Sophie swung her gaze to meet his. “That’s Miss Comeaux. And as to your question, the litigation is ongoing.”
Silently she congratulated herself for remembering the phrase. The term seemed lost on the man standing on her sidewalk, however.
The vague sounds of two girlish voices raised in what seemed like an argument drifted toward her on the hot breeze. A squeal followed, then silence. The silence worried her almost as much as the direction of her discussion with the Landry fellow.
He lifted his stare to offer what seemed like a challenge. “I wonder if you realize what you’re doing, Miss Comeaux.”
Sophie directed her imagination away from thoughts of the many possible messes she might be helping the girls clean up as soon as the Landry fellow was gone. “What I’m doing?” she echoed. “What do you mean?”
Was it her imagination, or did the man’s shoulders seem a bit broader, his posture a bit straighter? “I understand that a woman in your situation might resort to extraordinary means to keep a roof over her head and money in the bank. But. . .” He paused to glance behind her. “But I’m afraid you’ve chosen the wrong old lady to scam.”
“Scam?” Oh, those were fighting words. She swallowed the caustic response that teased her tongue and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “How dare you arrive out of nowhere after paying your grandmother absolutely no attention for an obscene amount of time and accuse me of scamming that precious woman. I loved Nell Landry, and so did my girls. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her. Can you say the same thing?”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. Only the blinking of his eyes showed he still drew a breath. Finally he let out a long sigh.
“You know, I thought I could come out here and make a bad situation go away. I mean, I wasn’t going to throw you and your daughters out on your ears today.”
“Oh, really?” Sophie reluctantly paused to rein in her anger. “Exactly when did you intend to throw us out on our ears, Mr. Landry? Tomorrow, perhaps? Maybe next week?”
❧
Her question caught him off guard. That was exactly what he intended, to toss the threesome out of the house, and he had every right to do so. Why then did it sound so awful when she said it?
Because, in a way, it was pretty nasty.
This woman had, as far as he could tell, been a good neighbor and friend to Granny Nell. At least that was the consensus from those whose statements had been entered into evidence by the Comeaux woman’s attorney.
He’d read some of the documents in the file on the flight back to the States but hadn’t managed to tackle the rest of the thick packet of legal junk that still waited for him in his room.
Paperwork. He never read it. Well, rarely, anyway, until he got the packet from Calvin. In his mind, the streets of the devil’s domain were covered in paperwork. Like as not, the same stuff fueled the everlasting fires down there, as well.
What he saw regarding the trial left him conflicted. If the documents didn’t contain the names of people he recognized and respected, such as the pastor and two elders at church and three neighbor women, Ezra might have dismissed them. Even talkative old Miss Emmeline Trahan, the church secretary since practically the beginning of time, raved over the sweet nature of Sophie Comeaux.
And Miss Emmeline held a strong dislike for anyone but the pastor and Billy Graham.
Then there was the matter of the Mother’s Day card with the note regarding orphans that virtually matched the one he’d received from Granny Nell’s lawyer after she died. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a remote possibility his grandmother intended to have Sophie Comeaux and her girls as permanent houseguests. Anything beyond that, he refused to acknowledge.
Verbal sparring aside, perhaps he should give the woman a break. Maybe take a more cooperative stance, at least until he could figure a way to accomplish his mission.
He glanced back in her direction and noted the smudges of red on her cheekbones. Yep, he’d made her plenty angry.
Not that he didn’t have good cause to feel the same. Still, he’d learned early on that sometimes you had to best an enemy by befriending him.
Ezra held up both hands. “Look—I’m sorry. It’s obvious we both loved Nell very much. Maybe we could declare a truce. What do you say?”
Her expression turned skeptical. “A truce? Does that mean you’re giving up on trying to sell my home?”
Stuffing his fists into his pockets, Ezra glanced over his shoulder. “Well, um, no.”
She turned to storm inside. “Good-bye, Mr. Landry. I’ll see you in court.”
Eleven
Ezra almost shouted a retort about looking forward to seeing her in court. Then he realized how very inappropriate that sort of response was. True, he wanted to win his case, complete his mission here, and get back to the real work of quietly defending his country, but perhaps the best way to beat the enemy, after all, would be to get to know him.
Or, in this case, her.
Not only that, but Granny Nell had raised him better than to talk like that, and the Lord kept him mindful of it all the way to his car. While the Comeaux woman had her share of apologizing to do, he knew he did, as well.
He fixed his face into a neutral expression and took a deep breath. “Buck up, Marine,” he said as he straightened his posture and marched back up the walk to stare down the screen door where he’d last met the enemy.
To his surprise it swung open on loud hinges, and the woman stood in the shadows. “I owe you an apology, Mr. Landry.”
She made the statement without emphasis or inflection, giving away nothing of her feelings. The juveniles appeared behind her, then scattered when she looked down to shake her head.
“I, well, um, that is. . . .” Somehow his voice quit before his thoughts were spoken. He cleared his throat. “What I mean is, Miss Comeaux, I should apologize, as well.”
Another blank stare.
“Guess I should explain.” He gestured to the steps. “Mind if I sit over there in the shade? I’d forgotten how hot it can get this close to October.”
“The weatherman said to expect a cool spell by the end of the week.”
Ezra fought the urge to mop his brow once more. “Yes, well, that would be a welcome change.”
She studied him a moment longer, then shrugged. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to sit for a minute. Just a minute though. The girls will be wanting supper soon.”
He settled onto the top step and rested his elbows on his knees, then shifted positions to turn and face the front of the house. The Comeaux woman remained at the door, seemingly studying a cobweb that dangled just out of reach.
His gaze followed hers until he tired of looking up at the blue painted boards and swung his attention to the fern and then to Sophie Comeaux. His original assessment that she was the babysitter would have held even at this range. She looked entirely too youthful to be the parent of anyone.
But then what would he know of parents? His dad had bailed unofficially long before he made Ezra’s arrangement with Nell official.
Nell. A pang of fresh grief hit him, and he shook it off with a roll of his shoulders. “I miss her, you know.”
Only after he spoke did he realize he’d said the words out loud. His gaze jumped to the woman’s face to gauge her reaction. She seemed unaffected by his rare admission of deep feelings.
Ezra turned his attention to the toes of his running shoes. While he contemplated the neatly tied laces, he tried to decide whether to be thankful or offended at the lack of attention she placed on his words. For the purpose of his current mission, he chose the former.
“I miss her, too. The girls still talk about her as if she’s next door.”
She’d moved from her place at the door to join him, and the fact her change in position had gone undetected worried him. One more reason to satisfy Nell’s last request as quickly as possible.
“So they were close to her?” When the woman nodded, he joined her. “I shouldn’t be surprised. She loved
all children.”
“A pity Miss Nell never had any of her own.” She leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. “I know she would have been a great mother. She took the girls and me on as a pet project, but I’m sure she would have preferred her own flesh and blood.”
Ezra swallowed hard to try to dislodge the lump in his throat. Sadly, he failed miserably.
“Yes, I’m sure she would have,” was all he could manage.
❧
Sophie cringed. “I’m so sorry. Of course she was a mother. She raised you, and you’re her grandson, right?”
“Did she refer to me as her grandson?”
She looked a bit perplexed. “Yes, I believe she did. Why?”
Her guest’s expression softened. “No reason,” he said, although Sophie guessed the opposite was true.
A noise behind her alerted Sophie to the presence of the girls. She turned to see two strangely guilty faces. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
The pair exchanged glances. “Nothing,” Amanda said as she climbed into Sophie’s lap.
“No, nothing,” Chloe added, leaning against the door.
Once again she suspected she hadn’t heard the full truth. Glancing down at Amanda, she thought she noticed damp eyelashes. Had her little one been crying?
Amanda met her gaze. “Mommy, why is the mean man still here?”
Shock was quickly replaced with anger. “Amanda Comeaux, you say you’re sorry right now.”
The younger twin turned to bury her face in Sophie’s shirt as she mumbled an apology. When Sophie lifted Amanda into a sitting position and gave her a stern look, the little girl complied, although with little enthusiasm.
She was surprised when Nell’s grandson shook his head. “Know what, Amanda? You’re right. I haven’t been very nice.” He paused. “I’m very sorry. I miss my grandmother, but that’s no reason to forget my manners. Besides, Granny Nell would tan my hide if she could hear how I’ve been acting.”
Amanda drew nearer to the Landry fellow, eyes wide. “Do you know Miss Nell?”
When he nodded, Chloe inched forward. “Miss Nell’s with Jesus now.”
“Yes,” he said, “I know.” He met Sophie’s gaze. “I wish I had been here.”
Chloe swiped at what looked like a tear on her cheek. “She was reading her Bible when Mommy found her.”
Sophie reached for her daughter. “How did you know that?”
“I heard you tell Auntie Bree.” Chloe linked arms with Amanda. “We both did, didn’t we, Amanda?”
Her younger sister nodded. “Yeah, and we saw the am’blance, too.”
“Ambulance,” Sophie corrected.
“That’s what I said.”
Ezra Landry stood abruptly and pressed down the creases of his jeans with the palms of his hands. He regarded Sophie with a somber look. “I wondered if maybe you would know what happened to my grandmother’s Bible. I couldn’t find it.”
“I have it,” she said, rising. “If you’ll wait a moment, I’ll go get it.”
“No,” Chloe said, jabbing Amanda. “We’ll go get it, won’t we, Amanda?”
“Yeah, we’ll go get it,” Amanda echoed.
“Do you know where it is, girls?”
“Yes, Mommy,” Amanda called. “But when we were washing our hands—”
Chloe’s loud shushing followed their rapid footsteps. “Never mind,” the older twin called. “We know where it is.”
Sophie watched the Landry fellow. He seemed to be staring at the crack over the door.
“Your grandmother did that,” Sophie said. “Last Christmas.”
“Oh?” He smiled. “Dare I ask?”
“It all started when the girls asked for a pink Christmas tree.”
Twelve
“Pink?”
Sophie shrugged. “The twins were six and had just come out of their neon-purple stage. I was thankful for that. We were nearing the one-year anniversary of their adoption. Nell and I were planning a celebration. Nothing would do, but Nell had to find a pink Christmas tree for her darlings. She always called them her darlings.” Sophie paused to get hold of her emotions. “Anyway, she spread the word that she was on the lookout for a pink Christmas tree, and don’t you know she found one? Someone’s brother had a cousin with a tree farm or something like that.”
“Sounds like Granny. She never met a stranger.”
“True.” Sophie looked away from his penetrating gaze to study the chipped polish on her thumbnail. Funny but until this moment, she hadn’t realized the color on her nails, her favorite shade, was the same color of that memorable tree.
“So what does a pink tree have to do with cracked glass?”
“She had specified the color but forgot to specify the size. When the tree arrived, it was huge. Nine feet, at least.”
Ezra’s smile broadened. “What did you do, put it in the yard?”
“I considered that, but your grandmother wouldn’t hear of it. The girls wanted a tree, and she intended that tree to go in the house. Nell decided the only way to get the tree to fit was to saw off the bottom. Sounded simple, except that we didn’t count on wood chips flying all over. By the time she and I got that tree cut down to size, a pile of limbs sat at the curb with sawdust everywhere.”
“Who did the cutting?”
“Your grandmother supervised, but the pizza delivery boy actually did the work.”
“Pizza delivery boy?” He swiped at his forehead. “Where does he fit into the picture?”
“He was delivering supper to the neighbors, and Nell called him over. Next thing I know, he’s cutting limbs and she’s on the phone to the pizza place to explain why their delivery boy would be late.”
“I’m still confused as to what this has to do with the crack over the door.”
Sophie smiled. “I’m not completely sure either. All I know is when I left for work, the tree was in a bucket on the side of the house, and when I got home, it was sitting in the corner by the fireplace all decorated up with pink ribbons and silver tinsel. She never would tell me how she got it inside.”
“No telling.” He looked away. For a moment he seemed lost in memories of his own. “I wish I’d been here to help.”
“That’s the second time you’ve made that statement, Mr. Landry.”
He looked up sharply. “Is it?”
Sophie nodded.
“Did she ever tell you why the house was split in half?”
“No.” A light breeze danced across the porch, and she shivered. “I figured it was made like this.”
“Oh no.” Ezra crossed his arms over his chest. “When I was a kid, this was all one house. In fact, I slept in the back room.”
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “That’s the kitchen now.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m the one who painted those cabinets after Granddaddy and Mr. Breaux set them in place.” He ran his hand over the rail. “I painted this a time or two, as well. Seems like every time I was in trouble, my punishment was to paint something. Anyway, what was the point of this story?”
“You were telling me how the house came to be split into a duplex.”
The words seemed lost on her guest as he stared at the carved porch post. When he turned his attention to her, he wore what looked like a sad smile.
“It all started when Granddaddy preached a sermon on Psalm 68. What you may not know is that Granny Nell was an orphan. She was raised at the Buckner Home in Dallas after losing her mother and father to the flu epidemic in her teens.”
“No,” Sophie said softly, “I had no idea.”
“Well, anyway, that verse about the Lord taking care of widows and the fatherless really set hard with her. She was determined to do whatever she could to make that psalm real in her life. Somehow she talked Granddaddy and Mr. Breaux into moving a wall or two inside the house. Said the three of us didn’t need all that space. Anyway, I was soon painting cabinets in what used to be my bedroom.”
&nbs
p; “I’m not surprised.”
He chuckled. “We had a parade of folks through that side of the house over the years. After Granddaddy passed on, something in Granny died, too. For years, 421A was empty.” Nell’s grandson met her gaze. “Until you.”
Sophie let those last two words hang between them while she tried to decide whether their tone was accusing or merely neutral. His expression gave nothing away of his meaning, although his posture seemed unnaturally stiff. He looked like a man dealing with his past.
Maybe even a man dealing with regret.
“Here’s the Bible, Mommy.” Chloe emerged onto the porch and handed her the King James Bible.
“Thank you, sweetie. Now go on back inside with your sister.” Sophie pressed the heavy book into Ezra’s hands. “I know she loved to write in the margins. Perhaps you will find something of comfort there.”
He held the Bible against his chest. “Perhaps.”
A thought occurred. “Do you think that maybe the Lord sent the girls and me to make up for your absence?” When Ezra’s eyes narrowed, Sophie hurried to explain. “What I mean is, your grandmother was a lady who loved to be surrounded by family. If she couldn’t have you, due to the demands of your work, I mean, then maybe the Lord put the girls and me into her life to fill that void.”
Ezra seemed to be considering the idea. Sophie took that as a good sign and as a signal to continue.
“Miss Nell was proud of you, Mr. Landry. She often spoke of what a valuable job you were doing for our country.” Sophie waited until her guest seemed to have absorbed that statement before she made the next. “I think she understood that you would have been with her if you could have.”
“Did she?”
“Well, of course,” Sophie said. “You’re her grandson. Why would she think otherwise?”
❧
Why indeed? Perhaps because she knew him well enough to know that his career and his dreams would never lead him back to this sleepy corner of south Louisiana. While he could claim a noble purpose in his absence, his heart told him more than patriotism was behind the career choices he’d made.
“Will you be staying at Nell’s house?”
Dwelling Place Page 6
