by Tina DeSalvo
“I really love this idea, too.” She moved toward Jewell and hugged her, the ashtray still in her hand. “I want to talk to Abby about it some more.” She backed away, preparing to leave. “Let’s plan for the three of us to discuss this next week when I get back. I’ll e-mail you a meeting date and time.”
The idea of a storefront location to facilitate sales was very exciting…and for charity! If she could just get her finances straight and be in a position to do this…she could at least advise Elli in her efforts, right? Even from prison.
Oh, God. She didn’t want her mind to drift to negative thoughts of prison. Not yet. She sighed. Maybe it was time.
Elli looked at her a moment, studying her face but didn’t comment when she had obviously hearing her sigh.
“I’ll put some ideas in writing to bring to the meeting.”
“Awesome,” Elli said. “I trust you and Beau to take care of everything while we’re gone.” She started to jog toward the stairs, stopped and turned. Her laughter was instant and Jewell started laughing with her, without knowing why. How could she not? She was feeling light-headed and excited not only about helping with the consignment store, but with Elli wanting her to be involved with it. It felt like they were old friends, sharing in a joke, a happy moment. Yet, they had been strangers just four days ago. They were two very different-looking women; one very tall, blonde, and lean, and the other tall, brunette, and curvy, both laughing, enjoying a moment together in the middle of a dim, dusty, spider web-laced attic. Jewell hadn’t expected that this would be one of the treasures she’d find in the attic.
“I like you, Doc,” Elli said. “It’s why I have to give you a heads-up about Tante Izzy. She is well intentioned, but I heard through the family gossip-line that she was talking matchmaking for you."
“Oh, dear God.” Her cheeks flushed with heat. “Does that gossip-line work in reverse? Can you send messages back so Tante Izzy hears that I don’t want a match with anyone?”
“Not even Beau?”
Jewell’s head jerked up.
“Oops. Did I say that out loud?”
“Do I really have to answer that? It was a joke, right?”
“Um…” Elli shrugged. Looked at her watch. “I have to go. The beach awaits.”
They said their good-byes, and once Elli left with her new treasured ashtray, the dim light of the barn attic seemed dimmer. Some people just had a natural light within them that lit up a room.
Jewell put the matchmaking Grand Bienvenu Madame out of her thoughts and let the idea of the consignment store in Cane fill her head. She had a sweet rattan rocker and painted wrought iron table and chairs that would be perfect for the store. The items had been in her inventory for some time, and she hadn’t been able to sell them. They were great finds, but she hadn’t found the right buyer for them. She could part with them. She just wished she was in a financial situation that allowed her to give the store more of her inventory. It would be fun to give homes to her finds. If only everything worked out with her court case and she cleared her name. Then she might soon be financially solid again.
She had to call her attorney. Her life was in a complicated, troubled holding pattern until her legal problems were resolved, one way or another. She would ask him if he’d gotten confirmation on the trial date.
Jewell pulled her phone from her back pocket, called her attorney, then sat on the floor. “Hello, this is Jewell Duet. I’d like to speak to Rick Neal, please.” Her cheek began to throb where the phone rested on the swelling. It was tender; she knew it had to look like a plum.
“Hold on, please.”
She didn’t have to wait long before she was connected. “Hello, this is Mary Powers, may I help you?”
“Yes, Mary. I’d like to speak to Mr. Neal.”
“He’s unavailable.” Jewell heard the hollow clicking sound of someone typing on a computer. “May I help you? I’m his law clerk. I assist him with his cases. I know we haven’t met. I’m new to the firm, but I’m very familiar with your case.”
“No. Thank you. I want to speak to Mr. Neal. He’s my attorney.”
“He’s not available. He’s got a huge case that’s consuming a lot of his time right now. So I’m helping out with some of the other cases.” She sighed. “I really can help you. I’m very familiar with your case. If I can’t answer your questions, I’ll consult with him. I promise.”
“So he’s not actually handling my case?”
“Uh, well, I mean, he is, but I am…” Her voice started sounding younger and younger to Jewell. She’d probably taught students her age. “Let me explain, Miss Duet…”
“Dr. Duet,” she corrected, feeling abandoned, annoyed, scared. “No, let me explain. If I’m not getting the full attention of the attorney I hired, I expect my bill to reflect that.” Jewell hated that the financial concerns were as crushing as her worries that she wasn’t getting good representation. The lack of both could send her right into jail. “I’m sure you are a very intelligent and capable law clerk, but if I get billed Mr. Neal’s fee when you’re doing his work, that is unacceptable. I expect to be refunded the overcharges.” Mary tried interrupting a few times, but Jewell was not having any of that. “Tell your very busy Mr. Neal that for me, okay? And, tell him that his lack of attention to my trial is totally unacceptable.”
“Wait. Miss...I mean, Dr. Duet,” the clerk stammered, searching for the right words to repair what damage had been done. If Jewell wasn’t so upset over her lack of representation, she might have felt sorry for young Mary.
She felt sorry for herself more. At the end of the day, Mary would be reprimanded for how she’d handled her, but she’d still be employed. Jewell, on the other hand, might be in jail and Mimi in a nursing home because she didn’t get the experienced legal help she required.
“I didn’t mean to imply you’re not being fairly represented by our firm. I don’t want you to think that…”
“That the attorney I hired has passed off his contractual responsibilities to someone who is fresh out of law school and new to his firm?” Jewell closed her eyes, took a calming breath. “Reduce my bill, Mary, and have Mr. Neal call me with the confirmation of my court date. Good day.” She hung up the phone.
Dear Lord, what was she going to do now? Force an attorney who was already marginal to begin with—and was now too distracted with another case—to pay attention to her? That didn’t seem like it would help her in any way. She’d get a half-hearted effort from him at best. She certainly couldn’t just hope that young Mary-the-law-clerk-with-no-experience was capable enough to keep her from going to jail. She had to give this all some thought. She had to quickly figure out what she was going to do with her day in court scheduled for early next week. She also had to finish the job for Elli and Ben.
Jewell was good at organizing, categorizing, analyzing. She had to do that with her problems. She’d do that tonight after Mimi went to sleep. Dinner and dancing with Beau could not happen. Heck, it couldn’t happen for many reasons. She lay back on the hard, dusty wooden floor, looking up at the ceiling rafters. She had to stay focused on getting this job done and staying out of jail. Jewell typed a text to Beau.
Sorry. No dinner and dancing.
He responded immediately. I’m sorry. I didn’t receive your text. Something must be wrong with my phone. See you at seven.
She typed: Seriously…No.
I can’t hear you.
“Ugh.” Jewell groaned in frustration. Then, she started to laugh. “Your phone isn’t working? My eye.”
Her phone began to ring. “I’m serious, Beau, I can’t go to dinner with you.”
“Um, okay.” It was Ruby, not Beau. She definitely had to give Ruby her own ringtone.
“I’m sorry, Ruby. I thought you were Beau.”
“Yeah, I got that.” She laughed. “You should go to dinner with him. He’s fun and a terrific man.”
“Can’t.” She sat up. “I’m still in the barn, but I can pick up Mimi in thirt
y minutes. Is that okay?”
“Actually, she and Tante Izzy are napping right now,” Ruby said. “I’m not sure why. They slept through the whole movie, too. As soon as the lights went out they both started snoring.” She laughed. “Those two are really something. You’d think they were sisters with the way they argue over everything, then love on one another like they hadn’t disagreed the moment before. I’m enjoying spending time with them.” She rushed on. “Big John and I want to take them to the American Legion bingo tonight at six. It’s our turn to call Lucky-7, Four Corners and Blackout.” She laughed. “I love to call Bingo. We have so much fun. Anyway, I’ve cooked a shrimp stew and fixed a green salad while they were sleeping, so we’ll eat first and head right over afterwards.”
“Mimi loves bingo, but she’ll need help.”
“I’ve got it covered. Pearl’s coming with us. Between her and me, we’ll help her watch her cards.” Ruby mumbled something, then spoke up. “It’s really a good setup. The lighting’s good and the sound system’s good too. And you know, when Mimi heard us talking about bingo, she told us how much she enjoyed playing with the nuns she used to work for at the convent. She also told us,” Ruby snickered, “that the nuns used to cheat.”
Jewell laughed. She’d heard that story a thousand times . “Oh, Ruby, I just don’t know if she should go,” she said, feeling torn. She’d been having almost daily episodes with sundowning and the resulting anxiety that went along with it. “I hate for her not to go since she really loves bingo. She hasn’t played in a long time. But…”
“Don’t you worry. We really want to do this.” Her voice was soft and sincere, her Cajun accent rhythmic. “Jewell, take advantage of having good help you can trust and your Mimi likes. I bet you don’t get that very often.”
Never. Jewell sighed.
“Mignon is very social, as you know. She enjoys spending time with people close to her age and she likes knowing she’s not a burden to you.”
“Oh, Ruby, she’s not a burden.” God, she never wanted Mimi to think that.
“She knows that you love her.” Jewell could hear the smile in Ruby’s voice. “No guilt, now. No worries. I have this. With pleasure.”
Mimi did need to spend more time socializing with her peers and other caregivers. If the trial went badly, she would be thrown into a life with strangers, without any preparations. Jewell’s chest hurt. God, she hoped if she was found guilty, the appeals process would be lengthy enough for Mimi not to be forced into that situation.
“Okay,” Jewell finally said, “but call if you need anything. Don’t hesitate for any reason. I know I’ve explained to you about her sundowning before, so I won’t repeat myself, but just be aware it could be a problem. Oh, and Ruby, if she is left alone, she may get a panic attack when she doesn’t recognize anyone around her. Also—”
“We’ve got this.” Her voice was gentle, reassuring. “I will love on her and care for her as if she was my own mother.” Ruby started talking to someone else, telling them that Jewelie said it would be okay for Mignon to go to Bingo. She’d never had anyone call her that nickname before. It made her smile. A very deep male voice answered, but Jewell didn’t understand what he said. “Big John’s here. He’s got a big ol’ grin on his face. He thoroughly enjoyed the ride from the church to Tante Izzy’s yesterday. It was his idea to take the ladies with us tonight.”
“You’re a dear woman.” Jewell meant it. She really liked Ruby. Everyone she’d met in Cane had been wonderful, really.
“Oh, you’re making me honte,” Ruby said, using the Cajun expression for embarrassed. “Now, get ready for dinner with Beau. Wear something pretty. We’ll bring Mignon home to the camper around nine-thirty. I’ll get her settled in bed and stay with her until you get home. Take your time. Big John and I stay up late all the time. We’ll bring a movie with us.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Alors pas,” she laughed, again using a favorite Cajun expression, which she repeated in English. “Of course not. Stay out until the sun comes up if you want. Big John and I have the entire morning free. We only have to go shopping later in the day for the tailgate party on Thursday.” Ruby paused. “Oh. Oh, Jewelie. Did anyone tell you that Steve is planning on tailgating under the family oak at Sugar Mill? There’s a special televised late Thursday afternoon LSU game. We’ll kick things off around two in the afternoon. Steve’s making a chicken and sausage jambalaya. My daughter, Rachel, you haven’t met her yet, is planning to bring a whole bunch of trout and redfish she and some of her cousins will catch at the camp down the bayou tomorrow. We’re going to fry it up. There’ll be a gumbo, potato salad, cracklin’, barbeque grillades and a bunch of desserts.” She laughed. “Tante Izzy and your Mimi plan to make some pain perdu and other desserts tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a feast.” Jewell laughed, feeling Ruby’s infectious joy.
“We love to gather the family under the big oak behind the big house. It’s tradition for us to meet there.” Jewell heard the pride in Ruby’s voice. “Oh, we’ve got an extra TV coming so Mimi can watch something else. We won’t subject a Tulane fan to watch the Tigers.”
Jewell was touched by how easily the family included them into their fold. She would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she was a little bit envious of how close the Bienvenu family was. The love and loyalty was remarkable. And, to think it was en masse. They were special people to open their lives to her and Mimi, especially when many of them knew that Mimi was claiming to have once lived at Sugar Mill, and they really didn’t believe that was true. No one seemed threatened by her.
No one except for Beau.
“The invitation, the extra TV…it’s all so generous.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Her voice was rushed, now. Her Cajun accent was heavier because of it. “Oh, I’ve got to go, Jewelie. The ladies are waking. It’s five, and they’ll want their supper.”
Ruby didn’t wait for Jewell to say good-bye. She hung up.
“Thank you, Ruby and Big John. I have the evening free…to work, now.” She looked at her dusty jeans, the dirt on her arms. She shrugged and picked up her iPad. She’d start by researching the items that needed pricing. The iPad didn’t power up, although it was plugged into her second portable power pack. She’d have to do the research on her laptop in the camper.
“All good,” she thought. It would be nice to shower, get in comfy clothes, fix a sandwich and hot tea, and spend an evening doing what she loved. If her research went well, she might finish the inventory pricing tonight.
***
Beau drove up to the camper and parked in front. He still had Tante Izzy’s truck, but his insurance company had arranged for him to pick up his rental car in the morning. The interior light of the camper was glowing through the tiny windows and shining on the bright silver exterior. He took the light being on as a good sign. Maybe, just maybe, she was ready to go to dinner with him.
Beau really wanted time alone with Jewell, away from her work, away from his family, away from Mignon. Away from the distractions. He wanted to see if he could assess once and for all if she was the scam artist he feared or just a woman down on her luck with a grandmother who thought she had ties to Sugar Mill. He hated that he wished for it to be one more than the other. He was losing his objectivity. Her sharp intelligence, tender sensitivity, quick humor and womanly curves softened his hard edge.
Heart racing and feeling as nervous as he once did picking up his high-school prom date, Beau climbed out of the truck and knocked at the camper door. Jewell didn’t answer. He knocked again. Still, no answer. He turned the doorknob and opened the door just enough to call inside. “Jewell?”
No answer. He opened the door all the way and looked inside. Jewell, wearing a creamy, yellow satin robe sat Indian style in front of her computer. Her beautiful caramel legs were partially exposed where the robe didn’t cover her knees and thighs. Earbuds were in her ears. Her head was bobbing to the beat of whatever
music she was listening to as the towel that was turbaned over her hair tilted precariously with each movement. And she was barefoot. No rubber boots to cover her pretty, slender feet.
Beau smiled.
He walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder at an image of an armoire she had on the computer screen. His senses went on high alert. She smelled of old-fashioned soap, fresh floral shampoo, and best of all, her unique, earthy scent that heated his body faster than extra spicy Tabasco sauce.
“Hi there, Boots,” he said, near her ear. She jumped, her hand flew around, knocking over a hot cup of tea and punching Beau hard in the cheek. He stepped back. “Damn. You’ve got a great left cross, Doc.” He laughed, rubbing his cheek.
“Beau! You scared me to death.” She stood and hastily closed her robe, but not before he got a tantalizing glimpse of her smooth, flat belly and full cleavage. And maybe a tattoo. Oh, hell, did she have a tiny tattoo low on her hip where it would’ve been hidden by her panties if she’d been wearing them? Damn. His breath caught. Was she completely naked beneath the robe? What in the hell was the tattoo of? He stuffed his hands in his pockets. He was tempted to find out. “I could’ve shot you!” She slid open the desk drawer to reveal a 9 millimeter handgun. “It’s loaded.”
He closed the drawer. “What is it with you women in Cane and your weapons?”
“Only a problem for the person who breaks in and enters my home.” She picked up the teacup from the floor, grabbed a paper towel from the kitchenette counter and wiped up the spill—holding the robe tightly closed the entire time.
“For the record, I knocked three times and announced myself before entering.”
“Oh, that must’ve been why I knew you were here.” She tossed the paper in the trash and motioned to the sofa. “Have a seat.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re ready for dinner,” he said, sinking into the soft ’50s-style mustard brown foam sofa. He noticed there was an untouched sandwich on a plate next to her laptop.