New Growth (Spook Hills Trilogy Book 2)

by Menard, Jayne

  “She doesn’t want to talk much about the kidnapping, at least not to me. She is much quieter than she used to be and more fearful. She wants to be with me even more than before. We each go to counseling twice a week with back-to-back sessions. Sometimes we may meet with the doctor at the same time.

  “Strangers scare her. I see her recoil when the phone or doorbell rings. A couple of nights she has woken me up whimpering and crying in her room. I either sleep on the floor in her room, or she comes into bed with me. It has only been two weeks, but for her sake, I hope she can put it behind her before too long.”

  Mathew nodded. “If I can do anything to help her, just let me know.”

  “Keep stopping by and include her in conversations. Maybe we could all walk around the vineyard together. I think you are her white knight and like with Lenny, she feels safer when you are around.”

  “I hate to bring this up tonight, but I think I should recap what the San Francisco CARD team leader told me today.”

  “Okay,” she said nervously as if even to talk about the kidnappers could bring their return. “I had an update last week from the FBI. Is there more?”

  “They tracked the guy who delivered Susannah that night. He and whoever else was in the car with them drove into San Francisco and left the car in a parking lot, then they hailed a cab and went to the home of a reputed mob boss. The FBI encircled the house, pulling in a couple of SWAT teams with sharpshooters. Several mobsters were killed. Three others, plus three family members were taken alive that night, along with the mob boss. Thankfully they waited long enough before storming the house that the mob boss had moved the five million into his safe. Having done that, he was caught red-handed.

  “They also followed the directions Susannah gave them and after several wrong guesses, they arrived at the place where she was held. It was in the basement of a so-called gentlemen’s club which housed facilities for prostitutes, gambling and peddling drugs.”

  “Oh my god!”

  “We are lucky that they wanted that five million and kept Susannah away from all that.”

  Callie had turned pale and sat wide-eyed staring at him before saying through gritted teeth, “This was John Henry’s cousin, wasn’t it? He went there and ran up the debt.”

  Mathew nodded, not wanting to say that her husband had gone to the same bordello.

  “John Henry went there too, didn’t he?” Callie asked in a tight voice. “Does he owe them money?”

  “He did go, but we think only the once when he hooked up with his cousin. I haven’t heard that John Henry owes them any money.”

  “This cousin knew about Uncle Rick’s money, didn’t he? I never met him, but I remember John Henry alluded to having a black sheep in the family.”

  Mathew bit his lip to keep from characterizing John Henry as a second rogue in the family. Instead he kept to his agent’s voice and said, “We’re not sure when he found out about Rick’s financial situation. He might have known for some time or he might have learned about it from John Henry that afternoon they were at the so-called club. At any rate, the FBI made arrests at the club and shut down the facility. They did find evidence that Susannah had been held there by matching DNA from her hair on her clothes to hair found in the basement room.”

  Callie shivered, and Mathew got up to put a throw around her, even though it was fear and nerves that made her cold. Then he sat back down and took one of her hands in his.

  “I know this is hard for you to hear, but I thought you should be aware. So did the FBI. They continue to work on shutting down other operations that they can ferret out from the mob bosses’ ring. That cousin could serve time for his role in this, I suspect.”

  “Will Susannah or I have to go to Court? I don’t want to put her through that.”

  “You and John Henry may have to be deposed. It is possible that Susannah may have to answer questions in a deposition as well, but the FBI will try to avoid that. They caught the gang red-handed with the ransom after all. Rick and I will testify.”

  He handed Callie her glass of wine. “The money will be wired back to me and to Rick next week, so you can rest easy about that. The FBI will keep what they put up.

  “Sorry to start the evening off like this, but I thought it best to talk about it here without the danger of Susannah overhearing. She’s okay over with Rick and Sassy, right?”

  Callie nodded. “And thank you for lending Lenny to us. I’m not sure how much sleep the poor man gets. I know he does night patrols. With the gang in custody, I guess he can move the trailer back here.”

  “Let’s give it another week,” Mathew said. “He said he is ready to move up full time to work at Spook Hills. Do you have things to bring up here from California?”

  “Some that I will put in storage up here, plus our clothes and stuff. I’m putting the house on the market.”

  “If you don’t want to go back to California right now, make up a list. Lenny will meet a moving company at your house. You’ll need to get it cleared with your attorney.”

  “You are all so kind to us! I will pay for the mover and for Lenny’s time.”

  “Let’s work that out tomorrow. For tonight, can we move on to more pleasant topics and enjoy this lovely evening?”

  Mathew topped up their glasses of wine and then sat back in his chair, watching as the sun sank towards the horizon. Callie was quiet, sunk back into her own thoughts. Mathew wanted to give her some time to process their conversation.

  “I adore the setting here,” Callie said at last, breaking the silence. She shook herself and arranged the throw into a shawl, sitting straighter in her lounge chair and trying to look more optimistic.

  “We were lucky that Rick knew about this property. I was so down in the dumps that winter after getting shot up on my last FBI case. Ivy pulled me out of it by getting me to read about vineyards, then she set up a call for me with Rick who she knew from some business dealings. That led us to here.”

  “The view is gorgeous this time of day. Steve used a talented architectural firm for the house.”

  Mathew smiled to himself, glad that Callie felt able to move away from the kidnapping, at least for a time. “Steve did the preliminary design of the house, the stonework and the garden layouts. The architect polished Steve’s computer depictions into blueprints and made the whole project harmonious. Ivy took on most of the finishes inside and the gardens. The house is like them as a couple.”

  “Steve’s rugged austerity and Ivy’s warmth,” Callie said. “What will you do with the old house?”

  “I want to one day incorporate its country charm into a bigger home,” Mathew said.

  “Did you draw up a plan?”

  “Pencil drafts of the outside is all. Want to see?” he asked.

  She smiled, nodded and took a sip from her glass. Mathew asked her to spread Bucheron goat cheese on the crostini while he went downstairs to bring up his sketches. Showing the drawings to Callie made him both tense and excited. Even though it was premature, he pictured her in the house. He came back with his sketch book opened to the front prospect, pulled a wicker hassock over next to her and began talking to Callie about the layout.

  “Oh Mathew, the concept is perfect, like a house in a New England Home magazine. Today's houses lack such rambling allure,” Callie said. She paused to trace a finger lightly around the pencil image of the existing structure. Then she used her hands to block it out to only show the new part.

  “I like the way you are using the old homestead as a wing of the bigger, new house,” Callie said. “Its generational ambiance will enhance the new structure making it into a home. What will you do with it?”

  “Den and office below with a guest suite above,” Mathew said, feeling relieved that she liked his vision of the planned house.

  “Are you from New England? Is this like the house you grew up in?” she asked.

  “Yes and no. I am from Connecticut. Back there my father constructed an immense contemporary home up on a r
ise. The house stood handsomely in a mid-century modern way, all steel and glass. Still, I always admired those traditional New England houses. They appear warmer and more gracious. White clapboard should clad the house along with dark green or black shutters or a light gray with navy trim might blend better with the environment here. That stone wall serving as a border between the lawn and the driveway will be the blue-gray granite stacked here at Steve’s house and down at the vineyard gate. That will give our two properties cohesion,” Mathew said. Cautiously he flipped to the back of the house.

  Callie sat contemplating the sketch for a full minute before turning to him and smiling. “The windowed wall is astonishing, but I like the house, especially the way the views will open up to the hill behind it. It will be comfortable and fetching without verging on the overly dramatic. Is it possible to blast out the whole back wall of the house for windows?”

  “That’s what the architect and contractor will have to figure out.” He turned the page to show his notion of the landscape behind the house. A broad band of turf went up the hill, with rows of grapevines running away on the right and up behind the barns on the left. Callie giggled in amusement at his outlined playhouse.

  “You want a family?”

  “If all my dreams work out.”

  “I can picture you here as a family man,” Callie said, tapping the sketch with her finger. “You are so good with Susannah.”

  Mathew smiled at her but held back, turning instead back to the drawings. “What do you think of the setting for the house?”

  “If I may suggest a couple of changes, terraced flower and herb beds along the sides with the big sweep of lawn down to the patio will be inviting,” Callie said, as she curved her finger along each side of the grass and then pointed to a spot on the back of the house. “A spiral staircase off the second story balcony might be a sweet idea. How about a fountain as a focal point in the middle of the lawn, with a curving rim for dangling feet in on a hot day?”

  He delineated the suggestions, leaving the detail for later. They talked for a few more minutes about the house and went to cook. Callie prepared the salad, while he did the steaks and finished the sauce. The way Ivy laid out the menu for him, each dish came together easily once he finalized the tricky, flavorful entrée. After dining, they took bowls of ice cream with berries with them for the walk up to the new tree house to delight in the sunset. The corgis ran gaily along with them, scooting out quickly, then pausing to sniff for scents and scurrying off again.

  As they walked, he felt Callie’s closeness with her shoulder sometimes brushing his. At the foot of the stairs to the tree house, he stopped and turned to face her.

  “Callie, I want to be here for you while you sort your life out. Do I dare hope that one day you might think of me as more than a friend?”

  She held his gaze with her steady, earnest expression. “I’m not ready now. You are right about that. Susannah goes to counseling twice a week, and I need to find my true self again after my time with John Henry. Her recovery and mine may take months or even years. John Henry took so much away from me, and I let him. My passivity troubles me the most.”

  She paused to stare at the sun as it set over the Coastal Range. “Now I find myself all splintered on the inside. My desire to break away and come alive encourages my optimism, even if I retain little confidence and self-esteem. First I must focus on Susannah and make sure she can deal with the aftermath of the kidnapping, not that I want to hover or be intrusive.”

  She walked up the steps, and Mathew followed. He pulled a couple of chairs out on the upper deck. Before they sat down, she touched the soft skin next to the left side of his lips and said, “Mathew since the first time I saw you, you drew me to you. Let me put my old life in the past and embrace the potential of this new life and then perhaps . . .”

  “We can develop a relationship built on love and respect.”

  “Like Sassy and Rick.”

  “And like Ivy and Steve.”

  He tugged her close and held her, keeping to his self-commitment not to kiss her no matter how much he desired to brush those well-formed lips of hers with his. He wanted her healing to be only months and not years. The more he came to know Callie, the more he wanted her. After escaping from her husband and their bad marriage, she seemed less stressed. He longed for her psychological recovery to accelerate as the weeks passed.

  Callie woke the next morning with the thrill of knowing thoughtful, handsome Mathew wanted her and would give her time to find the missing parts of her soul. She pushed herself up on the pillows to savor her recollections of the time with Mathew. The evening before meandered into more than Callie expected and yet he stayed a total gentleman, allowing her a better understanding of his attitude towards her.

  She wanted them to discover each other as friends with the promise of becoming more. Right before the gathering of grapes started, she decided to ask him to go with her and Susannah for a morning at the zoo. Despite her need to become whole after her years in what she now accepted as a loveless union, she yearned for more attentions from Mathew.

  The scholar in him appealed to her. His love of Latin and English words was integral to him, but not to wield the words as weapons the way John Henry did to demonstrate his intellectual superiority. Mathew’s love of language was an entrancement with how words sounded, their derivations, and their meanings. He collected words the way her uncle accumulated choice bottles of wine, then shared them like treasures with friends and family.

  Since moving back to Oregon, she decided it would be best for Susannah, and for herself, to stay with her Uncle Rick and Aunt Sassy. Their house was large and sprawling, and her aunt and uncle seemed delighted to have the two of them around. Susan was enrolled in the local school, and Callie would drive here there and pick her up each day.

  Her Uncle Rick was involving her more with running the vineyard. Callie found herself wavering on studying for a doctorate in Fine Arts. The flowing fields of grapes wrapped around her as if the slightly scratchy leaves formed a warm wooly blanket providing a refuge where she could come to grips with her issues, recover and grow.

  After breakfast Callie walked with Rick through the estate’s cellars where their wine aged before stopping in a small office. Once there, they reviewed the chronicles of the annual crops with entries for each numbered oak barrel, its source, the vintage, and any tasting info. Rick first explained the inventory and showed her how to understand the handwritten logs.

  “Would you consider computerizing your records?” Callie asked.

  “Add that challenge to your tasks for after crush,” Rick said, nodding at her meaningfully.

  “I am not a technical whiz.” The years she had missed by not working left her without the skills for automating the recordkeeping. Even so, she remained glad she had devoted time to Susannah in her formative years.

  “Talk with Steve,” Rick said. “He plans to put software in place next year. He calls himself a technogeek and those two buddies of his up in Portland founded a technology startup. Ivy ran a big services operation that relied on complex programs. Lots of resources next door.”

  She nodded, reluctant to reveal how little she understood about computers.

  “Callie, I’ve been considering your role here,” Rick continued. “How about signing on as my general manager? The vineyard will pay you a small salary, and you will accrue equity in the estate. If all this works out, over time you could progress to a full partner. When I’m ready to spend more time lingering over sunsets, you will take over the operations.”

  “I have no business know-how,” Callie said, as the slight bit of self-confidence she gained from splitting up with John Henry crept away.

  “That I can teach you. You learn quickly. You love Lindquist Estates, and I want to leave this place as a legacy. Of all my diverse business ventures over the years, this one gives me the most satisfaction. I will pay for you to get an advanced degree in viniculture.”

  “Shouldn’t y
our children do this?”

  “Callie, they don’t give a darn about my life work. Their eyes are focused only on how much money they will inherit. They don’t love this place, the vines or the wines produced. You do. If we are lucky, Susannah will want to sign on too when she grows up. Just so you know, I have earmarked the bulk of my other business interests and investments to be left to them, once Sassy and I are both gone. Some smaller bequests will go to relatives of Sassy’s.

  He surprised her by his offer to take her into the business. While Rick thought her capable, she found herself to be woefully inadequate.

  “What will your children say?” Callie asked.

  “Over the past year, I proposed this deal to each of them. Neither one wanted to work with their old man for modest remuneration while betting on the future. I gave them a chance, but they declined. End of story.”

  Callie remembered Mathew asking her the question about what Callie wanted. While John Henry’s disdain had eroded her sense of self-worth, Rick presented her an opportunity to earn her way into this business. His astuteness at making money meant he based this proposal on more than sentimental reasons.

  She turned to her uncle and smiled. The day seemed to brighten around her. “Yes, definitely yes. Why are you so good to me?”

  “You mean so much to me, you could be my daughter, even though you are my brother’s child. I vowed to look after you, but I did a damn poor job of it letting you stay married to John Henry. Finding out about the living hell of your life with that man made me angry with myself. Time for me to help the sun to shine on you.”

  He moved away from her to blow his nose loudly. “Now before I am blubbering like an idiot, let’s shake hands on this. Next week, our attorney will draw up the papers and numbers for you to peruse. Callie, having you and Susannah come back home makes me and Sassy relieved for you both. We are so happy to have you with us.”