I hope that things work out well for your family, Annie told her, patting her arm gently. She hoped that Melody wasn’t planning on rushing into another relationship with Bobby, especially if he did have a mean streak.
Both women were surprised when the man who returned to the sitting room wasn’t Bobby. Instead, Bo Michaels filled the doorway.
Sorry to interrupt, but I was just wondering if you knew who’s driving the black pickup truck out there--they’re blocking me in and I wanted to run into town for a little bit this morning. He smiled broadly at the two women, and Annie couldn’t help but think that this was the most relaxed the man had looked during his entire stay.
Oh, that must be Mr. LaRue’s truck, Annie replied. He should be back any minute now and we’ll just have him move it for you.
A shadow fell across Bo’s face. Mr. LaRue?
Bobby LaRue, Melody added. He’s here visiting me.
Bo nodded slowly. Annie thought that she saw him tense slightly, but he hurried to assure her that all was well. Oh, well, there’s no rush. I don’t want to interrupt your visit, Miss Wallace. I’ll just take care of some business up in my room for now and leave once he’s gone. It really isn’t that big of a deal.
Annie thought that his behavior seemed a little odd, then she realized that he'd probably been disturbed by the LaRue name. She realized that Bo must have thought it odd that the truck belonged to someone with the same name as the dead man next door. However, she was confident that Mr. LaRue wouldn’t mind moving his vehicle at her request.
Bo turned in the doorway, ready to head upstairs, but stopped short.
Excuse me, Bobby LaRue’s voice drifted in from the hallway. He slid past Bo, giving him a brief nod as he did so. Halfway across the room, he turned back and looked quizzically at the songwriter. I’m sorry, but you look so familiar...are you from around here? Do I know you?
Bo flashed a quick, friendly smile. No, I don’t think so. I’m visiting from Nashville. He started to retreat, but Bobby spoke again.
You just look so darned familiar, but I can’t place your face. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. You didn’t grow up around here?
Bo smiled again, but it was less friendly this time. I’ve lived in Nashville since I was a kid, he replied, trying to appease Bobby’s curiosity.
You might know his face from television, Melody suggested. Mr. Michaels here is a famous songwriter. He’s even won awards, she added.
Bo blushed. I don’t usually go bragging about that sort of thing, he said, scratching his ear.
Bobby nodded slowly. I’ll bet that’s it, he agreed. You just look so familiar, I knew I’d seen you somewhere before. He stepped closer to Bo and stretched out a hand. Bobby LaRue, Mr. Michaels. Pleased to meet you.
Mr. Michaels was wondering if you wouldn’t mind moving your truck, Bobby, Melody added. I think it’s blocking him in and he wants to go into town.
Bobby smiled broadly. Sorry about that, man! Let me run out here and move it real quick--I wasn’t too sure where to park…
Annie rose from her seat. Let me show you, Mr. LaRue. It is confusing--I keep meaning to get some of those chains to line the parking area, or maybe some traffic cones, she laughed. It took me ages to get around to even getting new gravel out there.
Annie and the two men made their way outside to the gravel parking area. She directed Bobby to a better parking spot, then she watched as Bo drove down the long driveway and north towards downtown Coopersville.
Can I let you in on a secret? Bobby asked her as they stood on the porch watching Bo’s car disappear in a cloud of red dust.
Annie looked a little confused, but nodded.
My Uncle Frances used to have a son named Aidan, he was a year older than me, but we spent most of our summers together playing out in these woods. Heck, we even broke into your house once on a dare, Bobby confided, though I reckon it wasn’t your house back then.
Annie laughed politely. No, I guess it wasn’t, back then, she admitted. It seems that most of Coopersville used to hang out around here, she added. I understand it was the exciting thing to do, explore this old place.
Bobby nodded. Oh, yeah. Well, that and the older kids used to bring their girlfriends here to make out, he added with a mischievous grin. I might have kissed a girl or two inside that rambling old place, he confessed.
Annie wasn’t sure how to respond. Whatever happened to your cousin, if you don’t mind my asking? The
mysterious Aidan LaRue was beginning to become some sort of historic myth almost as tragic as the story of Rose Cooper, the young woman for whom the plantation had originally been named.
I’m pretty sure he’s dead. Bobby said this without the least bit of emotion. In fact, it’s been pretty much given as an accepted fact in my family for so long, I couldn’t even tell you the last time one of us spoke about him.
Why do you think your cousin is dead? she asked, turning to go back inside the house.
Well, for starters, he was a serious druggie who never cared if he lived or died. He used to take all kinds of risks when he was using, like hanging out on the railroad tracks over on the other side of town, dodging trains and stuff like that. He snorted. He just up and left town one day, didn’t tell anybody he was leaving. We all reckoned maybe he wound up dead somewhere of an overdose.
Annie wondered how an entire family could just give up on one wayward teen. How on earth could they simply let him disappear without a trace and not try to track him down. Wherever Adrian LaRue was, if he was indeed even still alive, he was probably better off away from these ‘family’ members.
Annie led the man back to the sitting room and excused herself to get on with her chores. As she left Melody and Bobby to their awkward conversation, she decided that the toilets could wait. Instead, she made a beeline to Rory’s tiny house, hoping that he was still inside so she could spill the beans about everything that she’d just heard while in the company of her guests.
14
What Joshua Saw
Rory was doing a little cleaning of his own when Annie knocked on his front door. He greeted her with a spray bottle in one hand and dirty rag in the other, a confused smile on his face.
Is this a work visit or a social one? he asked as he made a sweeping ‘come inside’ gesture with one arm.
Both, Annie replied without hesitation. I’m avoiding work by paying you a social visit, does that count? She flopped down on his sofa and patted the seat next to her. Come, sit, and let me tell you the latest gossip on our guests.
Rory sat the spray bottle and rag on a nearby end table and sat beside Annie. Let me guess, one of them died?
Annie let out an exaggerated sigh. No, everyone’s still alive, she replied, but we’ve got another visitor who happens to know Melody pretty well.
Rory frowned. I thought she didn’t know anyone around here except for--
Except for her baby-daddy, Annie interrupted him. Apparently, Joshua’s father changed his mind and came to see Melody for a little sit-down chat at our place. Oh, and that’s not even the weirdest thing, she continued.
I’m not sure that’s exactly weird, Rory pointed out. Maybe the guy just realized he was being stupid for not helping out his own kid.
Well, apparently he’d been busy trying to help out our late neighbor, Mr. LaRue. The father of Melody’s child just happens to be Frances LaRue’s nephew, Robert. Or, Bobby, as he prefers to be called.
Rory let out a low whistle. Well, now, that sure makes things more interesting. Did he know about his uncle’s death?
Annie nodded. He seemed to, so I guess Emmett must have gotten ahold of Mr. LaRue’s brother after all. I wonder why he hasn’t called us and told us about speaking with the man’s family? I mean, it would have been nice to know that they might come knocking on our door, right?
Rory nodded thoughtfully. Have you called Emmett? I mean, it’s probably a good idea to just let him know that the dead man’s family have come calling on you.
Well, he wasn’t really calling on me, he was calling on Melody, who also knew Mr. LaRue. Apparently, she was supposed to be his home health aide several years ago but he ran her off at gunpoint. His nephew had been the one to try and get him help after some illness, but the old man was so stubborn he ran the pair of them off with his loaded shotgun.
Sounds about right, Rory mused. I wonder why Melody never said anything about knowing the old guy?
Maybe she just wanted to forget about him. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t mind putting that old buzzard right out of my mind. She sat in silence for a moment, then spoke her next thought aloud.
There was definitely some tension between Bo Michaels and Bobby LaRue, Annie asserted. LaRue was insistent that he knew Bo, which kind of seemed to make him uncomfortable. Mr. LaRue was just so pushy about it, she added, shaking her head. I don’t know, I just thought it was odd.
Well, Mr. Michaels may not want lots of people knowing that he’s staying here, you know, on account of his being something of a minor celebrity in the country music scene. Maybe he’s the modest type, the kind who’d rather be behind the scenes instead of onstage, Rory sniffed. Or maybe he’s got something sinister to hide. Nobody that rich and handsome is going to be single and unwilling to attract the attention of a hot widow woman.
Annie’s face flushed. Rory Jenkins! What are you implying? I mean, for starters, he’s younger than both of us.
Only by a few years, Rory replied. And I’ve seen the way he smiles at you, he teased. Maybe there is something he’s hiding--like a secret crush on the lady innkeeper.
Now Annie’s face was fully red. She did find Bo attractive, but she was not interested in him, she told herself, and she was surprised to find that she really meant it. It had been a long time since she’d been really attracted to someone physically. Her marriage had lost its luster when Devon was little, and she’d been so busy being a mother and housewife that she’d forgotten what it felt like to have that butterflies in your stomach kind of crush on someone, but she knew that, as kind as Bo had been to her, she certainly didn’t feel that way about him.
He is good-looking, I’ll give him that, she said finally, "but I’m not interested in him and I guess I’ve made
that pretty clear. Besides, I would have thought that Melody would be more his type. After all, she’s closer to his age, has a few more curves in the right places, and certainly seems to make you grin whenever I see her smile at you."
Now it was Rory’s turn to blush. She’s a nice lady, and she’s very friendly, but I don’t think she means anything by it. Besides, he quickly added, she’s really not my type.
Annie cocked one eyebrow. Oh, yeah, and what exactly is your type?
Rory leaned closer to Annie and smiled at her. His breath tickled her face. If you don’t know that by now, Annie Purdy, you’d have to be dumb as a bunch of rocks. Since I know for a fact that you’re one of the smartest gals in town, I’ll let you work it out for yourself.
He leaned back, grinning like a fool as Annie fought the urge to hit him--or maybe it was an urge to do something else. Her lips tingled slightly and her face felt warm. There was definitely a fluttering happening somewhere behind her belly button.
I think I’d better go check on the guests and get my own cleaning chores done, she said lamely. She felt all sorts of conflicting feelings at that moment. Part of her wanted to stay and waste an afternoon chatting with her best friend about plans for the barn renovation she wanted to tackle. Another part of her wanted to kiss Rory Jenkins right on the lips like she had all those years ago back in high school.
No part of her actually wanted to leave the tiny house, but her head reminded her that there was work to be done and guests to attend to.
Duty calls, Rory agreed, and as he opened the front door for her, Annie could swear she saw the same hint of regret dancing in his soft blue eyes.
***
Bessie and Joshua had relocated themselves to the kitchen in order to give Melody and Bobby a little more privacy, but she still managed to get a good earful of their conversation before she left the sitting room. She’d been surprised to find that her initial impression of Melody Wallace had been dead wrong. Melody wasn’t some simpering, whimpering woman who was ready to run crying to the father of her child just so she could get some help paying her bills.
It embarrassed Bessie to admit that maybe she’d rushed to judge the woman too quickly. As she entertained the young boy in the kitchen by making some simple sugar cookies, she thought back to when Annie had brought David home to meet Bessie and Robert. It shamed her to admit that she’d been wrong about David, too, though in an entirely different way.
David Richards had been smooth, sweet-talking, and well-heeled. He’d seemed so charming, like a fairytale prince that hid ridden in from Pennsylvania on a white horse. Boston University had been a big step for Annie, but it had been a bigger one for Bessie, who let her only child head off into the wider world all alone to attend the school that would change her life in so many ways. Annie met David during her freshman year at the school, and Annie claimed that she knew he was ‘the one’ months before he’d actually proposed to her.
David’s family wasn’t a close-knit one like Annie’s, and Bessie should have seen the signs before she welcomed the scoundrel into her family. David didn’t respect the importance of family the way that he should have, and his betrayal stung Annie hard when she found out about it. Of course, the coward had died before anyone could call him out on his cheating ways. Bessie often wondered about the irony of life, how a cheater like David could die of the same thing that a wonderful man like Bessie’s own husband, Richard, had died from.
Heart problems, in so many different ways, she mused, were the bane of her family’s existence. David had died of a massive heart attack, but he also had a heart that was shriveled and selfish, at least in Bessie’s opinion. He’d been an absent father and a barely-there husband for most of his marriage to Annie.
Richard had also died of a ‘major coronary event,’ as the attending physician had informed her, but his heart had been as big as the moon, full of love and kindness. As she watched Joshua press plastic cookie cutters into the now-sticky dough, Bessie hoped most sincerely that the little boy would have a life filled with the kind of love that Robert had given to Annie and herself. All children deserve that, she believed.
Annie appeared in the kitchen, arriving through the back door that led outside to the barn and, just beyond, to Rory’s little handyman cottage. Bessie grinned at her daughter’s slightly flushed faced.
Been anywhere nice? she asked with a grin. I thought you had important things to do, she added with a chuckle. How’s Rory today?
Annie rolled her eyes. Oh, for goodness sake, Mother! Yes, I went to see Rory. I needed to talk to him about something. She wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt defensive about visiting Rory at his place. She had nothing to defend, and even if she did, she was a grown woman for crying out loud.
I wanna see Rory, Joshua whined. Can we go play with the doggie?
Oh, maybe in a little bit, Bessie promised him. Right now we have to wait for these cookies to bake, then you can give some to your mommy.
Bessie lifted a baking sheet filled with cookies and slid it quickly into the oven. Joshua was already losing interest in the ‘waiting’ part of this activity, and he’d found a pen Annie had left on the table.
Do you have any paper? the little boy asked, waving the pen around like a magic wand.
Annie held out her own hand. I do, and I also have some crayons, so why don’t you let me have that boring old pen and I’ll get you something a whole lot better?
Joshua practically threw the pen into her hand and sat as patiently as he could while she opened the door to the cellar and turned on the light. Inky darkness disappeared, replaced by a bright light that made the otherwise creepy space seem almost cheerful. Annie had replaced the old light bulbs with brighter LED ones and had installed several battery-po
wered lights along the wall that lined the stairs. She’d had the misfortune of finding herself locked in the cellar once during a power outage and had sworn that she’d never find herself in that predicament ever again.
She found the crayons and paper where she expected them to be and she smiled as she discovered a handful of coloring books, too. Grabbing two, she scurried back upstairs and into the kitchen, turning the light to the cellar off only after she had passed through the cellar door.
When did you buy these? Annie asked, waving the books for Bessie to see.
I didn’t, Bessie replied. I thought you bought them. They just showed up here, in the kitchen the other day. I asked Melody if they belonged to Joshua, but she said they didn’t. I figured you must have picked them up at the store for our youngest visitors, she explained.
Annie shook her own head. Not me. Maybe Rory? She thought it was odd, but not necessarily worrisome, so she offered the books to Joshua, who took one with glee.
Color with me? he asked, his large eyes pleading with Annie.
Oh, I really ought to be getting my work done, she began, but her mother cut her off.
Nonsense! Did you know that coloring is good for stress relief? Now, you just sit there and relax with our young friend while I work on dinner. Those beans sure smell good, don’t they?
Bessie turned to her cooking before Annie could protest. Picking up the box of crayons, Annie resigned herself to her coloring ‘therapy’, tackling a picture of a teddy bear with gusto.
I’ve got one of those, Joshua said, pointing to the bear. The ghost gave it to me.
Annie gave him a funny look. Ghost? What ghost?
Oh, I don’t know who the ghost is, but I saw it through my window and then the next morning I got a new teddy bear outside our room, here in your house. He colored his own picture, which was a train with a large, smiling face.
You saw somebody out the window? Annie asked, almost certain that the boy’s active imagination was running overtime.
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