Down by the River

by Lin Stepp

  Grace caught Jack’s arm before he left. She stood, indecisively. Then she called out. “Morgan! Meredith! Are you here anywhere?”

  A muffled sobbing sound was heard in reply. “Ms. Grace, is that you?”

  Jack’s heartbeat quickened. It was Morgan!

  Grace heaved a relieved sigh and answered. “Yes, dear. Where are you? It’s safe to come out. Your father and I are here.”

  Jack heard some shuffling noises from a closet across the room. He walked quickly to the door and opened it. And then Morgan shot into his arms to bury her face against his neck. Meredith followed, after climbing out from under a rack of clothes at the back. Tears were streaming down her face.

  “Oh, Daddy!” Her sobs nearly broke Jack’s heart.

  Jack dropped to his knees to hold them, his own tears of relief joining theirs.

  “How did you get here?” Morgan asked, pulling herself away from Jack’s neck for a moment. She had been crying, too. Jack could see the tear streaks down her face.

  “I flew here, like you did.” He gave Morgan a reproachful look then.

  “Oh, Daddy, I’m sorry! We didn’t know what she was like. We didn’t know!” Morgan began to cry. “Meredith found her e-mail address in a movie magazine, and we wrote to her, and she wrote back. We were curious.”

  Meredith’s tears were soaking Jack’s shirt, but he didn’t care. It felt so good to hold his girls and to know they were safe.

  He pulled the girls off his neck to look at them. “Are you girls all right? Has anyone hurt you?”

  Morgan shook her head, understanding what he was asking. “That’s why we hid in the closet, Daddy, and locked the closet door. There were these two creepy men following us after we went out looking for Celine and then started back to our room. We had to give them the slip and then come and hide in the closet here.”

  “We were afraid to come out.” Meredith’s voice was a wail. “There were bad things going on at Mommy’s party. And we couldn’t find her. We were so scared.”

  Jack looked up to see tears streaming down Grace’s face. As if noticing the direction of his glance, Meredith ran to launch herself at Grace then. “Oh, Ms. Grace, I’m so glad to see you! We have had a bad time.”

  Morgan went over to give Grace a hug, too. “I’m glad Daddy brought you, Ms. Grace.” All three cried as they hugged each other.

  Jack moved over to join the huddle. “Grace insisted on coming. She was worried about you.”

  Meredith looked at Morgan. “I knew Ms. Grace was nice from the first day we met her.” She looked at Jack with accusing eyes. “You didn’t tell us our mother wasn’t nice, Daddy.”

  Jack winced.

  Morgan scowled at her. “Well, Mer, we should have figured it out by now from how she dumped out on us when we were only little babies.”

  Jack noticed that the two officers and Benny had politely stepped into the hall when they had found the girls, giving them some time alone with the girls in reunion.

  Meredith looked at Grace and spoke in a shocked whisper. “Our mother swims naked in front of men. That’s not nice at all. She said we could, too, if we wanted. But Morgan and I wouldn’t.”

  Grace rolled her eyes at Jack.

  Morgan looked thoughtful. “She does have a cool pool and a really big house. And she had her cook fix us anything we wanted for lunch. She wasn’t mean to us or anything, Daddy.”

  “She said we were sweet, and she was nice to us when we first came.” Meredith seemed to be trying to think of something good to say, too.

  Morgan scowled. “But she told this man who was here fixing her hair that it was a shame we hadn’t inherited her beauty. That we were a little plain. And she knew we were right in the room. That wasn’t a very nice thing to say.”

  “If Aunt Bebe were here, she would have told our mother that wasn’t nice and made her go sit in her room.” Meredith said this emphatically.

  Jack laughed. “Aunt Bebe probably would have done just that.”

  He looked up to see Grace suppress a smile.

  Detective Strader stepped into the room. “Mr. Teague. The party here is accelerating. I think it might be a good idea if you pack up the girls. It would be best if we leave right away.”

  “Who’s that?” Meredith asked, shying behind Jack as she spoke.

  Morgan studied him. “Are you a cop?”

  He nodded.

  “Wow.” She looked at him. “Then how come you aren’t arresting all these creepy people for all the bad stuff they’re doing?”

  “I’ll give some thought to that.” His mouth twitched in a smile. “But let’s get you and your sister out of here first.”

  “Right.” Morgan ran over to dig her duffle out from behind a chair and began to pack up her things. She looked at Grace. “You might want to help Mer, Ms. Grace. She’s been kind of upset.”

  Jack saw Grace smile at that and start over to pick up Meredith’s duffle off the chair. Grace motioned to Meredith to come and help her.

  Detective Strader pulled Jack aside while the girls packed. “Did they say anybody did them any harm?”

  “No.” Jack frowned at how close they might have come. “They used their wits and locked themselves in the closet there and hid in the back of it.”

  “Bright girls.” Strader scratched his head. “From what I saw here, it’s good they hid. Some of these Hollywood types are kind of kinky.”

  The detective gave him a direct look then. “You want to press charges?”

  Jack shook his head wearily. “Not really. But I’d like to issue some kind of warning. I don’t want this happening again.”

  “I’ll go have a little talk with Miz Rosen. See what I can do in that area.” Strader turned to walk past Officer Parks. “Parks here will stay with you and see you out. I’ll meet you at the car.”

  Strader looked at Benny then. “Go see if you can get traffic cleared out in the front so we can leave without any problem.”

  Benny nodded and turned to go.

  A short time later, the girls were snuggled into the backseat of the police car, heading out the driveway of Celine’s home. The sounds of the party followed them into the night.

  Meredith leaned up against Grace. “Do you think our mother will be mad we didn’t go down to say good-bye?”

  Jack answered that. “No. She knew it was time for you to go.”

  “Past time,” muttered Morgan, with her usual wisdom. Meredith sighed. “Well, at least we know what she looks like

  now. And what she is really like.”

  “I hope I am never like her.” Morgan bit out the words. “She is selfish and vain and really full of herself. I don’t like her at all, even if she is our mother.”

  “We need to be Christian and forgiving.” Meredith gave her a pious look.

  “Maybe tomorrow.” Morgan scowled. “But not tonight.”

  She leaned her head against Jack’s arm. “I’m really sorry, Daddy. We caused you a lot of problem and worry. It was wrong. Celine said she would call you, but I know now she didn’t.”

  Jack gathered Morgan up under his arm and leaned down to kiss her head. He leaned over to kiss Meredith, too. “I’m just glad you’re both okay. I love you, you hear. I want you to remember that. We have each other, and that’s enough. I don’t want you worrying about your mother anymore. She has her life, and we have ours. We have to accept that.”

  “Okay.” Meredith reached up to hug Jack fiercely. Then she leaned over to hug Grace. “And we have Ms. Grace. She’s a good kind of mother.”

  Jack looked across at Grace and watched a little blush steal up her cheeks. “Yes, she is.” He passed Grace a smile.

  Morgan looked out the window. “Are we going home tonight? It’s really late, isn’t it?” She yawned.

  “We’re flying home tomorrow. I figured we all would need a little sleep before we made the long flight back.” He yawned, too. “Especially me.”

  “Where are we staying?” Morgan asked.


  Grace answered. “At a nice little bed-and-breakfast here in Beverly Hills. I thought we would like that better than a big hotel. Your father called earlier to see if they had rooms for us. I stayed in it once years ago, and it’s charming.”

  Detective Strader turned around. “If you’ll give me the bed-and-breakfast name and address, we’ll take you right there. And we’ll have someone pick you up tomorrow and take you back to the airport when you’re ready.”

  Grace told him the name of the bed-and-breakfast in Beverly Hills.

  “Nice little place. I know it.” Strader offered her one of his partial smiles. “The former owner of the place—before it became a bed-and-breakfast—was a furrier to some of the great stars: Garbo, Monroe.”

  “Yes.” Grace smiled at him. “It has a nice ambience. And I thought a quiet place would be good tonight for the girls—rather than a big hotel like the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Four Seasons”

  “Yeah. I’d say they’ve had enough of glitz and glamour for a while.” He caught Jack’s gaze then. “I had that little talk with Miz Rosen. We sort of came to a little agreement—if you agreed not to press charges. I told her I’d be writing up a report and filing it, and if anything like this happened another time, we’d pull it and offer her a little jail time. She agreed that might be unpleasant and that she’d mind her ways in the future.”

  He chuckled to himself. “She also agreed graciously, with a little nudging, to cover your airfare and expenses for this unnecessary trip you had to make out here to California.”

  Jack saw Strader offer the first genuine smile he’d seen—a rather smug one.

  He raised an eyebrow at Jack. “I thought that was the least she could do, considering the circumstances. You get a copy of all the receipts to me later, and I’ll go get you a check.”

  Jack grinned. “Thank you, Detective. That was thoughtful of you.” He meant it, but he wished he had been the one to wrangle this cooperation out of Celine himself.

  Grace leaned forward impulsively and kissed Strader on the cheek. “What a nice gesture, Detective. And I want you to know if you or Officer Parks ever want to come and visit the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, that you will have a free place to stay at my bed-and-breakfast in Townsend.”

  “Well, hey, that’s real nice of you,” Officer Parks chimed in. “I’ve never been east. It might be a real treat to come one day.”

  “It’s nicer there than it is here.” Meredith said this emphatically, causing them all to laugh.

  Later that evening, Jack slipped through the adjoining door in their two-bedroom suite to check on his girls. They could have slept with him or with Grace, but they’d opted to sleep with Grace at this point. Jack could hardly blame them. He’d liked to have done the same thing. Especially after seeing Grace in that pair of black silk pajamas.

  The girls lay piled up in bed with Grace now, and she was telling them a story. It was a nice sight.

  “Come jump in with us!” Morgan moved over to pat the bed beside her.

  Jack came over by the bed considering it. Morgan had opened him a nice spot between her and Grace. It was tempting.

  “Daddy tells good stories,” Meredith announced.

  “He tells really good scary stories.” Morgan’s eyes brightened as she said this.

  Meredith shook her head. “I don’t want any scary stories tonight. This has been a scary enough time. I want a happy ending story.”

  Morgan grinned. “Okay. Daddy, tell us the story about when you and Uncle Roger went skinny-dipping in the creek and then were afraid to go back and get your clothes because of the hornet’s nest. That’s a good one! Grace will like it.”

  Jack watched a little half smile curl the corners of Grace’s mouth as she tried not to smirk. “Yes, that would be a good one to hear.” She looked up at him with dancing eyes.

  It really didn’t take much encouragement then to urge Jack to climb into the oversize king bed with them to join in the story hour. It was a wonderful feeling to be here safe and sound with his girls, knowing they were both out of harm’s way and well. It wasn’t a bad feeling to have Grace’s warm, silky body so close to his, either.

  He leaned over to give all three of them a kiss as he snuggled down between them. “I’m a lucky man to find myself in bed with three such beautiful women!”

  “Oh, Daddy. We’re not beautiful,” Meredith argued.

  “Oh, yes you are, pumpkin. And when you and Morgan grow up, I’ll bet you’re both going to be as beautiful as Ms. Grace.”

  Meredith looked at Grace wistfully. “I hope so.”

  “What I hope,” Morgan added thoughtfully, “is that we grow up to be as nice as Ms. Grace. I’ve decided being nice is better than being beautiful or rich or famous. Or anything.”

  Jack saw a blush steal over Grace’s face.

  “Well, that is a very good lesson to learn.” Jack reached over to tweak Morgan’s cheek.

  “I wish our mommy had been as nice as you, Ms. Grace.” Meredith’s little voice was wistful.

  Jack was sorry his girls had been hurt by Celine. He certainly knew the feeling, and he felt a lump in his throat as he began his story.

  CHAPTER 23

  The girls held a glorious reunion with Bebe, Althea, and the Butlers when they got home. What had been somewhat of a nightmare became a big adventure to share after all the chastisements and apologies were past. After all, the girls had traveled to Hollywood, had met a real Hollywood star—who happened to be their own mother—and then had watched their mother receive a big award on a television screen that took up a whole wall.

  Grace had gone with Jack and Bebe to take the girls home, and then Jack drove Grace back to the Mimosa while Bebe stayed with the girls. Grace found Margaret and Vince there—ready to welcome her back—and both unusually starry-eyed.

  The couple insisted on hearing about the whole rescue adventure, and then Margaret leaned forward from her seat on the couch with an excited gleam in her eye. Grace noticed that she looked to Vincent for encouragement. Something was up.

  “Mother, Vincent and I have decided we don’t want to wait until I graduate next May to get married. We want to marry in early September.”

  Grace couldn’t seem to find any words.

  Margaret gave her a bright smile. “It’s really sensible if you think about it. We already know we want to get married. Vincent has a nice house. And all the family is coming over, anyway for Labor Day. It’s perfect, really. Everyone will already be here.”

  She paused to take a breath. “Vincent has asked Reverend Hartwell to come back to do the ceremony for us. He was thrilled. And Vincent’s parents can come at that time, and his sister can come, too. So, you see, we have everything worked out.”

  Her eyes sparkled. “I thought we could have the reception here at the Mimosa. It would be beautiful if we set up a few tents in the backyard. You know, like we did for Elaine’s wedding. Vince and I don’t want anything too fancy—just family and friends.”

  Grace gulped. “Margaret, that’s only a few weeks away! It takes time to plan a wedding. To find dresses. To do invitations. To plan a big reception.”

  Margaret reached across impulsively to hug her mother. “But that’s what makes it so perfect. You’ve planned events a million times. And Grandma and Grandpa Richey are here. And Aunt Myra is tickled about helping me with everything now that you and she have become such friends. I’ve already been over to the store in South Knoxville and found the most gorgeous bridal dress and one for Elaine she’ll absolutely love. She’s going to be the matron of honor. And I’m having Vince’s sister, Laura, and Mike’s wife, Barbara, and Ken’s wife, Louise, as bridesmaids. Plus my best friend Rachel Day. She owes me big time since I had to fork out huge bucks for that sequined bridesmaid’s dress I wore to her wedding in Nashville last summer.”

  She stopped to grin at Grace. “Won’t it be fun? Your very first wedding here at the Mimosa—and it will be mine!”

  Grace was stunned. “But,
Margaret … couldn’t we at least wait until Christmas? To allow some more time to plan?”

  Margaret looked at Vincent and giggled. “We seem to be having a little problem with waiting.”

  Vincent turned a bright red.

  Grace felt Jack sit forward a little aggressively then.

  Vincent waved a hand. “It’s not like Margaret makes it sound.” He cleared his throat with embarrassment. “It’s only that we’re … uh … rather eager.”

  Margaret giggled. “Vincent always has the nicest way to put things, doesn’t he? None of those crude words like most guys use.”

  Vincent’s face grew redder, and Grace heard Jack chuckle beside her.

  “Yeah, I like the term … eager.” Jack grinned. “It’s a nice word.”

  Grace turned to give Jack a stern look. “Don’t encourage them, Jack Teague. This is a very sudden announcement.”

  Jack patted her knee. “Think of it this way, Grace. If they’re getting … uh … rather eager, it might escalate and cause some embarrassment for our preacher here. After all, he’s supposed to set an example for the young people in our congregation about how to purport themselves. In how to exercise restraint.”

  “Yeah.” Margaret agreed. “And we’re not doing very well with restraint, Mother. I don’t think we’ll make it to Christmas.”

  Jack burst out laughing then.

  Vincent twisted his hands nervously. “I do think it would be good if we married now, Grace. We’re both very sure. And I will be very good to Margaret, I promise you. Plus you will be able to be right next door for this first year of our marriage to be a help to her.” He smiled tentatively at Grace.

  “See? That’s really sensible, Mother.” Margaret chimed in once more. “You know that I don’t know doodley about cooking and all that domestic stuff. I’ve always been too busy at the piano. I’m going to need lots of help.”

  Grace began to mentally calculate the days left in the month of August. “What day exactly are you considering for the wedding?”

  Margaret flashed another glowing smile. “Well, everyone will be coming in for my piano recital early Friday evening on Labor Day weekend, so we thought we’d do the Rehearsal Dinner afterward and the wedding Saturday at 2:00 pm. With Monday a holiday because of Labor Day, Vincent and I can sneak in a short honeymoon before I need to be back at classes Tuesday.”