“Home. I have this crazy urge to cook for you, darling. I want to wait on you hand and foot.”
“I do not want Lipton noodle soup and grilled cheese. I want real food. I want mashed potatoes, gravy, and a big slab of meat. You can have my salad. Oh, and I want a giant slice of blackberry pie with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.”
Linda sighed. Happily. “Okay, it’s Mulligans. It’s early enough that we won’t need a reservation. Carry on, fearless leader, and I’ll be right behind you.” Linda felt pleased with herself. Jay fell for it every time. She didn’t have to cook, and that was her intention all along. “But, if you keep that puss on, I’m going home. Show me some teeth now in a big smile.”
Jay grimaced, but Linda settled for what she called a half-assed smile.
Nine miles away Sophie, Patty, and Nick sat at Patty’s kitchen table with large glasses of sweet tea in front of them. Sula slept under the window.
“This is really a cute little house, Patty. It’s you. When are you guys going to tell me what’s in the shopping bag you’ve been carrying around?”
Seeing the uncomfortable look on Patty’s face, Nick jumped into the conversation. “So tell us what your plans are, Sophie.”
“Like I said in the car on the way here, I’m staying five days. I want to go to St. Gabriel’s to make a donation to Sister Julie and, of course, see all the nuns. That’s a whole day right there. I want to hang with you guys as much as I can, but I have meetings with the lawyers at Star. I have to make decisions. At least that’s what Kala told me. There is the news conference tomorrow. On the flight here, I was thinking I might like to go to the Star mansion and walk through it. I know how morbid that sounds, but for some strange reason I think I need to do that. Do you guys want to go with me?”
“Sure,” Nick said. He would have said yes to anything Sophie suggested. “We were just there a week ago. In all the excitement at the airport and the office, I guess we forgot to tell you. We found Audrey Star’s old journals. And the jewelry she kept at the mansion. You should see it, Sophie. Tons of diamonds and all kinds of fancy gold jewelry.”
“There wasn’t tons but there was a lot. Probably as much as the Queen of England has. What are you going to do with it all?” Patty asked curiously.
Sophie fingered the locket at her neck, then the bracelet on her wrist. “I don’t have a clue. I have to speak to some investment people. I’m sure they’ll have ideas. Was there anything there you two would like? If there is, help yourself.”
“Are you serious?” Patty asked, her jaw dropping.
“I think I’ll pass,” Nick said.
Sophie looked at Patty. “Of course I’m serious. Take it all if you want.”
“I couldn’t do that, Sophie. And anyway, I’m no lawyer, but I think it belongs to the estate and has to go through probate. There was a pair of earrings I liked, though.”
“Then when it’s all said and done, they’re yours,” Sophie said happily. “What’s in the bag, Sophie? And, I hate to bring this up, but what’s for dinner? Do you think we could order a loaded pizza? I have been dying for pizza. And an ice-cold root beer. Did you guys go and buy me a present? Is that the surprise that’s in the shopping bag?”
Nick had his cell phone in hand to call to order the pizza. He looked at Patty, and Patty looked at him. They both shrugged at the same time.
“It ... it’s not a gift but it ... it’s going to be a surprise,” Patty said in a choked voice.
Sophie grew so still, Sula got up and walked over to her, sensing something the others couldn’t define. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s in the bag? Is it Audrey’s last journal, the one you all couldn’t find?”
Nick looked so stricken, Patty had a hard time coming up with the words she was looking for. She finally blurted out, “Why would you think that?”
Sophie threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t know. You said a surprise. That’s the only surprise I can think of. You all said you couldn’t find it. The last piece of the puzzle, so to speak. If that isn’t it, then what is it? Don’t tell me it’s Sister Julie’s famous seven-layer chocolate cake. That’s it, right? Listen, I’m sensing something here, and I don’t know what it is. It feels to me like we’re all trying too hard to ... to regain what we once had. We’re different people today. Ten years is a long time. I guess you two think I’m different, or now that I’m suddenly rich, I’m going to turn into someone else. That’s what I’m seeing here. Am I wrong? So, will one of you tell me what’s in the damn bag already so we can get past this ... awkward moment.”
“It’s Jon’s ashes. Jon died several years after you went to prison. He got some kind of jungle bug, and with his weak immune system, he couldn’t fight it off. We had him cremated. Patty and I take turns keeping his ashes. It was Patty’s turn this week. She brought the urn to show you.”
Sophie’s face went totally blank. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because,” Patty said, bitterness ringing in her voice, “you cut off all visitation and the mail that we sent you was returned. We did try, Sophie.” Patty swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks. Nick looked away before he knuckled his own eyes.
“I wonder why I didn’t sense something. We were all so close. I am so sorry. When I first got off the plane and saw the only person missing was Jon, I was going to ask you both if you thought he would be able to come back if I sent him a ticket. I thought ... I thought ... I could fly you all to Hawaii, and we could have an island reunion. But in the excitement, I forgot, and that’s not a good thing. I can’t believe ... Let me see the urn, Patty.”
Patty bent over and removed the urn from the shopping bag. She held it close to her heart for a moment before she set it on the table. Sophie didn’t touch it, but she stared at it for a long time. “Was there a service?”
“Of course there was a service. Why would you even ask that question, Sophie?” Patty snapped.
“We took the urn to St. Gabe’s and had a service in the chapel. Father Latham officiated. It was sad but beautiful. Everyone cried. Why aren’t you crying, Sophie?” Nick asked coolly.
“I guess I’m in shock and still trying to absorb that Jon is gone. In prison you learn not to show emotion. If you do, you’re considered weak, and you become a target.”
Neither Nick nor Patty asked Sophie what she meant by that.
“Listen, would you guys mind if I turn in? I didn’t sleep at all last night because I was so excited about coming back. I’m really tired, and I can’t remember ever drinking two full glasses of champagne in my life. If it’s okay with you guys, we can do the pizza tomorrow. Plus, I just had the shock of my life.”
“No problem, Sophie. Go on upstairs. Your room is the first door on the left. It has its own bathroom,” Patty said.
There were no hugs, no kisses as Sophie left the kitchen. It was silent as she walked out to the living room, then to the foyer and up the staircase to the second floor. No one even said good night.
“Who was that person?” Nick asked in a strangled voice.
Patty flopped down on the kitchen chair. “I don’t know, Nick. Certainly not the Sophie I knew and loved. What happened here?” The tears started to flow again.
Nick lowered himself to the chair and reached for Patty’s hands. He squeezed them. “Prison does strange things to people. It changes them. You read about it all the time, and it’s always on the news.”
“But Sophie—I didn’t think anything could change her. She was happy to see us, yes, but ... I don’t know how to put it, Nick. It’s like she was going through the motions. She didn’t shed a tear over Jon.”
“She said you could have all the jewelry. That’s Sophie, generous as always. And she was wearing the locket.” Nick realized how lame his defense was when Patty made a very unladylike snort of sound.
“All of a sudden she has to go to all these meetings. She has to take care of that empire she inherited. She’s rich now. She was going to fly us all to Hawaii for th
is grand reunion. The old Sophie would never have said things like that.”
“I thought that was generous of her. How else could she have said it, Patty?”
“I don’t know, Nick. All I’m saying is, this is not the old Sophie I knew and loved like a sister. If you think so, then you are just fooling yourself.”
“I will admit I was disappointed. But like I said, we all changed. Why should we think Sophie wouldn’t change? To her, we’re probably different, too. Maybe she was disappointed in us and kept it to herself. Ten years is a long time.... I’m going home. Do you want to keep Jon or should I take him?”
“Go ahead, take him. I’ll pick him up next week after Sophie leaves. I’m sorry, Nick. I know you were expecting things to be different. I wish ... dammit, I just wish things were different.”
“Good night, Patty. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Call me after the press conference, okay?”
“Sure.” She walked Nick to the door, let him kiss her cheek, and accepted the brief hug they always shared. Nick was real. Sophie didn’t feel real.
Chapter 27
KALA SLID HER EMPTY DINNER PLATE TO THE CENTER OF THE table. “The tuna was excellent, Ben. As always.”
Ben knew it was worth his life if he didn’t respond in kind. “And your salad was delicious even if you did just dump it out of a bag and smear some dressing all over it.”
“Everyone is a critic,” Kala laughed. “This is my favorite time of day. The sun is on the way down, the oppressive humidity doesn’t seem as bad, and before you know it, the stars will be out, and we can make our first wish of the night. I think it’s a full moon tonight, too. You know what they say about a full moon, don’t you, Ben?”
Ben laughed. “That all the lunatics in the world come out from hiding, and the emergency rooms at the hospitals are so full the hospitals add extra staff when there’s a full moon.”
Kala nodded. Her fingers drummed on the glass-top table.
“You’re not yourself tonight, Kala. You should be happy. Do you want to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you?”
“Well, for one thing, those stupid petunias in the pots are almost dead. I hate looking at dead flowers.”
Ben blinked when he saw Kala reach up and rip the lei from her neck and toss it toward one of the petunia pots. “There, now there’s some color!”
Ben chewed down on his lower lip as he got up to clear the table. He was done in five seconds. Hard plastic plates, plastic glasses. Silverware went into the dishwasher. Done. He turned the grill on high to burn off the residue. When it cooled down, three good strokes with the wire brush, and the grill would be good to go the next time Kala wanted grilled something or other.
“Time to get to the mail bags. I’ve got to leave as soon as I find the package my buddy sent me. What are you going to do this evening?”
Kala shrugged. “Maybe I’ll soak in the hot tub with a couple of glasses of wine while I shop on the shopping channel, then I’ll go to bed.”
“Sounds deadly to me,” Ben said.
“To me, too, so I’ll probably watch a rerun of something on TV. Let’s get to those damn mail bags and get it over with.”
Ben beat Kala to the garage in seconds. He unfolded two aluminum lawn chairs, which he placed half in the garage and half in the driveway. Then he rolled one of the huge trash cans and placed it between the two chairs. “All we have to do is go through it and toss what we don’t want into the can. I’ll wheel it back to the gate, and we’re done. We should have done this days ago. Mail is sacred,” he huffed.
“If you say so,” Kala said through clenched teeth.
It took both of them to upend Kala’s canvas bag of mail. She shuddered at the array of catalogs and flyers. She went to work separating the first-class mail into a pile; the junk mail was tossed into the trash can with barely a glance.
“You know, Kala, you have got to be on someone’s mailing list. If you’d stop shopping from catalogs, you wouldn’t be getting all this junk mail. Ah, here’s what I’m looking for.” Ben tossed what looked like a heavy manila envelope to the side and finished up with the rest of his junk mail.
“Fold up the bags and take them out to the mailbox. Patty said the mailman will pick them up. They have to be returned to the post office, and I don’t want to make a trip there. And the reason I shop from catalogs is I hate driving through parking lots looking for a parking space, then standing in line to check out.”
“Point taken, dear.”
“Will you get that garden basket over there so I can put all this other stuff I have to go through into it? I see there are overdue notices for the house insurance and every other insurance I have. Not to mention the utility bills. How could I have forgotten all that stuff? That’s not like me.”
Ben tried to make his voice as soothing as possible. “In all fairness, Kala, you did have a lot on your mind—the trip, Sophie, the office, the whole ball of wax. You can pay online in ten minutes. If you’re good to go here, I’m going to leave. I have to help my friend; he’s counting on me.”
“Go ahead. I’ll see you in the morning. Are you going to be at the courthouse?” Kala asked as she folded the lawn chairs and stacked them up against the wall.
“If you want me there, I’ll be there. I can even pick you up.”
“Okay, that works. Nine-thirty should do it. Night, sweetie, and thanks for cooking dinner.”
Kala waved to Ben as she pressed the remote that would close the garage door.
Inside the kitchen, she kicked off her shoes, opened her laptop, booted up, then poured a tall glass of wine for herself. She ripped at envelopes, typed in amounts, and sent off her payments, all within minutes. All the first-class mail and congratulatory cards taken care of, Kala looked at the two padded envelopes that were the last things she had to go through. One had a local address she didn’t recognize, and the other was something she’d ordered from the shopper’s channel. She ripped at the envelope. A purple pepper mill. Her favorite color. The other envelope was in a post office priority padded envelope. She ripped at it.
Kala’s eyes rolled back in her head. She gripped the edge of the kitchen table with both hands because she thought she was going to black out. The minute she was able to focus, she reached for the tall wineglass and drained it. Her eyes watered, her throat burned, and she could barely catch her breath. She dropped her head between her knees and struggled to take great gulping breaths. She reached for her cat, Shaky, and brought him up to her lap. He purred and licked at her. She started to babble to the cat, not understanding a thing she was saying. Obviously, Shaky didn’t understand it either. He stopped purring and hissed his displeasure before he hopped to the floor with a loud plop. His luxurious plumed tail swished angrily as he waddled from the room. In the doorway he turned, hissed again, then disappeared to his bed, wherever he had dragged it to earlier in the day.
A good ten minutes went by, the slowest ten minutes of Kala’s life, as she struggled to get herself under control. The moment she felt like she was firing on all cylinders, Kala reached for the wine bottle and poured. So what if she got drunk? So what?
Kala looked down at the kitchen table. Audrey Star’s last journal stared at her like some benevolent eye. In this case, a yellow spiral notebook kind of eye. She didn’t touch it. Instead, she looked at the address on the priority envelope and the date. The mailing date was the very day Adam Star Clements had expired. The address looked familiar: 5665 Peachtree Dunwoody Road in northeast Atlanta. Of course! St. Joseph’s Hospital!
Adam had had the journal all along. And as he had appointed her as the personal representative for his estate, it was only natural that he would send this last—what was it, a piece of evidence?—to her? Why?
Kala gulped at the wine, but she didn’t drain her glass. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold it. She wished then that Ben had stayed with her. A second later, she was glad he hadn’t stayed with her.
Kala sat on her hands to stop
them from trembling until she realized she wouldn’t be able to open the diary or turn the pages. She got up and started to pace around her kitchen table, her arms and hands flapping like some silly marionette. She drank more wine straight from the bottle.
Finally, finally, Kala sat down at the table and opened Audrey Star’s last and final journal. The time was ten-thirty by the digital clock on the range. At two-thirty, the wine bottle was empty, replenished with a second bottle, which was half-empty when Kala closed the journal. She knew she was drunk as a skunk when she got up and took precise little steps over to the kitchen counter, where she had her cell phone charging. She tried to focus on the numbers she was pressing, but it took her several tries before the phone was picked up on the other end. The voice demanded to know if the caller knew what time it was.
“It’s late, Spenser, and I’m drunk. I don’t have a clue as to what time it is. You need to come to my house right now. Right now, do you hear me? I just got finished reading Audrey Star’s last journal. Are you coming or not?”
“Of course I’m coming. Where did you find it?”
“The post office sent it to me. It’s been sitting in my damn garage for over a week now. They held my mail, and Patty just picked it up the other day. When are you coming? Do you know where I live?”
“I do know where you live, and I’m going out my door right now. Stay on the phone with me, do you hear me, Kala?”
“Spenser, this is not ... Why aren’t you here yet? I’ll put the light on for you as soon as I can find it. I don’t want you tripping over my cat when you get here.”
Ryan Spenser broke every speed law in the town of Dunwoody, Georgia, that night. He arrived at Kala’s house in eleven minutes. He laughed out loud when he saw the great Kala Aulani standing, more like leaning, in the open doorway, chugging from a bottle of wine.
“What took you so long?” Kala sniffed, as Spenser led her back to the kitchen.
“I think you’ve had enough of this,” he said, pouring the rest of the wine in the bottle down the drain. “Where do you keep your coffee?”
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