Chapter 29
The final farewell at the airport was just as tearful. The friends vowed to stay connected. Carlos extracted a promise from Lenore that she will let him know is she is ever in need of his help. Lenore in turn made both Carlos and Shelia promise to visit her in Hylton soon. There was no doubt in her mind that her two friends would soon be lovers. She hoped that Shelia would be the one to help ease the pain in Carlos’s heart over the death of his wife. She hoped that he in turn, would see the beauty and worth in her friend, and love Shelia for the woman she is, not the replacement for his Elenora as he had wanted for Lenore. Really, the man is such a nice man, for a crook.
Two hours and forty-five minutes later, her plane touched down on the runway at Sandiford Field in Louisville, Kentucky. Home, she thought. She was still in the queue of disembarking passengers when she heard the sweetest sound ever. “YO, Collins.” Shane stood there waving both arms at Lenore. I am home now.
When she finally made it to his side, Shane enveloped her in an embrace which was warm and welcoming, with just of hint of intimacy. To his surprised, she tiptoed to reach his lips and touched them with her own, soft, and sweet.
“Welcome home, Collins,” he grinned.
“Thanks, Travers,” she smiled, a smile that reached her eyes and touched his heart. “So, have you started looking for your new place yet. I want your apartment. Aunt Maddy is buying the house.”
“Not on your life, Collins. I may consider adding a second chair to the arrangement by the big window, though.” He smiled, testing the waters.
Her heart skittered at his words. His breath caught with her shy smile and the glint in her eyes. Warmth flooded through him.
Recouping, with difficulty, Shane proclaimed, “Let’s get you home, Collins.” Grabbing her luggage with one hand and holding Lenore’s hand with the other, he guided her through the crowd, through the garage and to his truck. Never once letting go of her hand.
“I wanted to keep you all to myself this evening, Collins. Mom vetoed that idea PRONTO,” he laughed as he placed her bags in the back. “You are the prodigal daughter beginning welcomed home tonight. All of your favorite dishes are being served at the Travers’ household tonight.”
“Miss Jenny spoils me terribly, and I love every minute of it,” Lenore confessed. “I have a lot to catch up on with Mr. Bill anyway about Dad’s estate.” She sensed his disappointment and added quickly. “That will free of the rest of this three-day weekend for you and me to have a heart to heart. That is, if you had no other plans.” Had she been too presumptuous, read too much into his actions and remarks in the airport?
“You, Collins, are my plans. We have a lot to hash out and fix, not just smooth over,” Travers’ declared. “I want our friendship fixed, Leni, and more.” He shot her a sideways glance, seeing the blush creeping into her cheeks.
“Yes, Shane, we need to talk, a lot.” She looked directly at him, the look making him swerve in the traffic.
“Whoa, Collins,” he said in a raspy voice. “Hold that look for later when I am not driving.”
The rest of the trip was spent in neutral conversation. Shane updated Lenore on the happenings in Hylton.
“DNA evidence confirmed what we expected about the victims in the stable barn. A couple of brothers, Larry, and Mitch Canner worked for a fellow by the name of Zach Feldon out of Cincinnati. Feldon’s company owns the stable at Maple Bluffs. He uses the place to house his thoroughbreds and as a retreat for business associates. He does business with the Alvarez brothers.”
“Those are the men who were trying to kill Charlie and Casey Scott?” Lenore quizzed,
“Yep. Mitch, the younger brother is the one who attacked your father. They were both dead before the fire though,” Shane informed her, “The coroner said Mitch had been strangled, that was easy to tell from something called the hyoid bone being fractured. Larry’s cause of death was harder to determine, but he was definitely did not die from smoke inhalation.”
“Dad’s case is closed then?”
“As far as we are concerned. The FBI are still working the drug angle.”
“What about Casey? Is she okay?”
“She had a rough time of it, the dead agent was her partner and fiancé, it turns out. Not to mention the near rape. She had a few sessions with Dr. Nelson before going home.”
“What about the wound on her face?”
“Haven’t heard anything from her lately. Tim may know, he was smitten with her.”
Shane commented.
“Has the leak been identified?”
“You are full of questions, Collins,” Shane teased. “One would suspect you had been away for a year instead of a month.”
“I take it, that is a taboo subject right now? I am okay with that.” Lenore assured him.
That was something about Lenore he always appreciated, she knew when there was a line, he could not cross.
“Enough shop talk, Travers,” Lenore changed the subject. “I want a dog and a car, not necessary in that order. Will you help me pick out a car?”
“Only if I can help with picking out a dog too,” he bargained.
“It’s a deal.”
The last few miles neither spoke, all awkwardness between them was gone. They soon arrived at Bill and Jenny Travers’ home. His parents welcomed her as their own. They always had. Jenny had indeed fixed all her favorite foods and prepared her a room for the night.
“I can sleep next door, Miss Jenny.” Lenore demurred. “I need to get used to Dad not being there you know.”
“Soon enough for that tomorrow night. Tonight, you are staying here with us.”
Travers let out a guffaw. “Told you, Collins. There is no arguing with Mom when her mind is made up.”
Food, friends/family, and fun, the perfect evening for her first night home. Lenore did not want the night to end, but Jenny caught her trying to hide a yawn and nodding off occasionally.
“Enough for tonight,” Jenny Travers declared. “Lenore is barely able to keep her eyes open. Shane you are welcome to stay the night.”
He stood and made ready to go. “Thanks, Mom, but I am headed for my own bed. See you for breakfast and church tomorrow as usual. Then Leni and I are taking off for the day.” He gave his mom a quick kiss to on her cheek, and his father a handshake.” Leni, walk me out, will you?”
“Sure, Shane.”
Jenny and Bill Travers exchanged knowing smiles filled with hope as they watched their son and their friend’s daughter walk out together. She started to remind Shane Leni was tired but forestalled by her husband. “Jenny, they are adults. Let them be.”
Shane dropped his arm over Leni shoulders as they strolled to his truck. “Glad to be home, Collins?”
“Yes. I just wish Dad was still here,” she whispered sadly, looking at the house next door.
“I do too, Leni,” he admitted. “I wish we could have found him in time.”
“The other night after we talked, I swore I felt a soft brush of lips on my cheeks, angel kisses Dad always told me. He used to tell me it was Mom, now I guess they have gained up on me,” she let out a sound between a laugh and a sob.
Shane turned her to face him; tipping her chin up, he gently kissed her warm, sweet lips before he spoke, still encircling her with his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head and spoke. “Leni, I know we agreed to wait until tomorrow to talk. There is something you need to know now.”
She looked up expectantly in his eye, “Go on,” she coaxed in a breathy whisper.
“I do not and have never loved Bethany Allan,” he declared firmly, now staring into her eyes. “Yes, we have had past and recent sexual encounters, but I felt nothing for her but lust and a vague fondness for what we thought was love as teenagers. I have not seen nor spoken with her since the memorial when I hurt you so much. I was angry and jealous.”
“Jealous of Alvarez and Jared?” she suspected.
“Yes.”
“As I was jealous
of Bethany,” she admitted. “I thought you really cared for her. She is a beautiful woman.”
“Yes, she is beautiful and sexy, but that is not all a man wants or needs in his partner, or at least not all I want or need.”
“What do you need and want, Shane?” she probed gently, fearfully.
“Everything that is you, Leni,” he said simply. “I find myself in love with frenemy and the thought that the feeling is not mutual haunts me. I need to know Leni; do I have a chance to be more than a friend to you?”
She searched the depths of his eyes, seeing his heart and souled bared to her. “Yes, Shane, you have an exceptionally good chance. I love you.”
“Can I go out and buy that second chair, Leni?”
“Is that a proposal or a proposition?” she asked in a shy voice.
“Yes, Leni Collins, that is a proposal. The first and only one I have ever made to a woman,” he admitted. “And you are the first woman to have ever spent the night in my apartment, even if it was on the couch.”
“Can we get a dog?” she teased, leaning into him.
“Yes, after the chair and a ring.”
“I love you Shane Collins, and yes, I will marry you.”
Shane drowned in the look of love and desire emanating from those whiskey eyes. He pulled her into his embrace, crushing his lips to hers. Desire coursed through them. Finally, he released her, pushing her gently and regrettably away from him. “Come home with me tonight, Leni, please.” He asked in a husky voice.
“Your parents will be shocked,” she protested weakly.
“I don’t think so, Leni. Look.” He nodded to the front of the house where her luggage stood on the porch and the house dimmed. “They are undoubtably planning a wedding now with visions of grandbabies dancing in their heads.”
“Then, yes Shane, I will go home with you, tonight and every night for the rest of my life.”
Epilogue
April 2018
Last entry Lenore Wilkes made in her diary:
December 30, 1900
I wear my white dress today. Sissy will do my hair, but first I will excuse myself to use the privy room. I have sent Sissy away so I can write this last entry. I will not marry Dalton Wilkes. I care not for my Twin Maples anymore or for living. Charlie betrayed me, another woman holds my child, and I hate the man I am to marry. I think it fitting that I take my leap into eternity in this dress. Momma did work hard on it. I go now to the Widow’s Walk.
My Epithet shall be this poem written by a man as haunted I, Edgar Allan Poe.
TO _____________
I heed not that my earthly lot
Hath little of Earth in it,
That years of love have been forgot
In the hatred of a minute:
I mourn not that the desolate
Are happier, sweet, than I
But that you sorrow for my fate
Who am a passer-by.
Thus, was Lenore Wilkes last entry in her silent confidant. Sissy made the next entry.
December 30, 1900
I returned to my mistress’ room to complete preparations for her wedding. She was not in her room. I found her little book laying on her dresser, open to her last note. I grabbed the book and ran from the room and screamed for Mr. Wilkes. It was too late, himself, out for a stroll, had seen his daughter leap from the Widow’s Walk. He holds his daughter in his arms, her face as white as her wedding dress. My friend Lenore is dead. Sissy.
Lenore Wilkes did not jump to her death from despair over the loss of her lover. She killed herself because of heartache of future without her son, and from dread over a future bound to a man she hated.
Folded in the creases of the old book was a note written by Paul Wilkes. ‘James Wilkes and his wife never fully recovered from the death of their daughter. Mrs. Wilkes grew depressed. She died on February of 1901 from pneumonia. The doctor was of the opinion the woman had lost her will to live. James Wilkes isolated himself from family and friends, initially drinking heavily and experiencing bouts of depression. In the November of 1901, James wrote to his nephew’s widow Sarah, the woman raising Lenore’s child, his grandson. He asked them to come live with him, promising to make provisions for his grandson. Sarah acquiesced only after obtaining a promise from the man that the child’s true mother never be revealed. James Wilkes agreed. Thus, Sarah Wilkes brought home the rightful heir to Twin Maples, me, and here I will live with the secret until I die.
Sissy gave Lenore’s dairy to me before her death. Sissy wanted me to know the truth of my mother. I feel sorry for the woman who gave me life, but Sarah Wilkes will always be my true mother, the woman who gave me love. She will never know I am aware of her secret.’
Grace Belk must have found the book among Paul Wilkes’ belongings at his death and kept the book secret until her own death. Did Ms. Grace intend to give it to Lenore’s father but did not get the chance? Or had Grace no intention of revealing the secret at all? No one can answer that question now.
Lenore’s secret is still safe except for those who are curious enough to research the Wilkes family history. Dr. Lenore Collins-Travers published the unfinished version of her father’s book, it seemed more fitting that way. Dr. James Collins’ daughter donated all books, documents, and pictures on the Wilkes to Hylton University in memory of her father.
Lenore Collins-Travers kept Paul Wilkes old rocking chair and hopes to spend hours in the future rocking her and Shane’s first child, now growing in her womb. She will miss the apartment with the river view, but their new home, Lenore’s Bluff, has a river view and a small cabin nearby for Charlie Belk, the last of the Wilkes family. There will also be a big yard for Brandy, the dog she and Shane rescued, to play and romp in. Grace Belk’s secret about her grandson’s paternal history went to the grave with her. Charlie B will forever be Charlie B.
A Tale of Two Lenores Page 21
