by Kym Roberts
I was surprised to realize that her confession was exactly what I wanted to hear, and I smiled to reassure her. “Tell me, what can I bring you the next time I visit?”
The next words that came out of Isla’s mouth, however, were exactly what I didn’t want to hear. “Eve, honey. I so desperately want to see that little Princess of mine. Could you bring my granddaughter to see me?”
I nodded, too afraid to say anything that would upset her and me at the same time.
“But you must be careful,” she said and lowered her voice as she furtively glanced toward the door. “There is something evil going on here, and I’m afraid for her safety.”
“Why would you be afraid for Princess?” I asked.
“She hasn’t been by to see me in a while. They say that’s a mortal sin.”
The way Isla said mortal sin literally sent shivers up my arms. It reminded me of my encounters with the Judge in my early years, and Joan that morning. Was everyone obsessed with my wicked ways?
“Who’s they?” I asked.
Isla looked over her shoulder, leaned over the table and—
Frank walked in like he owned the place. “You two young ladies need to join our karaoke night,” he said with a smile so big, I swore I didn’t notice his nose at all.
“I think you’re confused, old man. This isn’t your room.” Isla stood and pointed to the door.
“It’s okay, Isla. Remember, this is Frank. He’s a friend who lives here,” I explained.
Isla looked at me and then looked back at Frank. I could see she was struggling to put the three of us in our rightful position in her life, but she couldn’t quite get the square pegs to fit in the round holes.
It made me want to cry.
“Isla, remember, you told us this morning that Charli was your granddaughter. Right there in the lobby of Oak Grove Manor?” Frank continued to paint the picture for Isla. “I was sitting with Roger and Glenn in the chairs against the wall near the reception desk. Joan and Mr. Andrews were also there when you came out and told all of us the good news.”
Suddenly the surprise visit from Joan at the Barn made a little bit of sense. She’d found out about my relationship to Isla, a relationship I’d denied a few short days ago, and Joan’s inner knight in shining armor wanted to protect one of the residents at Oak Grove Manor. It was too bad her gallant code didn’t recognize the need to protect her own grandchildren and Naomi from her abusive son.
“You told everyone that I was your granddaughter?” I asked Isla, not sure if she’d be able to switch gears and see me as Charli again.
She plopped down in her chair and paused for a moment before she smiled. “I’m pretty proud of you, Princess.”
“I’m pretty proud of you too, Isla. You’re one heck of a role model.”
Isla blushed and made some kind of “pfff” noise as she swatted the air in my direction. “You’re the role model for the younger generation, Princess. You hold your head high.”
I went over and kissed her cheek. “I need to get going, but you really should join Frank and the others for karaoke.”
“I’m not going to screech at all these people,” Isla said, but I could tell a part of her wanted to join in. So did Frank.
“Come on, Isla. Roger, Glenn, and I need a soprano to distract everyone from our flat vocal trio.”
I was guessing Roger and Glenn were Frank’s counterparts of the three amigos, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Isla leading that group of misfits.
Isla looked back and forth between us again, and for a moment, I thought she was lost and didn’t know who either one of us was. But then a smile spread across her face and she agreed to join in on the fun.
“As long as Joan won’t be there. She got mad at my Princess this morning,” Isla said as she stood back up and made her way toward the restroom. “Let me freshen up and I’ll be down there in a jiffy.”
I looked to Frank, wondering what that was all about as the restroom door swung closed.
But Frank knew exactly what Isla had been saying. “Joan can be a bit vocal about the treatment of some of the residents. She doesn’t understand family dynamics aren’t always traditional.”
That one word, traditional, spoke volumes about the limitations of Joan’s views. She’d spoken fondly of the love Frank had for his dead husband, but that didn’t mean she had the capacity to understand it when she was faced with it on a daily basis. “Was she mean to you and your husband?” I asked.
Frank smiled. “No. She didn’t understand us, but she tried. That’s all we could ask of a woman like Joan.”
I thought about what Frank said and didn’t like it. Joan should have been the one to make them feel comfortable, not the other way around. “Maybe I should talk to Mr. Andrews. I’m not sure I want Joan around Isla.”
Frank leaned in to confide in me without Isla hearing in the other room. “No need. Mr. Andrews asked her to take a few days off, but then this afternoon, she came in and took a leave of absence.”
“Seriously?”
“She had some family issues she had to deal with.”
Isla came out of the restroom with her hair neatly secured in a ponytail and a slight glisten to her lips. I was glad to see her attention to her appearance.
“I’m going to go ahead and leave. Is there a treat I could bring you tomorrow? Some fresh strawberries or something from the bakery?”
Isla’s face lit up. “I would kill for one of Franz’s strawberry cheesecake cupcakes.”
I wasn’t quite comfortable with Isla’s phrase choice, but I could totally get on board with a cheesecake cupcake. I kissed her on the cheek once more and headed out the door, nearly running into the Judge.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. When he didn’t say anything but continued to stare at me, I changed my response. “I-I’m sorry, sir.”
The Judge’s expression stayed guarded, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was a bit insecure. Join the crowd. When he finally did respond, his words were stilted and sounded as if they’d been torn from his mouth. “Ava spoke highly of you.”
“She was a good person.”
He nodded in agreement and the silence stretched between us.
“Well, I best be going.”
“Will you be at her visitation?” he asked.
“I wasn’t sure you’d want me there.”
“Isla and I have always wanted you there.”
“You didn’t want to see me born.”
“I didn’t want to see my grandchild struggle the way Ava did.”
“I had two parents. Ava didn’t.”
“She had relatives who wouldn’t take her.”
“Would you have turned me away if my daddy had died?”
“Of course not.”
I nodded. “Neither would my aunt Violet. You should have given my parents a chance.”
“I suppose my own prejudice kept me from seeing that your parents’ child would have been raised differently than Ava.”
“Did you love her?”
“She was a like a daughter to both of us.” He hesitated and then filled in the answer to the question behind the question. “Nothing more.”
I wasn’t sure what else to say to him. I’d never liked the Judge. I didn’t hate him. He just lived a different kind of life than I did. I supposed our moral codes were similar, but mine wasn’t steeped with verses from the Bible. I believed in it, I just didn’t cram it down the throat of every wayward five-year-old I’d had in my kindergarten class. And I was pretty sure the Judge would have handled Jimmy Jr. and Lily much differently than singing “ooga ooga” with them in the truck with the radio on full blast.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
The Judge nodded and said, “Goodbye, Princess,” before patting me awkwardly on the upper arm.
&
nbsp; I left the facility without any more chance encounters other than the old guy in the wheelchair sitting under the front portico. It was the same man I’d seen last week sleeping with his chin against his chest. This evening he was fully alert and in a talkative mood.
“Is that your truck?” he asked.
I looked over at my truck parked by itself in the parking lot. It appeared to be sitting funny, almost listing to one side.
“I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere anytime soon,” he said.
“What’s wrong with it?” I asked.
“I’m not an expert, but I’d say you’ve got two flat tires. They don’t make them like they used to.” He shook his head as if disgusted with the way things were nowadays.
“Thanks,” I said and approached my vehicle. The entire truck leaned to the right, and as I rounded the vehicle, I saw the problem.
The old man was wrong. I was pretty sure they never made tires with six-inch slits in the sidewalls.
Fuzz buckets.
Chapter Twenty-five
My wait for two new tires seemed like forever, but in actuality it was only forty-five minutes. It paid to have a friend who owned a garage. Dean MacAlister was there faster than roadside assistance and he had two used tires to replace mine, which weren’t even good enough to be turned into tire swings. He changed the tires lickety-split and I was on the road home and phoning in a police report before it got too late.
Mateo called before Princess and I went to sleep, and we talked until midnight. It was nice to have someone to talk to who wasn’t involved in the history of my family drama. He understood my anger, my confusion, and didn’t try to tell me what I should feel. Nor did he judge me for my childishness. I wanted to start over with each of them, I just wasn’t sure I could. The one person we didn’t talk about was Cade. That was just a bit too weird.
He told me that he’d written Jimmy Sr. every traffic violation in the book, including driving with a suspended license, which had caused him to have to post bond. Jimmy had wanted to complain about the officer “with the giant ego” not listening when he said his kids had been kidnapped by a woman in a truck, but was later informed by the service of an order of protection that his wife had custody of the kids and he was not allowed to see them until his court date. At that time, Jimmy had more than a few choice words for that officer.
It wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last time Sheriff Espinosa was accused of having an oversized ego. I tended to like it on the man. At least when we were on the same side of the law.
I’d brought Tweetle Dee and Tweetle Dum up to my apartment before I put my head on the pillow. I was growing used to the music they created and liked the way their beautiful songs tended to relax me as I drifted off to sleep. Princess chose to sleep in her bed, with a towel she’d dragged from the dirty clothes over her head. She was a bit irritated with our nighttime serenade, and I was thankful not to have to change my sheets again so soon. We each liked our space, and I was glad she was somehow able to read when I needed it and when I didn’t.
Tonight I needed it, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I was asleep. My alarm went off too soon and I slapped the snooze button, desperately wanting just a few more minutes. Tweetle Dee and Tweetle Dum had another idea. They didn’t sing, they chirped in an annoying cadence that sounded like my alarm.
I groaned. “All right already.”
Princess snorted and rustled in her bed. She wanted no part of me, my alarm, or the birds. I packed them up and headed toward the kitchen. I made some toast, changed their paper, and gave them fresh food and water. Then I took a quick shower before heading downstairs with my tweetle stereo to start my day.
We only had one more day before the literacy drive was over. Daddy was coming into work at noon, and at that time I was going to go to Ava’s and pick up the books she’d collected for the drive. It was going to be a questionable legal situation since no one knew if Ava had a will and she had no real family to speak of. She had, however, allowed Naomi to feed the birds and take care of her houseplants. As far as I was concerned, Naomi had more say over Ava’s house and her possessions than anyone else. I wasn’t sure how the law would view it, so I kept my mouth shut about my plans to Mateo and Daddy. The Judge wasn’t even in the equation.
I was busy boxing up more donations when the front bell dinged and the doors swished open. I turned to greet our customer and saw Cade making his way into the store. He hadn’t seen me yet, and I watched his moment of uncertainty as he stood in the entryway in his button-down shirt rolled up to bare his strong forearms. Today he wore jeans that were more expensive than Wranglers but looked just as good, if not better. His boots were the well-worn ones he wore when he worked on his ranch, not the ones he wore to political events. And his hair was slightly mussed. He glanced behind the register, then scanned the main sales floor and tearoom before he spotted me in the back. His smile was slow, and nothing like the political one I always saw him giving to other people in town. This was the Cade I knew and had loved.
“Hi,” he said.
My response was brilliant. “Hi.”
“What are you doing?”
“Boxing up books.”
Yeah, this conversation was right along the lines of the first one we had after we’d recognized each other as boyfriend/girlfriend material.
“Are you still mad at me?”
“No.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s no reason to thank me. I recognized the tough spot you were in. I wouldn’t have done it the way you did, but I wouldn’t have done what my mom and daddy did either.”
Cade nodded and looked around the store. “It’s not very busy today.”
I wasn’t sure this conversation could get any worse. “Nope.” I started working again.
“Scarlet called me this morning.”
I rolled my eyes. The best thing about having Scarlet as a best friend was having someone to confide in. The worst thing about having Scarlet for a best friend was that she tended to do what she thought was best for me, which may or may not conflict with my opinion. In this instance, the conflict was real.
“Oh, what did she have to say?”
“She said you’re planning on going over to Ava’s house today by yourself to pick up the books for the drive.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Let me help, Princess.”
“What? Are you going to hire some of the boys at the Tool Shed to help load the boxes?”
Cade ignored my smart tone. “No, I thought I’d go over with you. We can use my truck and load the books into the bed.”
“That’s not necessary. I got new tires last night.”
“I heard.”
“I’m sure it was just a random act of crime.”
“Random acts of crime follow you.”
I shrugged and closed the box I was working on. “They have to follow somebody.”
“I also know you don’t want to tell Bobby Ray or Mateo you’re going over there. It would be a shame if it slipped out and they found out about it.”
I stood up and gave Cade my best evil eye. “Are you blackmailing me?”
It was his turn to shrug. “I suppose I am.”
My lips pursed together of their own accord. “Fine.”
A smug grin spread across his face.
“But we’re taking my truck. Not yours.” The last thing I needed was for someone to see Cade driving me away from the bookstore. Everyone would think we were going out on a date. That would be the beginning of way too much drama that I didn’t need. Or want.
I closed my eyes and chose to believe the lie.
The front door opened with a ding and a swish and Daddy walked in. It didn’t take him a beat to find us. “Hi, Princess. Cade, what brings you here?”
“I’m taking Princess out to lunch, if that
’s okay?”
Daddy looked a little surprised. I stepped up and stomped on Cade’s foot in the process. I heard him grunt but Daddy didn’t, nor did it wipe the smile off Cade’s face. It just crinkled it a bit.
“Cade volunteered to help me drop off some of these boxes at Department of Family and Protective Services. The fire department has a couple boxes as well, and I wanted to swing by to pick them up.” Our volunteer fire department only had two boxes, but now was as good a time as any to retrieve them. “I thought it would be best to have our mayor be a part of the donation. If we have time, we’ll go through a drive-thru,” I said.
Daddy was genuinely appreciative of Cade’s assistance. “Thank you, Cade. I wasn’t going to be much help lifting these boxes with my bum arm.”
“Not a problem. You know I’m more than happy to help.”
“Yeah, it will be great for an East Coast press release.” My tone held more sarcasm than my words, if that was possible.
Cade started to object, but it was Daddy’s rebuke that made me feel bad. “Princess, your mama didn’t raise an ungrateful, snot-nose brat.”
“Sorry. I know.” I turned to Cade feeling like a five-year-old again. “I’m sorry, Cade.” And I was. My own feelings were causing me to treat others poorly, and I had no reason for it.
“It was no less than I deserved.”
Cade taking the blame did nothing but make me feel worse. “Let me get the two-wheeler and we can take these out to the truck. We may have to make two trips since I don’t think they’ll all fit in one.”
“Why don’t we load these into my truck, and I can drop them off on my way home.”
I accepted without any further discussion. Getting all of Ava’s boxes in the back along with what we had and what the fire department had was going to be difficult. This way, I didn’t have to worry about losing part of the load.
By the time we loaded the two-wheeler up four times and put the boxes in the back of Cade’s truck, we were both visibly sweating. My shirt was stuck to my back and his was sticking in all the right places. I looked away before my mind wandered to all the wrong places.