To Believe

by Carolyn Brown

  “It’s Vance Fields. Is that you, Roseanna?”

  She opened the door at the same time Trey sat straight up in bed and looked around bewildered.

  “Father?”

  He brushed coldly past her and sat on the end of the bed with Trey. “I’d have never thought you’d be in on a deal like this, Roseanna.”

  “What?” She asked.

  “Don’t tell me you aren’t part of this whole scheme. It’s just too convenient. You rescuing him and bringing him out of the woods. How much is your cut of the million dollars I put in that foreign bank account?”

  “Great God, Father, what are you saying? And where did you get a million dollars?” Trey asked.

  Vance pointed his finger at Roseanna. “Your grandmother paid it. Greta let the cat out of the bag yesterday and she paid the ransom. And what I’m saying is that this is too timely. She’s in on the kidnapping to get back at you for the divorce.”

  “I think you’d better hear a whole different story,” Trey said. He told his father exactly what had happened, that he’d called Greta and sent her to Roseanna. Then he told him about Cyrus.

  Vance Field’s face looked like cold, gray ashes on a winter day. Everything about him aged five years in the ten minutes it took to tell the tale. His friend had betrayed him to the point of murder. His business was failing. His image destroyed.

  Roseanna broke the heavy silence. “Well, I’ve done what I’m supposed to do. You two can go now and I’m going to meet my dad in DeQueen tomorrow at noon. He’s going to take me home.”

  Trey ignored Roseanna and addressed his father. “I’ve been thinking a lot these past three days. There was lots of time for it on that trek up the mountain and back down the other side to here. We can downsize. Sell it all off to Cyrus. All except the original oil business in Tulsa. You can keep a skeleton crew and work that business easily. You and mother have a place in Tulsa already so it wouldn’t involve a big move. Greta and I can fend for ourselves. You’ve paid for a high dollar education for us both. It’s time we put it to use. Has there been media coverage on the kidnapping?”

  “No, of course not. The ransom note threatened death if we called the police and the media would involve them,” Vance said.

  “Then very quietly tell Cyrus that you paid the ransom and you are waiting for me to surface. Tell him you’ll sell the big part of the company but you don’t want to merge with his business. If you do, you’ll lose it all in six months. He’ll see to that. He wants my head on a silver charger. After the papers are signed, then let the news out that I’ve gotten in touch with the family. I’m in South America doing relief work with the natives. The kidnapping caused me to have a spiritual vision or some such folderol.”

  “And you’ll be at home the whole time hiding out?” Vance asked.

  “I’ll be in southern Oklahoma looking for a job. There’s enough money in my personal savings account to keep me until fall if I’m careful. I’ll apply for teaching jobs at the colleges. Hopefully, Roseanna’s grandmother will rent me a room at the lodge until I can find work and establish myself.”

  Roseanna put up her hand. “Whoa, hoss. You’re not coming to Murray County and that’s a fact.”

  “What?” Trey asked.

  “The answer is no. I’m not taking you to Sulphur. I’m not renting you a room at the lodge. I’m finished with you. Besides, Jodie would kill you. If I hadn’t been the one driving that car at the Valero station this morning, she would have probably put a bomb in it. I can’t see my dad driving you there. I can’t see Granny Etta renting you a room even if I was in agreement.”

  “Still in love with me?” Trey asked.

  “No. I mean, hell no!”

  “Then what’s the big problem. I’m just a boarder looking for a job. Our paths will cross but that’s as far as it goes. No one in Tulsa will even think to look for me there since the divorce wasn’t exactly friendly. It’s my best shot.”

  “You are a coward,” Roseanna countered.

  “My son has just been through a kidnapping and you call him a coward?” Vance said.

  “He doesn’t want to face Laura,” Roseanna accused.

  “That I don’t. I don’t ever want to see her or Cyrus again. There’s not one thing we can do about this legally, Father. We can’t prove any of it. It’d be his word against ours and he’s got political pull that we can’t touch.”

  Roseanna changed the subject.

  Trey wasn’t going home with her. She didn’t care if he was a paying boarder. The answer was still hell no! “The money. Can you retract the deposit?”

  Vance removed his cell phone and dialed. “Probably not but it’s worth a try. This is Vance Fields. I moved a large sum of money yesterday. Yes, on Saturday. Yes, this is Sunday. What can we do if I want to change my mind? How long? The number? It’s … one moment please.” He dug into his vest pocket and brought out a piece of paper. “This is my account from which the money was taken,” he rattled off a string of numbers. “This is the one where it was to go.

  “I see. Could you call me back when you know?”

  Vance paced the floor.

  Roseanna chewed off both her thumb nails and started on her pinky finger nails.

  Trey’s stomach clinched.

  Ten minutes passed. Silence filled the room.

  They stared at the telephone but it didn’t ring.

  Vance finally threw himself into a chair and pinched his nose with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. The headache was going to be a humdinger. Lord, he hoped he wasn’t about to stroke out. He popped his eyes open and willed the pain the go away but it didn’t.

  Trey went to the window, pulled the curtain back and stared outside without seeing a thing. How had life gotten so complicated and totally scary?

  Roseanna was not going to live with Trey again, not in any capacity. No sir, he could find another cave to use as a hidey hole.

  Finally the phone rang.

  Vance jumped and grabbed for it.

  Trey stopped breathing.

  Roseanna prayed.

  “Thank you,” Vance said after a full minute and then he snapped the phone shut.

  “And?” Trey asked.

  “And in thirty minutes it would have been too late, but the transaction has been cancelled. Thank goodness for time zones and Roseanna’s quick thinking. I owe you a big apology and with it comes a plea to take this son of mine to safety. I am truly sorry for misjudging you, Roseanna. And I’m begging you to help me keep him safe until this thing blows over.” Vance said.

  “I can’t.”

  “Then I’ll take him home with me and he can drive himself wherever he wants to go. But please accept my sincere apology for speaking before I knew the facts. Trey, I do believe your suggestion has merit. We can sell Cyrus the part he wants outright, use the money to pay off debts and keep a skeleton crew going, and your mother and I will be fine until we retire. Sure you don’t want to be part of that crew?”

  “I’m sure,” Trey went about getting his dirty laundry out of the bathroom and changing from his pajama bottoms to jeans and a T-shirt. He called out from the other side of the door, “Roseanna, thank you for all your help in getting me out of those woods. Figure up a bill and I’ll send you a check. I’ve got money in a personal savings account and I’ll gladly pay what ever you charge for tracking. What ever it costs, it’s worth it. After all it is my life that was hanging in the balance. Take care of yourself and have a safe drive home. I’ll see to it your dad gets his hiking boots back but I’ll have to wear them home since I’m barefoot without them.”

  Trey wanted to say much, much more when he came out of the bathroom. His soul was heavy and his mind cluttered with all the things he needed to tell Roseanna. He’d been wrong; he was sorry. He loved her. His heart cracked down the middle just thinking about walking out the door and leaving her behind when what he really wanted to do was take her in his arms and beg her to give him another chance. How could he have taken h
er for granted all those years when she was right there in his life? He’d made the biggest mistake in his whole life when he didn’t fight for their marriage. Even she’d had enough love left to do that. He’d just bowed out without caring enough to battle out their problems. Now he was going to lose her forever and it hurt so bad he could hardly bear the pain.

  He stopped at the door and looked back but she was busy with the television remote control. “Good-bye, Roseanna,” he said.

  She couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat so she waved. Dang it anyway. She wasn’t about to admit she was upset because he was leaving and considering the notion that she could still love him after all they’d been through. No, it was the normal let down. She’d be fine tomorrow.

  Then the door shut and he was gone. She threw herself back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. It really was over now.

  She spent the longest night of her life reliving every single memory from the time she saw Trey walk into the Arbuckle Ballroom until he walked out of the motel room in Mena, Arkansas.

  Chapter Eight

  Bob Cahill motioned toward a strange vehicle when they pulled up in front of the lodge. “Looks like Granny Etta’s got company. Maybe Roxie bought a new car.”

  “Not a Ford. Roxie has never driven anything but a Cadillac and I’ve never seen a drop of dust on it. That thing might be new but it’s got dust,” Roseanna said.

  Bob left the engine running while he helped Roseanna get her luggage inside the front door. “Might be that Avon lady, then. I’ll get on home. Jodie left this morning for a rodeo round in New Mexico so we won’t see her for a couple of weeks. If you got time this evening and if that ain’t a boarder, come on around and help me with chores.”

  She hugged him tightly. “I’ll be there even if it is a boarder. And Daddy, thanks.”

  “Do anything for one of my girls,” he grinned. “Besides I got in some dang good fishing. Got two coolers full of fillets back there. Soon as your sisters can all come home we’re having a fish fry.”

  Roseanna followed her nose to the kitchen where Etta Cahill stirred a pot of pinto beans. She hugged her and lifted the lid to sniff the smoky aroma. “Is that cornbread in the oven?”

  Etta removed her apron as she spoke. “Welcome back home, child. And yes, it is and you can take over from here. Potatoes are fried and in the microwave. Zap them for two minutes to heat them up. That under the foil on the back of the stove is a couple of slices of cured ham.”

  “Where are you going?” Rosanna asked.

  Etta wore a dressy pant suit and her gray hair had been freshly done. Her nails were polished in a mauve color that matched the suit.

  “You know how for the past forty years me and Roxie and Molly were going to go on a cruise right after Christmas?”

  Roseanna noticed the kitchen table was set for two. “I remember that. We used to wonder, which Christmas?”

  “Well, Molly died and Stella ran her place for a while. When she married Rance Harper she gave it to her sister. Me and Roxie, we’re all that’s left of a dying breed. Roxie already retired.”

  Roseanna sat down at the kitchen table. “Granny, what are you saying? I know all that.”

  “I’m just reminding you of all that’s happened. Roxie and me, we don’t want to die without going on that cruise so we’re going.”

  “When?” Roseanna asked.

  “She’s picking me up in about five minutes.”

  Roseanna gasped. “When did all this happen? I’ve only been gone four days.”

  “It happened last night. We put our heads together and decided the time was right. If I don’t go now, you might run off on another wild goose chase and I’ll have to stay and take care of the boarders we have on the books. You’ve been doing a fine job these past couple of months. You can pick up the reins now and take over. You decide how much you want to work. There’s folks on the books until the end of the summer. After that, it’s up to you. The Cahill Lodge is now yours.”

  Roseanna’s heart came nigh onto stopping mid beat. “But …” she stammered.

  “Don’t stutter, girl. If you want to shut it down that’s fine with me. If you want to run it, that’s fine, too. If you want to get married and fill up the rooms with kids, that would be great. Your daddy would love that idea the most, probably. All his grandbabies live far away.”

  “I’m in shock,” Roseanna said breathlessly.

  “We’ll do the legal part later. I hear a car coming up the drive. That’ll be Jack and Roxie. He’s taking us to the Oklahoma City airport. We’re flying to Miami where we’ll get on our ship.”

  “How long are you going to be gone?” Roseanna asked.

  “I’ll be home at the end of July. It’s one of them around the world cruises. Four months. Don’t work too hard and remember to take time for fun.”

  Roseanna followed her to the foyer where Jack was picking up suitcases and loading them in his van. “Does Daddy know about this?”

  “Talked to him last night. He’s in agreement with my decisions. Your mother helped me pack. Jodie doesn’t know but she will when she gets home.”

  “I can’t believe this. When are the next boarders due?”

  “Look at the books, child. You’ll be fine. I hired you some help. That’s why the table is set for two. He’s got free room and board for four months, all through the summer, and he’ll be helping with yard work and whatever else needs done just to pay his way. He’ll probably be working during the days at his real job but evenings he can help out around here. You are the boss. You tell him what to do.”

  “Who is he?”

  Etta looked at the Regulator clock hanging above the foyer table. It struck six times and she smiled brightly. “Come give me a final hug and wave at Roxie and don’t you dare snarl your nose at that gawdawful hat she’s wearing. She’ll probably have every male senior citizen on the cruise licking her toes before we get home.”

  Roseanna hugged Etta and giggled when she waved at Roxie. The woman was famous for her red hair and temper. Roseanna wondered how Roxie would survive without her evening hour on the back porch at Roxie’s B&B, some times known as Roxie’s Blessin’s and Bellyachin’s. She always sat on the back porch, weather permitting, with a glass of lemonade or tea while she watched the sun go down in the evening. It was as sacred a time as Sunday morning church.

  “Whew!” Roseanna slid down the wall and sat on the polished hardwood foyer floor. She put her head in her hands and tried to remember when the next boarders arrived. She thought it was two weeks before she left to rescue Trey, but that seemed like an eternity ago. She heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs. The lodge consisted of eight bedrooms with two bathrooms in the hallway. Built back when folks came from far away to enjoy the Sulphur water at what was known in those days as Platt National Park, it didn’t have a bathroom for each bedroom or even Jacuzzis. Just old claw footed tubs with wrap around shower curtains. One for the men folks. One for the women. The ground floor was taken up with a small foyer with a desk for registration and business, a huge living room with a cozy fireplace and lots of comfortable recliners and sofas, a dining room to seat twenty and a very modern kitchen with every appliance that could be bought. Off the living room and down a short hallway were two more bedrooms: Etta’s and Roseanna’s.

  When she finally took her hands from her face, it was to see two feet clad in gray dress socks. Her eyes traveled upward past perfectly creased slacks the color of an overcast winter sky, a pressed white shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, and into the face of none other than Trey Fields.

  “I have died and gone to hell,” she said as realization hit.

  “And a good day to you, too,” he said.

  “How did you talk her into this?”

  “That’s between me and her. I think supper is supposed to be ready at six.”

  “Yes, it is. Pinto beans, fried potatoes, ham and cornbread. Think you can handle redneck food?”

  “Honey, I could handle anyt
hing after Spam and canned mice.”

  “Canned mice?”

  “Those little sausage things in cans. They smell like cat food. Even look like treats Greta used to give that spoiled cat of hers. I would imagine they’re even the same color as a mouse would be if it’d been killed and pressed into sausages. So yes, I can eat beans and potatoes for supper.”

  He held out his hand to help her up.

  She ignored it. “Are you really supposed to be hired help?”

  “I am, at least in the evenings. I’ve got an interview with the president of Murray State College tomorrow to teach business classes this summer and perhaps sign on for the fall semester in a full time capacity.”

  She hauled herself up from the floor and marched behind him out to the kitchen. “You, hired help? I can’t get that vision to appear. I am the boss here now since Granny has decided to go on a four month cruise rather than tell me you are living here, so since this is my place, you are fired.”

  He turned so quickly that she ran into him. Chest met chest. He’d shaved and he smelled like heaven. His strong arms reached out to keep her from falling. “Whoa, I don’t think you can fire me or evict me either.”

  She pushed away from him, her senses reeling as memories flooded through her of other times when he’d held her, times when she’d leaned into his shoulder and inhaled that scent while she kissed him. Why would Granny Etta do this to her? She had to know that she was having a difficult time with the whole divorce.

  “I can do what ever I please. So pack your bags and get out. Don’t even look back in your rear view mirror. There’s a motel in Tishomingo. You can live in it if you get a job at the college there.”

  “No.” He pushed the button on the micro wave and set about putting the rest of the food on the table.

  She pointed at the door. “You don’t have the option of saying no to me. Leave!”

  “Granny Etta put it in writing. Free room and board until the end of July. Jobs include mowing the lawn, helping you clean up after supper each night and whatever else you say I need to do. It’s all legal, binding and irrevocable. She wanted it that way after I called her last night so Father had his lawyers draw up the papers. I signed them. She signed them. If you want to break the contract then go find a lawyer.”