The Cast Net

by Mille West

  “Hot oysters—comin’ through,” the man called out, as he made his way through the crowd and poured the steaming oysters onto the table in front of them. Cooper handed her a glove and an oyster knife. “I want you to slow down and enjoy yourself.”

  The first oyster that Mills picked up was so hot that she could barely hold it, even while wearing a glove. As she pried the shell open at the hinge, scalding hot oyster juice flowed out and burned her hand. She waited for the oyster to cool down, then dipped it in cocktail sauce before eating it.

  When she was unable to open the next oyster, Cooper took the knife from her and opened the shell at the hinge. As quickly as she ate them, he opened oysters for her. Mills glanced at a nearby table, and she noticed Jeff with a beautiful girl. Jeff opened oysters for her and put his arm around her.

  Madge and Cassandra joined Cooper and Mills at their table. “You lucky girl, but Cooper, you’d better watch yourself—remember what you told me a few minutes ago. I hope you went light on the oysters,” Madge paused a moment and gave Cooper a teasing smile before continuing, “We’ve had a lovely time, but we’re heading back to Charleston. You can count on Cassie and me for a donation to your foundation.” She kissed him on the cheek and said good night. Mills glanced in Jeff’s direction, only to see him leave with the young woman for whom he had opened oysters.

  As the crowd dwindled, Mills started to assist the caterers with the cleanup, but Cooper put a hand on her arm. “You don’t need to do that. The caterers will be back in the morning to complete the cleanup. Come up to the house and have a glass of wine with Britton and me. We ought to celebrate the success of the oyster roast.” He paused. “Great job, Mills.”

  She blushed.

  Mills and Cooper spent Sunday afternoon at the Freedom School, working on the restoration. There were even more people on the grounds that afternoon and Mills met Susan Caldwell’s fiancé. Mills believed that she and Susan were becoming friends and they often worked together on repairs.

  There was a noticeable improvement in the appearance of the building. Most of the exterior wood damage had been repaired, but the fresh wood siding still remained unpainted—the siding awaited the finishing touches.

  That afternoon, Susan told Mills that she would like her to attend her wedding, saying, “I invited Cooper some time ago, but I’d love for you to attend too. Please look for an invitation in the mail.”

  On their way back home, Cooper and Mills stopped at Dawkins’s Market for Cokes. The mother and three children from Dr. Will’s clinic were at the front counter, purchasing eggs and a loaf of bread. As soon as the mother saw Cooper, she smiled at him and then put her hand up over her mouth before she spoke, “Mr. Heath, how nice to see you.”

  “Eula, I hope things are going well for you.”

  Excitedly, she told him, “Oh, Mr. Heath, I was able to start night school and my children are getting the care they need. Thank you so much for your help.”

  “You’re welcome. Just keep up the good work. Reverend Smalls says that you’re doing well, and I’m glad for you and your children. It’s just about dark, can Miss Taylor and I give you a ride home?”

  “Oh, no, sir, we’ll be just fine.”

  On the drive home, Mills told Cooper, “That’s the second time I’ve seen her since the day we donated blood, and she and her children are in so much better condition. Why did she thank you?”

  “Reverend Smalls and some of his church members have been helping her with food, clothing, and sitting services so that she could attend school and work. I’m glad to see her life turning around. Sometimes people just need an opportunity and they can achieve success themselves. I believe that such is the case with Eula.”

  Mills noticed that Cooper didn’t fully answer her question as to why Eula had thanked him, so she decided that she should not press him further.

  When they returned to Cooper’s property, the green had been cleaned up and, except for the marks left by the bonfires, she could not tell that a party had taken place the night before. As Cooper walked Mills to her cottage, he told her that he would be in New York for the next several days.

  When she entered her cottage, she felt a slight chill and she turned on the gas logs. As the evening went on, she felt cold and fell asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace.

  The next morning, she took her temperature. The thermometer read 101 degrees. She called Marian to tell her she was ill, and shortly after Mills made the phone call, Cooper knocked on the door of her cottage. She invited him inside and he sat down beside her and felt her forehead.

  He was professionally attired in a dark business suit for his trip to New York. With a concerned expression on his face, he said, “You’re burning up with a fever. Marian will bring you aspirin in a few minutes and I’ll ask Williston to check on you today. Is there anything that I can get you?”

  “A drink of water—there’s a pitcher of water in the refrigerator.”

  He poured a glass of water for her. “Why don’t you go back to bed? Several of my appointments in New York are with French government and shipping officials. If they weren’t already scheduled, I would stay and take you to see Williston.”

  Before he left her cottage, he said he would call her from New York.

  Marian arrived in a few minutes with a bottle of aspirin and several pink camellias in a glass vase. “Oh, my goodness, I’m sorry you’re sick. Cooper picked these for you before he left and asked me to bring them to you. Here, honey—take the aspirin. How high of a fever do you have?”

  “A hundred and one degrees.”

  “That’s high. Hopefully, this will bring it down. Do you need for me to call anyone and let them know that you can’t make it today?”

  “Thank you, Marian. My agenda is in the living room on the coffee table. Thank you for helping me.”

  “I’m going to take the book up to Cooper’s to make the phone calls. I’ve got something on the stove, and I’ll be back in a little while.”

  When she woke up, it was after noon, and Marian was knocking on her cottage door. She had a tray of food for her and she put it down on the table beside the bed.

  “This is chicken soup that I made for you—the best food to eat when you feel low.” There was a glass of iced tea on the tray and Marian put pillows behind Mills’s back before placing the tray in her lap.

  “Do you need anything else?”

  “No, ma’am. Thank you for this.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m glad to do it,” Marian said, as she left the cottage.

  In the early afternoon, Dr. Will came to the cottage and knocked while calling her name. Mills told her to come in and Williston approached her bedside. “Cooper called me this morning and asked me to look in on you. He said that you were running a fever.”

  She took Mills’s temperature, which was still a hundred degrees. “What are your symptoms?”

  “My head and my back ache, and I have a runny nose.”

  “Sounds like a case of the flu. I’ve seen several cases in my office in the last several days, but hopefully, yours will be a mild case. I’m going to have Marian bring you some aspirin and I’d like for you to stay in bed and rest. I’ll check on you t
omorrow, and I’m sorry that you’re sick. You did a beautiful job on the oyster roast. I know that Cooper was proud of you. He told me so.”

  That afternoon, a rainstorm moved in and, except for occasional thunder, the sound of the rain on the metal roof lulled her to sleep. Late in the afternoon, Marian returned with her dinner. Wearing galoshes and a raincoat, she put the food on the night table and turned on the television in the bedroom. “I’m getting ready to go home for the evening. Is there anything I can get for you before I go?”

  “No, ma’am. Tomorrow, will you please call my appointments and let them know I’m sick?”

  “Yes, I’ll be glad to. Good night. I hope you feel better.”

  On the local evening news, Mills was surprised to see that the lead story addressed the negotiations of Heath Brothers in New York. Both Cooper and his uncle were featured in the segment, which stated that there was hope that an agreement between the parties was imminent.

  She fell asleep after the news but was awakened by the ringing telephone. Still half-asleep when she answered it, Mills found the voice on the other end to be soothing and calm.

  “This is Cooper. I wanted to see how you’re feeling.”

  “Terrible—but I saw you and your uncle on the evening news. I hope that everything works out with the negotiations.”

  “I do too. Quite a few hours have been spent negotiating this agreement. Dear, I hope you feel better soon.”

  After a little more discussion, Cooper told her to sleep well and wished her a good night. Before she fell back asleep, she thought of him calling her “dear.”

  The next morning began like the day before. Her fever was still over one hundred degrees—a visit from Dr. Will confirmed that the flu was circulating through the community, as she had seen five additional cases on the previous day. Her advice was to stay in bed and continue to drink fluids.

  When Marian brought in her lunch, Mills asked, “Did you see Cooper and his uncle on the local news last night?”

  “No, I missed it. I’ll watch tonight and see if they’re on again. I’m so proud of him, and I’m glad to see him in better spirits. I’ve been worried about him. At Christmastime, he wouldn’t allow me to decorate, not even a wreath on the front of the house. Last fall was such a difficult time for him. I couldn’t begin to count the hours that Cooper, Charles, and Britton spent searching for Elise. Sometimes Jeff accompanied them, but mostly it was those three.”

  “What was Elise like?”

  “She was beautiful. Miss Elise dressed impeccably, but with her own kind of flair. I’d say she had her own style, just like you. The last several years that she and Cooper were together, there was added pressure on their marriage. Cooper took good care of his mother, but taking care of a person with Alzheimer’s can be very demanding.”

  “I can imagine it is very hard to see a parent slipping away like that,” Mills said.

  “It was a terrible thing to see the degeneration of a smart and vibrant person like Miss Julia. At times, she became violent. To tell you the truth, she became violent with Elise one day. Cooper was not at home and Elise was trying to feed her lunch. Miss Julia threw the plate into a window, breaking it and the plate. I think Elise tried to calm her, but her reasoning capabilities were gone, and she grabbed Elise by the hand, trying to break her fingers. I had to pull Miss Julia off of Elise. Thank God I was home.”

  “My goodness.”

  “After that, Cooper hired health care professionals to come to the house, but Elise seemed to have had all she could stand. She spent more and more time away from home, and Elise and Cooper seemed to grow apart. Eventually, Cooper had to place Miss Julia in a health care facility and it broke his heart. He never complained, but I know the situation took a toll on him too.”

  “I’m sorry for the family. How long was she in the facility before she passed away?”

  “Miss Julia passed away from heart failure, but the last six months were very difficult. Most of the time, she didn’t know Cooper, or she thought that he was Mr. Phillip, Cooper’s father. I still miss the woman that Miss Julia had been. And Elise–she began to spend a lot of time with those two real estate women, Madge Sinclair and Cassandra White. The day that Julia attacked Elise, she left the house and didn’t come back until late that evening. Cooper was so worried about her. She never really explained where she was, and I didn’t think she was the same with Cooper after that day. One thing is for certain: Cooper had nothing to do with her disappearance. I know Cooper well enough to know that. Well, Miss Mills, I’d better get back to my work. Can I get you anything before I go?”

  “No, ma’am. Thank you for bringing me the soup.”

  “Sleep well.”

  After finishing her lunch, Mills rested on her pillows, thinking of what Marian had told her. How sad—not even a wreath on the front of the house at Christmastime.

  When Marian came back with her supper and turned on the evening news, the contract negotiations between Heath Brothers and Perret International was again one of the lead stories.

  Marian spoke while watching the television: “Just let Cooper do the negotiating and they’ll work something out. I wish his parents could see him. Miss Julia was grooming both of those boys to be the president of the United States. They both learned to play the piano. Cooper really excelled at that; I can’t imagine how many thousands of hours he practiced. He had a full scholarship to the Juilliard School, but he wanted to be a pilot instead. Both of those boys mastered their dance lessons and became fluent in both French and Spanish. They had such a wonderful education, so well mannered, and just brilliant. It breaks my heart.” She stopped and looked at Mills. “My goodness, it’s getting late. Elizabeth is going to be looking for me in a few minutes. Can I get you anything else?”

  “Marian, there was a mean-spirited rejection to the oyster roast invitation from Elise’s father.”

  “Try not to pay that man any mind. He blames Cooper for Elise’s disappearance and has made more than one threat.”

  CHAPTER 8

  A Host of Golden Daffodils

  B y Friday afternoon, Mills felt much better. Her fever broke and she sat in her living area with the gas fire logs for warmth. There was a knock on the door. Thinking that Marian was bringing her dinner, Mills called for her to enter. Instead of Marian, Cooper stood in her doorway with a tray of food.

  “I–I thought you were Marian.”

  “I told her she could go home, and I thought I would bring your food tray. May I come in?”

  She smiled at him. “Please do.”

  He placed her tray on the coffee table in front of her. “I have good news. I went by the post office box for the foundation and we have received a number of donations to the scholarship fund; some of them are substantial. I credit this influx of donations to your efforts.”

  “Thank you. Did you reach an agreement with Perret International?”

  “No. I’m flying to France next week. Hopefully, we’ll work out the final details.”

  On Sunday afternoon, Mills accompanied Cooper to the Freedom School to help with the renovations. The building began to take on a freshened appearance with new windows and hurricane shutters, which were painted a shade of bl
uish-green. Inside the building, workers were painting the walls. I can’t stay in here; the smell of the paint is making me feel light-headed.

  Mills walked outside and noticed that Mr. Camp sat in his usual place beside a fire, and she joined him. “May I sit with you?”

  “Miss Mills, absolutely.”

  She pulled up a chair and began to warm her hands over the fire. “Mr. Camp, have you always lived in the Edisto area?”

  “Yes, my entire life—the property that Cooper bought a few years ago with the old house ruins was called The Orchards because of the abundance of fruit trees that were grown on the land. That same property is where some of my ancestors lived and worked.

  “The Orchards? I didn’t realize it had a name.”

  “Yes ma’am—though the fruit trees died out years ago. Before that, I can track my ancestors to an area along the Cooper River. My grandmother was sold from a plantation to the owner of The Orchards—that owner was an ancestor of Cooper’s and Jeffrey’s.”

  Mills nodded, waiting for him to continue.

  “Like a lot of southerners, those folks fell on real hard times after the Civil War, and their land was sold out of their family. The new owner of The Orchards allowed former slaves to live there after the war. Some left and moved north, but a fair number remained. I was told I was born in one of the slave cabins; it had a white rosebush on the front of the house. The last time I was down there, that bush was still alive; in fact, it was thriving.”

  “Yes, I know the rosebush. It’s still magnificent.”

  “Cooper told me I could come back and visit any time I wanted, but I’m just getting so old. Marian and Charles are related to me. They are descended from my first cousin. My uncle, George Camp, and Cooper’s ancestor, Grey Camp, were true friends and under the circumstances, I’d say their friendship was extraordinary.”