by Sharon Sala
“Wow, this is beautiful! Thank you,” Sully said.
“Wait until you see the bathroom,” she said, and pointed the way.
He walked in, then turned to her with a grin on his face.
“Two rain showerheads? A jetted tub? Man, would the guys at the station ever love something like this to come back to after a long, hard call.”
Melissa smiled, pleased that he was impressed with the comforts she was offering.
“I’ll leave you to get settled. All kinds of toiletry items are in that first drawer, but if there’s something missing that you need, just ask. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“You aren’t cooking anything just because I’m here, are you?”
“No, just reheating some of the food Ruby and Rachel brought. Take your time. There’s no hurry as to when we eat.”
“Thank you for this, and for letting me into your life. I won’t betray your trust.”
“Oh, I know you won’t, Sully. I wouldn’t have offered it if I thought that might happen,” she said, then turned and walked out.
He heard her footsteps going back downstairs and then threw his suitcase on the bed to unpack.
* * *
Barb Holland’s family arrived in four vehicles. She met them at the door with tears in her eyes, and the moment she saw the empathy on their faces, she was crying.
“Lord, lord, I am so grateful to see all of you. Come in, come in.”
Her brother Bobby Austin hugged her. “So sorry this happened, Sis. We thought the world of Niles.”
Then Barb saw her eighty-year-old daddy, Jake Austin, and fell apart. “It was the whiskey, wasn’t it, baby?” Jake asked.
“Yes. I just couldn’t get him to slow up on it. I worried about it all the time. He wouldn’t listen, and he wouldn’t stop driving when he was like that.”
Bobby’s wife, Wynona, came up and hugged her. “Barbara Ann, I want you to hear me good. It was not your responsibility to control your man. He made a choice every day to do what he damn well pleased, and you know it. All this is on him, and it breaks my heart for your grief.”
“Thank you, Wy. I think I needed to hear that. All the people I thought were our friends have been awful. They’ve been talking about Niles like he was some drunk walking the streets, and my girlfriends have decided to set themselves up as judge and jury and point fingers at me. It was so hurtful. Something I never saw coming.”
When her family heard that, they exploded.
Her aunt, Belle, was her daddy’s sister, and she was livid. “Don’t you worry, sugar. You just point them out to us at the family gathering tomorrow. We’ll take care of the rest.”
Cousins Frankie, Eddie, and Waymon Houston—who were all from the Houston branch of the family—were up in arms, too.
“We’ve got your back, honey,” Eddie said. “Oh…and just so you know, there’s about twelve more family members who are planning to overnight in Savannah tomorrow night and drive on in to Blessings the day of the service.”
Barb felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders.
“All I can say is thank you. I am moving home when I can get everything tied up here. I still have Granny Austin’s home in Dallas. I’ve been leasing it out, but it’s been empty for almost five months now. I’m sure it needs work, but renovating it will give me something to do, and I’ll be close to family again.”
“That’s the spirit,” Jake said. “Now where do you want us to go?”
“Daddy, I’m putting you and Aunt Belle in the two downstairs bedrooms. They are spacious and comfortable, and you won’t have to negotiate the stairs. The rest of you will be upstairs. Now grab your bags and follow me.”
Chapter 8
Supper was over. Melissa and Sully were cleaning up the kitchen and talking over their plans for the next day.
“I have to get payroll out tomorrow, so I’ll be busy at least until noon,” Melissa said.
Sully nodded, but he was preoccupied by something she’d told him earlier about Lovey Cooper’s rescue.
“Remember you telling me about an old man here in Blessings who is a psychic?”
“Yes, Elliot Graham. He won’t claim the title, but when he knows something, he makes sure to let people know.”
“So, how do you think he’d react if I asked to talk to him about my birth mother?”
Melissa paused. “I don’t know, but that’s not a bad idea. I know who you can talk to, who will find out for you.”
“That’s great. Who is it?”
“Danner Amos and his family live directly across the street from Elliot. They weathered the hurricane together in Danner’s home and have become very good friends. As soon as we’re through here, I’ll give Danner a call.”
“Thank you, Missy. You’re the best.”
A few minutes later, they went to her office.
“I’m going to pull up my customer info, where I have a number for the Amos family, and then I’ll give them a call.”
Sully sat down on the corner of her desk, watching as her fingers danced across the keyboard until she reached the customer list, found the name she needed and easily found the number, then wrote it down.
“Okay, now to call.” She still had a landline in the office and punched in the numbers, then leaned back in her chair as it began to ring. A few moments later, she got an answer.
“Hello, this is Alice.”
“Hi, Alice, this is Melissa.”
“Melissa! Oh my goodness! How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling good. I’m calling for a friend. Is Danner there?”
“Yes. Hang on a sec,” Alice said, and then Melissa heard her calling for Dan.
A few moments later, Dan was on the phone. “Hello, Melissa. Good to know you’re up and about. Alice said you needed to speak to me?”
“Yes. Sully Raines, the man who saved my life, wants to talk to you, so I offered to call and make the introductions. I’m going to hand Sully the phone now, okay?”
“Absolutely,” Dan said.
Melissa got up, handed Sully the phone, then motioned for him to sit in her chair as she waved and left the room.
“This is Sully Raines. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.”
“Of course. What’s up?” Dan asked.
“I’ve been looking for my birth mother, and the clues I’d been following led me here to Blessings. But since my arrival, I’ve hit one dead end after another. Today, Melissa mentioned something about your neighbor, Elliot Graham, being something of a psychic…that he alerted people to Lovey’s need for rescue during the hurricane.”
“Yes, he did that,” Dan said.
“So, what I was wondering was if you could ask him if he would be willing to talk to me about my search. If he isn’t, then that’s that. But if he would, I would so appreciate it.”
Dan chuckled. “Oh… Yes, I could easily ask Elliot. What he says is a whole other thing. He’s a bit of an eccentric, but he is a man of great compassion. What’s your phone number? If he’s willing to meet with you, I’ll call you back.”
Sully gave Dan his cell phone number and then added, “If he will talk to me, the sooner the better. I’m at a loss as to what to do next.”
“Got it,” Dan said. “I’ll call you back in a few minutes, one way or the other.”
“Thank you so much,” Sully said.
“Not a problem, and by the way, you are a hero to all of us here in Blessings. We think the world of Melissa.”
“Just in the right place at the right time,” Sully said. “I’ll await your call.” Then he hung up and went to find Melissa.
She was in the living room watching TV and muted the show when he walked in.
“How did it go?” she asked.
Sully sat down beside her and gave her a hug.
“He’s calling Mr. Graham for me now. I’ll find out in a few minutes whether he’ll see me or not, but either way, thank you for helping make this happen.”
She shrugged it off. “I’m happy I could help.”
“What are you watching?” he asked.
“Expedition Unknown. I’m a fan.”
“Seriously? We always watched that at the station. Josh Gates is funny and something of a daredevil, which of course spoke to the chest-thumping males that we were.”
Melissa laughed. “Chest-thumping. That’s a good one. I’m going to get something cold to drink. Do you want anything? I have Coke or Mountain Dew, and of course sweet tea.”
“I’ll have sweet tea. Yours is really good.”
“Thanks. I won’t be long. Keep track of Josh for me. He’s looking for the tomb of the Snake King. It’s ancient Mayan stuff.”
She got up and kissed his cheek.
Sully smiled. “What’s that for?”
“You make me happy. That’s all,” she said, then left the room.
“You make me happy, too,” Sully said softly. Then his cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket. “This is Sully Raines.”
“Mr. Raines, this is Elliot Graham. I understand you’d like to talk with me.”
“Yes, sir, very much so.”
“Excellent. Do you know where I live?”
“No, sir, but Melissa Dean does. I’ll ask her.”
“Would tomorrow morning, say around ten, be a good time for you?”
“Yes, it would be perfect. Thank you.”
“See you then,” Elliot said, and disconnected.
Sully was still smiling when Melissa came back with their glasses.
“I heard your phone. Was it Elliot?”
Sully took the glass she handed him. “Yes. I see him tomorrow morning at ten. Can you tell me how to get there?”
She nodded as she sat down beside him. “I’ll look up his address tomorrow, and then you can use the GPS in your phone.”
“Perfect!” Sully lifted his glass. “A toast to psychics and all they know.”
“And to finding your birth mother,” Melissa added.
“I’ll drink to that,” Sully said. “And you haven’t missed a thing on the show. Josh Gates is still traipsing through the jungle.”
They watched for a while, until Sully noticed Melissa was nodding off.
“Honey, wake up. I think it’s bedtime.”
She blinked. “What?”
He smiled. “You were asleep. I think you’ve had enough of this day.”
She yawned. “I think you’re right,” she said.
Sully turned off the television while Melissa set the security alarm, then gave him the code to disarm it. She gave him her extra door key that she kept in a basket on a table in the entry.
“We won’t always be coming and going at the same time,” she said as she laid the key in his hand.
His fingers curled around it. “Thank you for this…for making my search all the easier and for offering me a place to stay.”
“I am blessed you came back in my life, whatever the capacity,” she said.
“The capacity is creating an ‘us’ from the ‘we’ we used to be,” he said, and took her hand. They went upstairs together, then paused in the hall. Sully kissed her forehead. “Rest well, love. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You too. See you then,” she said, and went into her bedroom and closed the door, then sighed. You did it, girl. You kept your cool all evening, as if you invited men into your house all the time. If only Sully knew how much reluctance you had to let go to make this happen.
And across the hall, Sully was already headed for the shower. Meeting Elliot Graham tomorrow might be just what he needed to learn where Janie went next or, God forbid, if she was no longer alive.
* * *
The next morning dawned with the new edition of the local paper and Niles Holland’s obituary, which would become the talk of the day. Now that the date and time of the service was announced, along with the mention that a family visitation was being held this very evening from six to eight, people began making plans to go see how the grieving widow honored her alcoholic husband who’d gotten himself killed.
Very aware of what was ahead of her, Barb was focused on her appearance. She intended to stand beside Niles one last time with her head up and stare down his detractors. And part of her armor was appearance, which was why Barb, her aunt Belle, and her sister-in-law, Wynona, all had appointments at the Curl Up and Dye this morning. As Wy always said, “I dress to impress,” and they had done that in spades.
They left Barb’s house wearing every diamond they’d brought with them. Wy had the keys to their silver Lexus, and they were going in style. And to make the statement even starker, they were dressed in black.
Barb directed Wy to Main, and then they took a right down it, all the way to the Curl Up and Dye.
“Oh my lawd,” Belle said, and then cackled with glee. “I can’t believe this name! After we get our hair done, we need to get a picture of us in front of this salon. I can’t wait to show my Bunco buddies back home.”
They got out as a trio and walked to the door with Barb in the middle, and when they went in, Belle sailed through the door.
Ruby and the Conklin twins were waiting. Ruby came forward to meet them the moment they were inside. She hugged Barb close and then gently patted her cheek.
“You have my deepest sympathies, sugar. Now introduce me to your fabulous family.”
Belle already liked the woman and took the introductions out of Barb’s hands.
“I’m Belle Austin, Barb’s aunt, and this is Wynona, Barb’s sister-in-law.”
“My sympathies to your families. Thank you for coming. We are ready and waiting,” Ruby said, then led them back into the work area where Vesta and Vera were standing at attention, each holding a black cape over her arm.
“Ladies, this is Vesta, and her twin sister, Vera. They will be doing your hair, and since Barb is my regular client, I will be doing hers. We have a coffee station, and the little tea cookies are fresh from the bakery this morning.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” the twins said. “I’m Vesta, and I’ll be taking care of Miss Belle. Vera will be taking care of Miss Wynona. If you’ll take a seat in the chairs for a moment, we’ll cape you and then move to the shampoo station.”
Belle caught Barb’s eye and gave her an approving nod, and Wy was already in the chair and talking to Vera, marveling how twin sisters went into the same profession.
Barb sat long enough for Ruby to fasten the cape around her neck, and then she moved to the last shampoo station. When the warm water began flowing over her hair, then soaking into her scalp, she closed her eyes and relaxed. Ruby’s place was always the sanctuary of Blessings. Here she was safe.
As the appointments progressed, the talk among the three chairs grew lighter in tone.
Ruby knew how Barb wore her auburn shoulder-length hair, but paused before she started to dry it.
“Did you have something special in mind today, honey? Anything in particular about the style?”
“Maybe, but I didn’t quite know what to settle on.”
Ruby began running her fingers through the length, then pulling it up on the top of Barb’s head to make sure it was long enough for what she was thinking, and it was.
“You have such beautiful bone structure and this gorgeous widow’s peak. What do you think about sleeking it all back away from your face into a topknot, then curling the length into a soft waterfall of curls?”
“Yes! Do it!” Belle said.
“I love the idea,” Wy added.
“Then let’s do it,” Barb said. “It will show off my earrings perfectly tonight.”
Ruby smiled. “Wond
erful!”
Ruby and the twins were almost finished when the door opened, then closed.
Ruby felt Barb suddenly tense.
“That’s my next appointment,” Ruby said. “And she’s early, so no worries.”
Barb nodded, but without knowing who it was, she dreaded the confrontation, however brief it would be. She didn’t realize Wy and Belle had seen her smile disappear, but they had and immediately gave each other the eye.
The sudden silence in the shop was noted by Ruby and the twins, but they just kept working. A few moments later, they all heard footsteps coming into the workroom, and then Rachel Goodhope appeared.
“Ruby, I’m going to get a cup of—” She stopped, then shifted her direction from the coffee station to where Barb was sitting. “Barb, sweetheart, I didn’t know you were here. I am so sorry for your loss. Bud and I send our deepest sympathies to all the family. We will be at the service, and we’re praying for you.”
“Thank you so much, Rachel.”
Rachel patted Barb’s hand and went back to the coffee station, got her coffee and a couple of tea cookies, and headed back to the waiting area.
“Rachel and Bud own the B and B at the far end of Blessings. They are very nice people,” Barb said softly.
Belle and Wy relaxed.
A couple of minutes later, they were on their way out and stopped to pay.
“No,” Ruby said. “The girls and I are gifting you with the appointments, and it was very nice meeting you.”
“Well, that is just the sweetest thing,” Wynona said. “I wonder if I could ask one of you to take a picture of us outside the salon? We just love the name of your place, Ruby, and want to show our friends back home.”
“I’ll be happy to,” Vera said, and went out with the ladies. She took several pictures with all three of their phones, until they decided they had one they liked.
They were already talking about how nice the girls were in the salon as they drove away.
Vera waved and then walked back inside, quivering from excitement.
“They’re driving a silver Lexus! Do you know what those cost? And did you see the diamonds on those girls’ hands? Lord, lord, Vesta. Why didn’t we grow up in Texas?”
