Path of Secrets

by D. F. Hart

  “Don’t be, honey. It’ll be fine,” Jandy reassured her. “I’ll be right here with you every step of the way. Besides, it can’t be any worse than my very first Thanksgiving dinner.”

  “What happened?”

  “Well, among other things, I didn’t know that there was this little packet of stuff in the cavity of the bird that needed to be taken out before cooking.”

  “Packet of stuff?” Bella was incredulous. “What are you talking about? What packet?”

  Jandy laughed. “Yeah. They take the neck, gizzards, and heart of the bird and they put it in a little food-grade paper packet, and they shove it down in the inside. Because some people use that stuff in their gravy, or whatever. I don’t. I usually just throw all that away. Anyway, my very first turkey, I didn’t know about the packet, so, it got left in there and I cooked the turkey.”

  Bella’s face scrunched up in disgust. “And?”

  “And it smelled like burnt paper, to begin with, and went downhill from there. My dressing was soupy, my potatoes were lumpy, and I forgot about the rolls and burned them so badly they weren’t edible. Pretty much everything about that first meal was horrible.”

  Bella paled.

  “But I learned a lot from that first try,” Jandy continued, “and now I can pretty much nail it every time. I figured out some tricks and tips that really helped, and I’m gonna show you each and every one of them. It’s going to be all right, I promise. And fun, too.”

  Her cell phone rang, and Jandy glanced at it.

  “It’s the fire chief,” she relayed just before she answered the phone, and her eyes fluttered shut as she listened.

  “Thanks, I appreciate the update,” she murmured. “Will we be able to be there, at least? Okay, see you then.”

  Jandy sighed as she hung up. “The engineers say it’s too dangerous to enter. They’ve scheduled demolition for this afternoon at four-thirty.”

  “I’ll call Kellie and ask if she can watch Charlie for a while this afternoon. That way Nathan and I can both go with you,” Bella suggested, and pulled out her cell phone to reach out to the high school senior on their block who had become a regular babysitter for Charlie.

  A few minutes later, Bella called Nathan and filled him in.

  “Sure. I’ll make sure I’m home in time to ride up with you guys,” he confirmed. “Not much going on in the office today anyway.”

  Meanwhile, Jandy relayed the latest information to Tony, who said he’d meet them onsite.

  ***

  At four-twenty, Jandy, Tony, Bella and Nathan were standing in the driveway of what once was a warm and inviting two-story Victorian-style house on a manicured half-acre lot just north of Denton, Texas.

  No one spoke as they stared at the burned-out shell before them. The lovingly restored exterior was burnt to a crisp, and the entire second floor over the wraparound porch had collapsed downward.

  On the side that was still standing as two separate floors, almost no roof covering was left at all. The few remnants were badly damaged, first from flame, then from water as the fire department had tried their best to save the structure.

  From what Nathan could tell, not a single window in the place had been spared; each one had large shards of glass hanging in disjointed pieces in twisted frames, making the house look as if it were writhing in agony.

  Bella’s eyes were huge. “Wow,” was all she could manage as she surveyed the blackened ruins.

  A car door shutting behind them caught the group’s attention, and they all turned to look at the new arrival.

  “Jandy, Tony,” the man said as he walked up to them with an outstretched hand. “How are you guys holding up?”

  “Been better,” Jandy quipped. “But at least no one was hurt. Bella, Nathan, this is Jason, our insurance agent.”

  “Nice to meet you guys, although I wish it were under different circumstances,” Jason said. “Jandy, you sure you want to be here for this?”

  “Yes,” she said firmly, and Jason chuckled.

  “I know that tone,” he observed. “It means your mind is made up. Here, I wanted to bring you this,” he continued, and handed Jandy an envelope.

  Inside was a check for the replacement value of the home, minus the policy deductible, and a list of pre-approved residential contractors to choose from. Jandy re-read it all twice before she showed it to Tony.

  “We should definitely be able to rebuild with that,” was his dry comment. “And the builder we were talking about going with is on this list, so we’re good there, too.”

  “You guys aren’t holding this in escrow?” Jandy asked the agent.

  “Nope. If you had a mortgage, we would have written a two-party check and you would have had to coordinate with them on the rebuild. But since your house was free and clear, we cut it to you directly.”

  “What about the demolition costs, Jason? Is that coming out of this?”

  “Actually, no. We got the demo quote and wrote a check directly to them for that. What’s in your hands there is all yours to rebuild with. Or not. Entirely up to you.”

  “Oh, we’re rebuilding, definitely. And among other things, no more second floor – my knees won’t take it,” Tony declared.

  A motion from the fire chief indicated they should move all the way back to the curb as the hydraulic excavator crept forward to begin its work.

  “Wait!” Jandy exclaimed, and before anyone could stop her, she raced forward and up the rickety porch stairs.

  Stunned, they all watched and waited, terrified that she was about to run into the ruined structure. But she stopped at the threshold to pull down the decoration she’d hung over the front door when they’d moved in so many years ago.

  When Jandy returned to the group, she was out of breath but triumphant – and the fire chief was striding her direction, absolutely furious.

  “Look,” she said joyfully, holding it out for them to see. “Look! It’s barely even dirty.”

  And she was right. The ornate cross with “Bless This House” painted on it in delicate script still looked almost new.

  “Jandy! What were you thinking, running up there like that?” the fire chief chastised her as he approached.

  “I saw it and I knew I could save it, so I did,” Jandy said matter-of-factly. “With all this mess, I feel grateful to even have one thing left. Now, how long will the demolition take?”

  “This will actually take three to five days, total,” the fire chief informed them. “But when they’re done, not even the slab will be left. You’ll have a completely blank canvas to work with.”

  “So, we need to figure probably next Wednesday at the earliest, with tomorrow being a holiday, and then the weekend, right?”

  “That’s correct. They’re getting it started this afternoon, but today is mostly about knocking it the rest of the way down so nobody goes nosing around in there. The bulk of the cleanup will start Monday.”

  Jandy reached for Tony’s hand as the excavator’s operator reached the bucket high into the air and brought it down on the second-story exterior wall of what used to be their bedroom.

  “I changed my mind. I don’t need to see this,” she announced suddenly. “No need in looking back, it can’t be changed.”

  And clutching the cross she’d rescued, she turned and walked hand-in-hand with Tony back to their truck.

  ***

  “I’m on shift tomorrow, honey,” Joe reminded Trish over dinner that night. “So, I won’t be able to make the trip with you to your sister-in-law’s house.”

  “About that,” she said. “I forgot to tell you. I figured you would probably volunteer to work and let one of the guys with kids at home have the day off. And I did the same thing, although in my case I’m just on call. I don’t foresee having to go in unless something really major that can’t wait one day comes through my lab. Besides, I just couldn’t justify driving all that way when I’d have to turn right around and come back - I’d have been in the car most of the day tomorro
w! I told her we’d come up one weekend soon.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve always stood in the gap on holidays. It’s just a routine I got into.”

  But if I retire and become a private investigator, I can control my own schedule, work when I want to. Take time off and enjoy it with this lovely woman sitting beside me, he realized.

  And the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

  “What?” Trish asked. “I can see your wheels turning.”

  “Just thinking about retirement,” he told her. “And being able to take cases when I want to. I really like the idea of being able to control how much I work and what I work on.”

  “I thought you might, so, I took the liberty of printing this out,” she confessed, and passed him some papers.

  “What is all this?”

  “It’s everything you’d need to do to become a private investigator in the state of Texas,” Trish answered. “I just thought you’d want to see what is involved.”

  “This is totally doable,” he murmured as he skimmed the pages. “Even if I have to take some of the coursework, I could get all this done in six months.”

  “I know,” Trish said, and smiled.

  “You know what? I’m going to do this,” Joe decided. “I’ll wait until January, then tell my section chief I plan to retire. I’ll get my full pension, and I’ll get this certification and get started. Now,” he said as he reached out and took her hand, “we still have two other big decisions to make. The first one is, how soon do you want to get on the Justice’s docket, and how soon should I put my place up for sale?”

  ***

  It was just before noon on Thanksgiving Day, and Bella, Nathan and Jandy were putting the finishing touches on the first holiday meal in Nathan and Bella’s new home.

  “Two more minutes on the rolls,” Bella announced. “How’s the turkey carving coming, honey?”

  Nathan hefted the last chunk of breast meat onto the platter. “And... done. Carry this out there?”

  “Yep,” she confirmed. “I’ll be right there with the bread.”

  “The gravy’s ready to go to the table, too,” Jandy said, holding up the bowl. “Meet you out there.”

  When the oven timer sounded, Bella quickly pulled out the cookie sheet, piling the golden-brown rolls into a large bowl.

  “Here we go,” she said under her breath, and made her way to the dining room.

  Everyone else had already taken their seats. Nathan had taken the chair at the end of the table; to his right was Jandy and Tony and their kids Lauren and Jordan. To his left was Charlie’s highchair, an open chair for Bella, then Lizzie, Donny, and Faith, with Rick at the far end.

  “I’d like to propose a toast,” Nathan said, raising his glass and pausing as everyone joined him. “To the family that we love and cherish, and to the friends we’ve made that have become family. May we have many, many more gatherings like this one.”

  “Hear, hear,” was the chorus all around before the sounds of filling plates and ‘please pass’ took over.

  “The food looks amazing, Bella,” Lizzie said sincerely. “Thanks so much for inviting us.”

  “Aw, you’re welcome! I’m so glad you were able to be in town to come eat with us,” Bella replied. “And I definitely can’t take all the credit. I don’t know what I would’ve done if not for Jandy.”

  Jandy beamed. “Oh, sweetie, I was happy to pitch in.”

  We are so, so blessed, Bella thought with tears in her eyes as she cut up pieces of turkey to put on Charlie’s tray.

  ***

  “Grant! You made it!” Bill Forrester exclaimed as he strode forward to bear-hug his son.

  “Hey, Dad,” he said. “Sorry I’m a bit late, ran into traffic. I’ve missed you. How have you been?”

  “Good, I’ve been good,” Bill said. “And your timing’s actually pretty spot on – your mom just now pulled the bread out of the oven. Come on in. Let’s eat and you can tell me all about your writing stuff.”

  ***

  Since he had no one he cared to have Thanksgiving dinner with, he’d packed up the gray sedan he’d rented and left early – he’d found a place to practice that was open despite the holiday.

  When he arrived at the outdoor range sixty-two miles northwest of San Angelo, he signed the safety and acknowledgement forms as Grant Forrester – it’s only right, since it’s his gun, he thought wryly. He then proceeded with the Winchester to the long-range area to hang his target at the seventy-five-yard mark. As he was the range’s sole user, he opted to take his time laying out the rifle and his ammunition. He sized up the initial distance he’d chosen as he put on his earmuffs and safety glasses.

  He methodically shoved fourteen .44 caliber rounds into the side loading port and cycled the lever action to chamber one before loading the fifteenth round. He took careful aim and fired, then levered the next bullet up into the chamber and fired again. Then he traveled downrange to check his accuracy as he marveled at the light recoil of the weapon. Feels great, hardly any kick at all.

  From the placement of his first two shots, he could tell the sights were skewed high and right, and he adjusted accordingly. The next two shots he took hit dead center of the target.

  He extended the distance to one-hundred yards and fired two more shots, then repeated the exercise three more times, each time setting his target further away.

  When he’d reset the target at two-hundred-fifty yards, the maximum rating for his weapon, he fired his remaining five shots, then walked the long distance to check his final results.

  And he smiled, impressed with what he saw. At the maximum distance, his shots only missed dead center of the silhouette by about three and a half inches, still well within tolerance – and still quite lethal.

  This is gonna be even more fun than I thought, he decided.

  He held back a laugh when he reached the parking lot and approached the boring gray four-door Toyota he’d been forced to go with at the rental counter. Definitely not my ride of choice, for sure, he admitted to himself. I’m more of a muscle car guy. But it’s the exact make and model that Grant drives, so... when in Rome...

  He secured the rifle in the trunk and climbed behind the wheel.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “I believe you have a fan,” Bella remarked to Lizzie as she gestured at the highchair.

  Lizzie glanced to her right in time to see Charlie leaning around the side of his chair to peek at her with an impish grin.

  “Hi there, little guy,” she said, and the child squealed with delight and ducked out of sight, then peeked around again.

  “He’s cute! How old is he?”

  “Year and a half,” Bella answered. “He’ll be two in March.”

  “I’ve always wondered about something,” Lizzie mused. “Why do they measure age in months up to a certain point then stop?”

  “I know, right? We don’t do that with anything else!” Bella laughed. “But can you imagine someone actually saying, ‘I’m two hundred and forty months old’ instead of ‘I’m twenty’? That’d be hilarious. Yeah, it’s just easier to say he’s a year and a half old.”

  “Haf,” Charlie echoed, then, “bird?”

  “He wants more turkey, I guess,” Bella chuckled as she cut up some more pieces. “I’ve been trying to get him to start using a spoon to feed himself, but so far he’s not having it. He’d much rather eat with his fingers.”

  “In all fairness, some of the best food is finger food,” Donny chimed in with a big grin. “Nachos, for example.”

  “Burgers, fries, pizza, ribs, lots of great stuff you don’t use a fork and knife for,” Nathan pointed out, then looked at his son and added, “Isn’t that right, buddy?”

  Charlie nodded his head vigorously before he picked up another piece of turkey to eat.

  ***

  When the meal was over, everyone moved to the living room, except Bella, who headed toward the kitchen.

  “What are you doing?” Nathan asked fr
om the doorway.

  “Loading the dishwasher right quick,” Bella said.

  “Nope, that’s not the rule,” Nathan countered. “Whoever cooks, the other cleans, remember? Hand ‘em over.”

  She grinned and stepped away from the sink. “You got it.”

  “Yeah,” Rick added as he stepped into the kitchen behind Nathan. “We’ve got this. Go sit and relax.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Bella replied, and made her way into the living room just in time to see Charlie wriggle out of Jandy’s arms and make a beeline for Lizzie, who’d just sat down on the couch.

  Bella bit back a snicker as Charlie stood in front of a nervous-looking Lizzie with arms raised.

  “What... what do I do?” Lizzie asked, sounding a bit panicked.

  “He wants you to hold him,” Bella said gently, and noticed Lizzie’s eyes go wide in surprise.

  “Okay, sure,” Lizzie managed, and reached down for the baby. Charlie clambered up, settled into her lap facing her and immediately laid his cheek on her chest.

  “Aww. That is too cute. I have never seen that child take to someone he just met that quickly,” Jandy observed. “Have you, Bella?”

  “Nope,” Bella agreed. “Normally he’s bashful and hides behind me or his Daddy. Lizzie, you must have a magic way with kids.”

  Lizzie pivoted her head slowly to the left and met Donny’s gaze.

  “I guess he likes me,” she murmured shyly as she relaxed her shoulders and snuggled Charlie in her arms.

  “He’s got impeccable taste,” Donny said tenderly, and she smiled.

  Within minutes Charlie was sound asleep.

  “Here,” Bella offered. “I know he weighs a ton. I’ll take him and put him to bed for a nap.”

  “It’s okay, really. I don’t mind holding him for a while,” Lizzie answered. “This is nice.”

  And as she said it, she realized she truly meant it. She tilted her head down to rest her cheek against the child’s downy soft hair and listened to his deep and even breathing. The simple act of holding a sleeping child was so pure, so peaceful that it almost undid her.

  She felt Donny’s arm come around her shoulders, and she instinctively leaned into him and closed her eyes as she processed everything she was feeling.