by T. L. Haddix
“That’s right,” Lauren told them, remembering. “When Margie was about six or seven, her paternal grandfather died, and from what she told me, the funeral was a circus. Her grandmother had a fit of some kind, screaming and wailing, and had to be taken to the hospital. Other people in the family got into a big fight over the whole situation. Someone got shoved into the casket and everything. It was pretty ugly, from what I remember.” She stopped. “It feels so strange, talking about Margie and talking about Charity. It’s really like they were two people, even though they weren’t.”
Charlie disagreed. “I don’t know. It sounds to me as though she was a different person, at least in her own mind. Maybe she couldn’t handle being Margie any more, so she created Charity. Does that make sense?”
“It makes perfect sense to me,” Davis said. “When she talked about her life here all those years ago, she distanced herself from it. She’d refer to herself as ‘that girl,’ that sort of thing.”
“It does make sense, I suppose.” Lauren looked at Davis. “What about her ashes? How did she want them handled?”
“She wanted her ashes scattered at a specific location, which I have a question about. She wanted them spread over a small lake out in Jefferson County, Indiana, and a letter delivered to the owner. When I asked her about it, all she would tell me was that it was a debt she owed.”
Lauren rubbed her arms as gooseflesh covered them. “Would that be Travis Tyler, by any chance?”
He nodded. “It is, indeed. Can you explain the lake’s significance?”
“Like I said, it’s a little complicated. Margie and Travis dated when she was seventeen. They used to meet at his parents’ lake house. Things didn’t end well for them, and they had a big fight right before she disappeared. He’s had a guilty conscience ever since. There’s more, but I don’t feel I should be sharing other people’s secrets.” She shifted in her seat, a little uncomfortable.
“Oh, my,” Davis said. “Do you think he’ll be amenable to having her ashes scattered there? If they had that kind of history, he might object.”
Lauren shook her head. “No, I don’t think there will be a problem. I met with him yesterday to tell him about her, and he was pretty upset. Without going into details, I can tell you that he did care for her, and that he had a pretty bad shock when he found out she had been killed.” She let out a breath. “I just hope her letter is what I think it is, for his sake.” Charlie’s stiffness told her more than words that he was not happy about her being close to the other man, but there was nothing she could do about it right now.
Moving on, the attorney shifted papers in his lap. “We need to go over Charity’s will, as you’re one of her heirs.”
“I’m what?”
He smiled. “Charity left you a significant amount in her will.” When he told her the number, Lauren stared at him in shock.
“How much?” When he told her again, she shook her head. “I—I can’t… dear God.” Swallowing, she put a hand on her chest. “I don’t feel so well,” she told the men, her voice faint.
“Nausea or lightheaded?” Charlie asked.
“Both,” she answered.
“Okay. Put your head down, that’s a girl, and take slow, deep breaths.” Rubbing her back in a soothing circular motion, he asked Davis for some ice water. As the man hurried to get it, Charlie leaned over and spoke to her gently. “You okay? Starting to feel better?”
After a couple of seconds, she nodded. When Davis came back with the ice water, Charlie thanked him and set it down on the table. He helped her sit up and handed her the glass, steadying her when the glass shook.
Davis’s concern was evident. “Are you okay, Ms. Grant?”
“I think so. I just need a minute, and I’ll be okay. It’s a lot to take in.”
He sympathized. “It is a tremendous lot to take in, and if Charity were here right now, I’d bust her chops. I don’t think she ever meant to shock you this much, but she wouldn’t listen to me when I told her that it would.”
“How did the rest of her family take it?” Charlie asked him.
“Surprisingly well, at least her brothers. Her sisters? They were angry. They called their portions of her estate blood money. But I really believe once they’ve had a chance to think about things, and once Jacob and his wife have had a chance to calm them down, they’ll accept it,” he said.
“Good,” Lauren said. “Something good should come out of this.”
“Just for the record, though, what she had wasn’t blood money. Charity worked hard to achieve what she did, and while Mason Smythe gave her a big head start, the money wasn’t tainted. She never was anything more to him than a friend and surrogate daughter,” he told them.
As they finished going over Lauren’s inheritance and how it would be handled, Davis told them that the actual settlement of the estate would take a few months.
“Once we go to probate court, which I can push through and get done in a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to get you her personal effects. Well, assuming the police don’t hold onto them for evidence. Moving the gallery and the money through probate will take longer, since the government has to make sure they get their share.”
“I’m not worried about the money,” Lauren said. “Will the gallery remain open during probate, or will it have to close?”
“The way she arranged things, it will stay open. She knew that if something happened to her, the only way to keep the gallery’s momentum in the long term was to keep it open in the interim. She didn’t want Raven to lose everything they’d worked for because of legalities and red tape.”
“Good,” Lauren said. “He’s a sweet kid, and he’s had a rough time, as it is. Have you spoken with him yet?”
“No, but I have an appointment to see him later today. He’s pretty shaken up. Charity was very special to him.”
“I feel guilty because I haven’t even thought about calling him. So much has happened… I should have called him.” She sent a pleading look at Davis. “Please let him know that he can call me if he needs to talk.”
“I will do that, most certainly,” he replied. “You shouldn’t feel guilty, though, because you’ve had more than your fair share of troubles the last few days, from what I’ve heard.”
She gave a short laugh. “It’s been interesting, I’ll say that. Is there anything else we need to cover?”
“No, I think we’ve gone over everything.” He looked at Charlie. “What about you? Any questions?”
Charlie grimaced. “Not to bring up a grim topic, but have you contacted a cleaning crew for Charity’s apartment?”
“Oh. I hadn’t thought about that. I guess it would be a mess, wouldn’t it?” Lauren looked at Davis.
“I’ve called a company that’s based locally. They specialize in that sort of cleanup, and they’re going to take care of it just as soon as the police release the scene. Hopefully that will be soon, since they have the SOB in custody.”
Lauren and Charlie rose, shaking hands with Davis again, thanking him. He walked them out, telling them he would be in touch as soon as he had news.
“I’ll be giving Travis Tyler a call this afternoon,” he told them, looking at Lauren. “I don’t know how he will react, but if I need a go-between, someone to smooth things over, do you know him well enough to do that?”
She didn’t look at Charlie as she spoke. “I doubt there will be a problem, but if you need me, you can certainly call. I’d be glad to talk to him for you.”
As they got in the truck, Lauren knew she’d have to try and explain her odd relationship with Travis sooner rather than later. She just hoped she was up to the task.
Chapter Forty-Two
Leaving the downtown area, the tension in the truck was palpable. Neither wanted to be the first to speak. Lauren was relieved when her phone rang. It was the insurance adjuster, who had finished her report.
“You have the all-clear to start repairs. Good luck, Lauren.”
She thanked th
e woman and ended the call.
“Good news?”
“Yes,” she told Charlie. “The insurance adjuster is finished, and I’ll be able to start cleaning up that mess.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Excuse me. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, last night not included.”
His response was dry. “I can’t imagine why.”
She laughed. “No? Me, either.” With a groan, she rested her head against the back of the seat and looked at him. “Thanks for coming with me.”
Without speaking, he reached a hand over and held it out to her. She grasped it tightly and held on. They were silent for a few minutes as he drove, lost in their own thoughts.
“So what do you want to do about lunch?” he finally asked. “Do you want to head back to Leroy or stop somewhere? Either way is fine with me.”
“Um, I’m not sure, but now that you mention food, I’m starving. I was too nervous to eat breakfast.”
“Then it sounds like we’d better find something close by, doesn’t it? What sounds good?”
“How about some barbeque?” she asked. “There’s a place just off the interstate a few miles up that has the best pulled pork in Indiana.”
Agreeing that barbeque sounded good, he took the exit she indicated, and within a few minutes they were seated and ordering.
“How about we vote to not talk about Charity or any of this other stuff while we eat?” Charlie said. “I imagine you could use a break.”
“That would be wonderful,” she replied as the server brought their drinks. “It feels like everything I’ve been focused on lately is all ugly and negative, with a few memorable exceptions. So what topics can we discuss? The weather? Politics probably wouldn’t be good, would it?”
“I don’t know,” Charlie said, smiling. “I tend to get a little rabid about my politics, so this probably wouldn’t be the best place to get into that, but we definitely should discuss it sometime.”
She pretended shocked horror. “What if we aren’t on the same page, politically speaking?”
He shook his head ruefully. “I guess that would just be that, then. No more dinners, no more clandestine meetings at your parents’ house. It would be a sacrifice, but…”
She threw her straw wrapper at him. “As long as you aren’t as rabid as my former mother-in-law, I think we’d be fine. I know enough of your political leanings from things Daddy’s said to know that we’re fairly well suited.”
“So you don’t like David’s mother?” Charlie asked.
“How do I answer that?” she asked, sitting back and thinking out loud. “Let’s just say there are a lot of areas that we do not agree on, including some of our political and social views. She’s a loving grandmother, adores Ava, but she likes to give advice. On everything.”
Their food arrived and for a few minutes they focused on eating, but then Charlie turned the talk back to David’s mother. “So she likes to tell people what to do, is that what you’re not saying?”
“You could definitely say that,” Lauren conceded. “And if you don’t happen to agree with her, or take her advice, God forbid? The real cold war begins.” She shook her head. “David’s learned how to handle her, but it took him a while. He’s said to me more than once since the divorce that he wished he could have given me his mother in the property settlement, but that wouldn’t have been fair to me.”
“Wow,” Charlie said. “That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”
“Not really. This is a woman who, when I was in labor, ran down a list, point by point, of how I wasn’t laboring properly to bring her grandchild into the world.” She winced, remembering. “The marriage was pretty much over by then, and everyone knew it, but even so, David stood up to her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so mad. He ended up throwing her out, and she didn’t come back to the hospital.”
She could tell Charlie was shocked. “Not even once after Ava was born?”
“Nope. She didn’t see her granddaughter until she was four weeks old, if I’m remembering correctly. She had been so hurt by our disregard for her feelings, you see, that she just couldn’t bear to be around us. She was really just waiting for David to apologize to her, but he wouldn’t bend, and she finally gave in. Everyone knew that, too, which made it that much worse.”
“Is he an only child, then?” Charlie asked. “He seems pretty well-adjusted, from what little I’ve seen of him.”
“No. He has a younger sister, Nadi. And he really has grown up since we had Ava. Before that? He wasn’t quite so… mature.” She tilted her head and looked at him, considering. “I don’t think you would have gotten along with the younger David. Matter of fact, you probably would have tried to kill each other,” she laughed.
The server brought their check, and there was a slight tussle over who would pay.
“You honestly think I’m letting you pay for this meal?” Charlie asked, incredulous. “Not likely, sweetheart.” Lauren finally gave in, and he grabbed the check. “Are you ready to go or do you want to hang around for a little while?”
“Actually, there’s a little park with a lake not far from here. How about going there? We could walk off our lunch, feed the ducks.”
“Sounds good.”
They made their way to the front of the now-crowded restaurant and Lauren visited the restroom while Charlie paid for their meal. Back in the truck, she gave him directions to the park.
“There’s a little store just before we turn into the park. We can get some bags of corn for the ducks there.”
At the park, Lauren saw that it was largely deserted, not surprising, as it was the middle of the day and a Thursday. After parking near the trailhead, they walked down the tree-lined path. The small lake was visible through the trees, and after a short distance, the path wound closer to the lake. A branch veered off to the left, terminating on a deck that extended out over the water.
The day was sunny and warm, but the deck was shaded by surrounding trees. As they walked onto the deck, dozens of geese and ducks responded to their presence, swimming and waddling over to them, honking and quacking for food.
It didn’t take long to go through the two small bags of corn they’d bought. The animals quickly figured out that feeding time was over. They moved away as quickly as they’d come, and Lauren moved to the safety rail. Standing at the edge of the deck, she closed her eyes and let the breeze blow her hair back.
“I needed this,” she told Charlie. “Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome.” He brushed his hand over her head and down her shoulder. “Let’s go find someplace to sit for a while, unless you need to get back. These benches are a little worse for wear.” The benches in question were covered with bird droppings, and Lauren readily agreed.
“I don’t have a curfew tonight, since I don’t have Ava.” They continued along the trail, heading the opposite direction from the way they had come. Soon they noticed another trail branching off toward the lake, and followed it to find a shaded picnic shelter.
“Perfect,” Lauren said. She sat on one of the tables with her feet on the bench. Charlie followed suit, and picked up her hand. He held it in his, playing with her fingers. They were sitting shoulder to shoulder, and she relaxed into him.
“Tell me about your family,” she said. “We’ve never really talked about them.”
“Yeah,” he said, sighing. “It’s not my favorite subject, but I guess you figured that out already. What do you want to know?”
“Whatever you want to tell me. I don’t think I’ve ever met your mom. What’s she like?”
He smiled. “She’s great. One of the strongest people I know. Her name’s Hazel, and she’s a legal secretary. She actually more or less runs the office where she works, but she calls herself a secretary. Mom’s not into political correctness.”
“She remarried, right?”
“She did.” He looked out over the lake, squinting a little at the bright reflection coming off the water. “She married a guy named Jason
Wells. He’s a good man. He’s good for her, takes care of her. They met during a big trial a few years back. He’s an attorney, and she was doing some research for one of the guys in her firm, and they bumped into each other—literally. She dropped all her paperwork, and he took her out to lunch to apologize. They’ve been together ever since. It’s nice to see her happy. God knows my dad never made her happy.”
“Tell me about Ransom?” Lauren asked quietly.
“I don’t care much for him. He made us miserable. Everything changed after my brother died. Nobody smiled anymore, and he turned to alcohol and other women. I know you like him now,” he said, glancing at her briefly before looking back out at the lake, “but he’s not the same person he was when I was growing up. Back then he didn’t have a good word to say to or about anyone, unless it was his latest fling and he was trying to get into her pants. Sorry to be so crude.”
“Don’t apologize,” she told him. “I do like Ransom, but I only really know him from the shop. I’ve heard a little bit about what your childhood was like, and I know it wasn’t easy.”
“No, it certainly wasn’t,” he said, laughing bitterly. “He was abusive to Mom, mostly verbally, but he hit her a time or two. She took it, too. I never understood that, and I guess a part of me blamed her for it. She was fed up with him and his behavior, but she put up with it because some so-called ‘wise’ person counseled her that it was better to have a disruptive household than a split one. She didn’t separate from him until the first time he hit me. I swear she would have taken his head off if her cousin Ben hadn’t been there. He got us out of the house and calmed her down, or I think she would have killed Ransom.”
“When did they divorce?” she asked. “I know it’s been a while.”
“They separated after he hit me, but it wasn’t until I was a freshman that she washed her hands of him. That was when Annie’s mother, Carly, showed up and told Mom about Annie.”
