by Ali Vali
“What’s the multiplier?” Roxanne asked.
“Let’s start with six and we’ll go from there.”
When Tully was in the elevator alone, she sighed and, before she hung up, agreed to take the afternoon off and meet Libby and the kids.
Libby parked in front of Tully’s office building and climbed into the passenger seat. As much as Bailey and Ralph had complained they wanted to go home, they seemed relieved to see Tully heading for the driver’s side door.
“I want everyone to listen to me before you complain about anything that happened today.” Tully merged into traffic and took a right, headed for uptown New Orleans. When they passed Napoleon as they were driving down St. Charles Avenue, she knew they all probably thought they were going home, until she turned down State Street.
The house she stopped in front of stood on the corner, with crape myrtles full of white blooms planted between the street and the sidewalk. Ten steps led to a front porch with eight large rocking chairs and a swing hanging on the end. Black shutters contrasted well with the house’s white paint, and the six windows across the front opened from the floor so they could double as doors.
“When we went through all the changes during the last few months, I promised myself not to make any major decisions without you.” She twisted in her seat so she could see the kids. “I got an offer on our house today.”
“We haven’t found a place to live,” Ralph said.
“The lady who offered talked more about a trade, buddy, so we’d have a place to live, but only if you want.”
“What kind of trade?” Bailey asked.
Tully noticed that her eyes were still a bit red from recent crying, and the sight made her want to break the car in by running over Jessica at the first opportunity for using the kids to try to make the situation worse.
“Our house for that one.” She pointed to the house they were parked in front of and held up a key.
“This one looks bigger than ours,” Bailey said, sounding doubtful. “What’s the catch?”
“She gets our house and some money from a doctor I met with today. There’s nothing wrong with the place. She just has bad memories of the shower.”
“Did she see a snake or a ghost?” Ralph asked. Unlike Bailey, he looked thrilled with the prospect.
“Sorry, buddy. No slimies and no ghosts. She just had a little personal problem she’d like to forget.” Tully held up the key to the front door. “I know you three have been house hunting for days now, but I think this might be a good place for us.”
“I say we do it.” Ralph grabbed the keys and pushed Bailey out the door.
“What kind of personal problem?” Libby asked when they were alone.
“Her nipple fell off in the shower.”
Libby shuddered and raised her hand to her chest. “Honey, that’s disgusting.”
“I’m sure she wasn’t thrilled with it either, but don’t sweat it, darlin’. You’ve never going to have that problem.” She leaned over the center console and kissed Libby on the cheek.
“I’m not, huh?”
“Nope. If you want, I’ll personally take a shower with you every morning and keep my hands over your nipples the whole time to make sure nothing happens to them.”
“We’ll see about that, Counselor.” Libby peered out the window. “Come on, Bailey’s putting her finger in her mouth and gagging herself. We’re being too mushy again.”
“Just as long as you tell me how today really went later on.”
“I will, but I think everything considered, they did great.”
“Bailey and Ralph are important to me, baby, but so are you,” Tully said. “Our talk is going to be about that too.”
They joined the kids on the porch as Ralph unlocked the front door. Tully had always thought formal living rooms, like the first room they entered, were wasted space since they were seldom used, but this one opened to another large room through some pocket doors. In the back were a large kitchen and the master suite, both with an excellent view of the large yard. Bailey and Ralph headed up the stairs, talking about seeing what the rest of the bedrooms looked like, leaving Tully and Libby alone downstairs to explore.
From the way Libby was walking around seeming to study the space, Tully could tell she was already decorating it in her mind. When she had come alone to see it, the one picture she had in her head was waking up in this bedroom with Libby every morning.
“Can we get a new bed?” Libby asked.
“We can get whatever you like.”
“No, I want to shop for this place, but with you, especially when it comes to the bed.”
“Why?” Tully held out her hand to Libby. “With all the other stuff we have to worry about I’d be happy with whatever you pick.”
“Because it’s the one place in this house that will be strictly ours, and I want you to pick it out with me. Call it strange, but that’s what I want.”
“We’ll go this weekend.”
“You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you?” Libby asked. They stepped out of the bedroom and headed to the kitchen, then stood together at the windows looking out at the yard.
“I came and checked it out a few days ago after my client and I discussed it as a possibility. It’s not that I decided on this particular place, but you and the kids were right. We need a home that doesn’t have a lot of baggage associated with it, someplace we can make ours, with our own memories.” Tully rested her chin on Libby’s head and enjoyed having her close.
“You three have been doing a great job trying to find something, so our being here isn’t a reflection on the effort. To answer your question, I haven’t made up my mind. That’s why we’re here. It’s a family decision.”
“You want us here too, right?” Bailey asked.
Because Tully and Libby had been facing the wall of windows, they hadn’t seen Bailey and Ralph in the middle of the next room.
Tully raised her head at the question, but remained quiet when Libby squeezed her hands.
“Will you guys show me the upstairs?” Libby asked. “We started the process together, and this place shouldn’t change how we go about our plan.”
The room at the end of the hall on the right overlooked the blue-tiled pool, which was about the same size as theirs at home but ringed by more trees. There was no furniture left in the house, so after glancing out the window Libby sat on the floor and patted the space beside her.
“I think it’s time we had a talk.” When they joined her she reached for their hands. “Change is tough, I realize that, especially when it isn’t your idea.”
“It sucks,” Ralph said. “You’ve been great, but sometimes I don’t know for sure where we fit.”
“I know, buddy.” She called him by the same nickname Tully used without realizing it, and when she did he moved closer to her. “Before we make any other changes, even if they’re your idea this time, I wanted to make sure we’re clear about a few things.”
“Getting together with somebody with kids is a bummer too, huh?” Bailey asked.
“I love your mom very much. That’s the first thing I want you to know.” For the moment she ignored Bailey’s question. “In the years I’ve had her as a friend, I knew something about her even before I knew what she did for a living. From her stories of you guys I realized she was a parent to two wonderful people. Sometimes she felt lost as to how to reach you, but I could tell she loved you. You don’t worry so much about people you don’t love and care about.”
“We know you love her, but what’s it got to do with us?” Ralph asked.
“It has everything to do with you and Bailey. I wanted you to hear how I felt about your mother so you’ll understand how you fit here. I want us to be a family. I’m not here to replace Jessica, and I’m not telling you all this so you’ll like me. Blowing smoke so that it’ll earn me points with your mom isn’t what I’m about. After getting to know me I hope you realize that. You just need to remember that I love you, and I’m here f
or you.”
“Thanks. We want you to be happy, but Ralph and I didn’t want to get in the way of you and Mom getting together.”
“You’re stuck with me and your mom.” Libby opened her arms to both of them, and that’s how Tully found them a few minutes later, still in a tight embrace.
“So? What’s the verdict?” she asked.
“Can I paint my room black?” Bailey asked.
“We’ll start on that right after we get home from getting that forehead tattoo you’ve always wanted.”
“I’d take that as a no, honey,” Libby told Bailey.
“When do we move in?” Ralph asked.
“In a couple of weeks, once we finalize the paperwork. That gives you some time to go through your stuff and hide any girlie magazines you have stashed in your room. But we should be settled right after you start school.”
Tully took a seat across from Libby, glad she was able to make them laugh. She felt certain there’d be more bad days like this one for them until she was legally done with Jessica, but as long as she and Libby kept them talking and made them a part of every major decision, Ralph and Bailey would be fine.
“Your mother came by the office after she ran into you today.”
“She was, like, totally beezy,” Bailey said, and Ralph nodded at the assessment.
After spending more time with them Tully knew this was teenage speak for Jessica being a total bitch.
“And she called Libby a slut. Sorry,” Bailey said to Libby.
“I scheduled a court date for the end of this month, but I think we’ll push it back a few more weeks.”
“’Cause you’re busy?” Ralph asked.
“When it comes to you two, I’ll never be too busy again. I’m going to wait so we can put together a good case as to why you guys should live with Libby and me.” Tully took their free hands so they were all connected. “That’s what I want for us, but I want to make sure that’s what you want too. This isn’t about me trying to bend you into doing something you’d rather skip. But I want you to consider one thing. As much as I want us to start over, I want you to have a relationship with your mother.”
“You’re clueless sometimes, Mom, but I always felt like you were interested in what happened to us,” Bailey said. “Like all you want is for us to make good decisions.”
“I still want you to do that, Bailey Bean.”
“The difference is, Mama wants to make the decisions for us.”
“The court will make the ultimate decision unless your mother changes her mind and adheres to your wishes. No matter if we get everything we want, you’ll have to have a relationship with her.”
“I don’t hate her, but I’m still upset by what she did. I don’t know about Ralph, but I need more time.”
“Me too, Mom,” Ralph said.
“That’s good enough for me, then.”
“You’re really happy about all these changes too?” Bailey asked, waving her hands around the room.
“You can tell us if you’re not,” Ralph added.
“Just as long as I have the three of you in my life, I’ll be happy in a cardboard box on Canal Street.”
“Tully’s right,” Libby said. “It could be any house, anywhere. Just as long as we’re together it’s going to be fine.”
“Because if you weren’t here, with all the trees out there, who’d skim out the pool?” Tully’s joke broke the tension, and her children’s laughter was one more brick on the repaired road between them.
Chapter Twenty-two
“How can you have nothing?” Tully sat back in her chair at home later that day, facing Pasco. Jo and Frank had come over with him to work on the Hebert case, and she could hear them helping Libby and the kids fix dinner. “We’ve been digging for how long now?”
“She, or someone in her life back then, did a good job of covering her tracks, but we’ll keep at it. No matter how hard you try, you always leave a trail.”
“We need something before we can move forward. Neil smells only speculation on our part, and he’s moving for a quick trial. You know how those hospital administrators are, and Neil Davis always tries to protect his own.”
“You’re sure your attitude toward Kara isn’t blinding you on this?” Pasco raised his hands. “I know it’s probably not, but I had to ask.”
“When I was doing my residency, the head of emergency services warned me that losing a patient was inevitable, no matter how hard I tried, because death was something you couldn’t defeat. Outrun it at times, but never really beat it.” Tully dug through the bottom desk drawer and found an old photograph that was yellowing around the edges. “I started his rotation hoping to prove him wrong, even if I was being naïve.”
“Caring about people isn’t naïve.”
“The third week I was there, Billie LoGreco came into the ER two hours before my shift ended. The loser who dragged her in was kind enough to tell us her name and that she’d been popping pills and drinking peppermint schnapps all night and most of the morning. That was all he said about her.”
“He just left her there?” Pasco frowned.
“She was probably some street kid he’d picked up, or at least that’s what she looked like. I worked on her for about forty minutes before having to call it.” She stopped when Libby walked in and took a sip from the drink Libby handed her, then scooted back so Libby could sit in her lap. “Billie LoGreco was my first loss.” The autopsy photo showed a small, pale child of about sixteen.
Pasco shook his head. “Thanks for sharing that, but what’s it got to do with Kara Nicolas and this case?”
“That doctor was right. Death is inevitable. Sometimes people invite it in, like Billie did by foolishly taking drugs and drinking in either a desperate attempt to fit in or because she trusted someone she shouldn’t have. But other times, through no fault of our own, death is thrust upon us too early. If that’s what happened to Evangeline Hebert, I want the person accountable for it to stand up and take responsibility.”
Tully took the picture back from Pasco and carefully slid it back in the file folder. “Evangeline might have had only a few more days on this earth, or years, but whatever time she had was stolen from her and her parents.”
Pasco stood and left the room, and as soon as they were alone Libby initiated a passionate kiss.
“If he doesn’t find something she’s going to walk, isn’t she?” Libby asked when their lips parted.
“I can spin a good tale when I need to, but yeah, we need some reason for this to have happened. If not, the case’ll never make it past the medical review board.” Tully rested her head back and enjoyed the sight of Libby with a smudge of flour on her forehead. “How’s it going in there?” she asked as she reached up to rub it off.
“Jo and Frank were catching me up on the office gossip, and Ralph’s learning to peel things.”
“There’s office gossip?”
“The juiciest thing is that the boss is hooking up with the law-student intern.”
“Do they think I’m a letch who went for the young and beautiful intern?”
The door to the office was open, so Libby chose not to tease her too much. “Actually, Jo wanted to know my secret, since I scooped you up so easily.”
“I give up. What’s your secret?”
“I told her,” Libby bit down on Tully’s earlobe, “my secret is,” she traced Tully’s lips with her tongue, “my coffee.”
Bailey suddenly appeared in the doorway. “You guys ready to eat, or should I tell everybody you’re in here making out?”
“It’s called an appetizer, wise guy,” Libby said. She stood up and offered Tully a hand. “I’m sure it’s something you’ve thought about when your friend Chase calls over here about fifteen times an hour.”
“Libby,” Bailey said in a warning tone.
“Chase?” Tully asked. “Why haven’t I heard anything about her new friend Chase?”
“Libby,” Bailey repeated.
“Honey, sh
e’s a great kid, and she’s taking Bailey to the movies tomorrow.”
Tully crossed her arms over her chest. “Home by ten, right?”
“Home by ten thirty.” Bailey mirrored her pose. When Tully didn’t back down she added, “Mom, the movie ends at ten. You want me to look like some hella dork when I have to leave early?”
“This kid coming here to pick you up?”
“Libby volunteered to take us and pick us up, since she didn’t think you’d have a problem with it.”
Libby didn’t remember saying the last part and figured the sweet smile Bailey shot her was a dare to contradict her.
“You do realize your mother is expecting to see you tomorrow,” Tully said. “It’s her Saturday, and after today you might want to reconsider turning her down.”
“Again, why are you being so nice to her?” Bailey put her hands out to her sides, appearing equally confused and disgusted. “You don’t have to anymore.”
“Honey.” Still holding hands, Tully and Libby moved closer and they each put an arm around Bailey. “I’m going to fight and keep fighting anyone who tries to take you away from me. I’m going to do that until the day you voluntarily walk out our front door and start a wonderful life on your own. Even then, I’ll be there to make sure nothing or no one harms you.”
“That goes for me too, Bailey,” Libby said.
“I know that you and Ralph don’t want to live with your mother, and I agree with you. And I’m going to court fully armed to make sure she doesn’t gain custody. The most important weapon I have, though,” she put her hand on Bailey’s cheek, “is allowing Jessica access to you and Ralph.”
“What do you mean?”
Libby answered, not thinking Tully would mind. “She means Jessica’s representative can’t argue that Tully has denied her liberal visitation. That, along with your and Ralph’s wishes, should make it easy for all of us to get what we want.”