by Nathan Grant
“Great, well that should really get things started with a bang, I just hope not literally. So there is still no word or sightings of Jake around the area? The police told me last night that they figure he just took off somewhere and won’t be coming back this way anytime soon, or has found a very secure hiding place,” Zain said.
Franny glanced at Claudia.
“They called and told us the same thing. I truly hope they are right and he won’t be back. None of the paintings have shown up so I’d imagine they are either long gone or hidden someplace and the crooks are laying low until this thing blows over somewhat. I just still feel bad for Olive as she loved those exquisite paintings and they meant so much to her,” Franny explained.
“We can only hope that is the case and we are alerted once they appear on the black market. If Jake is involved in all this I only hope he shows his hand and they can catch him red handed before they manage to sell them off,” Zain said.
“Has there been any word from her great nephew, John wasn’t it?” Claudia asked, looking at the others.
“Not directly, it seems they used some of the money they got from the sale of this place, to clean up that dump they lived in somewhat and put it on the market. Olive was completely surprised by that since she figured the money they received was only enough to level them out so to speak, not even close to making them flush. And since they have lived here in Sedona their whole lives, she has no clue where they plan to go or how they would support themselves once they left,” Franny said.
“You mentioned the sale of their house; property here in Sedona is pretty expensive I’d imagine that would help things along,” Claudia said.
“It normally would but according to Olive the place had a second mortgage as well that would take almost the entire amount from the sale of the house, and remember there are all the realtor fees and closing costs to pay,” Franny told them.
“So I guess I’ll ask the question hanging in the air; has anyone been able to connect Olive’s family with Jake,” Claudia asked.
“Not yet, when they questioned John about Jake, he claimed to never have met the man and was adamant about it. The only comment he made was to ask if he was Olive’s new boyfriend,” Franny said.
“What the hell? How do they know anything about Olive and whom she is seeing? Are they watching her house or something,” Claudia raged.
“I’m sure they are still burning about the storage unit and not being aware that for years it held a treasure trove of artwork. They feel the Olive is an outsider to their family and has no right to anything at all; especially since, she never had any children by Gerald. Besides we don’t know yet who was behind the bugs in her house, for all we know John could have been in on it and was one of the people listening.”
“What utter nonsense, about what they thought about her claim to her husband’s estate. It makes me want to take a bath just thinking about that lowlife listening in on her. So then to them being married to someone for decades counts for nothing,” Claudia asked, sounding totally incredulous.
“It would seem so, at least as far as anything of value is concerned. From what I understand John was shocked when he found out about the burglary, and his only concern was that his chance at getting some portion of her assets was now gone. He is a piece of work for sure.”
“Once a lowlife, as the saying goes. I would imagine all this racket from her former family must be wearing on her, I really feel for Olive having to go through all this as she was on the verge of being truly happy,” she said.
“Me too but at least it is starting to look like she has some much needed support in Rudy,” Franny smiled.
“Support huh, is that what it’s called these days to quote you? I’ll have to remember that the next time someone decides to throw the slut word around,” Claudia giggled.
“There’s always an exception to the rule,” Zain returned, and saw Franny slip him a sly wink.
A couple of hours later, Luc pulled into the resort, and then ran around his car to open the door for Great-great-aunt Gertrude.
“Why thank you sweetie, such a gentleman. Now please lead me inside so I can do something about this suddenly dry throat of mine, it must have something to do with the Arizona altitude,” she commanded, hooking arms with him and heading toward the lobby.
“Great-aunt Gertrude so good to see you again, always such a pleasure,” Franny said putting up her arms for hug, avoiding Claudia’s stare.
“Cut the crap Franny and make your hands useful and create a nice smart cocktail for your old auntie and my lovely new nephew to be Luc,” she commanded turning away to face Claudia.
“Well it seems you’ve been busy since the last time I saw you. I’m well aware that we Simons do tend to attract the press, but you certainly went over the top. My stars girl, couldn’t you at least make the man put his pants back on before sending him on his way,” she cackled, opening her arms to squeeze Claudia tightly.
“I asked him to use some decorum Auntie Gertrude but he was in kind of a hurry considering my ex was prompting him to leave with a gun. Besides I always say that a little advertising goes a very long way,” she giggled, still squeezing her tightly.
“Well I’d certainly try to be more careful if I were you, maybe change your locks when your husband goes out of town perhaps,” she said, barely able to talk for laughing especially after seeing the shocked look on Luc’s face.
“Oh for God’s sake you two, have you no sense of shame? And here are all the family’s secrets being exposed to my dear innocent Luc,” Franny feigned astonishment realizing it was all Luc could do not to break out laughing.
Gertrude shot her eyebrow up at Luc with a wicked smile.
“Oh that one knows his way around the block I’m sure of it. And after spending a little time with him, I can tell why my Zain is so taken with him,” she told them, turning to give Zain a warm hug.
“That I am Aunt Gertrude, how have you been? It seems like forever since we last saw you,” he said, delighted to see his second favorite aunt.
“Especially since you haven’t heard the latest Auntie Gertrude,” Luc said, and the others turned to look at him in surprise.
Claudia turned around and grabbed his arm, glaring at him.
“Why you little turncoat! Auntie Gertrude is it now, and you’re not even married into the family yet,” Claudia stared at him, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
“Oh now this just sounds almost too good to be true. Luc you just come right over here next to me and tell me everything they are trying to hide from me. I already told you I knew we were going to be great friends,” Gertrude suggested, patting the seat next to her.
“Well Zainy it looks like we have a mole on our hands here and you should get to the bottom of it,” Franny said, then after a few seconds as her words registered, everyone fell out laughing.
“Oh I’ve missed all of you; I haven’t had such a good time in so long. It seems that whenever I plan to take a vacation from all my humanitarian work it just doubles,” she said, taking a sip of her very dry Vodka Martini.
“It seems it’s always the way, charitable work and the people that support us are always pulling at us from all directions demanding more meetings, but I’m so glad you are here,” Franny told her, patting her hand.
“And for such a wonderful occasion; the two of you,” she nodded her head at Zain and Claudia, “have been my favorites of your generation since you were born. I’m so delighted with both of you and what fine people you have become,” she enthused, taking another quick sip of her icy drink.
“We are very glad to have you here with us too, I know Franny thought you might be in Europe during this time, and we were all so happy you could be here with us and meet Luc,” Zain told her, taking Luc’s hand.
“I would not have missed it for the world. Now Luc has told me you have another person who has joined our extended family, Olivia is it?” she asked, smiling as Claudia handed her another Martini.
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“Her name is Olive and she lives just up the hill from here in one of the renovated places. Once you are settled we’ll take a walk up there and the two of you can meet; I already know you both have things in common,” Claudia said, smiling at Luc.
“Actually funny you should mention that as Olive wanted to meet you as well and has invited us girls over early this evening for cocktails and a light supper of her favorite Asian Salmon and Gruyere Scalloped Potatoes, and did I mention drinks,” Franny added, laughing at her own joke.
“I wanna come too,” Luc whined, as Franny grinned at him.
“Not this time I’m afraid, it’s going to be girl’s night out and besides, as Great-aunt Franny just mentioned; Zain needs to get to the bottom of things,” Gertrude teased, watching with glee as Luc’s cheeks reddened.
Chapter Eight
Two hours later, Gertrude had approved of her cabin, and refreshed her look, when Franny knocked on her door after racing home to ‘freshen up.’
“It’s about time you got here, a person could die of thirst out here in the wilderness,” Gertrude complained, picking up her bag and heading for the door.
As they approached Olive’s home, the door flew open and Olive came down the stairs to greet them.
“Olive this is Gertrude Simon, my Great-aunt; please meet Olive Barrett,” Franny introduced them.
“Great to meet you please come on in and I’d like to tempt you with my dirtiest martini,” she chuckled.
“No temptation here, just bring them on, the dirtier that better; they should fit with our little group here just fine,” Gertrude said, looking around at the beautiful space.
“Your family has pulled off an amazing task here in such a short time, restoring the resort and getting ready for what looks like a major wedding event.”
“I’m pretty amazed myself; when I heard they’d bought a resort for Zain and his fiancé, and a rundown one at that, I was shocked to see just how exquisite this place here is; I should consider moving here myself,” she laughed, watching the jolt roll across Franny’s face.
Gertrude chuckled and reached over to pat Franny’s hand.
“I’m only kidding Franny, now before you wet yourself, have another martini,” Gertrude prompted, and then turned back to Olive.
“So Luc told me you’ve had some rather bad luck lately, along with Zain too that is. I’m so sorry you had to go through something like that, sometimes the world is just disgusting,” she told her, before taking another long taste.
“Yes I lost some things that were important to me, but in the end they were only things and thankfully everyone is recovered with no permanent harm,” Olive said, sounding very sad once more.
“So very true, now I just remembered an important appointment down in town, so Aunt Gertrude you can keep Olive company while I go take care of some pressing business and I’ll be back within the hour. I’m sorry about this Olive, but I completely forgot about this meeting and will make it quick. If the two of you want to start dinner without me that will be fine; just please have a very tall and icy drink ready for me when I get back here,” she laughed, breezing out the door.
After Franny left, Gertrude turned to Olive.
“That was odd, she didn’t mention any meeting to me when we were talking earlier,” Gertrude said, once Franny was out of earshot.
“I don’t know how she does it, considering all her charitable involvements and so many details to consider,” Olive said, after Franny was out of sight, and then offered Gertrude some more freshly made Gougers.
“She is a busy one for sure, always has been but has a heart of gold. I may kid her from time to time, but she’d do anything for her family and that includes you too, Olive from what I understand.”
“That feeling is mutual. During my recent run-in with my late husband’s family, you could not have asked for a more supportive loving group of people who rallied around me and took care of me when the robbery occurred.”
“About that, has anyone been apprehended or at least identified as a suspect,” Gertrude asked.
“No one yet I’m afraid, and I did so love those paintings. Franny has a contact that is keeping an eye out for them, should someone try to sell them on the Black market,” Olive told her.
“Yes, well she does know a lot of various types of people and has always been good at finding anything she wants,” Gertrude mentioned, arching an eyebrow at her.
“I sure hope they turn up; I don’t need the insurance money and would much rather have them back for sentimental reasons. So tell me, I know you are all a very close family, what did you think of Luc when you met him earlier today, since I understand that you are very close to Zain,” she asked.
“Other than being quite the piece of great eye candy I assume you mean,” Gertrude giggled.
“Well there is that too I suppose,” she giggled in return.
“To be honest with you I did have my reservations about him and especially since this all came about so fast. Now don’t get me wrong I had no reasons for those thoughts I just assumed it was all quite sudden. And of course this was in spite of the fact that I was so grateful to him for literally saving members of my family from harm more than once,” she related thoughtfully.
“And so now that you’ve met him in person,” she prompted.
“When I got out of the jet, and saw him I was quite surprised as the pictures of him certainly didn’t do him justice. He’s very handsome but in a unique way, not the Hollywood cookie cutter type of good looks. I was prepared to meet a self-absorbed handsome man that I would have a very superficial acquaintance with and let it go at that.”
Olive looked a bit perturbed.
“There is nothing superficial about Luc at all Gertrude, and I personally think he is a perfect match for your wonderful nephew Zain,” she huffed, feeling irritated by Gertrude’s potentially snobbish arrogance.
“Put your skirt back down Olive, and don’t go flying off the handle with me; you didn’t let me finish my thoughts. Like I said when I got off the plane, there he was looking so incredibly handsome. He walked right up to me with a dazzling smile, and handed me a single white rose to welcome me, then shyly put his arms around me and gave me a warm kiss on the cheek. You could have blown me away with a feather I was so surprised. I think I even blushed like a young inexperienced girl,” she admitted, smiling as she thought back to his warm welcome.
“How sweet but then again, that’s Luc and it is so obvious how much he loves Zain,” Olive enthused.
“While we were driving back through town, I happened to mention how dry the weather was here. Before I knew it he was ushering me onto a gorgeous rooftop patio with spectacular views, and buying me a welcome to Sedona drink. Before I knew it, we were chatting and yes, gossiping like old friends, can you imagine? He even confided in me that he still feels a bit intimidated by the Simon family and that he often worries about being so in love with Zain, and that Zain would at some point grow tired of him,” she told Olive.
For an instant, Olive was so perplexed she didn’t know quite how to answer that kind of speculation as it was so apparent to her still almost a stranger to their family, how Zain felt about Luc.
“Granted I’ve only known Zain for a short time, but I know love when I see it Gertrude. Moreover, from what I’ve gathered from being around Zain he is a loyal good man, thoughtful and caring as well. I would speculate he’s not one to enter into things lightly especially when it comes to relationships,” Olive surmised.
“He has always been a loner, unlike a sibling I’m aware of, but you are correct in that about him. I also told Luc what I thought and how I’d known Zain from a baby and his fears were groundless. He never would have gone this far unless he wanted Luc as his life partner and he didn’t have it in him to ever hurt someone like that. When Zain decides something, he’s loyal for life, period, and he would never look back or waver from that. When I saw the tears in his eyes, I almost started bawling on the spot along with
him. I also told him we’d better get going before we made complete fools of ourselves. Besides I wanted another drink with him and didn’t believe in drinking and driving, or having to send for Franny to get us out of jail,” she laughed.
“You handled that very well and I’m glad you could put his fears to rest. Now I hope Franny gets back here soon, as I don’t want to ruin dinner and would like to get down to some serious drinking. I’d like to celebrate all that we are blessed with,” Olive told her.
“Amen to that sister, and I’m certainly glad we had time to have this little chat between us,” Gertrude said, holding up her glass for a refill as she saw Franny hurrying back up the path to the cottage.
Chapter Nine
The sun was shining when big day finally arrived and it was another gorgeous day in Oak Creek Canyon. Following tradition, Luc and Zain slept apart, and were each woken by Franny with a glass of champagne, along with orange juice, coffee, some cream and strawberry filled croissants, and some fresh Marionberry sorbet.
“Just a little something to tide you over until the reception,” she told Zain as she sat down to enjoy a glass with him.
“How is Luc holding up? He’s been pretty nervous lately and was almost lost meeting all the guests that have arrived in the past couple of days,” Zain said, taking a large bite of the croissant.
“He’ll do just fine; you have to remember even though you two are getting married he’s on display for our entire family with only a few of his own close friends attending. When I saw him a few minutes ago, he was starting to calm down to enjoy his day. Of course Gertrude was doting on him like a little puppy, almost hand feeding his breakfast to him,” she laughed thinking back to how sweet the two of them looked together.
“Who would have ever thought that would happen? Usually Gertrude is pretty formal and reserved even when she’s had a few when she first meets someone, and now she’s just about ready to adopt him herself, so to speak,” Zain laughed.
