Chance on Lovin' You

by Eboni Snoe

  Jason glanced up from his plate, but he continued to eat. Sasha felt he was somewhat ill at ease. In light of his being fairly eager to attend the dinner, she didn’t understand why.

  “I see.” Sherry’s face lengthened.

  “That’s in case you’re interested.” Then Sasha employed some dramatics of her own. “But I nearly forgot, at the wine-and-cheese party you called Jason an old friend. How long have you known each another?” Sasha cut into her turtle steak, looking from Sherry to Jason.

  “We’ve known each other for quite a while,” Sherry replied.

  Jason continued to look at his plate.

  “As I told Jason, I hope there is no conflict of interest here.” Sasha dug in even further.

  “Why, none at all.” Sherry appeared affronted.

  “There’s no need to become riled, Sherry. No one would dare think you’ve ever been involved with the likes of me,” Jason retorted.

  “Now, Jason, you’re being unfair. That’s not what I meant.” She straightened her wine and water glasses. “I guess I’m a little flabbergasted because from the very first time I visited Magic Key I have always been involved with the Ellis family, and then, of course, I married Wally. So it just seems a little disrespectful to imply I may have been involved with anyone else.”

  Jason turned stone-faced before he took a long sip of wine.

  “So what have we here?” Mr. Ellis walked in looking healthier than Sasha had ever seen him.

  “Oh, hi, Papa,” Sherry said nervously. “We’re having dinner.”

  “I can see that for myself.” He walked over to the table. “I mean, what’s the occasion? I don’t believe I’ve ever met this young man before.”

  “I’ve seen you around town, sir.” Jason stood up. “I’m Attorney Jason Williams. Sasha Townsend hired me to look out for her interest concerning the Bethel Agreement.”

  “So is this dinner for business or pleasure?” Mr. Ellis continued his interrogation.

  “Primarily business, sir.” Jason remained standing.

  “Why wasn’t I told about this, Cay? It’s one thing to take over while I’m sick, but to completely overlook me when I’m feeling fit is another.”

  “I just got back in town at noon today. That’s when Sherry told me about the dinner. I assumed you would be attending,” Cay said, leaning on the chair arm.

  “Is that right? So this is another one of your back door plots, is it, Sherry?”

  “Papa, please.” Sherry looked embarrassed. “Certainly not. I was told that you would be busy all day today, and I assumed that meant you wouldn’t be available for dinner,” she tried to explain.

  “Who told you that?” Mr. Ellis challenged.

  “Baltron said you had business to attend to outside the house—”

  “Who made Baltron my keeper? And you could have called me on the cell phone at any time; that’s why I got the goddamned bothersome thing.”

  The room went silent.

  “I’m sure it won’t be a problem for Olive to put another place setting on the table,” Sherry said lamely. “I’ll go ask her.”

  “Don’t bother. I’ve already had something to eat. And that’s not the point.” He banged on the table with his fist. “I want to know everything that goes on around here, Ms. Sherry. Can you understand that?”

  “Yes, Papa,” Sherry replied stiffly.

  “Cay can make these kinds of decisions. But I want to know if and when attorneys are being invited to Guana Manor. No matter what the circumstance might be. Nothing personal, son” —Mr Ellis gestured in Jason’s direction— “but I don’t trust the sons-a-bitches. They’ve done enough dirt on my behalf for me to know they can’t be trusted.” Mr. Ellis placed both fists on the table and leaned toward Sherry. “And, Miss Ma’am, you’re going to keep stirring up stuff here until one day you’re going to have a big pot of shit, and the stench is going to be all over you. Mark my words.” Mr. Ellis tugged at his pants. “And with that I’ll say good night all.” He tilted his head and left the dining room.

  “Well,” Sherry said breathlessly, “I don’t know if I can finish my meal after that. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.”

  “By now you should know how Papa is, Sherry.” Cay looked around the table. “He wants to make sure everybody knows who the head honcho is. That’s all. He feels any business that involves Guana Manor is his business, and he’s right.”

  “I understand that, but sometimes he can be so crude.” Sherry sniffed.

  “I know,” Cay agreed. “But we’ve all got our faults and our reasons for doing things the way we do. So don’t let him upset you.”

  “You’ve always been so kind to me, Cay.” Sherry turned adoring eyes on her brother-in-law.

  “And what is your motive, Mr. Ellis, for being kind to my client, then trying to enforce an agreement that is as old as dirt?” Jason’s tone was aggressive.

  Cay sat back in his chair, studying Jason, who appeared to be agitated.

  “I don’t know if the Bethel Agreement is as old as that,” Cay said calmly. “But yes, I acknowledge that it was drawn up a long time ago between my ancestors and Sasha’s. However, what is the point of an agreement if it can be tossed out because of its age?”

  “It just makes no sense,” Jason argued. “It’s not a deed. And I believe if you had one you would have produced it by now. Yet you’re going through all of this over that little piece of land that couldn’t possibly mean that much to you. The Ellises own practically all of Magic Key and all sorts of property on Big Pine Key. Personally, I don’t think it’s about the land. I believe it’s all about power. The rich versus the poor,” Jason summed it up.

  “Personally?” Cay’s tone held an icy chill. “How did this become a personal matter for you, Attorney Williams? Not too long ago Sasha made it clear that she hired you as her attorney, nothing more. I think you need to remember that.”

  “I thought we came here to try and come to some kind of agreement,” Sasha said, muscling her way into the conversation. “That’s what I’m interested in. Any other interests I might have outside of this is not the issue. Is there a way, Cay, that we can put this agreement to rest with both of us being mutually satisfied?”

  “I believe there is.” Cay looked directly at Sasha. “I’m willing to consider the agreement null and void as long as everything on the property remains as it is.”

  “Meaning?” Sasha wanted to make sure she understood.

  “You must abandon your idea of starting a bottled water business.”

  “And that’s supposed to be a compromise?” Sasha was incredulous.

  “It is. All of the Bethel property would be yours.”

  “Technically, the Bethel property is already mine,” she retorted. “How am I supposed to support myself while I live there? Have you ever thought about that?”

  “No, he hasn’t,” Jason interjected. “And you know why?” He paused dramatically. “Because money isn’t an issue for him. Figuring out how he’s going to live until he turns old and gray is a moot point for the Ellises.”

  “I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere this way.” Sherry placed both her hands on the table. “I have another idea. One that Cay had seriously considered while Hazel was alive, long before Sasha came to Magic Key.” She turned to Cay. “I know you’ve been very busy these last few weeks; perhaps you simply forgot. What if Guana Manor wanted to buy out Sasha’s interest in the Bethel property?”

  “Buy me out?” Sasha was taken aback.

  “Yes. Pay you whatever the house and the surrounding area are worth.” Sherry’s eyes gleamed, but Cay’s countenance became unreadable.

  “How much money are you talking about?” Sasha looked at Cay. She couldn’t help it.

  “We’d have to get back to you with the particulars, but it would be a substantial sum,” Sherry announced. “This could be a perfect solution to the situation, might it not, Cay?” Sherry was excited.

  “Maybe,” was all h
e would say.

  “Would the payoff include a reasonable percentage of the money Sasha believed she could have made from her bottled water business?” Jason pressed.

  Sherry looked at Cay. “Yes, that would be taken into consideration.”

  “What do you think, Sasha?” Jason asked.

  “I don’t know what to think.” Sasha was stunned. If she was paid off, the money could be substantial, but it would also mean she would no longer live on Magic Key. “Of course, I’d have to see what kind of money we are talking about.”

  “Of course,” Sherry chimed in.

  “Since this is something you have discussed in the past…” Jason waited for Cay’s acknowledgment.

  “Yes, it had been discussed.” Cay’s tone was flat.

  “Then it sounds like we could have a possible solution,” Jason announced. “We will wait for your offer.”

  Chapter 18

  Cay held the flashlight high above his head. It was difficult to walk in the attic. The last time he had been there was after Precious’s funeral. He had tossed the trunks containing her clothes and her belongings onto the creaky planks. He could not bring himself to completely part with the memories.

  Cay looked around him, then glanced out of the window. As a child this had been his lookout point. From here he could see the entire road leading up to the property, and if he strained enough, he could see the little house beyond. The Bethel House. Here, in secret, Cay had watched the comings and goings of the adults. Especially his father.

  Cay switched off the light and walked over to the window. He could see Attorney Williams’s car turning onto the Bethel property driveway. It stopped mere yards away from the stoop, causing the motion lights to pop on. Cay waited to see the two figures get out of the car and enter the cottage. But it never happened. Seconds later the car turned and headed back toward the road. To his surprise, another set of headlights came on. He could feel his stomach churn. “She’s going to spend the night at his place.” His harsh whisper settled amid the boxes and items from the past.

  Cay watched Sasha’s car leave the Bethel House. He clenched the flashlight tightly in his hand, assuming she would catch up with Jason Williams’s taillights, but the Mazda turned back toward Guana Manor. Stunned, Cay continued to watch. “Where in the world is she going?” He shined the flashlight on his watch. He knew how much time it took for a car to return to Guana Manor from the Bethel House, but the seconds continued to tick away. Sasha was headed farther into the Key.

  Cay was more than curious. Where could Sasha be going on Magic Key at this time of night? He was determined to find out.

  The SUV headed down the foggy road, but there was no sign of Sasha’s car. Then the road headed eastward and he caught sight of her tiny red lights in the distance. “Is she headed toward the lake?” he pondered, keeping his distance; then he saw the lights pull off the road. “She’s headed toward those stones.” A dawning sense of déjà vu crept over him. One that chilled his spine. It wasn’t the first time that a woman he cared for had ventured off into the night in search of God only knows what. And those searches had culminated in an unhappy ending. “What in the hell has gotten into her? Why is she headed toward the Circle of Stones?”

  Sasha’s heart was beating fast as she entered the woods. She thought, I don’t know why I convinced myself to come out here at this time of night. This was the stupidest idea I’ve ever had. Coming during the day would have been a much brighter idea.

  But the image of Precious and Hazel calling to her was very vivid in her mind. Very powerful. And, Sasha thought, if Precious and Hazel had found happiness on the other side, maybe her mother had as well. But it was the joy they exuded that had really captured her. If the living could possess that kind of joy…Sasha jumped when she heard an animal scurrying to the right of her. “I’ve come this far, so there’s no need to turn back now,” she told herself. “It can’t be but a little farther. Just a little farther.”

  When Sasha emerged in the clearing she breathed a sigh of relief. But the sound caught in her throat as the majesty of the megaliths descended around her. “This is unbelievable,” she uttered as she turned slowly in the middle of the circle.

  Impossible as it seemed, in the moonlight the stones appeared even larger than before. The soft light altered the color of the surfaces, turning them into a shimmery silver. Sasha walked over and placed her hand on one of the boulders. It was smooth and warm, and maybe it was the excitement of the moment, but Sasha also sensed a quiet strength within it. “If I only knew why I’m here,” she spoke softly into the night.

  “I’d like to know that as well,” Cay proclaimed.

  “What are you doing here?” Sasha spun around.

  “That’s my question.” Cay stood inches away from her.

  “I-I wasn’t ready to settle down for the night,” she lied, “so—”

  “You decided to do a little trespassing.”

  “To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about the trespassing,” Sasha replied.

  “Then what were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t.” She continued to evade the truth, not knowing how Cay would react to it. “I just wanted to get out and think.” She took several steps back. Sasha could feel the monolith against her back.

  “Well, it was a stupid thing to do, coming out here in the middle of the night alone.” His tone was harsh.

  Sasha couldn’t stomach Cay’s chastising her. “Who made you my bodyguard?”

  “Make jokes if you want, but you put yourself in jeopardy coming out here like this.”

  “In jeopardy from what? Or should I say who?” Sasha refused to back down. “The only person I need protection from is you, because you’re playing Monopoly with my life.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing.”

  “Well, what would you call it?”

  “I’ve told you before, but you’re so hard-headed you can’t hear me. There are things you don’t understand. Things here on Magic Key beyond what you’ve experienced.” He stood as still as the stones behind them. “You shouldn’t play with it. You’ll only get hurt. I care about you, Sasha. I don’t want that to happen.”

  Sasha wanted to believe him but she couldn’t. “That is total BS and you know it. How can you stand there and say you care about me, when it would be so easy for you to tear up that Bethel Agreement and just let me be. But you care for me so much” —her expression mirrored the irony— “that you would prefer to pay me off and send me packing over my digging up memories of your precious Precious.”

  Cay’s mouth clamped into a stubborn line.

  “See there? That’s what I mean. I can’t compete with a dead woman, Cay.”

  “It’s not just Precious.”

  “It’s not?” Sasha tried to understand. “Then what is it? Are you afraid of something?” Sasha looked deep into his eyes. “What are you afraid of?”

  “Do you really want to know?” He grabbed her shoulders. “I’m afraid of losing you, of never seeing you again.” He squeezed until her arms smarted. “Of never seeing the light of life shine in your eyes like it does tonight. In the beginning you were right. I wanted to keep you from flaunting my painful memories to the world. That’s what selling that water represented to me. Your selling, to the masses, the one thing that Precious wanted before she died. Selling it as a life-giving substance, something good and wholesome…and I couldn’t stand the thought of it.” His voice implored her to understand.

  “But then I began to care for you.” He brought his face closer to Sasha’s. “To really care for you, Sasha. To want to feel you in my arms, feel the heat of life that coursed through your veins.” Cay looked down. He seemed to be searching for the right words to say. “But there is something that stops me. Something that has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me—and my family.”

  “So I’m not good enough for you Ellises, is that it?”

  “No, it’s much deeper than that.” His gaze raced over her face.<
br />
  “Then what?” Cay’s zeal was frightening Sasha.

  “Can’t you see it? You inherited the Bethel property from family members you’ve never met before. And that experience you had at the spring. Wasn’t that enough to warn you away? But no, you were being drawn in even then. Drawn to a family that is linked to the past and not the future. Why do you think this island is called Magic Key, Sasha? Do you think everything that is happening here is just happenstance? Coincidence?”

  “What else am I supposed to think?” Sasha searched the depths of Cay’s blazing eyes.

  “I’ve lived here all my life, and although I’ve tried to ignore it, I have learned there is more to life than the average person ever imagined. This is a world of duality, Sasha. Not one way, but two.”

  Sasha’s face reflected her uncertainty.

  “There is more than good on this Key, Sasha. There is evil as well. They both reside on Magic Key. And sometimes it is hard to tell one from another. Where the line of delineation lies. So tell me, was it good or evil that compelled you to come into the woods, alone, in the middle of the night? Was it good or evil that drove Precious to believe in something so much that she would not give up on it, even though it cost her her life?”

  Sasha could feel his anxiety. She knew he was speaking from his heart, reaching out to her from the depths of his life. There was something there he believed to be so horrible that he couldn’t even put it into words. Suddenly, Sasha thought about the meditation that had led her to the Circle of Stones. Could Cay be right? Was it evil disguising itself as good that had led her to the woods? She looked into his intense, dark eyes and saw a gnawing hopelessness tinged with pain. But as Sasha continued to search their depths for the truth, the image of Hazel and Precious beckoning to her arose in her memory, along with the joy that had filled their faces. A joy that filled her with hope.

  “No, I don’t know much about Magic Key, Cay. We both know that. And maybe, here on this Key, there are things beyond human knowing, understanding. But that isn’t necessarily all bad.” Sasha strove to express how she felt. “Do you want to know what I think is our greatest enemy?”