by SUE FINEMAN
On his way to his house to check on the work there, Charlie answered his ringing cell phone. Ginny said, “Jake Jabrowski has been in and out of prison for most of his adult life.”
“For what?”
“Various scams, car theft, assault, and attempted murder.”
“Then what in the hell is he doing on the street?”
“He served his time, Charlie. We can’t keep them in prison after they serve their time. Are you ready for the police to investigate?”
“Let me talk with Alex first.” She might want to talk with Mario before they got the cops involved.
He hated talking with Vinnie about this, but the old man had a right to know what was going on. What kind of idiot would hire a car thief to manage a garage? Didn’t they do routine background checks before they hired people?
Charlie pulled up across the street from his house. He liked the way the new windows changed the look. They were white vinyl with blinds inside the glass. They cost a lot more than regular windows, but Andy said they were worth it. He had them in his house.
The deep front porch would need a coat of paint. He’d been thinking about painting the bricks, too. They were a mess. Pop had replaced some on the side of the house many years ago, but they didn’t match. A coat of paint and a new front door would freshen the look. Maybe he’d put a swing on the front porch. Taylor would like that.
He walked inside and watched the crew slide the window seat in the family room in place. The window overlooked the backyard, reminding him he still had landscaping to do. But he could do that after they moved in. The inside painting couldn’t wait. Neither could the floors, but they had to get the drywall up first.
“Hey, Charlie,” Pete called. “The drywall people are coming on Monday. Do you want me to hire someone to tile the bathrooms, or do you want to do them yourself?”
“Hire someone.” He’d planned to do it himself, but he was so far behind schedule, he’d never get it all done in time. He had to check on the corn and finish up the job for Vinnie and Alex.
He and Pete talked about the work schedule on the house. Charlie was pleased at the progress. The kitchen cabinets had been delivered and sat in the middle of the living room floor. They’d go in next week.
He wandered upstairs and looked around. The cavernous attic looked more like bedrooms now. Taylor’s bedroom had a window seat overlooking the backyard and a desk beside the side window. A place to do her homework.
Pete was on top of things like he should be, but there was still a lot of work to be done before Charlie could move his family in.
Pete asked, “Does your little girl have a big blue ball? I don’t know where it came from, but I was working in the front bedroom when it rolled across the floor. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this house was haunted.”
Definitely haunted. By a baby ghost named Bobby. He hoped the ghosts didn’t scare away Pete and his crew. If they did, Charlie would have to do all the work himself.
He glanced at his watch. “I have to go.” He told Alex he’d get Taylor from school today, and he didn’t want to be late.
He’d lost nearly four days checking out the trucking business for a blustery old man he didn’t even like. For what? Not for Vinnie. He did it for Alex, because he had a feeling the old man was going to die and leave her the business. Letting her deal with people like Jabrowski by herself wasn’t an option. That big jerk would walk all over her, or worse. Jabrowski was about to hit her when she gave him his final paycheck. Charlie, at six-two, could fight back. Alex was about five-three and a hundred and ten soaking wet. She’d fought off a rapist and nearly died, and Charlie didn’t want her to have to fight off another man.
The next time she might not make it.
He drove to the Stevens School and picked up Taylor.
“Where’s Mommy?”
“She’s working, talking to the employees in Papa’s cannery.” Vinnie wanted her to tell them he was giving them the business, so they didn’t worry about their jobs being in limbo after he died. Vinnie’s attorney and the attorney for the business were working out the legal details.
Charlie figured Vinnie gave away the business to teach his sons a lesson. They didn’t appreciate the chance he’d given them to run the business, but the employees who’d worked there for years would appreciate it. Why didn’t he just give it all to Alex? She was the only one of his kids who’d stuck by him. So what if she was a woman? If she didn’t want to run the business herself, she could hire someone to do it for her.
“Where are we going?” Taylor asked from the backseat.
“To the farm. Would you like to go on a tractor ride with me?”
“Yeah. Can Wilma come, too?”
“She and Sadie Belle can watch.”
The soft rain last night should have given the corn some much needed moisture without leaving too much mud. He’d staggered the planting so all the fields wouldn’t be ready for harvest the same week. There were only so many hours in the day, and he couldn’t afford to hire someone to help with the harvest. Andy always helped, and Dad and Billy did, too, but Charlie did most of the work himself. He always gave the last load to the food bank or the mission, as Otis had when he owned the farm.
At the farm, Charlie sent Taylor upstairs to change into play clothes while he made her a snack. Cookies and milk.
He’d enjoyed the time they spent at the farm. Family time. In spite of Vinnie’s lecture about not shacking up with his daughter, Charlie and Alex made love every night. She told him she loved him and asked if he loved her, but he couldn’t give her the answer she wanted. The answer she expected. Hell, yes, he loved her. Trust built slowly between them, but now Vinnie was trying to manipulate the situation, trying to push Charlie into marrying Alex before he was ready. If he’d ever be ready for marriage.
Taylor ate her cookies and drank her milk, then wiped the milk mustache off with the sleeve of her T-shirt. “All done.”
“We have to clean up the mess. Uncle Andy and Aunt Julie don’t have a maid.”
Taylor carried her dirty glass to the sink and threw her napkin into the trash can.
“Good girl.”
Charlie had put the dogs outside, and they were running around, barking and playing. As soon as Charlie walked outside with Taylor, the dogs ran for Taylor. She hugged them both and played with them while Charlie backed the tractor out of the barn.
Standing his daughter on the platform by his side, Charlie held onto her with one arm while he steered the tractor with the other. They headed down the dirt lane between fields to check out the progress of the growing corn.
“Looks good, Punkin. If we don’t get a gully washer in the next couple weeks, we should have a good crop this year.”
“Can I plant something?”
“Sure. How ’bout we get some flowers to plant in the backyard of our house.”
“Okay, but we can’t plant them over the boxes.”
“What boxes?”
“The ones Bobby’s first mommy buried in the flowers.”
Stunned, it took Charlie a minute to respond. “What’s in the boxes?”
“Sparkly things.”
Charlie tried to think of what Taylor meant, but all he could come up with was jewelry. He and Mom hadn’t found any jewelry in the house, but why would a woman who lived in a dumpy little house have expensive jewelry?
Only one way to find out. He’d have to dig up the flower beds.
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Alex finished the meeting with the cannery employees and spent an hour with the company attorney, going over some of the details. Papa had not only given them the business, he’d given them enough money to replace a troublesome piece of equipment that should have been replaced two years ago. When Papa retired, he expected Antonio to replace it. But Antonio and Mario took their families on an extended vacation to the islands with that money. When they returned, they both bought new cars.
How much would she inherit from Papa’s estate? How much would h
e leave her brothers? Papa couldn’t have much left. He’d been giving things away the past few years – the donation to the hospital when his mother died, the land to the city for the new baseball park, and now the cannery. And then there was Mother’s divorce settlement. If Papa died before the divorce was final, would Mother get control of his entire estate? If she did, would Antonio and Mario fight her for it?
If her brothers weren’t happy with what Papa left them, would they try to take her share?
Of course they would.
Alex was about to leave the building when the attorney’s assistant called, “Miss Porcini, the accountant would like to see you before you leave today.”
Seconds later, Alex tapped on Don’s door and opened it. He was on the phone, but he motioned her to come in and sit down. When he hung up, he said, “Vinnie called a few minutes ago. I have a check for you and one for Charles Kane. It’ll be your last paycheck, Alex. He’s giving away the trucking division.”
“To who?”
Don shrugged. “He didn’t say.”
“What about the administrative staff?”
“Most of us are staying with the cannery. Some are going with the distribution division.”
“I’d hate for anyone to lose their job.”
“So far, everyone is safe except the maintenance manager in the trucking division, the one you fired earlier this week.”
“He didn’t deserve to stay.”
Alex thanked him, took the envelopes with the checks, and left the building. She had to get back home and check on Papa. He was supposed to be resting, but he was working, running the business by phone.
She couldn’t believe he was giving away the trucking division after all the work Charlie had done this week. If not for Charlie, they wouldn’t know about the missing trucks. And if not for Charlie, Jabrowski would undoubtedly be stealing more trucks. She knew that was what happened to them. Mario wouldn’t know where to sell a truck, but Jabrowski would. Charlie said he’d worked as a trucker between stints in prison. The man was a car thief.
Jabrowski was also a bully. When she fired him, he told her she deserved what Higgins had done to her. Her face still burned with anger.
So now she was unemployed. Uncle Dominic owned the distribution business, the employees owned the cannery, and Papa was giving away the trucking division. That division wasn’t making enough money to keep going for long. If whoever took over didn’t scare up some new clients, he might as well sell off the assets, lay off the employees, and close the doors.
Why was she worried? The business was no longer her problem.
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Charlie finished in the corn fields and parked the ancient tractor in the barn. Then he weeded the garden while Taylor romped with the dogs.
After he hosed the mud off his boots, he pulled out his cell phone and called Alex. “Where are you?”
“On my way to Papa’s house. Where are you?”
“At the farm with Taylor.” He needed to go to his house and see what he could find buried in the flower beds, but he didn’t want to do it when Pete and his crew were there.
“Aunt Gina is cooking us dinner at the mansion tonight,” said Alex. “I’ll leave the gate open for you.”
“Okay. We’ll be there in an hour.” It would take that long to shower and scrub the mud off Taylor. She was a mess. So were the dogs.
He whistled for Wilma and hosed the mud off her legs and feet, then did the same with Sadie Belle. “Come on, Punkin, you’re getting a bath.”
“But it’s not bedtime.”
“We’re going to Papa’s house for dinner, and we can’t go there looking like this.”
Taylor giggled and ran down the driveway through a mud puddle. Charlie waited patiently for her to follow him to the door of the mud room, where he pulled off her muddy sneakers and his wet boots. Minutes later, Taylor was playing with the bubbles in the bathtub. She had a streak of mud on her cheek, but she looked happy.
“Can Wilma come with us?”
“Not tonight.”
He wet her hair and rubbed shampoo into it. “How did you get mud in your hair?”
“Sadie Belle did it.”
He laughed. Taylor never blamed Wilma for anything. To her, the dog could do no wrong.
An hour later, after Charlie fed the dogs and put them in the mud room, he drove Taylor to Vinnie’s house. Charlie had never been inside the mansion. It was huge, bigger than that gray stone monstrosity Billy inherited a few years ago. He couldn’t imagine living in a place this size.
Alex met him and Taylor at the front door. The house looked like a huge Italian villa on the outside. On the inside, it looked ornate and opulent. Definitely not his style. Alex gave him the grand tour while Taylor ran off to “help” Aunt Gina in the kitchen, but Charlie felt lost. Was this the kind of lifestyle Alex expected for herself and Taylor? No, not for Taylor. Taylor didn’t need all this crap to make her happy. The kid was happy on the farm, she was happy in his house, and she was happy at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. But he wasn’t so sure about Alex. She’d grown up in this museum with parents who indulged her, with full-time servants, with anything her little heart desired.
He couldn’t give Alex this kind of life, and he didn’t want to live like this himself. He was a simple guy who didn’t need much to make him happy – a place of his own, fulfilling work, sex, and enough money to get by. And the more he thought about it, the more he wanted a family of his own.
He gazed into Alex’s eyes and wondered what she wanted. She said she loved him, but did she love him enough to marry him and live in his little brick bungalow?
Could he support her on a yearly corn crop and a low-paying part-time summer job?
What if he asked and she said no?
What if she married him and then regretted it? How could he explain to an impressionable six-year-old that her mommy didn’t love her daddy? Couples got divorced all the time, but he didn’t intend to marry more than once, and he didn’t want to live his life without a woman.
He’d spent years jumping from one woman to another, sleeping with most of them and not getting attached to any. Alexandra Porcini was the only woman he’d ever loved enough to want to spend his life with her.
“Charlie?” Alex shook his arm. “Charlie? I asked if you wanted to go see Papa.”
“Okay. Sure.”
Vinnie sat in his recliner in his private sitting room, his feet propped up, watching the evening news, when Alexandra came in with Charlie. She looked at him as if he was the greatest man in the world, like women used to look at Vinnie. Only this was his daughter. His only daughter. And the guy was Charlie Kane, son of Donovan Kane, the man who’d sent him to jail many years ago.
“So, are you moving back home tonight?”
“In a couple days,” Alexandra said. “Andy and Julie are still gone, and we don’t want to leave the farmhouse empty while they’re gone. Besides, someone has to take care of Andy’s collie.”
“I thought Charlie was the one with the collie.”
“They’re from the same litter,” said Charlie. “And Wilma needs a bath before she comes here.”
“You sure you want to bring the dog?”
“I could leave her with Andy, but I don’t think Taylor will approve.”
Vinnie looked at the door. “Where is my granddaughter?”
“In the kitchen with Aunt Gina,” said Alexandra. “Hannah lets her help in the kitchen, and she loves it. They made me cookies when I was in the hospital. Taylor was so proud.”
Vinnie motioned to the chairs. “Sit down and talk to me. What’s going on at the business?”
“Don gave me my final paycheck today.” Alexandra turned toward Charlie. “He gave me a paycheck for you, too. It’s in my purse in the other room.”
Charlie shook his head. “I don’t need a paycheck. I was only there for a few days.”
“Ya done good,” said Vinnie. “Without you, we wouldn’t have known about the trucks.”
<
br /> “You didn’t expect me to investigate the business?”
“Hell, no.” Vinnie wasn’t sure what he expected, but he didn’t expect the kid to stay there for more than a couple hours. He was there for most of a week, he checked out every truck’s maintenance record, and he got rid of the worst maintenance manager they’d ever had.
“I had my sister run Jake Jabrowski through the police computer. He has long rap sheet – assault, car theft, attempted murder – so everyone is glad he’s gone. Alex is going to try to talk with Mario about the two missing trucks. If he doesn’t know what happened to them, I suggest getting the police involved. Let’s put the jerk back behind bars, where he belongs. If we can’t retrieve the missing trucks, you can claim it on your insurance. You do have insurance on the trucks, don’t you?”
“If Mario didn’t cancel it,” Alex muttered.
Vinnie picked up the phone at his side and called his son’s home. “Mario, I’m asking you again if you know what Jabrowski did with the two missing trucks.”
“I don’t know, Papa. I didn’t know they were missing. The trucking division is failing anyway. Maybe we should just sell the trucks and the buildings and close that division.”
“I have plans for that division, and it doesn’t involve closing anything. I’m letting the police handle the thefts, so don’t be surprised if they come to see you.”
“Okay.”
Vinnie wanted to see his grandchildren again before he died. “Why don’t you bring Christy and the kids by for Sunday dinner?”
“Okay, we’ll be there.”
Alex listened to Papa’s end of the conversation and decided they wouldn’t move back into this house on Sunday no matter when Andy and Julie were due back. She had no desire to see Mario again. She could tolerate Antonio, but not Mario. Not after he gave that reporter the video of her in Mexico and then lied to her about the attack.
Thank God Papa hadn’t seen that part of the show.
One of the nurses pushed a wheelchair into the room. “Gina says dinner is ready, and since the dining room is too far for you to walk, I thought you’d like to ride in your new chariot.”
