by Maddie James
“Your father? You call your father, Big Daddy?”
Lilly nodded then shook her head. “Wasn’t my daddy. Not really. Never knew him.” Tears started to well up. She breathed deeply several times to keep them from falling. It made her so dizzy she dropped her glass and grabbed the arms of her chair. “Um, what? No. Killed him. Just killed him dead.”
“What?”
“Dead. Dead. Dead. Shot in the head. Kinda sounds like a nursery rhyme doesn’t it?” She leaned forward and put her head between her knees.
Suzie backed away, forcing her to look up through watery eyes. The room shifted as she settled back into her seat, then righted. She shook her head to clear her eyes and halt the dizziness that kept coming in waves, and immediately regretted doing so. She pressed one hand to her mouth and the other to her stomach. After a few deep breaths she burped, then giggled. “Sorry. What were we talking about?”
Suzie settled back into the seat she had vacated, her stare flat. “You were talking about Big Daddy not being your father. About killing him dead.”
“Hmmm. What? Oh, no!” Suzie was getting it all wrong. She tried to focus, certain it was important that she explain. “Dig Batty was…I mean Big Daddy. He was the mean one. Not my father. I don’t think. I’m not sure. No. Probably not. I don’t think. And Momma, no, she wasn’t a mom. I just thought so. But no, she was Madame. She knew. She had to know. The money. She liked to spend the money. She was dripping in rubies and diamonds. Said she liked rubies best. Wore them all the time. Looked like blood to me. Big ones dripping from her ears and throat.” Lilly placed a hand at her throat. “Madame knew how all those jewels were acquired. I know that now. She knew. That made her as bad as him.”
“‘Course I liked the money, too. Well not the money. The stuff. The house, oh my you wouldn’t believe this house.” She held her arms wide as she envisioned that monstrosity she once lived in. “Marble everything. Grecian style. Real gold faucets. I thought it was my home. Didn’t know everyone didn’t live that way. Not until later.
“And the clothes. Not just designer. Straight from the designer’s that made them. All those shoes. Used to love all those shoes. Feet killers but gorgeous. Didn’t really think anything about it at the time. It was all I ever knew.
“Madame, that’s what she insisted I call her after I learned the truth. Only I didn’t know at first what that meant. Until later. On my birthday. Eighteen. They caught me where I wasn’t supposed to be. Made me do things. Made me watch things. Made me swear.
“He hurt me so many times. He made me watch him hurt others, too. I had to get away. I would have killed anyone who tried to stop me.”
As the room darkened to black she desperately sought Suzie’s face. “Anyone.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wednesday
Christmas lights. On the way to school that morning, Daniel had asked Martin for permission to help Miz Shelby with Christmas lights in the afternoon. Martin didn’t hesitate to say yes; since learning Daniel was helping Midnight, he’d paid better attention. Daniel always had a better outlook, not quite so teenage-sulky, when he’d been at The Emporium after school. Martin had stopped in a couple of times, and found Daniel doing such unlikely work as using a dust mop on the hardwood floors in the showroom, and learning to squeegee the large front windows. He’d seen the look of respect and adoration on Daniel’s face when Midnight instructed him on a task, or even corrected him in something he’d done not quite right. Midnight seemed to have endless patience with Daniel and was interested in teaching him, encouraging him. It looked as if Daniel had found himself a surrogate mom.
Martin was coming to terms with that. He’d always had a close relationship with his own mother. Still did. A boy needs to have that kind of relationship or he won’t know how to treat a wife, Betsy had recently read in a parenting magazine. Made some kind of sense. Too bad Daniel didn’t feel that way about any of the local women. There were plenty of cousins around who’d be glad to take Daniel under their wing. Instead, he’d immediately gravitated to Midnight.
As had his father, like it or not.
All in all, Martin didn’t much mind when Daniel wanted to help with Christmas lights. For one thing, how long could it take to put up a few strings of lights? Martin agreed to Daniel’s request to just please pick him up at Miz Shelby’s when Martin was ready to head home. Seemed harmless enough.
A couple of days had passed since Martin and Midnight’s discussion of Legend’s future, and the fiasco of a town meeting on Saturday night. Martin had thought about it, and had come to terms with part of that, too. Legend did have a lot of potential even without counting on something big from outside like the factory that might or might not end up coming here. He’d had a call from the mayor about that this week, and the prospect looked less likely all the time. Legend already had businesses, like Suzie had said. There were locally owned shops and restaurants and the B&B. The new girl Lilly, wanted to put in a baby shop. Betsy would love that, he figured. And people are always having babies, right?
Plus there was Lake Legend, which, in warm weather, was a great place to swim, picnic, rent pedal boats at the municipal dock. All the local businesses would benefit from an increase in tourist traffic. And if the businesses benefited, there’d be more money coming into the town and into the pockets of the citizenry through increased employment. Which might, in turn, create more local business. Martin couldn’t see a down side to it, and Lord knew he’d tried. It wasn’t as if Midnight and her minions were talking about bringing a casino to town. That could attract the wrong people, increase crime. Not good. But the Market Legend campaign, or whatever she called it, made sense all around. In a way, he hated to admit it, and if he could avoid doing so in her presence, he would.
Shortly after five-thirty, Martin said good night to Betsy and walked out of the office with her. She managed to get into her lime green bug and drive off. She was getting rounder by the day, and he wondered how much longer the baby would wait. It wasn’t due for over a month, but petite little Betsy looked about to pop. He wondered what she and Mike, or, knowing his cousin, what Mike would decide about Betsy returning to work after the baby’s birth. Probably Mike would lay down the law and tell Betsy she had to be a full-time stay-at-home mom, no discussion.
Martin decided he’d leave the Jeep where it was and walk downtown to get Daniel. Save a little gas, get a little exercise. He started down the sidewalk, breathing deeply of the cold, crisp air. He loved fall. A cold front had settled in the night before. Indian Summer was over, he was pretty certain, and winter was coming. He pretty much loved all the seasons in their turn, but winter was his favorite. The warmish weather of a few days ago was just a memory. Today’s high had been thirty degrees.
He’d been lost in his own thoughts, not paying much attention as he walked, then finally looked up and had to blink a few times. It looked as if Legend had become an ant farm, and the ants were busy! There were ladders on every building—extension ladders on the two-stories—and people, many of them high school kids, going up and down them. People on the sidewalk were giving directions. There was lots of laughter, and Rosemary Clooney sang a 40’s version of a Christmas song from an open window somewhere. What in the world was going on? He walked a little closer and saw them. The strings of lights. Christmas lights. Lots and lots of clear bulbs and electric cords. Martin continued down the sidewalk, speaking to everyone since he knew all of them, but didn’t stop till he reached the front of The Emporium. He looked up to the delightful sight of Midnight Shelby’s long denim-encased legs and shapely derrière ascending a tall ladder. Daniel was at the bottom, also looking up, but with a look of grim determination instead of rapt appreciation.
“Son.”
“Dad.”
“Big project you’ve got here.”
“Yeah. Market Legend, you know? It’s on the site. Winter lights and stuff starting next week and lasting till, like, February, I think. Anyway, I forget the date, but it’s on
the site.
“Which site is that?”
“The Market Legend site. Geez, Dad. You know. I made this general site, and a bunch of the shop owners have their own page on it. We’re gonna do something more extravagant later on, but we needed to have a web presence right away, Miz Shelby said. She’s so cool. She helped design a lot of it. She’s really smart about making things look good.”
“Mmm hmm.” Martin looked up again, enjoying the view. She was reaching awfully far from that perch on a top rung. Looked dangerous.
“Hey, Miz Shelby!”
She looked down, flashed him a brilliant smile. Martin wasn’t sure he’d ever seen such a beautiful smile anywhere. She was quite a picture with her shiny black hair, snug jeans, and purple fleece pullover, silhouetted against the pale late October sky.
“Hey, Mr. McClain! Merry Christmas!”
“Well, looks that way. A little early but what the hey? You want some help with those lights? I’m pretty good on a ladder.”
“I’ll just bet you are.” She smiled again. “Sure.” She looped the strings of lights over the end of the ladder, and started her descent. This was even more enjoyable to watch than her trip up, because she was getting closer, and he was now helping Daniel hold the ladder.
She reached the bottom and stepped off onto the sidewalk, giving Martin a good-natured slap on the shoulder blade. “Tag!”
She looked so full of life, so excited about whatever-it-was that was going on. Her enthusiasm, her sparkling black eyes and brilliant smile, along with the overall carnival atmosphere that was Legend at the moment, caused Martin to briefly step out of himself. Toss aside the reserve. Without considering his action, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was just a little peck, hardly physical contact at all. But it set his head reeling. He immediately straightened, found it hard to breathe, and looked at her to see she seemed to be having the same reaction.
“Geez. Dad! Take it inside if you’re gonna do that.” Daniel looked down, his face turning a little pink, and there was a glimmer of an embarrassed smile as he studied one scuffed sneaker. “Geez.”
“Yeah, Martin. Geez.” Midnight looked at him, her eyes wide.
She also wore a smile, but hers wasn’t at all embarrassed. It looked more intrigued. Well. That was encouraging, wasn’t it? Martin quickly looked around, but it seemed the populace of Legend was paying no attention to the drama unfolding at the foot of a slightly battered extension ladder in front of The Emporium. Part of that drama was going on inside Martin, because he’d just felt the wall he’d built of his distrust of women come crashing down. The disinterest had been a goner for a while.
“So, are you ready?”
Oh yeah, so ready. But now didn’t seem like the time….
“Oh. Right. I’ll get up there and string those lights. Right.” He stepped one boot onto the bottom rung, then hesitated. “But first, may I ask why we’re putting up Christmas lights so early?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. Martin braced himself for the explanation.
“We’re calling it ‘Legend by Starlight,’ Dad. Marketing. It’s all about marketing.” He rolled his eyes again. “Have you checked out the stores in Pigeon Forge lately? They are full of Christmas! We’re going to turn off the street lights run it through January! Maybe even February. Every Friday and Saturday night. Main Street will be lit just by these.”
“Huh. That’s interesting.”
Midnight stepped closer. “And all the shops are going to stay open ‘til eleven o’clock on those nights. We’re doing a winter romance and Valentine theme. Jane’s running specials on her romance books and has romance authors lined up to autograph copies and answer questions from readers some nights. I’m doing a new coffee drink called Legend by Starlight, with loads of whipped cream on top and little star-shaped chocolate sprinkles. Lilly has all those darling baby clothes, and her shop is going to have a drawing for a layette done in a heart-theme. That’s just a couple of examples. Everyone’s coming up with something different to offer, and there’ll be candlelight tours by horse-drawn carriage through the older residential neighborhoods.”
“Wow. Pretty ambitious.”
“It is, but we’re all working together really well. Look at all the help we’ve got right here. People seem to realize this is a good way to bring in business and let Legend help itself.”
“Speaking of help, I’d better get to work.” He quickly climbed the ladder and started working with the fasteners and lights. It was best, for now, to do this manual labor and think about what she’d said. The woman had barely been in town a couple of weeks and she was already in the midst of a major marketing campaign. Besides the website Martin had failed to visit, which his own website was no doubt linked to, he’d bet there was plenty of newspaper and radio advertising being done to bring people in. Amazing woman. And then there was that kiss. Brief and unintentional as it had been, he wanted to be sure to explore those possibilities in the near future.
Martin and all the others worked at the project steadily, not knowing or caring how much time passed. The music from somebody’s window changed from old Christmas songs to top 40 Country, and at some point the sing-along started. Legend’s bright street lights came on automatically and everyone worked by that for a while. Then the music was turned off in the middle of a song and Midnight’s voice came over a loud speaker.
“Hey, everyone, great job! We’re nearly done, and it’s looking absolutely fantastic! The food committee tells me that soup and sandwiches and hot cocoa are set up in the Old Meeting House, so if you’re ready for a break, or to quit for the night, go for it!”
Several of the teenage boys shouted their support. Whether for the food or for quitting wasn’t clear. People came down off the remaining ladders. Martin was nearly done with his project and was just a few feet off the sidewalk when the announcement was made.
“Martin, you going over for some chili or something?” Midnight asked from the base of the ladder a few minutes later.
“Yeah. Sounds good. Give me ten or fifteen minutes, though. I’m so close to being done.”
“Thanks for your hard work,” she said softly.
“Yeah, Dad, who knew you’d help.”
Martin glanced at his son. “Great. You make me sound like an ogre.”
“Not an ogre. Just not interested, I guess.” He looked at his father with new respect.
“That sounds bad. This is my town, too. Everybody’s working on this big project, and you don’t think I’ll help? Come on.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re part of it, Dad.”
“Yeah? Me too.” He looked around at the buildings of his beloved Main Street, dressed in their finery, creating an appearance of welcome, festivity and success. He smiled at Daniel, then at Midnight, standing a few feet away. “Me too.”
Chapter Thirty
“Oh my gosh, Jim. I think she might have killed a man. I think she might have been a hooker!”
Jim watched as Suzie whirled through her kitchen in a wild cleaning frenzy. She had a habit of sanitizing when she was agitated, angry, or afraid. At the moment she appeared to be all three. “I’m sure you must be mistaken. Lilly isn’t like that. She’s sweet, sexy.” He couldn’t help but grin. “And wouldn’t harm a fly.”
Suzie scrubbed at the already pristine stainless steel sink. “I thought so, too. But we had a few drinks and it all came out. She killed some guy named Big Daddy, or if not him, somebody. I think he was her pimp. I don’t know. She didn’t make sense. It was like watching a train wreck happen right before my eyes. One minute I’m thinking I have a new friend then, poof, this crazy woman is spilling her guts all over my floor.”
“Suz! Stop cleaning!” Jim captured her hand and pulled her to him. “You’re wrong about this. I know you are.” Suzie pulled back and shook her head, spearing him with her gaze. “Is that your brain or your penis talking? And by the way, what the hell is wrong with you? A gorgeous woman throws herself at you and yo
u send her home to get drunk?”
The swift change of subject threw him…and what the hell was she talking about? “Lilly got drunk because we didn’t have sex?”
“Awwwrrr!” Suzie hit him square in the chest. “That is what you are going to focus on? Are you crazy? I think she killed a man! What if she is one of those black widow people? You could be her next target! Of course, I don’t know. It didn’t sound like she picked that life... More like it picked her. But still!”
Jim threw back his head and laughed. “Black widow people? Do you even hear yourself?” He got another fist to the sternum. “Oww!” He rubbed his chest as Suzie went back to a frenzy of scrubbing.
“You’re gonna think oww when she poisons you! Or gives you the crabs! Oooh, I need to boil my sheets!” Suzie threw her hands to her cheeks, looking mortified. “Quit smiling you moron. She’s trouble or in trouble and I’m not having it here in this house or with my best friend. Not on my watch. She’s outta here. I’m calling Martin and telling him to get her a house to rent by tomorrow or he can kiss his weekly pie goodbye.” She pointed her finger at Jim. “And you! You stay clear of her and don’t come crawling to me if your private parts start to itch. Now get out of my kitchen and let me clean.”
Chapter Thirty-One
The pain was brutal, and right between the eyes. And throat. And tummy.
Lilly tried to open her eyes several times before she could keep them that way. Fortunately for her it was nearly dark because she was certain light would have completely done her in. As it was, broken glass shards had taken up residence under her eyelids.
Her stomach rumbled, flipped and flopped, gurgled, and groaned. She placed a hand there, in the hopes of keeping down whatever she’d ingested earlier in the day but was afraid that was only wishful thinking on her part.
She rolled to her side, determined to get up off the bed, uncertain how she’d gotten to it to begin with. Last thing she remembered was being rejected by Jim, again, then drinking Suzie’s special martini’s out back in the enclosed porch. Beyond that things were fuzzy.
