by Ann Roberts
“CC!” Alicia snapped. “Listen to me. Come home now. You can’t get involved with these people.”
She held the picture at arm’s length and studied it differently, forgetting the center and focusing on the background, just as an artist might. They were standing in Della’s, and she even remembered the exact location—the wall by the hallway. And on that wall…
She grinned. She had it.
“CC!” Alicia spat.
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can, but it sounds like you won’t. It’s the butch, isn’t it? Don’t lie to me anymore. Get home right now, or I’m sending those pictures to your boss! I broke up with Nadia. I’m all yours.”
Alicia suddenly had her full attention. When she was certain she could speak with a steady voice she said, “That’s great, Alicia. You threaten to ruin my career, and, in the next sentence, tell me you’ve finally split with the woman you left me for. Wow. That’s quite an offer. It makes me wonder how many times I fell for similar offers when we were together. This time I think I’ll wise up and decline.”
“I’m serious about those pictures. Blanca offered me a job, and I’m thinking it might be your job.”
“And you can have it.”
She hung up and dropped her phone because her hands were shaking so badly. Penn appeared as she was crawling under the coffee table to retrieve it.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure I’m unemployed and possibly an Internet sensation as well.”
“Really? Um, well…it’ll be okay.”
“So have you two figured out how I’m going to keep this place?” Viv asked from the doorway. Her granite-like expression was intimidating, and CC knew she needed to tread lightly.
She picked up the stack of photos. “I think I’ve found something, but I need to ask you some difficult questions. Did your mother and Jacob have an affair? I only ask,” she said, motioning to the shoebox, “because there’s at least a hundred letters in here.”
She joined them on the couch and stared at the box. She plucked one from the middle and read the envelope. “Where did you find these?”
“They were inside another box, almost as if your mother was hiding them,” Penn said. “Have you read any?”
Viv scowled. “Of course not, and I don’t have any intention of reading them now. That was her personal business.”
“But what if it helps us keep the enclave?” CC pressed.
Viv shook her head. “It won’t. All you need to know is that Mama and Jacob Rubenstein were tremendously close. They always were. How close, I don’t know, but he would’ve done anything for her. And maybe he did. But Mama loved Della too.” She replaced the lid to the shoebox, minus the letter CC still held in her hand. “Maybe they had an affair while Della was alive or maybe not. And they may have waited until Della was gone. She died about two years before Mama’s mind started to go. But it’s not important.”
CC and Penn looked at her skeptically and she sighed. “What is it with your generation? You’re just fascinated with everyone else’s dirt. Nothing can be left as a mystery. Who cares where Amelia Earhart crashed? And what if Lee Harvey Oswald had help? As if it matters? Now? All you need to know is what I said. Jacob loved my mother, and without his help we wouldn’t have made it.”
“Who was Maude?”
Viv leaned back into the corner of the sofa and licked her lips. “Maude was my half-sister. After my father left, my mother fell in love with Mac, Kiah’s father. For a while it was wonderful, but then the cabins burned down one night and killed him. She’d just realized she was pregnant.” Her voice faded away, and CC saw tears in her eyes. “I’m almost positive it was my father who set the fire,” she added distantly. “That’s what I told Jacob Rubenstein.”
“What?” CC asked, startled.
“I saw two men, and then I saw my father hiding in the bushes watching the cabins burn. Afterward, I was pretty sure it was Pops who’d done it. So I told Jacob.”
She thought of the note that had started the legal proceeding. “What month was that?”
Viv looked away. “It was August of fifty-five. It was so hot. And even after they put out the fire it felt like our house was ten degrees warmer than usual. That was the worst summer of my life.”
“What are you thinking?” Penn asked CC.
“The note that gave the enclave to Jacob Rubenstein is dated August of fifty-five as well.”
Penn looked at her seriously. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“No, it can’t,” she agreed. “Viv, did Jacob call the police? Was your father ever arrested or even questioned?”
She shook her head. “I know he wasn’t arrested. Mama just wanted it to go away. She missed Mac so much, and then all she cared about was making a life for me and Maude by selling her pies and running the B and B Jacob had built.”
“So that’s how the enclave came to be,” CC concluded. “What happened to Kiah?”
Viv gazed at the oil portrait. “Kiah’s death was the most tragic of all. She was beaten to death by a racist police officer during a freedom march in the South. Her death was a blow to all of us, Maude especially. Maude was such a beautiful child.”
“Where is she now?” Penn asked.
“She’s gone too.” Viv stared out the window, refusing to look at her. “Life wasn’t easy for her. It wasn’t easy for anyone who grew up mixed in the sixties. She didn’t belong anywhere. Mama and I did the best we could but the older she got, the wilder she became.”
“What happened?”
“She ran away when she was thirteen, after Kiah died. We’d kept in touch all those years, and Kiah said that after she graduated from law school, she’d take Maude in. None of her people would. They were as prejudiced against mixed folks as much as anybody. But then she was killed, and Maude ran away. It was all so sad.”
“Where did she go?” Penn asked.
“She headed for California. Mama was heartbroken. Maude was the second child she’d lost. First, my brother Will was killed in a knife fight in sixty-four, and then Maude, who was her only link to Mac, leaves her. Mama went from being the happiest person I knew to the saddest. Thank goodness for the Rubensteins. They were the only people who helped her.”
“What happened to Maude?”
She glanced toward the attic. “Somewhere up there is a little box of her things,” she added. “But in seventy-two, Jacob showed up on our doorstep. He’d received a call from the San Francisco police. Her body had been found in Golden Gate Park. She died from exposure, but I’m sure it was drugs.”
Looking distressed, she paused and ran a hand over her face. “Apparently Maude had kept an envelope of pictures in her knapsack, and one of them was of Della’s Restaurant. Mama had written Phoenix and the date on the back, and they looked up Jacob. She had to go claim the body. It was awful. She was never the same after that.”
“And Maude had Maya before she died?” CC asked gently.
Her gaze shot up at CC. “Damn. How did you know?”
“Maya told us her mother was Maude.”
She shook a finger at her. “You should be a detective.” She stood and went to Kiah’s portrait, setting her hand on the frame reverently. “Maude also had a picture of a newborn in her bag. I think Maya was probably born in somebody’s house, and then Maude gave her up for adoption. I guess a lot of women did during that crazy time. Mama found a slip of paper with an address in her bag, so before she left San Francisco, she visited the people who’d adopted her. She decided not to make trouble, and they all kept in touch. And when Maya’s adoptive parents’ health started to fail, they moved out here.” She offered a slight smile. “I doubt that was an accident.”
“But she doesn’t know you’re her aunt?”
She turned and faced them. “Do you understand now why I didn’t want to get into all this? It’s not important. She knows she’s adopted. That’s enough. She loves me and we’re family,
not just in the blood sense. What would be gained from telling her? Her biological past is full of pain.” Her gaze shifted from Penn to CC. “This is what I’m trying to tell you girls. The past is the past. It’s not always good to know everything.” She gazed at the portrait again. “You make your family, and I’ve made mine.”
CC stood. “Viv, you said Jacob would do anything for your mother, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Would he commit a felony?”
****
CC, Penn and Viv rode in Penn’s Nova as CC explained her theory. “I think Jacob confronted your father about the fire, Viv. He threatened to turn him into the police for arson and murder unless he signed over the enclave.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he wanted something good to come from Mac’s death,” Penn concluded. “In all likelihood nothing would’ve happened if he’d gone to the police. There was no real proof. Chet would’ve denied it, and you didn’t actually see him set the fire.”
“And unfortunately in those times the death of a black man wasn’t a big deal,” CC said. “But he could help your mother if he got the land away from Chet.”
Viv’s head seemed to swim with the information. “Why didn’t he have Pops sign over the place to Mama?”
“Because property law was vague and ambiguous back then. Most states didn’t allow women to own property on their own,” CC answered. “Jacob threatened Chet to sign over the land, and then he held it for Lois.”
“But he should’ve signed it back in the seventies when the laws changed,” Penn growled as she turned on to Grand Avenue.
“Mama was already in trouble by then, Penn. Her brain wasn’t working right. And I imagine Jacob had his own box of letters. They probably just forgot about it.”
Penn glanced at CC. “Are you thinking duress, counselor? Are you hoping to prove that the contract between the two men isn’t binding?”
She shook her head. “Nope. That could be an angle, but there’s no proof. I’ve got another hunch,” she said with a grin.
“Where are we going?” Viv finally asked.
“Here,” she said, pointing to the big sign.
Viv shrugged, puzzled. “Della’s? Why are we here?”
“Good question,” Penn agreed as they slid through the front door of the restaurant.
She asked for a table against the far wall, noticing Seth Rubenstein wasn’t around, but his Lexus was parked outside. After the waitress took their pie and lemonade orders, she motioned for Penn to help her remove the Farmhouse Pies sign that hung above them.
“What in tarnation are you doin’?” Viv asked.
They lowered it onto the table and stared at the message on the backside, written in the long, angular script that CC had seen on the letters in the shoebox.
Della’s Restaurant Est. March, 1957
Jacob Rubenstein, Della Rubenstein and Lois Battle
Founding Partners
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Penn said, kissing her cheek.
Viv leaned over the sign as the waitress appeared carrying a coffeepot. “Excuse me, but you’re not allowed to do that.”
Viv looked up with a victorious smile. “I most certainly am, young lady. I own this joint.” She pointed at the message and explained who she was.
“Cool,” the waitress said. “I love the sweet potato pie. It’s the most ordered item on the menu.”
Seth Rubenstein hustled out of the kitchen. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”
CC pointed at Jacob Rubenstein’s message and he shrugged. “So?”
“It means we’re partners,” Viv said. She stuck out her hand. “Put her there!”
He stared at her extended hand.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Penn accused him.
He shuffled his feet, but said nothing.
Viv gasped. “You son of a bitch. If your parents were alive they’d tan your fanny but good! You’re not half the man Jacob was.”
His face turned completely red and clashed with his bright pink Hawaiian shirt. “I’m calling my lawyer, my new lawyer,” he said to CC as he walked away. “You’re fired.”
A few minutes later, on the drive home Viv asked, “Will I get to keep the enclave? I really don’t want to own a restaurant, even part of one.”
“I think so,” Penn said. “His new attorney will advise him to drop the suit. The Della franchise is worth a ton more than the property. He’s not going to want to cut that pie in pieces.”
They laughed so loud CC almost didn’t hear her phone. She groaned when she saw Blanca’s name and put the phone on speaker.
“Yes, Blanca.”
“Your things need to be removed from our office by noon tomorrow.”
“I understand,” she said, glancing at Penn and Viv who were listening intently. From the echo on the line, Blanca’s phone was also on speaker.
“And you should know that I intend to file a formal complaint against you with the state bar association for ethics violations.”
“I understand,” she repeated, imagining a giant toilet with wads of cash that represented her education circling in the bowl.
“And I’ll need our new attorney to speak with Ms. Battle’s attorney. Who might that be?”
“She’s right here,” she said, holding the phone out.
“This is Penn.”
“Uh, hello, this is Alicia Dennis. I’ll be taking over the Rubenstein matter. Hi, CC, I assume you’re listening as well.”
Penn shook her head. “That was quick. You people at Hartford and Burns give new meaning to turnover.”
“Let’s stick to business,” Blanca directed. “What does your client want?”
Penn glanced at Viv. “You sure you don’t want part of a restaurant?” Viv waved her off and leaned closer to the phone. “Ms. Battle will be perfectly happy with a deed to the property. She’ll gladly forfeit her portion of Della’s.”
“I’m certain that will be acceptable,” Blanca said. “I’ll have Alicia draw up the paperwork.”
“It’ll be done by Friday,” Alicia said quickly.
“Oh, and Alicia you may want to write a few things down. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“First, when we come down to sign those papers, I expect you to return CC’s Melissa Ferrick CD, got that?”
“Uh, okay—”
“And I’m not sure what you’ve got on her, but if anything appears on the Internet that defames her in any way, I’m coming after you personally and Heartless and Burned, too. And I won’t care if the whole world sees. Do you understand that, Blanca?”
“I do,” she said tersely.
“I think that’s it,” Penn said.
“Oh, no, wait one second!” Viv cried. “Vivian Battle, here.”
“Yes, Ms. Battle,” Blanca said flatly.
“As the president of the Alzheimer’s Association, and a personal friend of Bill Hartford’s, I’m requesting that you forget about filing that complaint with the bar.” She let the message sink in before she said, “It won’t turn out well for you, dear.”
Her voice was as sweet as if she was reading a Chloe book, but the venom lurked under the surface. It took several beats but Blanca finally said, “I understand. Consider it forgotten. Are we through?”
Penn piped up. “Just one more point, Alicia. I really need to thank you.”
“Why?”
“For being a moron. You gave up a total babe who’s fabulous in bed. Thanks a lot. My rediscovered sex drive is very grateful.”
She disconnected, and Viv slapped her back. CC stared out the window too stunned to speak. Penn kept her eyes on the road and her hands at ten and two on the steering wheel. When they stopped at a red light, she turned to CC and appeared to be three times larger than she was.
“Sometimes I absolutely love the law!”
They parked the car, and CC’s head fell against the dashboard. “What have I done?”
Penn stroked he
r back. “You’re miserable. You hate being a lawyer.”
“But it’s all I know how to do! And my student loans…”
“You have us.”
She sat up and touched her cheek. “Penn—”
“Listen to me, CC.”
“Yes, listen to us, CC,” Viv said.
Viv held up her portfolio and displayed her most recent drawing, a picture of Danny the Dachshund leaping through the grass, playing with a butterfly. “This is excellent. This is what real talent looks like. You want a job? I’m giving you a job.”
“What?” CC asked.
“I can’t stop old age from interfering with my life. God knows I try every day. But the arthritis is getting to me, and it’s harder to hold my brush. I need someone to help me with Chloe. I may not be able to control what happens to me, but Chloe can be timeless. She never has to die.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You want me to be your apprentice?”
She shook her head. “You’re far too talented for that word, but yes, I want you to learn from me, and in exchange I’ll introduce you to my publisher.” She tapped the picture and smiled wryly. “He’s going to love this little guy and all the money he’ll make. Kids love wiener dogs!” Her expression shifted, and she said seriously, “So when can you start? When can you move in?”
She blinked. “You want me to live here?”
“Of course! This is my home, and I’m loaded. It’s that simple. And I want people around me I admire, love and trust. This is my family. I decided on Maya, Penn, Lynette and Siobhan, and now I’d like to add you.”
“Uh, Viv, where will CC live?” Penn asked warily.
“With you,” she replied, and Penn sputtered an unintelligible response that made her laugh. “I’m kidding, Penn. She can either stay with me, and Lord knows I’ve got the room, or she can move into Siobhan’s place, which I imagine will be empty soon.”
Penn snorted. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” Viv said, pointing toward the cottages.
They got out of the Nova as Siobhan stormed toward her truck with Lynette and the dogs following after her.