by Kathi Barton
The knock at the door startled her from her memories. The laptop had long since shut down again. Getting up, she wasn’t surprised to see North in the doorway, and he’d brought with him his lovely wife. After introductions were made, they sat around the living room and talked about Lorinda Wessex. It was Amy that asked what the funeral arrangements were.
“None. Not now, anyway. I’ve donated her body to be used any way they need it. It was what she wanted. Her organs have been harvested and are hopefully bringing someone else as much joy as my mom had in life.” Amy told her she was sorry. “Don’t be. My mom knew that someday someone might come gunning for her. She knew too that I’d do just what she wanted no matter how much pain it gave me. Pulling the plug for her was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do for her, but it was just exactly what she wanted.”
“You’re very brave.” Charlie said she was a bitch, but thanked Amy. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are your plans for you? North said she left you this place. You should hang around. Get to know the people that knew her.”
“I can’t. For as much as I’d like to spend time here with you two, I’ve got a few things I’m working on back at the university—a few goals I set for myself—one of them being getting my doctorate in nursing. I’ve been a nurse for the last ten years, working on getting my education high enough where I could run a department at a hospital. But after a while, all I wanted to do was finish up and continue being the best nurse I could be. I think I’m doing it the right way too, by keeping up with my education as well as the things going on around me.” North asked her what hospital she worked at. “Mercy General. It’s a small hospital, but I do work at the larger one when they’re short-staffed. Which I’m thinking is all the time lately.”
North helped her pack up her mother’s pitiful amount of clothing. Her mother had worn scrubs a great deal, even on her days off, so there was little in the way of dressy things. Why scrubs? she’d asked her mother once. She told her they were nicer looking than sweats, and no one asked her what kind of deal she could get for a family member that fucked up.
The jewelry box Charlie had made for her mom when she was about ten was the only thing on top of her dresser. It was filled with the noodles that had fallen off over the years, and the wedding ring from her marriage to Charlie’s dad. He had been murdered one night just after Charlie was born. As far as she knew, her mom hadn’t dated much after he was gone.
“This is a really nice condo. I didn’t know your cousin owned it until I saw him and his wife walking around yesterday. He even gave me the keys to the shed thing Mom had out back. I haven’t had a chance to go out and see what is in there, but I’m betting whatever it is, it’s neat as a pen.” North said he’d go look for her if she wanted him to. Agreeing with him to do it, Charlie sat back on the couch with Amy, who was helping her go through some of the books her mother had kept.
“They’re not really much more than a few smut books, and a how-to book on making a greenhouse. Did she ever put it up?” Charlie laughed and said the book was from her. She’d gotten it for her mother when she was bitching about working. “You thought she’d enjoy putting in a greenhouse?”
“No. She was thinking if she quit her job, she’d become a hermit. I told her she’d already picked up the habit of eating like one. Hermits, I told her, tended to eat whatever they found in the woods. Since she wasn’t keen on foraging for herself, I told her she needed to start growing her own food. We laughed for days about her growing food.” Amy laughed with her. “We had some good times, the two of us. We never took much seriously, and if we had to, we did enjoy that too. Mom would have liked you, I think.”
“North has told me some about her. I’m not sure I could have done what she did after your dad was killed. To finish up school and then find his murderer must have been a full-time job for her.” Charlie said that was her mother in a nutshell. Do or die. “Do you know what happened to her? I mean that my sister is the one that murdered her?”
“Yes. I’m not going to hold anything like that against you, Amy. North told me what happened and how you were related to Phoenix. She and your mother sound like a trip from hell if you ask me.” Amy thanked her. “How is that going? Are they going to face some serious jail time?”
“Oh, yes. My mom is the worst kind of person. Not nearly as bad as North’s mother was, but almost so. Did you know Eita?” Charlie said that she had, and hated her from the first. “I guess that’s the way a great many people felt about her. She had Holly Wilkerson kidnapped, then later murdered. I wonder at times how the boys ended up the way they are.”
“Friends. Mostly due to Holly. I knew her, as well. But they had friends that would help them out. Take them in when they needed it. Someone to brush them off, bandage them up if they needed that, and hug them. North and Mars, they were good for each other. Holly kept them safe as much as she could.” Amy told her that was what she’d heard. “My mom liked Holly too. I know that sounds lame right now, but I’m thinking the two of them are up there in Heaven, comparing notes on the people that murdered them. I’m so sorry. I just realized what I said.”
“Don’t be. I’m sure you’re right. Holly would be the one she’d go to. I know I would.”
Charlie talked to Amy for another half hour. When North appeared, he had cobwebs in his hair as well as a huge tear in his pants. They both asked him what he’d been doing.
“I sort of got myself sidetracked. By the way, there are some boxes in the shed, but nothing in them. Just boxes.” Charlie thought that sounded like her mother. “Anyway. After I was finished looking through the boxes, two little boys came up and asked me if I’d help them get their ball from the tree. I haven’t any idea how they got that sucker as high as they did, but I nearly broke my neck trying to be all macho by climbing up it. After I braved that, they wanted to play with me. It was great. The kids seemed to have enjoyed it too.”
“That would be Rock and Stone Trainer. Twin brothers. I think they’re about six or seven now. They’re good kids if just a little on the rambunctious side. Mom would bake them cookies when they helped her around the yard. Mostly picking up sticks or something. I think their mom works a great deal to support the three of them.” Amy asked about the dad. “I haven’t ever seen a man there. Mom said she didn’t think he was in the picture much. Mom would hire Shanda when she could to help her around the house.”
“That sounds like your mom.”
They talked about her mom for the next couple of hours. Amy helped with the files on her mom’s computer while North loaded up the things she didn’t want to deal with in his truck and took them to the Salvation Army drive. Even Mom’s clothes were put in a large box and taken. By nine that night, the condo was not only cleaned up but devoid of any traces of her mom other than the few things she was taking home with her.
“I can’t thank you enough for your help. I knew it wouldn’t be hard, but you guys being here helped me get through it.” North and Amy told her they were glad to have been there for her. “I’m going to leave in the morning to take care of a couple of things for my home, then I’ll be back in a week. I have to sign off on some of the benefits Mom left for me.”
“If you need me to represent you in any way, you tell me, Charlie. I loved your mom. She was a good and fair person.”
Charlie hugged them both and left the condo when they did. The only thing left to be picked up was the couch, and the man coming for it would be there in the morning. North was going to meet him for her.
Driving back to the hotel, she wondered how to thank the town for the way they’d come together to pray for her mom. Surely there was some sort of fund she could set up for the local high school or something. Charlie thought of how to go about that all the way through getting ready for bed. While she didn’t have much in the way of details about what she wanted, she was sure that with the help of North, she could get it set up.
Her
cell was ringing when she stepped out of the shower the next morning. It was the hospital. They wanted to know what she wanted them to do with her mom’s personal belongings that had come in with her. Not having any idea what that might be, she referred them to North. He’d take care of it for her. Then she called him as soon as she hung up from the hospital.
“I can take care that it’s disposed of or brought here for you. I should have suggested that sooner.” Charlie said it was fine, but she didn’t have time today to deal with it. “Don’t worry about it, Charlie. I’ll call you if there is a problem. Don’t worry about anything here. I have your number, and you have mine. We’ll get things taken care of soon enough.”
Thankful for such a friend, she was nearly to the airport when she remembered something her mom had told her. North Wilkerson was a man to trust. She knew that to be true, especially after the last few days of him helping her out. Charlie was going to do something nice for him and his new wife. She just had to figure out what it might be.
Sitting on the plane, waiting for their turn in line to take off, it hit her that her mom was gone. Crying a little, she thought of all the things she and her mom had done when she’d been living at home. Even after Charlie had left home, they got together as often as they could.
There was always a story to tell her mom, or Mom had one for her. They spoke to each other every day by phone or by video chat. Charlie was going to miss her so much. Wondering if she’d ever not hurt when she thought of her mom, Charlie decided that the saying, “time heals all wounds,” had better be right. She was hurting too much right now to ever think she was going to forget someone as wonderful as her mother.
Getting home, she didn’t bother unpacking the few things she’d taken but went to her bedroom to lay down. She was exhausted but more hurting than anything. As she laid there, sobbing out her grief over the death of her mom, Charlie wondered if she’d enjoy living back there where people had known her mom so well. It was something to think about.
~*~
Wats leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He loved being able to work for himself, but he’d been working much too hard. The family alone was keeping him hopping. Thinking of the conversation he’d had with his cousin Shawn today, he wondered what was going to happen to him when he figured out that life could throw you a curveball without any notice.
“I’m going to take some time off.” Wats asked him what he was going to do that for. “I’m thinking if I don’t get my home in order now, I’m going to be sitting here with an empty house when I’m sixty years old. Not that it’s old, but the house is so empty, it’s like living in a tomb.”
“All right. Not that I think you’d need time off to buy some furniture, but I hope you get it done the way you want it.” Shawn told him he was going to fill it with things he loved that he picked up at estate auctions. “Why? I mean, great, but why?”
“When was the last time you were at my parents’ home?” Wats said he didn’t remember. “Yeah, well, it’s all steel and glass. I don’t know if Dad even likes it. Anyway, I’m going to get things that speak to me. Dad is going to go on this trip with me. He’s thinking he is going to love living in the condo. At least his brothers are close by, and he can walk to town if he wants. We’re going to have some fun getting to know each other.”
“Now that I can get behind. What is your dad doing with his home?” Uncle Hank hadn’t been in his house since Penny had been arrested. They all called her that now, and it was fun. “My dad is going to sell his as soon as he gets it emptied out. It seems none of them were very thrilled about returning to their homes.”
“Dad is donating the house to the city. I haven’t any idea what they’re going to do with it—it’s really run-down—but he gave them the property there too. That’s about fifty acres. I’m thinking they’re going to tear the house down then put in something equally ugly.” No doubt. Wats told him about North’s dad running for mayor. “He’d be really good at that. With as long as this family has lived here, he’d know just about anything and everything about the town.”
Wats sat up when his phone rang. He thought he’d put it on the service, but he might not have gotten it right. There was a learning curve on just about everything he did lately. Saying his name, Wats waited while the person at the other end calmed down enough to speak.
“My grandfather is gone.” Wats didn’t know what she meant—gone as in missing or gone that he’d died. “He’s not here. I came in this morning to stay with him while I finished up my classes, and we had a nice breakfast. Then when I went to the university to see about the classes I would need, I came home, and someone had been in here. There is blood all over the place too.”
“Did you call the police?” There was a long pause, and Wats asked her again. “I don’t even know who this is or what your grandfather’s name is.”
“My grandda is James Oliver. My name is Rayne Oliver. Why do you think he had your phone number in his phone marked as police?” Wats said that he didn’t have any idea. “I’m going to call the police now. I’m so sorry to have bothered you.”
“It’s no trouble. I’m on my way there with my medical bag. When we find him, I’ll be able to see how he’s faring.” He didn’t want to say anything about him maybe being dead. Lots of blood could be scary enough. “I’m going to call my cousins in too. All of us can look for him.”
Wats called the others and told them what was going on. He also mentioned how his number was listed as the emergency number. He called North last, as his number had been busy when he’d called him the first time.
“He’s with me at my house.” Wats turned his car around and headed toward North’s home. “As for the blood, I don’t know. There wasn’t any there when the two of us left there a few hours ago.”
“She said there was a great deal of it.” Wats parked in the parking lot of the store he was nearby and tried to catch his breath. “What should I do? Go there and find out what is happening or just go back to my offices?”
“Why don’t you go and see if you can talk to Rayne in person? Then perhaps bring her to my house. I don’t think she should be driving if she’s that upset.” Wats told him he’d go out there now. “Be careful, Wats. Since we have no idea what the blood is from, someone might still be in the house.”
“Well, thank you very much for that thought.”
He made his way to the house carefully. There didn’t seem to be any cars along the way that were parked without anyone in them. Nor did he see any indication of trouble. By the time he was pulling up in front of the house, there were two cruisers there, and a young woman on the front porch rocking in the rocker set out there.
“Your cousin called here. He told me that my grandda was with him.” Wats told her he’d take her there if she wanted to go. “I do. I hope you don’t mind, but I have to wait on the police. They’re doing their thing in there now. I was terrified.”
Wats checked her over. He told her he didn’t want anything to be wrong with her and checked not just her blood pressure, which was just a little high, but her temperature too. When he was able to give her a clean bill of health, he sat down on the porch in front of her.
“I’ve known your grandda for a while. When I was in med school, he was one of the free patients that, as students, we were to work with. He’s a very healthy man for his age.” Rayne told him he didn’t sit around on his duff like a lot of people his age. “I think I remember him being about eighty? I could be wrong.”
“He’ll be ninety-three on his next birthday. Which is coming up. He’s all I care about in the world now. My parents are both gone. I don’t have any sisters or brothers. No aunts that I want to be around either.” She laughed. “The last time I was here, he and his sister, my aunt Carol, had this big to do about him living alone. Christ, he’s a few years older than her and looks like he could be her kid. Not really, but Grandda is in really wonderful shape
.”
Wats told her about the house that was going to be built for him, and how his cousin, North, was going to make sure he was going to be all right living out here alone. Rayne told him she had planned on living with him until she graduated next year, then she was hoping she could get him to move in with her.
“I’ve had a little house since my parents died. It’s not much, but it’s a damned sight better than this is. I guess North, as you called him, saw what he was living in here.” Wats told her how he’d only just bought the house a few weeks ago. “The banker that was holding the place didn’t want to do anything for him. Told my grandda he’d be better off in a nursing home if he didn’t like this place. Grandda lost Grannie here. He doesn’t want to leave without going to her, he told me.”
By the time the police were finished up with the house, they’d discovered that a raccoon had made its way into the house when it had been attacked by something larger. The blood was all animal blood. It was confirmed it was a raccoon when they found his body in the bedroom that Grandda used.
“I think he’s been feeding the poor thing. Grandda is allergic to cats and doesn’t care for dogs. They’re too big for him to handle, he told me. But this little raccoon made his way into his heart, and he’s been taking care of him. I think it was making the loneliness more tolerable.” Wats thought that was the nicest thing he’d heard in a while. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to stay here now. At least not tonight.”
“I have a condo you can stay in. I mean by yourself. With your grandda. I’ll be someplace else.” Wats let out a long breath. “I have a furnished condo the two of you can stay in. I’ll bunk with my dad. He’s close to where you two can stay.”
