“Ok girl, maybe you deserve to go.” Deanna opens the door and Angel jumps in and sits down. Pulling out of the driveway she heads for the café on the other side of town. Deanna wonders if she should tell Roberto about the veiled threat from Steve. Alternatively, maybe she should wait and see if he tells her what he has overheard from the talk around the barn area first. She looks down at Angel, with her head in her lap like she has been with her for ever. Deanna can tell she hates Steve, and wonders why. Deanna wishes she had her when they first met she might have warned her about what a horse’s ass he really is. She knows he would never have hit her with Angel around.
Pulling into the café’s lot Deanna looks for Roberto’s truck. There it is, he must be inside already. Parking the car and putting down the windows, Deanna tells Angel to stay and the dog lies down.
Walking inside, Deanna asks the hostess where Roberto is. She tells her he is waiting on the rear veranda having his espresso. Thanking her, she walks outside to meet him.
“Hola Roberto,” Deanna walks rapidly to his table. He sees her and rises from his chair to greet her. Taking her hand in his he kisses it.
“Senora my friend, you look lovelier every time I see you. You brighten this heart of mine each time I see you with eternal hope.” Offering Deanna a chair and waiting until she sits down, before resuming his chair. “Would you like some coffee?” Roberto asks as he sits down.
“Yes that would be wonderful.”
Roberto hand motions the waitress to their table and orders some coffee for her.” We have much to discuss today you and I, about this man you have become involved with.”
She tries to say that she’s not involved with him, but he stops her with a hand gesture like fathers sometimes do with a child he was trying to get a point across to.
“Say no more to me, let me tell you what the talk is first. My people say he is a Malo Hombre[24] when crossed, that he is afraid of nothing. He is a man with a mission, the land thing is very important to his plans for the rancho. He is bringing in many heads of cattle and is hiring vaqueros for the ranch as we speak from among my people. If I were him, I would be very careful, he is standing in the way of some who would make millions, but will lose it all if he does not sell to them.
“How do you know this Roberto?”
“Anglo’s are very stupid at times. They have a tendency to think because we do not speak the language well, we do not understand what they say. They do not notice we are there when they are talking. This man El Tigre[25], which is what my people call your Senor Doyle, he has many friends among my people, so they listen. He will soon find out, how many come to his aid should he have need of them. They also speak of the woman with fire in her hair that he smiles on, so I think you have an interest to know, yes?” Roberto smiles at her a sly smile.
“Senora I have not met with him yet, but I will tell you that the one’s who know him, they believe he is a fighter as well as a saint. A very explosive combination to have and his man Eduardo is a well respected man himself. I heard he can be a dangerous man also when pushed. I think these Anglo’s may not want to tangle with the Tiger.” Roberto finishes and orders two more espresso’s for them.
They spend the rest of the hour talking about Katy and her first lesson, Roberto listens and when she’s done he says. “This El Tigre, he sounds like a man I will have to meet, a man who has been touched and now shares with others are a rare thing today.”
Deanna looks at the time and tells him she has to go, Roberto nods and walks Deanna to her car. As they approach, they see Angel has gotten out and is waiting by the side of the truck. Angel gets up and walks to Deanna and looks at Roberto with her tail wagging. How does she know that he is a friend, she just seems to sense it?
“I see you have a new member in the family.” He reaches down to pet her, and she smiles at him and licks his hand.
“She adopted us a few days ago we love her.”
“What’s her name?” Roberto asks as he fondles her ears.
“We called her Angel and it must have been her name before, she responded to it immediately.
“She’s a fine animal and will be good for you and the family; she knows who she can trust and who she cannot. Listen to her, she is special for you, I sense something about her. She found you for a purpose Senora.” He takes her hand and kisses it, and heads for his truck. Roberto stops and turns to her. “I will be seeing you soon I think, Adios my friend.”
These people that Roberto knows may be right about Jamie. She senses that as gentle as he seems, it may only mask a man when pushed will push back. Deanna sees a determination in him that few people have, a will of steel. She only hopes that Steve was just trying to scare and impress her. Neither Jamie Doyle nor the men who work for him seem to be the type to frighten easily……
She gets home around one o’clock and goes to the study to work on the story, Angel comes with her and lies down at Deanna’s feet. Opening the outline on the computer, she starts by inputting all the data she has amassed so far. She begins using speech writer software to begin telling the story. Her opening for the piece will be about the land purchase and the importance of it. Then she thinks about working in the angle about the ranch and children in crisis in rehab next. Deanna’s thought process stalls with a moment of writer’s block when she realizes that she needs to talk with Ed Haskell and Father Scanlon about Jamie and his past, Deanna needs much more.
She calls the old priest first at the Mission’s office number.
“Mission of the Virgin, how may I help you.” Answers a woman’s pleasant voice it sounds like Irene, T. J.’s mom.
“Hello Irene, this is Deanna Gaynor, I met you last night at dinner. I’m doing the article on the ranch. I was wondering if Father Scanlon was very busy.”
“Hello Ms. Gaynor, I must put you on hold while I see if Father is busy, please wait.” The line goes silent while she finds the priest.
Father Scanlon gets on the line and asks her in a cheery voice. “Hello, so nice to hear from you, what can I do for you Ms. Gaynor?”
“I was wondering if I might come to the mission and speak with you. I need a little background and Rosa said you have known Jamie the longest, and Tanner, Who quite honestly intimates me a little.”
“Yes, Tanner can be a might disagreeable at times, but he’s quite harmless. I would be delighted to meet with you any time. Did you have a specific time or day in mind?” He asks her.
“I was wondering if I could today, if it won’t bother you too much or inconvenience you.”
“No not at all, its three thirty now, say about four then.”
“That would be wonderful; I can be there by four.”
He proceeds to give her directions from Wellington to the Mission in Loxahatchee. Deanna hangs up and tells Angel to come it’s time to go. They are out of the house like a shot.
Arriving at the Mission, Deanna sees Father Tom standing out front with many small children, who seem to be enjoying the old priest.
“Hello” he calls out to her and walks out to meet her as she exits from the car. Father Tom halts dead in his tracks with his eyes as big as half dollars.
“Are you alright Father?” He looks as though he has seen a ghost.
“Yes, I’m fine…it was just seeing your dog that startled me that’s all…fine, a fine looking animal.” He stammers to her, never taking his eyes from Angel.
“She won’t hurt anyone Father she is very gentle with people. I was at home the other day, and she just appeared out of nowhere needing a place to live and something to eat. . We just kind of adopted her; if it will make you feel better I can ask her to stay in the car.”
The old priest says, “No, No, she’ll be fine I’m sure, shall we get where it is shady. I wish we had some place that’s air conditioned, but I try not to bother our benefactor that much with what we need. He’s been very generous, and I have sinus infections from too much air anyway.” He offers in the way of an apology.
The old
priest pauses and thinks to himself, “The dog looks like the one Mary had when she passed; no one saw it after that.” He wipes his forehead looking at the dog, “Could it be that Mary’s hound has returned after all this time.”
“That would be fine Father, I‘ll try not to take up too much of your time.” They sit down under a huge tree out back of the office and Irene comes out with a tray of drinks for them.
“Irene, how nice to see you again,”
“Thank you Ms. Gaynor a pleasure to see you as well, will you require me for anything else Father?”
“No Irene thank you, please call me for the Evening Mass, you know how I lose track of time.” He remarks with a hint of laughter in his voice and a twinkle in his eye.
“Yes, Father I will.” Saying goodbye she turns and leaves them alone.
“Father, when I arrived with Angel you seemed to have seen her before, do you know who might have owned her.”
“She reminded me of an animal I knew some years past, that was all; she is the same kind of dog. Now what is it that I can be helping you with?” He changes the subject.
“Well Father, I understand that you have known Jamie longer than anyone else except maybe Tanner. What I need is some background on Jamie. How he came to be here and how he acquired his wealth and why he is trying to help these children.” She sits waiting for him to answer.
“I can fill in some of the gaps for you, but as to whether you will want to use it in this story is another thing entirely. I will have to give you some background on myself, you may find a little shocking. You will need it to know how I met with Jamie.” He sits back and takes a drink of his lemonade.
“I was posted to a small parish in southern California, and I was very lonely and began to drink in excess of my ability to hold my liquor. So much so, that I was neglecting my flock and remiss in my duties. I began stealing from the church to support my alcoholic needs. I was found out and dismissed from my post, stripped of my robes and thrown out of the order for the good of the church. I wandered for a few years winding up in a small Mexican village. It was there that I met with him. He was a lost soul searching for redemption and helping out a small mission run by some nuns, to poor to even have a priest.
I was in bad shape, sick, wanting to die, when he found me searching for food in the trash. He helped heal me in my body, and mind. He asked me if I could try to help the nuns run the mission, mainly because of my background. I told him I would try, but could make no promises. We set up a food kitchen which he worked tirelessly on himself. He worked day after day with little or no help from any of the rich landowners trying to cause a change.
I was sober for almost six months and Jamie had been absent from the mission for a while. When he finally arrived back, he had with him a young woman who was in an extremely rough way. He said she needed me; she was an addict and an alcoholic who had fallen on bad times. Doing things to try to get by that you may not have thought was a good thing. She was thin and did not think much of herself anymore. Little by little she came around; I knew it was because of him that she was trying. When she went into withdrawal it was him that stayed with her, and held her until that terrible time was passed.
She recovered, gained weight and worked at his side to help the poor people of that village. Jamie helped her regain her self respect, and she helped him with whatever it was that was troubling him. The both of them helped me stay sober. In time the church closed the mission and some of the old nuns passed away, the others were relocated.
We tried to run it on our own, but it was difficult. He was working and using all of his money to try to keep it going. It was at this time that he came to me and asked me if I would marry Mary and him. I told him I was not empowered to do that any longer. He said to me that in God’s eyes, I was the only one who could join them together. I agreed and performed the ceremony; it was at this time that Mary told him she had contacted her Father. She told him where she was, and that she had plans to marry.
That week two men arrived and came to the mission asking for Mary. Jamie asked them what they wanted, and they said they were there to take her back to her Father. They were huge men obliviously chosen because of their capability to persuade him, and that it would be best if he left them to their business. I don’t know what Jamie told them, but they left without Mary and in a hurry as well. Jamie told me he had to take Mary back home to try to heal whatever was between her and her Father, even if it meant giving her up. They left the following week to come back to Florida and meet with her father. When next I heard from him, it was to come here because I had work to do, and he needed me. I came and I started this mission.”
The old man closes his eyes to blink tears away; Deanna feels he has told her much of the truth as he begins to drink some of his neglected lemonade. Another thought crosses her mind, and she asks him, “Father, then Jamie was not wealthy when he came here?”
“Oh, yes he was, he just didn’t know it. That occurred after they were here for awhile; Ed assumed that Jamie was a fortune hunter out to take his daughter for her inheritance. So he had Jamie investigated by friends of his in the FBI, they discovered that Jamie had written and recorded some songs before he had dropped out of site years before, as a result he was a wealthy person in his own right. He had literally dropped out of life and no one could locate him. Neither his agent nor the music companies, so his money was deposited to a bank under the copy right laws and just accumulated.
In a short time Jamie convinced Mary’s father that he truly was in love with her and wanted to make her happy for the rest of her life. Her father believed him and gave his blessing so a family was healed and what was broken was becoming fixed.”
“Father did they ever have children.” Deanna asks not really knowing why, but she had to ask.
“They wanted children and tried and tried, but no children came forth. The problem was Mary, because of the drugs she had consumed and the life she was forced to live, it had left her barren. She was unable to conceive children, so the one thing they both sought was denied them. For Mary’s father, the joy of being a grandparent to his only daughter’s child was never going to happen. Some years went by and they were happy together, and with the help of his father-in-law, he turned his fortune into what he has today.
“Father Tom, how did Mary die?”
“Mary was sick for many years she had cancer you see, that was why they never adopted children, when Mary passed, he grieved so much I thought we would lose him as well. One day he called me and said he had bought the ranch and was going to set it up for children in crisis. You see Jamie always had a power to reach the troubled, and he said now was the time to use that power.”
Deanna moves closer to the old man and asks him. “Did Jamie ever tell you why he was at that mission or what caused him to give up his career in music?”
He has an instant flash back; he remembers Jamie’s confession…….
Jamie and he were sitting outside the mission. Jamie was very contemplative and Tom asked him, if there was anything he wanted to say to him. He said “Yes, that he carried a dark spot on his soul”
“I don’t believe that, what could you have done to so stain your soul to make you believe such a thing?”
“I’ve killed Tom, some not by my hand, but by my actions, and one I took his life with my own hand out of vengeance.”
“Go on my son, something like this needs to be unburdened, not locked up inside, is it like a confession you would be wanting”
“Yes Tom, I was punished for the others, but the one act of murder that I was never punished for is the one that I’m afraid I will never be at peace, ever. To some they would say it was justice, to the law of man and God, I will never receive penitence. I’m not sure you may want to hear this and still want to be my friend.”
“I shall always be your friend, for you have done what I was unable to do myself, you saved my life.
“It happened when I was released from prison, I heard from my friend Rufus t
hat my baby sister had been raped and my mother had passed. The authorities arrested him, but he was released because my mother and sister were considered white trash. Fiona had conceived and she died in childbirth. The child welfare contacted the father who rejected the child, forcing the State to place her in foster care.
I hunted him down and he admitted to me what he had done, and he wanted to make a fight of it instead of turning himself in. I lost it and broke his neck, Rufus was with me and told me to get out, and he would get rid of him.
Not only did I loose my soul, I allowed him to injure his own for my sake.”……..
“Yes he did, but it was told to me as a confession even though I was no longer a priest, the confessional was still scared to me, and you will have to try to get him to tell you that part of his life.” Deanna senses it’s better to drop the subject and move on.
“Father Tom, is his father-in-law still alive and living in Florida?”
“Yes he is, I’m sorry I thought you knew. Ed Haskell was Mary’s father,” he answers her with a look of surprise.
This was a shock to Deanna; she never would have made the connection, thinking they were just friends not related. She now sees where a powerful friend came in, to block any background checks. Ed Haskell is one of the richest men in America. She should have made the connection when Father Tom said her father had him investigated by the FBI.
“Father, was Jamie a missionary of some kind or, what when you first met him.” Deanna asks him, because she’s still confused as to why Jamie would go to some out of the way place in Mexico
“No, he was just trying to heal his soul and wound up in a tiny out of the way back water village, a sanctuary for lost souls so to speak.” Irene comes up as he finishes speaking and reminds him that he must get ready for Mass. His parishioners are starting to arrive.
The Last Celtic Angel Page 11
