by Roslyn Woods
“I guess it’s okay,” he said.
“Thanks, Pop.”
He watched her heading toward her room before he spoke to Tavy. “You think I’m a pushover?”
Tavy smiled. “No.”
“But I seem to give in to her a lot. You taught kids her age didn’t you?”
“I taught sixth grade for a few years. Eleven-year-olds.”
“So you don’t think I’m saying yes too much?”
“I think it’s important to say yes whenever you can. There’ll come a time when you’ll have to say no, and when you do, you want it to be taken seriously. Especially at her age.”
“I’m glad you said that.”
“I might be wrong.”
“You might be wise.”
“I think she’s actually having a really hard time with losing my dad.”
“I think so, too. I heard her crying last night.”
“After you told her about the poison?”
“Yeah.”
“Did she talk about it?” Tavy asked.
“Not much. She knows it makes me sad when she’s sad, so she’s probably protecting me.”
“I can see how that could be. I imagine you hide your grief, too.”
“Yes, I guess you’re right. How about you? You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“We were talking about your dad earlier. I thought it might have bothered you.”
“A little, but it’s different for me. I’m grieving over something, but I don’t understand why. I feel sad, but I don’t know what I’m sad about. I just wish I felt there was some sort of meaning—some connection to the dead the way Maddie does.”
“I wish I did, too.”
“I don’t really need to feel he’s here with us, just that things were better—that we had some kind of relationship. I can’t fix anything now that he’s gone.”
“Did you try?”
“No. For a long time I thought he should do it. Then I decided I’d come find him and talk to him, really give him a piece of my mind,” she said with a sad smile and a little shrug, “but then Tio got sick, and—well it never happened.”
“Your father was planning to spend time with you. He talked to me about you, about how you would be coming here.”
“How do you know he wasn’t planning on my coming here after his death?”
“I didn’t get that feeling. We talked about places the two of you would go, things he’d show you in Texas.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, Tavy. He wanted things to be just right. He and I worked on the house together these past few years. He special-ordered all those pulls and hinges—had a glass artist do the windows. You knew I built the cabinets in my free time according to his specifications, helped him paint all the walls.”
“I didn’t know you helped with the painting.”
“Well, that was the easiest thing I did with him. The woodworking was more demanding.”
“Did he talk about his choices for the house?”
“Sure.”
“And?”
“He said teal was your favorite color. Everything in the house was meant to please you. He didn’t tell me this, but of course that’s why he bought the car. You have to recognize that.”
“It does seem so. I guess you’re right that Tio had to have told him,” she said quietly, shaking her head.
“I think so. And he chose the pottery and paintings to make it beautiful for you.”
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” she said. “I felt at home the moment I walked in the door. I actually felt like I’d come home.”
“That’s what he wanted.”
“He got something kind of upsetting in the mail today.”
“Your dad did?”
“Yes. I mean it was upsetting to me. So far, the only mail that’s come to the house is junk mail. Flyers, that kind of thing. And always to occupant. Never to Edwin Bishop. Today I got a bill for Edwin Bishop. It was from Texas Oncology.”
“What kind of bill?”
“It was a summary of treatments and a balance.”
“What kind of treatments?”
“Radiation and chemotherapy.”
“For what?” he asked, stunned.
“I couldn’t tell from the bill, so I called the practice. They wouldn’t tell me anything—told me to ignore it for now. They said Medicare hasn’t come through yet and they’d made a mistake sending the bill to the house and not to the billing address.”
“Which was?”
“Rand Miller, Attorney at Law.”
“And it gave a summary of costs?”
“Yes. It’s a lot.”
“How much?”
“Eighty-five thousand dollars.”
Gus put his fork down. “He had cancer?” he said. He paused and his voice was a whisper when he spoke again. “I didn’t know. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.”
“I’ve made an appointment with his doctor, but I can’t get in for a month. There’s no urgency for them to talk to me I guess. I just want to ask some questions—find out what it was he had exactly.”
“He didn’t tell me,” Gus said, still turning it over in his mind.
“I need to know if it was terminal, Gus. We both need to know. It might help you with your feelings about mixing drinks with him. If he was dying anyway—”
“Even if he was terminal, he didn’t plan to go out like that, so it won’t really help. He planned to talk to you, be with you, to explain everything. I know he did.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know.”
“How am I ever going to get answers to my questions?”
“You should go to the lake house. I could take you tomorrow if I didn’t have the whole day booked with picking vegetables. I could take you on Saturday after Schutzhund.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to do everything for me. I’d already planned on going on Saturday morning with Shell. Where do you pick tomorrow, anyway?”
“My place, and several places across town. Then on Friday, I’ll pick at your place before I go to work.”
“I was planning to do it alone.”
“No, I’ll help you. I’ll have to work on it early, though. My meetings start at ten.”
“You’re too busy on Friday, Gus. It’s fine. I’ll do it.”
“We’ll see. Rhoda will be coming by to pick Maddie up.”
“Friday morning?”
“I give her money at the beginning of the school year, and she takes Maddie shopping for school clothes. Last year, Brenda and her mother shopped with them. Since the girls have made up, they’ll probably be going, too. After tomorrow I won’t see Maddie till next weekend.”
“That seems like an awfully long time.”
“Yes. Rhoda’s a real martyr about it, too. Complains like crazy about having to take Maddie shopping, but I know she uses half the money for herself and spends the day visiting with Althea while the girls are pretty much on their own at the mall. I’m just out of my depth with helping my daughter get clothes for school.”
“It must be difficult.”
“I just want to do what’s best for Maddie. If I confront Rhoda, well, that just makes life harder for my daughter.”
“Life is complicated, isn’t it?”
“It’s that.”
Chapter 54
Wednesday, August 12, 10 p.m.—Tavy
Maddie’s friend had come over and gone, and Tavy had been glad to see she was a normal-looking thirteen year old. Maddie had made a sort of show of introducing Tavy to the girl, and later, when Tavy was preparing to leave, Maddie hugged her and kissed her cheek as if she were family.
“I’ll come see you tomorrow, Tavy!” she said. “It’s my last day till next week.”
“I’ll look forward to seeing you,” Tavy responded, happy to see Maddie so confident in her friendship.
“You need my cell number and I need yours,” the girl added.
�
��Good idea,” Tavy said. “Your dad has mine. Why not send me a text and I’ll capture your number?”
“Okay. That’ll work! I’ll do it tonight!”
Gus walked Tavy home, insisted Blue was to stay with her in spite of her protests that Maddie would be missing her dog.
“She’s safe with me,” he argued before checking all the rooms in the house and reminding her to lock the back door as he left.
“But she’ll be gone a whole week,” Tavy argued.
“She’ll be fine,” he said, smiling slightly, a warm look in his eyes.
She couldn’t know if the look was for Maddie or for her, but she was still feeling good about him a half-hour later as she climbed into bed, the pleasant glow of red wine still humming in her veins. Blue curled up on the rug beside her, ignoring the large floor pillow in the corner of the room, and Tavy reached down and rubbed her head.
“Thanks for sleeping close to me, Bluesy Girl,” she said, smiling to herself for using the nickname Maddie had given her.
Tavy dreamed that Gus was lifting her and carrying her while saying her name over and over again. She could feel the texture of his cotton shirt, smell the fragrance in its fibers. She awoke rather suddenly and realized the dream must have been triggered by the memory of the night he had rescued her from the oven fumes. She reached down to the rug beside her where Blue wagged her tail.
“I’m going to get up for a bit,” she told the dog, blinking back tears as she climbed out of bed and carefully stepped around her. She padded into the dimly lit kitchen and Blue followed, watching her from the doorway as she turned on the fanlight above the stove and took a glass from the cupboard. She sipped water and stared out into the garden. Across the fence she could see the glow of Gus’s porch light.
I should stop thinking about him, she realized.
She shouldn’t have allowed herself to become so emotional about a man who had decided he would be single forever. Rhoda had burned him too badly, and his devotion to his daughter wouldn’t allow him to seriously consider inviting a woman into his life. And maybe, now that Rhoda was having marital problems with her husband, he would begin thinking about being with her again.
Tavy walked into the living room and stood in front of the picture window, turning the wand on the shade to look out. All was quiet at three in the morning, but on the dimly lit sidewalk, a lone figure of a man, not very tall, walked along. Was it the man who had followed her recently? Probably it was just someone out for a walk in the night. There was no law against it, but the tiny hairs on her arms stood up as she watched him heading up the street and turning the corner. Had he been watching her house? Had he seen the shade open and her body backlit by the kitchen light?
She shivered, though the thermostat had been set at a mild seventy-six degrees.
“We should go back to bed,” she told Blue, shutting the blinds and turning from the window.
In the morning, she was tired, the memory of her dream aching in her chest.
She made her usual phone call to Mia, and they talked for a while. Tavy had stopped telling her important things. Mia knew nothing about her intruder and her trip to the hospital. Tavy had to wait till she herself knew more—till she knew why Tio had communicated with her father and why they had kept their contact secret. Mia told her that the escrow for the business was taking longer than expected, and she would be delayed at least another week before coming to Austin.
“It’s okay, Mia. I’m fine on my own. Gus is insisting I keep his dog, and she’s good company.”
“You always did love dogs!” Mia said. “I can’t wait to meet her and your new friends.”
“It will be soon, I hope,” Tavy replied.
“Soon, sweetheart. I miss you so much,” Mia said before hanging up.
Tavy mixed up a batch of butter cookies and baked them as she sipped her morning coffee, having decided it would be good to have something sweet for Madison when she came over later.
She was thinking that a week would be a long time not to see her young friend, and she shook her head as she rolled the warm cookies in powdered sugar. How had she gotten so attached? Even Gus’s daughter occupied her emotions now.
“And you, too, Blue!” she said, the realization coming over her as she dried her hands on a dish towel. She bent down to pet the dog. “You saved my life, and now I love you. I love all of you.”
Maybe all three of them had saved her life. How long had it been since she had felt really emotional about anyone other than Mia and Tio? Eleven years? She rubbed a tear away and spoke again.
“Let’s get your walk.”
She attached Blue’s leash and locked the front door before she headed up the street, the Australian Shepherd wagging her tail happily.
A police car was parked across the way and only three houses up from Tavy’s. At least, she was pretty sure it was a police car. It was unmarked, but it was beige in color and the same make and model as cars she had seen around town that had light bars on the tops and print on the sides. Had Sgt. Gonzalez sent protection to watch her house? She could only surmise that it was quite possible, since she had told him about the gray Cadillac a few days earlier.
Just as she approached, the car started up and pulled away. Yes, it seemed plausible that it was a police car, though there were any number of reasons a law enforcement vehicle might be parked in the neighborhood. Gus would be glad to hear that officers were in the vicinity for any reason, but perhaps he already knew. It seemed likely that he would be aware of the comings and goings in the area because of his daily exercise.
It was too hot for much of a walk this morning, and the sky was overcast, making the air heavy with moisture. The street was fairly empty now, nearly nine o’clock, the only sign of life a barking dog making a complaint as Blue passed. There was a little park that fronted a small creek not far from here, a place Tavy had taken Blue a few times, and she headed for it. She could sit on a bench while the dog explored the water’s edge, and Tavy liked allowing her freedom from the leash for a while.
In a few minutes, she was seated on that bench watching the dog frolic in the distance when she was surprised by a familiar voice.
“Octavia?”
She turned abruptly and saw her stepbrother looking down at her. He wore a slate blue patterned shirt and cream-colored shorts. Shades covered his eyes, and his beard—quite a bit darker than his ash-blond hair—was stylishly trimmed to what she guessed was about two days’ growth.
“I thought that was you!” he said, taking off his sunglasses. “I thought I’d come by Dad’s place and check on you, but then I saw you stopping here as I was driving into the neighborhood.”
Tavy looked up at the street. A red convertible had been parked along the curb, and the top was down.
“Oh! Well, hello,” she answered, somewhat belatedly.
“It’s a little hot to be sitting on a park bench, don’t you think?” he asked.
“It’s a little cloudy to be driving around with the top down, don’t you think?” she answered.
“Oh, the top goes up quick as a wink, but this heat isn’t going anywhere, and it’s pretty bad.”
“Is it? It’s shady here, and it’ll be hotter in another hour, so now seemed the best time to walk the dog.”
“I didn’t know you had a dog. It was a surprise seeing you walking one.”
“You followed me?”
“No, no! I just saw a gorgeous woman up ahead and decided to stop,” he answered, smiling engagingly.
Just then Blue came dashing up from the creek, stopping just short of a startled Vincent. She was growling and interposing herself between Tavy and the blond man.
“What’s wrong, Blue?” Tavy asked, but the dog continued to growl. “It’s okay, girl, this is Vincent,” she said, bending down and attaching the leash.
“So it’s actually your dog?” Vincent asked, taking a step backwards. “I didn’t see it the other day.”
“I’m sorry she’s behaving this wa
y. I don’t really know how to control her. She’s my friend Gus’s dog.”
“Gus? Gus Kerr?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re friends?” he asked, but he didn’t wait for a reply before he spoke again. “Would you please keep the leash short? Can you manage it?”
“I think so,” she answered, pulling Blue closer and patting her head. “It’s okay, Blue,” she repeated. The dog quieted, but the fur on her back still bristled, and she was resisting Tavy’s efforts to pull her from between herself and her stepbrother.
“Maybe we should walk back to the house,” Vincent suggested, still standing a step back.
“Yes, maybe we should,” Tavy replied.
“Perhaps you can put it outside,” he suggested.
“She’ll calm down by then,” Tavy said with an assurance she didn’t quite feel. “You might want to put the top up,” she added.
“Oh yeah,” he said, and walked away toward his car while Tavy kneeled down and tried to calm Blue for a few moments. She could hear his step on the pavement and the opening and closing of the car door before she looked up again.
“All done,” Vincent said, returning to Tavy’s side, though perhaps he was two or three feet further from her than he would have wished.
They had only walked a stone’s throw in the direction of home when Tavy observed that Gus was jogging in their direction.
“Gus!” she called, waving.
He stopped, a few yards away yet, his eyes on Vincent, then on herself.
“Hello,” he said, rather more formally than she expected.
“You’ve met my stepbrother, Vincent,” Tavy said in a friendly way, continuing to walk toward him.
“I have,” he replied, nodding briefly at Vincent.
“We were just going back to the house, Gus,” Tavy said. “It’s so hot, I thought we’d have a glass of tea. Won’t you join us?”
“I—”
“Please, Gus!” she interrupted, giving him a look she hoped he could read. “Join us! I’ve made some cookies. It’s getting too hot to run, isn’t it? Maybe you should run this evening instead.”
