of untouched coffee, she said to nobody in particular, “So what’s going on?”

  “Lysette told us everything that’s happening, and from what I’ve heard around town, that Kluxer is beyond bad news,” Davis began, accepting the plate with a piece of coffee cake served on it from Emma with a smile of thanks. “There’s no way in hell we can allow this, Eleanor, you being forced to marry that son of a bitch.”

  “Kluxer?” Eleanor asked, handing out the forks from the small pile on the table.

  “Damn straight. Word has it William Gabford is part of that Ku Klux Klan nonsense, and he’s brought it with him to Brooke View.”

  Eleanor looked down at the milky depths of her coffee before taking a deep breath and looking over at Lysette’s father. “I saw them, in the woods. They had horrible robes on and silly-looking hoods with points.” She felt all eyes at the table on her. She met her mother’s gaze.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Emma asked.

  “How could I, Mama? He watches everything we do, listens to everything we say.”

  Emma reached over and gently squeezed Eleanor’s arm before releasing it. “Did you tell your father?”

  Eleanor looked down in shame. “He was there, with Gabby.”

  Emma’s hand came up to clasp in front of her mouth, elbows resting on the table. She said nothing as Adalyn rubbed her back in comforting circles.

  “And,” Davis said softly, “you know he killed some black men?” he asked Eleanor. “Gabford?”

  Eleanor nodded. “That’s what he was bragging to his friend Thomas. I don’t know if he was telling the truth or not, but he said he…” She looked away, bothered by what she was about to say since the day she’d heard him say it. “He said he ‘strung them up.’ The sheriff let him go as long as he left Texas.”

  Davis said nothing for a moment as he sipped his coffee, fingers of the hand not holding the mug tapping lightly on the tabletop. Finally, he spoke, setting the mug down. “I’ve heard some say Ed has changed. He’s said some pretty offensive things in the store within earshot of some customers.”

  “And Samuel,” Adalyn whispered, tears in her eyes.

  Lysette hopped up from her seat between her father and Eleanor and hurried around the table to her mother, hugging her, silent tears running down her own cheeks.

  Eleanor watched, wanting so much to be holding Lysette. Since Samuel’s disappearance and ultimately finding his body just before Thanksgiving, they hadn’t spoken about him. She figured it was too painful for Lysette, and for her, in truth, she was deeply ashamed. She’d always suspected that Gabby at least had a hand in it or had information about it. Now for it to come out into the light of a beautiful, cool January day, it hurt.

  A moment of silence lasted for several minutes before Lysette released the embrace of her mother but stood behind her, hands on her shoulders. “Daddy, tell them what the plan is.”

  “Yes, here’s what we’re thinking,” he said, accepting a kiss to the cheek from Lysette as she passed him on her way back to her seat. “As a family, we’ve been looking at a private school in Paris for her to finish out her high school years. Lysette’s Aunt Brigitte runs a fashion design program that she’s been wanting to be part of for a while now.”

  Eleanor felt the blood drain out of her face at the mention of losing Lysette to some French private school. She wanted to scream, then she wanted to cry. She was on the verge of doing both when Davis continued.

  “I sent a letter to Brigitte after we heard all this,” Adalyn said, indicating Davis and herself. “We heard back.” She pulled a letter out of her purse, sliding it across the table to Emma, who took it and unfolded it.

  Emma read in silence, Eleanor watching, stomach churning. She looked to Lysette, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. “What’s going on?” she asked her quietly.

  “Oh, Eleanor,” Emma whispered, a hand reaching out to grab her hand. “Oh, honey.”

  “What?” Eleanor asked, looking to the Landons. “What’s going on?”

  “Davis, I could never in a million years pay this tuition,” Emma said, her entire soul seeming to deflate as she refolded the letter and set it back in front of Adalyn. “I couldn’t clean enough houses in a lifetime to afford one year.”

  Adalyn grabbed both her hands in hers on the tabletop. “No, Emmaline. Our gift to little Eleanor and to you.”

  “No, I could never—”

  “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Eleanor exclaimed wide-eyed, looking at everyone, anyone.

  “Honey,” Emma said, reaching out to caress her cheek. “They want to send you to the same school in Paris with Lysette. You’ve already been accepted for next year.”

  “There’s more, Emma,” Davis said. “I told Brigitte about your incredible sewing skills, and she wants to bring you on, too, to help with preparation and things for the students’ designs, outfits, whatnot.”

  Eleanor and her mother both looked to him. “Wait, are you saying you could get Mama out of this?” she asked, barely able to breathe, praying she’d heard and understood right. “That you could get her away from this monster?” she added, indicating the house around them and all that it represented.

  Davis nodded. “Yup.” He turned his gaze to Emma, his eyes seeming so full of profound sadness. “Emma,” he said softly, “I let you down the first time.” He ran a hand through his short hair as he looked away for a moment. “We all thought you were in the clear after Earl died, and we never thought that Ed would do what he did. And, well, Josie and I really let you down.” He finally looked at her, his expression pained. “I know Josie has never forgiven herself for that, and now that I can try and get you out of this, I’ll do everything I can
.”

  “Mama,” Eleanor breathed, all the information they’d just been given beginning to sink in. “You could have your own life! We could start over.”

  Emma gathered her in her arms and held her almost painfully tight, mother and daughter crying together. She pulled away just enough to look into Eleanor’s face. “Yes?” she asked her softly. “I’m only doing this with you. Are we in?”

  Eleanor laughed through her tears. “Yes, we’re in!”

  Davis grinned. “That son of a bitch will never find you there.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Don’t forget to pick up your ribbons, boys,” Mrs. Hall called out to the class as they gathered their belongings to head to their next destination. “Let your date for the dance next Friday night wear hers proudly!”

  Lysette glanced over at Karl, who sat two rows over and was already looking at her. She gave him a smile and small nod, raising her arm to reveal the pink satin tied around it. He brought up a hand to pantomime wiping sweat off his brow, making her laugh.

  “I really appreciate it, Lys,” he muttered, stepping up to her as he hugged his textbooks to his side. “The guys’ll leave me alone now.”

  She grinned. “Of course they will, thinking you’re going with me,” she said with sugary sweetness, twisting the pink ribbon from side to side, making sure he saw the part that had his name scrolled in black ink. He smirked. “I have to say, though, I feel like a branded cow.”

  A bark of laughter erupted from his throat as he placed an arm around her shoulders. “You know, you really should find a fella to take you to the spring dance.”

  She scrunched her nose up and shook her head, waving off the suggestion. “I have no desire to go. Besides,” she added with a little grin as they left the classroom to the chaos of the hallway. “I have plans. See ya!”

  “Do I get to hear about him?” Karl called out from where he still stood outside the classroom.

  She turned, walking backward as she called back, “Nope.” With a giggle, she turned and hurried on to her next class.