“Cat? Dog? Goldfish?”
“Guy. We’ve been living together for the last year. He’s going to acting school.”
“You’re living with an . . . actor and not going to law school?”
“Hey?” Keefe chimed in, and Callie continued, “And you’re sleeping with him?”
LuLu kissed Callie. “I’ve got to go. We need to make St. Louis tonight. You and I will visit. This is a really good thing. You don’t have to work at Soap Scoops anymore. You can do antique restoration and write and whatever else you want to do like you planned on before you had to raise me.” She stepped back and held her arms wide. “See, I’m raised. Mission accomplished.”
“Have I ever complained? What happened to your dreams about being a lawyer like Dad? I don’t believe this.”
“That was your dream, part of trying to keep the family together. And we are together; you and I are family.” She kissed her cheek. “I’ll write. I’ll call. I’ll keep in touch. I love you. Don’t hate me.”
Callie grabbed LuLu’s hand. “You can’t do it. You’re making a terrible mistake. This stupid idea is nothing more than a whim of Jessie’s or Jerome’s or whatever his name. His acting idea is influencing you to do the wild and carefree thing. Wild and carefree does not pay the bills, LuLu, and will get you nowhere except a waitressing job at the local chili house. You’re going to be a lawyer, dammit.”
LuLu pried Callie’s fingers from her arm. “No, I’m not, and following your dreams is never stupid. I’m leaving now.” LuLu swiped away her tears, turned and ran down the sidewalk, nearly colliding into Eleanor Stick, rounding the corner and crossing the street.
Callie fumed, “How could LuLu do this. Wreck everything we worked so hard for. That. . . that ungrateful little snot.”
“Whoa.” Keefe held up his hands. “You raised her; you don’t own her. Go after her, tell her you’re sorry and you support her in whatever she wants to do.”
“Like hell. I can’t do that. I hate this.”
“Well, you better get over it or you’ll lose your sister. You’re making this about your life, Callie, not hers. Think about what you’re doing.”
Callie peered up at him. “She’s sleeping with an actor, for God’s sake.”
“So are you.”
“She’s giving up law school to direct? What kind of life is that?”
“My kind of life.”
“Exactly. No stability whatsoever. Who can live like that?”
He stilled, letting her words sink in. “Obviously not you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Guess we know how you feel about what I do.”
“Well, we sure know how you feel about what I do. You’ve never kept that a secret either. Shoe pinches when it’s on the other foot, doesn’t it?”
“I’ve got play rehearsal. You see, I’m the director.”
“Well, bully for you. I’m sure that can pay the bills when they come due.”
“Come see me when you cool off.”
“I am cool and rational and know what’s best for my sister.”
“Yeah, well, she just left here in tears, and you gave her no good reason to contact you again. You tell me how rational that is.” He walked toward the showboat, anger boiling in his gut. How could someone he cared about so much be this stubborn? LuLu was right. If you didn’t have dreams and follow them, you had nothing at all.
———
Callie rocked Bonnie on the porch. She hadn’t spoken to LuLu since she left two days ago, and she hadn’t spoken to Keefe either. She’d never understand his cavalier approach to life, and he’d never understand responsibility and doing what needed to be done. She fed Bonnie the last of her bottle and sat her up for a burp. Gently she patted her back, the first stars of night appearing over the Mississippi.
Rory’s Suburban pulled into the drive, and he got out and made his way around the stroller she’d left by the driveway and then up the steps. He swept Bonnie into his arms. “There’s my little princess.” He kissed her, and she smiled at him as if he were the only person on earth. Callie remembered when LuLu looked at her like that, but no more. One of these days LuLu would realize her older sister was right.
Rory said, “Think I’ll take sweet pea here for a walk to Hastings House.”
“Weren’t you there this morning?”
“Leaky pipes. Thelma is having a devil of a time with the plumbing.”
“Maybe she needs a professional plumber to help her out with this.”
“Too expensive. Besides, that’s the way those old houses are. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, and I want to help Thelma as much as I can. Even though Conrad’s back he’s so busy with the dry dock and getting the business together he’s never around to help out.”
“Thelma’s lucky to have you around.”
Rory studied her. “Now you and Keefe can meet up over at Slim’s. Hear they got a gal on piano and Clyde on guitar and they’re bringing down the house.”
Callie looked back to the river. “I’m pretty tired tonight, and Keefe’s got play practice.”
“Eight-thirty’s too late for practice and too early for bed. So, what’s really going on between you?”
“Big difference of opinion. Keefe’s a card-carrying member of the follow your dreams club, and responsibility is my middle name. We don’t exactly see eye to eye.”
“Christ in a sidecar, girl. Is that what’s keeping you apart? No two people ever see eye to eye all the time. My Mimi’s out there somewhere, and we have no idea how this is ever going to end. The state is building a case against these swindlers, and she has the goods on them. But if they find her first, it won’t be pretty.”
“Why doesn’t she just turn herself in for protective custody or whatever that is?”
“She went to the Attorney General’s Office when she found the second set of books for that company she worked for. They were overcharging the state in hours while working on their own projects and using substandard building material on levees and docks. The next day she nearly got run over by a bus because someone pushed her from behind into the street, and that night someone broke into her house. She crawled out the back window, got in her car and didn’t stop driving till she slid into that ditch by Hastings House. Meaning she doesn’t know who to trust and someone in the state office is involved.”
“How did you find all this out? I thought Mimi ran before she told you anything.”
“Ah, Demar. He’s putting this together. Until the police uncover that person who sold Mimi out in the state office and get the honchos at that company she’s in danger.”
“Does Demar have any idea who it is or where these guys are?”
“Lot of people come and go in government jobs. Hard to tell. But that’s not the issue now. You and going to bed too dang early is.” He tucked Bonnie into the crook of his arm. “Skedaddle now. Bonnie and I will see you in the morning. If there’s another pipe springing a leak, we just might spend the night.”
“I think you spend more time visiting at Hastings House than here.”
“That’s just your imagination.” Whistling, he trotted down the stairs, strapped Bonnie into the stroller and headed off. Being with Bonnie made him happy, and he didn’t seem as upset as when Callie first got here. Maybe because deep in his heart he knew he and Mimi would find a way out of this and make things work.
But that wasn’t helping her situation and Keefe’s. Maybe if they talked. What the heck about? How they didn’t agree? Not a great solution but better than staying here and looking off into space and missing him. And she did, darn it. She missed him a lot and not just in her bed each night or in the hallway or in the gym or the attic. As great as sex was with Keefe she missed the man.
She set the alarm and headed for the docks. Keefe was probably still there. She remembered something about attaching a balcony to the upper level of the stage and how it was going to take some doing to get it to hold. He was in the middle of a project, and this may not be the best ti
me to hunt him down, but if she didn’t keep walking right now, she’d lose her nerve and may not get it back again.
Overhead dock lights illuminated the way, the Lee aglow at the very end. On play nights they could light the area with those patio torches, giving it a welcoming feel, maybe get someone dressed as a gambling man and playing the banjo. This wasn’t even her play and she was making plans, probably because it was easier than thinking about what to say to Keefe. She wanted to clear things between them. She had no idea where this relationship that wasn’t a relationship was going, but for sure it was going nowhere if they weren’t speaking.
She climbed on board and found the stage and only Digger hard at work. “Hey,” she said. “How’s it going?”
“Slow. Haven’t seen you in a while or heard about you from Keefe. What’s going on with you two?”
“Is he here?”
“Up at Slim’s grabbing dinner for us all. We’re starved and too busy to cook. Even got Georgette painting the railing upstairs, though just between you and me and the Lee I think she’s got more paint on herself than the boat.” He grinned.
“But just think how much fun we’ll have getting it off of me,” Georgette said in a sexy Southern lilt as she came down the stairs, went to Digger and kissed him on the cheek, leaving a smear of white. She flashed Callie a big smile. “Hope I didn’t embarrass you with that crack.”
“Nope, just made me jealous.” And before Digger or Georgette could reply she added, “Here come Demar and Sally, wonder what brings them this way at night.”
Digger scooped his arm around Georgette. “Maybe Keefe sent them down to help. Getting this balcony up is really kicking our butts.” But when Demar and Sally stepped on board neither of them looked too happy to be there.
Digger said, “What’s up?”
Sally glanced at Demar as if she didn’t know what to do. He said, “We just got back from Memphis and found this on the newsstands.” He held up a copy of Soap Scoops with Keefe’s picture on the front along with Bonnie’s. I Want to Protect My Sister splashed across the front.
Callie snapped the magazine from Demar’s fingers, feeling sick to her stomach as she read. “How’d they get this? Who did this?”
Sally reached into a paper bag and pulled out Georgette’s missing purse. “I found it behind the bar today. I pulled it out, and it flipped onto the floor, and I heard this.” She held up the phone, and Keefe’s voice played.
Sally continued, “First I thought it was Keefe calling on the phone. Then I recognized my own voice coming from the speaker and the conversation from that night on the porch when we first contacted M. Perry.”
Georgette went white as the paint on her face, and Digger dropped his arm and said to her, “You recorded our conversations? Why would you do that?”
Demar added, “The information on the recorder is what’s in the article.”
Georgette looked as if she was going to faint. “I know this looks bad, but I didn’t do it. I mean, I recorded the information and was going to do an article for this magazine, but I changed my mind because I really like you all and Keefe. I swear it’s the truth. My purse went missing. Whoever took it used the information and sold it to Soap Scoops. That’s got to be what happened.”
She looked at Sally. “Remember that night I had my headache and asked if I left my purse at the bar?”
“When I said that I didn’t have it you said you left it here on the boat.”
“That was a fib to cover up the fact that it was really missing. I didn’t want an all-out search that could go on and on. I knew it would look bad if you heard the recording, and I didn’t want that. I was hoping it would turn up on its own. I never wrote the article.”
Digger said, “Or you did write it and made this all up to cover your ass.”
“I’m not making anything up, I swear. The purse got stolen before I erased the tape. I even met with this Bob Smith guy who wanted me to do the article and told him I wasn’t doing it and to count me out. I told him I lost the purse.”
Digger scoffed, “Bob Smith? Can’t you do better than that, and why would you want to do an article like this anyway? Why would you even think about doing such a thing?”
Callie could see Georgette’s hands shake and felt sorry for her. They’d been through a lot together these last two weeks. “I ... I wanted the notoriety, for my parents to realize they had another daughter . . . me. When I didn’t win Keefe’s contest and get my name and pictures all over the place this Bob Smith person showed up. He heard me talking to Rachel at Slim’s and said this was my chance to shine.” Georgette frowned. “And I bought it. I wasn’t thinking that the problem was with me and not Rachel. I was after revenge, getting even, but...” She looked at Digger. “But you helped me get over that and be happy being the person I am.”
Digger asked. “How are we supposed to believe someone who recorded our personal conversations behind our backs? I was stupid enough to fall for you, Georgette, really fall for you even without being paid for it.”
“Paid? What do you mean paid?” Georgette’s eyes covered half her face, and a pulse beat at her temple. Sally and Demar stepped back, and Demar said, “I think we’re out of here. We can barely keep our own love life on an even keel; we sure don’t want to get in the middle of anyone else’s.”
Digger added, “I don’t intend to be stupid twice.”
Georgette glared. “Tell me, is this being stupid before or after you getting paid to fall for me? Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the recording? And I repaid the money to Keefe because I wanted you fair and square and to have nothing stand between us.”
Taking a hint from Demar and Sally, Callie hurried down the dock, calling to Digger and Georgette, “Just for the record I don’t think Georgette’s guilty. I need to tell Keefe what’s going on.”
On the way up the hill Callie tried to think of the best way to break the news of this article to Keefe. He’d have a stroke, and the evidence was stacked against Georgette as the author. But Callie meant it when she said she really couldn’t see Georgette turning the information over to Soap Scoops. Maybe at first when she got to the Landing she could have done something so insensitive, but Georgette had changed since then. Besides, Bonnie liked her, and Bonnie had great instincts. And, to make matters worse, this was a new low for the Scoops. They hadn’t employed the sensational press approach till now, all of which meant she could kiss her editor job good-bye.
Callie entered Slim’s, and the whole place went dead quiet. Only a recording of some jazzy soul music from the jukebox sounded and even that stopped. Keefe stared at her from across the room, a copy of Soap Scoops in his left hand. He looked angrier than she’d ever seen him on or off TV. She came in saying, “I honestly don’t think—”
“Honest?” he seethed. “What do you know about being honest?”
Callie looked behind her, thinking Keefe was talking to someone else. But he wasn’t. “Excuse me?”
“How could you write this article?”
“Whoa.” Callie stopped in her tracks. “Me? You think I did that? That I would talk about Bonnie and Mimi in an article that would get everyone out hunting for Mimi and drive her farther away? And talk about Bonnie so that people would come here and gawk at her? Have you lost your mind? I tried to find Mimi in Memphis. Remember boas, hookers, bar fight? Stop me when recognition sets in. Why would you think I did this?”
“You want to be editor of this rag; looks like you’ll get your wish.”
“I gave you my word I’d never do this.”
“That was before I sided with your sister against you, and that pissed you off.” He smacked the paper. “That’s why you did this, to get even.”
“Like hell.”
“You forget that I’ve been through this reporter routine before. All’s well till you don’t get your way or you get ticked off or the wind blows from the east or whatever else ruffles your feathers, and you get
out your poison pen and finish off someone’s life. You’d think I’d learn the first time to stay the hell away from a damn reporter.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Look, you sanctimonious imbecile. I did not write that article. I gave you my word I wouldn’t do something like this, only print a story about you, just you. The fact that you think my sister going to film school is a better idea than law school only proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that your brain is malfunctioning. And, Digger already accused Georgette of writing the article, so I suggest you both get together as to which one of us you want to tar and feather and run out of town.”
“You can leave tomorrow. I can get that Tot Tenders agency in Memphis to send a sitter by noon, and you can get the hell out of my house.”
She tossed her head. “Fine.”
“Fine.”
Callie stuffed her copy of Soap Scoops in her pocket, stomped her way to the door and slammed it behind her.
Chapter 15
Callie punched in the alarm system code, opened the door, picked up Dusty and continued to stomp her way up the stairs to Quaid’s room, Wonder Dog in her wake. She flipped on the light and put the cat on the bed as Max sat by her foot. She yanked her luggage from the closet to a chair and started tossing in clothes, the animal audience looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.
A pink headband that matched one of Bonnie’s sundresses slipped out of one of the pockets. Callie picked it up, running her thumb over the tiny lace flowers. Some of Callie’s anger subsided, and she took her digital camera from the dresser and played back all the shots she’d taken of Bonnie. On Rory’s lap, eating peaches in her cereal for the first time, in the baby bathtub, on Rory’s shoulder. “I’ll get some of these framed and send them to Rory, thanking him for his hospitality.”
Dusty sat beside her, rubbing against her arm. Max probed his big head on her knee. “This is such a mess. Keefe’s mad at me. LuLu’s mad and I’m out of a job. I should have stayed in Atlanta and saved myself all this grief.”
Callie pulled the copy of Soap Scoops from her pocket and studied the photo of Bonnie. “First of all, how could anyone in their right mind think I’d do this to Bonnie . . . or take a picture of her with the bank as a background? And the picture looks grainy, like it was taken at a distance then blown up. This is really poor quality, really bad work. I never do work like this.”
The Way U Look Tonight Page 21