“Please come in. I’m so happy you came to see me.” He held the door open and invited us inside.
I stood shock still for a moment then followed him inside, Grant close behind me, giving me strength.
Exceeding tall, chunky, and a sweet smile with creases on the side, Sedge was a bear all right, a honey bear.
He showed us into the living room. It was amazingly modern, austere to a certain degree. No pictures on the walls, no mementoes, it looked like someone just delivered the furniture and placed it where they thought it should go and left.
“Can I get you something to drink? Coffee perhaps? I brewed some fresh.”
“That would be fine.” Grant answered.
I shook my head.
When Sedge left the room. Grant grabbed my hand, raised it to his lips and kissed my cold fingers. “Relax.”
“I’m trying, but it’s not working.”
Grant guided me over to the sofa and we sat together. I leaned back for a brief moment and let out a long sigh. I could feel the warmth from Grant’s leg next to mine.
“Here we are.” Sedge brought in a tray with two cups of coffee and set it on the table in front of us.
“Black if I remember right?” Sedge asked.
“Yes, black it is.” Grant answered.
I waited impatiently for the social niceties to be over with.
Serge took a deep swallow of coffee, as if to bolster himself.
“I’m not your father.” He stated bluntly.
I could only stare.
“Maudie was a friend. A real friend.” He glanced down into his cup as though he could discover something in the dark brown liquid.
“I wish I did have a daughter. Especially with Maudie. But, our relationship was never on the physical side.”
I unclenched the fists in my lap. “Do you have any idea who might possibly be my father?”
Serge leaned forward and placed his cup on the table. “No. We never talked about you. In fact, I didn’t know there was a you.”
“No one knew.” Grant stated.
“Did Maudie ever say anything about other men that might give you a clue?”
Serge thought for a moment. “Maudie was pretty friendly with a lot of men.”
Seeing the look of distress on my face, he interjected. “I don’t mean she slept with them. Maudie was straight about that, she didn’t believe in sleeping around. But she was someone you liked being out with, she made everything fun, enjoyable.”
Serge shook his head, his face took on a solemn look. “I miss her a lot.” He glanced around the barren room. “She took all the sunlight out of my life when she left.”
We just sat there. There was nothing to say.
* * *
“He’s a nice man.” I said as I watched the town slowly slip by from the car window.
“When you and Margie were redoing the shop yesterday, did you find anything? A picture, a journal?” asked Grant.
“No. But there is her office area. It’s such a jumble, maybe something is there.”
Grant gave me an anxious look. “Search today. I’m starting to wonder who your father is now.”
“If I get interrupted as much as we were yesterday it might take more than today.”
Grant glanced at me with a smile. “More curiosity seekers?”
I gave him a wicked grin. “We put them all to work. You didn’t think Margie and I moved all that furniture, did you?”
He laughed. “I wondered.”
“Most didn’t last long. Once we had them move a thing or two, they had appointments to keep.”
Grant slapped his hand against the steering wheel, chuckling. “Maudie would have done the same. Serves them right.”
He pulled up in front of the store. “I’ll see you tonight. Why don’t we go to the Hole and give you a little break from cooking?”
“Sure, I’d like to talk to Naomi again. Maybe she remembers something from the past.”
“Naomi is part of the past, she should know everything.”
* * *
Naomi’s face lit up when we walked in the door of Hank’s. She met us halfway into the Hole and gestured us to sit down at a table in a corner.
“Been waiting for you, kid.” Her gum popped and crackled furiously.
“Why?”
Naomi handed us menus, then glanced around the room to see who might be listening.
She bent over slightly, whispering in my ear. “I think I know who your daddy is.”
Grant interjected. “If it’s Sedge, forget it, he’s out of the picture.”
Naomi playfully slapped him on the arm. “Of course it isn’t Sedge. It’s Silas Moreau.”
Grant looked poleaxed. “No. It couldn’t be.”
“Sure it is, think about it. Can’t be anyone else.” She straightened up, pulled her pad and pencil out of her apron. “So what’s for dinner tonight.”
“The Blue Plate Special, for two.” I answered.
Naomi snapped the unopened menu out of Grant’s hands, as I handed her mine, and walked off.
“Who’s Silas Moreau.” I asked.
Grant turned his head and shook it. “Bitsy’s husband, and I don’t believe it for a minute. They were married right out of high school.”
I frowned. This was beginning to get complicated. People could get hurt. Bitsy could get hurt.
“Not Bitsy’s husband,” I said.
Grant drummed his fingers on the table.
I was worried. This could have ugly consequences.
“I hope that we’re the only ones that Naomi has confided in.”
“Don’t believe it. Naomi has the instincts of a sleazy gossip reporter. Once she’s convinced of something, she blurts it out.” Grant said.
I paused, looking at my hands in my lap. “Do you think it might be true?”
Grant ran his hand through his hair, leaving a piece sticking out all unruly .
I reached over and finger combed it back into place. As I drew my hand away, I ran it down the side of Grant’s face. Then slowly brought it down, but Grant grasped it in his hand. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
“We can stop the search any time,” he said.
“Can we?” I looked around the room. “It seems to have developed into a life of its own.”
Grant sighed. “You’re right about that. This is a small town and unfortunately, your father is a hot topic. And it will remain a hot topic until he’s known.”
“I don’t want anyone hurt.”
Grant gave my fingers a slight squeeze.
“We can’t shape the past. If someone gets hurt, it’s not your fault.”
“I don’t want Bitsy hurt. She’s so sweet.”
Grant released my hand. “Bitsy has put up with Silas’s foolishness all her life. I’m just hoping that Naomi is way off target on this one.”
We spotted Naomi coming to our table with two soup cups.
“Me, too.” I said. “Me, too.”
We sat in silence and ate in silence. If Grant’s mind was like mine, it wasn’t silent.
Then the door opened behind me. I noticed a change in Grant instantly. He was on alert.
I turned around. Shit. It was Tina.
She strolled over to our table, undulating like a bowling ball going from alley to alley.
She stopped at our table and let out a big sigh.
Oh, please! Enter that girl in the next acting class, she was going way overboard.
“Grant, I thought we had dinner arrangements for tonight.” She pouted when she talked. It was rather amazing to watch. Maybe she did take acting lessons. Not good lessons, but lessons nonetheless.
Grant was uncomfortable. He coughed, then shuffled in his seat a little. I wondered how he acted in court. Did they have ‘dinner arrangements’ tonight? This little show was going to be interesting.
“No. You must have misunderstood,” he said.
The worm was squirming on the hook. I wondered how he w
as going to get out of this.
Little Miss Pouty Face said. “I don’t think so.”
It’s a good thing my foot was under the table, or else I could easily have drop kicked her. I sure wanted to.
So I did the next best thing. I gave her my sweetest smile and said. “Get out. We’re dining. Alone.”
That did it.
The she-cat actually snarled at me.
“He’s mine.”
“You can have him. But we’re eating now, so would you leave us alone. You’re giving me indigestion.”
Oh, the look she gave me. Assault with a deadly weapon, a gaze that would send me to hell, never to return in a million years.
Like that would work.
I smiled back, even more sweetly.
She snarled at me again. Then she turned that anger in Grant’s direction. “Nine o’clock. Do you understand?”
Maybe she should have been the attorney. She had some definite killer instincts.
Tina the Shark, an apt nickname I think, spun around and stomped out.
Needless to say, my appetite was dead. I pushed my plate back and waited for Grant to finish a few more bites. Apparently, the confrontation didn’t bother him as much as a missed meal might. I wonder what his true feeling concerning Tina-bitch were? Maybe it was time to find out.
“So when are you two tying the knot?”
“What?”
If a man could shriek, he came close. He was definitely rattled. I picked up my tea to give me some thinking room.
“Joanna has you practically engaged.”
He snorted. “That will be the day.”
I laughed. Apparently there was only one love bird in that duo. Love bird my butt, more like a vulture.
Later, as we walked out the door, Naomi captured us.
“Are you mad at me?”
I turned.
“No. It’s just that Bitsy has been so sweet to me, I wouldn’t want to hurt her.”
Naomi backed up a step, her eyes large. “But, Bitsy knows all about that night. She’s the one who told me.”
It was our turn to be startled.
Grant replied first. “Exactly what are you talking about?”
Naomi glanced behind her at the full room. “I’ll come and see you when my shift is over with at nine, the story is way too long for right now.”
“We’ll wait.” Grant said.
“Thanks.” Naomi gave us both a smile as the door closed.
The click of the door behind us seemed final.
“This is one story I want to hear.” Grant said.
“It should be interesting. But don’t you have to be somewhere at nine?”
“She can wait.”
Oh. I smelled big trouble here. I don’t think that Miss Shark would like that remark. Which did not bother me one bit.
* * *
“Well, it’s like this.” Naomi sat at the table with an icy drink in front of her, lighting a cigarette.
She took a deep puff and slowly let out the smoke. “Boy that tastes good. I can’t smoke at Hank’s.”
I sat there with my stomach in a turmoil. Grant didn’t look too happy either.
“Lighten up kids.” Naomi said. “It’s like this. The night Bobbie was burned in that horrible fire, you were too young to remember that, Grant. Anyway, Silas didn’t come home. Bitsy got madder than a soaked cat waiting for him and at dawn when he still wasn’t home, she went looking.”
Naomi paused to take another puff, then flicked her ashes in an antique ashtray that I found downstairs.
“She discovered his car over there by the roadhouse. Course, the roadhouse isn’t there anymore, it got closed down when they found out they were selling moonshine and not paying any taxes.”
Naomi slapped her knee and laughed aloud. “You could get hammered into the next day for about two bucks.”
She took another long drag on her cigarette and savored the moment.
“And that’s just what Silas had done. He got so drunk that he couldn’t even find his car and it was parked right there in front of the roadhouse. Apparently, they threw him out when they closed, and he was walking home, down the middle of the street and Maudie found him and took him to her place.”
Naomi sucked another drag of cigarette deep into her lungs, then tapped the ashes off again.
“Now, Maudie should have brought him home. But she didn’t. Bitsy was beside herself, ‘cause she didn’t know where that fool was. I personally don’t know why she bothered, cuz Silas isn’t worth spit. But it takes all kinds.”
Naomi stopped talking again and took a drink.
“Lord knows he was useless in the sack.”
Grant laughed. “You sound like that is from personal experience.”
“Oh, yeah. Silas was a good-looking fellow in high school. He and I danced in the back seat of his ‘49 Chevy more than once.”
I felt sick.
Naomi gave a shy little grin. “I looked a lot better then and that was before he started dating Bitsy.”
“I’m sure.” I said hesitantly.
“So what happened next?” Grant asked.
“Silas drove home about ten that morning in his own car. Bitsy was waiting for him. She asked him where he spent all night and he said, ‘At Maudie’s’ and Bitsy beamed him with her mama’s cast iron frying pan. That knocked him out and she had to call an ambulance cause he was bleeding pretty bad. When he woke up, he couldn’t remember a damn thing. Burnt the daylights out of Bitsy so she asked Maudie about it.” She stopped again for a drag on her cigarette and another drink.
Grant was impatient. “And?”
“Shoots, Maudie told her that he passed out in her car so she just drove home and let him sleep it off there. Bitsy might have bought that story, but it sure sounds fishy to me. Silas has to be your father. The way I figure it, he’s the only one it could be.”
“Have you told anyone else about your theory?” I asked.
“You must be nuts, girl! I wouldn’t breathe a sound of this to anyone. Bitsy’s my friend. Her and Maudie were the only ones who ever stood by my side when I was down on my luck. No. I wouldn’t do a thing to hurt Bitsy. But if Silas is your father, Bitsy would be delighted to have a daughter, all she’s got is boys.”
Naomi looked defiantly at me. “She would love you. I know she would.”
I reached over and placed my hand over Naomi’s arm. “I know she would, Naomi. She’s a lovely, warm-hearted woman.”
Tears started to form in Naomi’s eyes. “Maybe I should of just kept my mouth shut.”
Grant leaned forward. “I’ll ask Silas discreetly.”
Naomi brightened up at that. “You will?”
“Yes. Nobody needs to know this whole story. There are too many rumors going around town already. No need to add fuel to a fire that doesn’t exist.”
“You’re right about that. If rumors were truth in this town, there wouldn’t be anything to talk about.” Naomi stated.
* * *
April 23, 1984
Rumors.
How I hate them!
That’s why I can’t keep my baby.
The rumors concerning her birth would follow her forever.
Forever. Forever. Forever.
Every day in school.
Every Sunday in church.
Every day for the rest of my baby’s life.
“There’s Maudie’s ‘love child’.”
“There’s Maudie’s ‘bastard.’ I can just hear Joanna’s voice in my ear.
The only difference is that I truly love my baby’s father.
With all my heart.
I’m not an evil woman. Just a woman who opened her heart to love at the wrong moment.
And got pregnant.
I thought about moving away. Starting a new life somewhere else. Fresh beginnings.
But I’m not a young woman.
I need my friends.
But, I wonder if they would understand.
I don’t
think so.
I barely understand it myself.
Oh, Lord. What am I going to do?
CHAPTER EIGHT
I was curled up on the sofa when Grant returned from driving Naomi home. A glass of wine nestled in my hand. An empty glass sat on the coffee table next to a plate of crackers and sliced cheese. An opened wine bottle with a crystal stopper beckoned Grant. He reached over and filled up the glass.
“This is nice,” he said.
“I thought something mellowing might be in order after Naomi.”
Grant chuckled. “Naomi is certainly a character.”
“Do you think she’s right?”
Grant looked stern.
“I hope not.” He stretched out on the opposite sofa.
He continued. “Silas is okay. But I just can’t picture Maudie with him.”
“Any reason why?”
Grant let out a long sigh. “Maudie was friends with Bitsy, and I just can’t see her treating a friend that low.”
“I see.”
“I hope so. Maudie was special to me.” He drained his glass. “I don’t like seeing her in a dark light.”
He looked at me expectantly. “Can you understand that?”
I twirled my fingertip around the top of the glass. I spoke softly. “I can understand. From everything I’m hearing, Maudie was a good person. I wonder though. I wonder a lot.”
“I’ll call Silas tomorrow and make an appointment.”
“Can I be there?”
“Yes, you should be there.” Grant hesitated. “But he might not talk in front of you. He can get close-mouthed at times.”
“Let’s see,” I said.
“Yes, we will.”
“Oh, your fiancée called.”
“Tina?”
“So, she is your fiancée.”
He snorted. “There’s no way in hell I’m ever getting married, especially to Tina.”
He stalked off and slammed his bedroom door behind him.
How interesting. What was the real deal with Tina? Is she just a “buddy?” I doubted that.
* * *
The next afternoon, I hurried as I was late. Silas wanted to meet after office hours and he didn’t want anyone to see him talking to Grant.
I pumped myself up the stairs as the door at the top opened. Alice stepped out, then drew back as I came to the top step.
The Devil Has Dimples Page 9
