The tooth fairy, I’d forgotten about her ass. I got a quarter as a kid, but with inflation, I had no doubt I’d be hiding gold bricks under a pillow someday.
Teddy popped out of the scrub brush and grabbed me by the hand. “It’s here, Aunt Hayden, come see.”
I grinned at Iris as he pulled me into the thicket. Momma Iris followed dutifully.
As clubhouses go, Teddy had made a fine one under an overhang of brush. The walls and floor were comprised of the cardboard boxes he’d nabbed before we burned the rest. He’d taken a marker and adorned the walls with drawings. Teddy pointed to a few toys in the corner. “That’s my booty.”
I grabbed his arm and spun him around. “This is your booty right here.” He giggled when I pinched it.
“I’m a pirate, and that’s my trash.” He pointed to the toys.
“Oh, you mean your stash. Cool, very cool. Where’s your parrot? All pirates have parrots that ride on their shoulders.”
Teddy looked at Iris. “Mom, can I have a parrot? I’ll pull weeds for it.”
Iris smiled at him lovingly. “We’ll see.” She looked at me and said under her breath, “Thanks a lot, girl.”
“Look at this.” Teddy grabbed me by the sleeve and made me crawl to where he’d punched a hole in one of the boxes. “I can see if anyone is outside.”
I looked through the hole while thinking about what Iris had said. I’d long forgotten about clubhouses and the excitement of building one. I’d also forgotten about being called in for dinner and having to leave my creation. I was reminded about how I’d fret all night that Jeff would find it before I could get out the next morning. The muscles in my tiny stomach would tighten as I thought about having to fight him to reclaim my fort. Before long, I found myself caught up in Teddy’s excitement.
“We need to build a lookout tower so you can see approaching ships just in case you want to raid them. I’ll bet Jacob has some wood lying around that we can use.”
“You’re gonna help me?” Teddy asked excitedly.
“Of course, nobody climbs a tree better than me.”
“Construction will have to wait until the morning,” Iris interrupted.
I balked as much as Teddy did, but in the end, we agreed to meet the next morning and begin work on the lookout perch.
*******
I clutched Adrienne’s hand against my chest and listened to her steady breathing along with the waves lapping at the shoreline. Pops and creaks met my ears as the house settled in the cool of the night. Everything smelled so new, and our bed was much firmer than the one in the cottage. I couldn’t sleep.
Like a ghost, I roamed the hall. Adrienne had been “nesting” again and had plugged in a nightlight in the nursery. The room was bathed in soft light. I leaned against the doorjamb surveying all the accoutrements the baby had accumulated and it wasn’t even here yet.
My mind jumped ahead, and I envisioned the changes the room would go through as infant grew to child, then to teenager. Would the walls be covered with posters of the latest teen idol or some sports hero? Would there be hamsters or fish? Dear God, I hoped it wouldn’t be reptiles. My skin crawled at the thought.
“Maybe a bird?”
I turned and looked at Adrienne who had crept up on me. She smiled and ran her fingers through my hair. “We’ll veto any reptile requests.”
“We have veto power?”
“Oh, yes,” she said with a nod. “We can say no, and I imagine we’ll do it often.” Adrienne took my hand and led me down the hall toward the kitchen. “I’ll make you some tea. It’ll help you sleep.”
“Can we put rum or bourbon in it?” I asked, thinking tea wasn’t going to do the trick.
“Let’s try the tea first.” Adrienne switched the stove light on and filled the kettle as I took a seat at the bar. “Is the bed too firm?”
“Yes, but I’ll get used to that. I think I’m having trouble because it’s just different.”
Adrienne leaned against the counter and took my hand in hers. “Regrets?”
“Some,” I said, knowing I couldn’t lie to her. “I miss the coziness of the cottage. Some of my sweetest memories were made there.”
“We’ll make new memories here.”
“You promise?” I looked deep into her green eyes.
She smiled and squeezed my hand. “I promise.”
I drank the tea Adrienne made for us, and surprisingly, it did relax me. We climbed back into bed, and I reclaimed Adrienne’s hand and held it to my chest.
“Now imagine this,” she said softly. “You’re walking through knee-deep snow. It’s dark except for the moonlight reflecting off the land around you and a tiny dot of light coming from a cabin window. You smell the smoke coming from the chimney. Inside is a roaring fire in the fireplace and a warm blanket waiting on you.”
I never got to hear if I made it to the cabin or not.
Chapter Three
“The nail might go through the board if you actually hit it on the head.”
Teddy threw down the board in frustration. “I can’t, Aunt Hayden. I just can’t.”
“Can I show you a trick?”
“Momma says it’s ‘may I.’” Teddy sounded so deflated as he looked at the two-by-four that he’d beaten dents into.
“May I then?” I held my hand out for the hammer. Teddy handed it to me and put his hands on his little hips with a huff.
“It’s easier if you start the nail when the board is on the ground.” I beat the nail in until a fraction of it protruded from the back of the board. “Now you’re ready to put it on the tree. I’ll hold it, you pound it. If you hit me, I’m going to knock you out when I stop crying.”
Teddy chuckled, and with surprising strength, he hammered the nail in.
“Excellent work. Now put three more nails in while I get the rest of the ladder boards ready.” I took the other hammer and pushed a nail through the remaining planks that would be our ladder. Once Teddy and I had them nailed to the tree, I climbed up between two limbs and prepared to lay the frame for the lookout perch.
“Momma says you’re not supposed to climb anymore.” Teddy stared up at me.
“It’s not that high. I’ll be okay. Besides, how does she expect us to build a lookout if we don’t climb?” I didn’t wait for the answer. “Now hand me that long board that I laid next to the tree.” Teddy did as I asked, and I easily attached them to the tree limb. “Okay, I’m ready for the next one.”
“Next what?”
I looked up, and Teddy was perched on a branch alongside me. “How’re you going to hand me anything if you’re in the tree, too?”
Before he could answer, the end of the board appeared in front of us both. I looked down at Adrienne and grinned. “Thanks, honey.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m debating on whether I should hit you with it now or after you fall.”
“I’m not gonna fall, and if I did, it’s not that high.” I took the board and nailed it into place while Teddy and Adrienne watched. “If you’ll be so kind as to throw me that rope, Adrienne, I’ll pull the plywood up and we’ll attach the platform.”
Adrienne reluctantly complied, and I pulled the piece up. Teddy and I moved it into position, then I nailed it to the frame. I took the rope we’d used to bring up the plywood and looped it over a limb a few feet higher than the perch. Once I had it secured, I smiled at Teddy triumphantly. “Now you have two ways to get down. You can climb down the ladder when you have plenty of time, but if you need to escape fast, you swing out on the rope.”
Teddy was thrilled but had too much slack in the rope as he prepared to make his first swing.
“Hold up,” I said. “Let me show you how to do this.”
“No, Hayden.” Adrienne shook her head. “And Teddy should ask Iris or Colie before he tries it.”
“It’s not that high, honey.” I reached up high on the rope and launched myself before Adrienne could say any more. I hooped and hollered as I swung out over the brush befor
e sailing back to the platform. Instead of landing, I gave myself a soft push to slow the momentum.
“So how do you get down?” Teddy asked.
“You have to wait until you slow down, then you just let go like this.” But there were two problems. I hadn’t slowed enough, and I let go before I’d cleared the brush…
Teddy waded into the thicket where I lay tangled. “I think I’ll just use the ladder from now on, Aunt Hayden.”
*******
“Oh, it’s not that high.” Adrienne removed the last of the small sticks that I’d impaled the back of my thigh with. “No, you certainly did not fall. You flung yourself into a briar patch.” I didn’t say anything as she went to work on my hand with the tweezers. “What will you do for a finale? Throw yourself into a wood chipper or try to force your head down the garbage disposal?”
“I rented a cannon. I’m going to see if I can shoot myself to Nassau so I don’t have to listen to the fussing.” I saw the corner of Adrienne’s mouth twitch, and I knew she wanted to laugh. “You have to admit that I stuck the landing…or maybe the landing stuck me.”
She tossed the tweezers onto the counter and grabbed a bottle of peroxide. “I would’ve done it, too,” Adrienne admitted with a smile. “It looked like fun.”
“Our kid is gonna love that swing.”
The smile dropped from Adrienne’s face. “I’m gonna start praying for a bookworm.”
*******
“Welcome to Fantasy Island.” Adrienne shot me a sideways glance as the van with our guests pulled in front of the inn. “Don’t act like you haven’t always wanted to say that, missy.”
“You say it every time,” Iris muttered, then put on a cheery face.
We greeted the guests as they climbed from the van. The porters quickly removed their luggage and began taking it to the assigned cottages. Iris and her crew had prepared a magnificent spread of seafood and barbecue. Adrienne and I waited until everyone was seated with heaping plates before we began our well-rehearsed speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I began because I’d lost the coin toss and was the unlucky one to make the introductions. Adrienne’s hand slipped into mine as everyone gave us their attention. “I’m Hayden, and the lovely lady next to me is my partner in business and in love, Adrienne. The Bahamian goddess behind the bar is Iris. We are your hostesses. As you enjoy your lunch, our porters are delivering your luggage to the cottages that will be home for the next week.
“Directly behind where you all are seated is the dining room where we serve dinner each night at seven. Breakfast is served at seven here in the bar and lunch is at noon. Snacks and beverages are available anytime the bar is open, which is from sunrise until two in the morning.”
Adrienne spoke up and gave me a break. “If you’ve looked over our Web site or brochure, you already know there are many things to do on Cat Island in addition to basking in the sun. But just in case you didn’t,” Adrienne said with a smile. “There’s kayaking, canoeing, snorkeling, tours of Mount Alvernia, and the island. Please see us or any member of our staff, and we’ll be happy to make the arrangements. Now that we have that out of the way, please enjoy your stay.”
A couple got Adrienne’s attention with questions. I watched as she took a seat at their table. In a matter of minutes, they were telling her all about their travels, and soon their life story would unfold. My love had that effect on people—a quality I admired and unfortunately did not possess.
I relieved Iris at the bar and started mixing drinks while she went back to supervise the kitchen. I looked at our guests wondering which ones would be a demanding pain in the ass and who would be the life of the party. All of them seemed to usually fit in one category or the other. But by the end of their stay, we’d hate to see most of them go. They were the only reminders of what life used to be like before we escaped and took up residence on the primitive island.
The majority of our clientele was gay and lesbian, but there was an occasional straight couple or individual who would find their way to our tiny slice of heaven. Whatever preconceived notions about us were soon dispelled, and they began to see us and the rest of the guests as human beings, not gay or lesbian, black or white. That was just the magic of the inn and the island.
It did always strike me odd to see someone traveling alone. I guess that’s why I was drawn to the lanky blond woman sitting away from the others. She’d take a couple of bites of food and pick up the sketch pad that she kept close by. Her gaze moved over each guest, then she’d focus her attention on the pad. An artist, I thought idly. I put her in the rare category of guests who had sought us out for solitude.
The two women who appeared to be holding Adrienne hostage would be the demanding type. I could hear their conversation above all others and learned that they were avid travelers who had just taken up birding. I figured they were in their mid- to late sixties. The louder of the two was BJ, and her partner who couldn’t seem to get a word in edgewise unless she raised her voice, which she did often, was Audrey.
There were only two men in the group. I’d heard them introduce themselves as Bobby and Alex to Iris. Two women shared a table with them, but I hadn’t heard either of them speak. Mainly, because BJ was drowning out that side of the room with bird calls that she’d recently learned.
I loaded up a tray of mai tais and sighed as I made my way to the tables. I chose the one in the far corner first. “Ladies, can I interest either of you in a drink?” The two had been conversing quietly and seemed surprised by the interruption.
“Far be it from me to refuse alcohol.” One smiled up at me with soft brown eyes beneath light brown wavy hair.
I set a drink in front of her. “Welcome to Gloria’s Inn. I’m Hayden, which you probably already know from our greeting.”
“I’m Jess Silvio, and this is my partner, Leslie Barrett.”
“Nice to meet you both. So, Leslie, how about a mai tai?”
“May as well,” she said politely.
“Where are y’all from?” I asked as I set down the drink.
“Davenport, Iowa,” Leslie croaked out after taking a sip of her drink. “This is our first trip to the Caribbean.”
I glanced over at the artist. Our gazes met for a brief second before she started sketching something on her pad.
“Well, I hope your stay here is memorable, and hopefully, you’ll want to come back. Please let me know if we can arrange anything for you.” I picked up their empty glasses. “When you’re ready to go to your cottage, I’ll be happy to show you the way.”
The artist glanced up from her sketch pad as I approached and set it facedown on the table. “Would you like a mai tai?” I asked.
“I’m Kristen Waverly, and no thank you. I don’t drink all that often.”
“Nice to meet you—”
“Would you show me to my cottage now, please?”
I was taken aback by her directness. “Sure, I’ll just go set this tray down.” I took it back to the bar and told Adrienne that I’d be back soon. She glanced over at Kristen for a second as an odd expression crossed her face.
Kristen followed me through the courtyard before I led her through the labyrinth of trails. “Is it safe here?” she asked as she looked around nervously.
“Very. It appears to be secluded with all the foliage, but someone is always close by.” I smiled at her as a lizard scurried across the path in front of us. “The wildlife is part of our security staff, too.”
She clutched her sketch pad close to her chest and didn’t smile or laugh at my joke. “So the people in the bar are the only ones who’ll be staying here this week. You won’t have any more guests arriving?”
“That’s it, but if you’re looking for…social interaction, some of the other inns have bars that attract a lot of the locals.”
“No,” she said after a minute. “I just like to know who’s around me. That’s why I chose your inn.” She cleared her throat. “Traveling alone, I feel like I have to be on guard.”
I opened the door to her cottage and looked around to make sure everything was as it should be. “That makes perfect sense to me. If you need anything at all, regardless of the hour, just pick up the phone and dial zero.” I handed her the key. “You’re safe here.”
She opened her mouth to say something and sighed instead. “Thank you.”
I didn’t have Adrienne’s gift of being able to hear a person’s thoughts, but as I walked away, I got the distinct feeling that Kristen was hiding from something or someone.
Chapter Four
The baby looked just like me except it was bald, another Tate trait. She was pissed as she waved her spoon wildly and screamed at the top of her lungs. I screamed just as loudly for Adrienne. She didn’t come to my rescue. The baby beat the tray of the highchair furiously with a spoon.
“Is this what you want?” I cried as I held up a bottle. The angry baby shook her head and screamed louder. “This?” I held up a jar of baby food. Again, wrong answer. The wailing grew louder. I held up a stuffed rabbit. “This?” The screaming grew louder still, and the glass in the windows began to fissure.
I felt desperate as I opened every cabinet and every drawer. Nothing pleased the screaming child. She beat the tray keeping her in the highchair until it split in two. It was getting loose. She climbed down and started to crawl toward me. Her moves were jerky like the monsters in horror movies. I tried to run, but my legs felt like they were full of lead. I dropped to the floor and started to crawl backward as the monster baby drew closer.
“I have no idea what you want!” Tiny hands grasped my legs. I watched in horror as it climbed up my body and grabbed fistfuls of my shirt. “What do you want?” I screamed.
“I want my mommy!”
I awoke with a gasp and nearly jumped out of bed when I heard Adrienne say, “What is it, baby?”
Baby. The word broke me out in a cold sweat as I recalled the angry face in my nightmare. “Bad dream.” I flinched when Adrienne’s hand came to rest in the middle of my chest. She rubbed smoothing circles until I calmed.
Gloria's Legacy Page 3
