Elli (A Second Chance Novel Book 1) Page 29

  Bosom Blog Buddies Post

  Ash Wednesday

  I’m in love with Ben.

  Elli woke up with the revelation of the day before on her mind. The fact that she was able to sleep at all knowing that, surprised her. Mardi Gras had depleted all of her energy and rendered her brain nonfunctioning. It had been an amazing day. Now, with the hint of dawn approaching, the free spirit of Mardi Gras was gone. Elli understood that today would be no different than the day before she’d learned of her true feelings for Ben. It would remain her secret and she would never do anything about it.

  Elli rolled over onto her side, careful to not disturb Donna on her pillow. Doe, who was crowded with the other dogs at her feet, looked at her with tired eyes. Jenny and BJ just continued sleeping. Elli reached for her cell phone on the nightstand to see what time it was and spotted the amber bottle with Tante Izzy’s love potion. She smiled. Wouldn’t Tante Izzy be pleased to know she had fallen for Ben? Too bad there wasn’t a healing potion to cure cancer.

  There was a creaking sound in the hall and the doorknob turned on her bedroom door. Elli sat up in bed. Ben wouldn’t be sneaking into her room with his son in the room next door, would he? Her heart gave a quick start as the door flew open and a bleary-eyed Joey, tears on his cheeks, ran into her room and onto her bed. He hugged Elli, pressing his tiny fingers hard into her arms. “I had a bad dream.”

  Doe yawned a noisy yawn and jumped off the bed, turning in two circles before going to sleep on the floor. “Oh, sweet boy, I’m sorry.” She shifted to the side, picked up Donna and pulled back her blanket for him to climb in. “Tell me about it.”

  Joey scooted under the covers and shook his head. “Don’t want to.”

  Elli settled Donna on his lap. Jenny and BJ didn’t like all the movement and jumped off the bed to cuddle with Doe. “You know, sometimes when we talk about the bad dreams, it helps us to realize that it can’t be true.”

  Joey shivered and looked up at Elli. Tears filled his eyes. “This is true.” Elli hugged him to her side. “My mommy was yelling at me and she had mean, red eyes. Then she laughed like a scary witch and kissed me on the forehead. There were other witches and warlocks there, too. They all were laughing and flying around the room making really, really, scary noises.”

  Elli smoothed his silky dark hair with gentle strokes. The dream probably was true in the sense that he got horrible mixed signals from his mother. Hadn’t Ben said that she had yelled at him for not being the perfect baby in front of her friends, but continued to drag him into bars and parties with her? Had Joey dreamed of a memory of his mother? “That dream must have frightened you something awful. I know it would have scared me.” He rested his head on her chest and for the second time in as many days, Elli fell in love.

  “I hate witches and warlocks.”

  “Me, too.” Donna looked at Elli and then Joey. She sneezed and went back to sleep. “But you know, don’t you, that they aren’t real.” He looked up at her with big, bright green, trusting eyes—hanging on every word she spoke as if it were gospel. “I’ve been living a long time and I know I have never seen a witch or warlock or even a werewolf or monster under my bed. I think those things don’t exist or I would have seen one by now, don’t you think?”

  Joey nodded and rested his head on Elli’s chest again. His breath was even and steady as he petted Donna. His body was warm and relaxed against hers. It felt like heaven and she closed her eyes to burn the memory into her soul. “I love you, Elli,” he said. “I wish you were my mommy.” Right or wrong, in that quiet moment wrapped in the warm cocoon of blanket and child, she wished for that, too.

  “I love you, Joey.” They both fell back asleep.

  * * * *

  Ben woke and reached for Elli’s soft warm body next to him. He felt only cool sheets and empty space. He wasn’t fully awake, but disappointment lodged in his chest. He propped himself up on his elbows. “What in the hell is wrong with me?” He was okay with lusting for Elli, but missing her after spending an entire day with her was just plain nuts. He climbed out of bed and scratched his bare chest as he walked into the bathroom. Maybe if he had sneaked into her room in the middle of the night, he wouldn’t be wishing she was in bed with him now. Maybe he would have gotten her out of his system. He looked at himself in the mirror. “Who are you kidding? You want her just as much today as you did the first time you had her.” He splashed water on his face, brushed his teeth, and threw on athletic shorts and a clean undershirt. “Well, life is full of disappointments,” he mumbled, leaving his room and heading to Joey to check on him as he did every morning. “I might not have the girl, but at least I’ll still have Sugar Mill Plantation when she heads back to California.”

  Ben opened his son’s bedroom door and saw that he wasn’t in his room. It was early, but he figured Joey was still charged from the excitement of Mardi Gras and couldn’t sleep. He was probably watching cartoons downstairs. He started to head in that direction when he noticed Elli’s door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open, and felt like he had been struck with a bat in his gut. There in Elli’s narrow single bed, his son was wrapped in her arms. His relaxed face was nestled against her chest; his pink lips were parted in that same sweet way they had when he was an infant. He looked so peaceful…and content. Ben’s heart pinched. His son must have missed Elli, too.

  He moved on stealth feet over the old creaky wooden floor toward them. Jenny, Doe, and BJ lifted their heads. A second later, when they recognized him, their tails began to wag. Ben pointed to the door and the dogs got up and walked out of the room. Donna looked up at him from the bed, then rested her head on her crossed paws. She didn’t move, but she continued to look at him.

  Ben nodded to her, acknowledging her silent communication that she wouldn’t wake Elli and Joey. He moved another step closer to watch Elli sleep. Her face was smoothed of all expression as her head was sunken in a cloud of pillows. She looked ethereal as her thick, dark eyelashes cast a shadow on her porcelain cheeks. She looked so angelic that if it wasn’t for the worn, fuzzy blue knit cap on her head, he would have searched for her halo. Ben smiled. They both looked so damn comfortable that he wanted to pull back the sheets and slip into the tiny single bed with them. If it wasn’t for his impressionable six-year-old boy, he would have. Instead, he just stared at them a few minutes longer, than exited the room as quietly as he had entered.

  Ben leaned against the closed door. “What am I supposed to do about this?” He looked heavenward. “The woman tries to take my son’s home from him and coddles him with affection. It’s a friggin’ dichotomy. What is the truth, here? Does she care or not?” He shook his headed and started for the stairs. “She’s freakin’ Sybil. That’s what she is.”

  Ben was halfway down the stairs when the aroma of coffee brewing hit him. The sound of dishes rattling had him running down the rest of the way into the kitchen. He doubted that the dogs were fixing breakfast, although those dogs did act more human than canine.

  “Good morning. Glad to see you’re up early.”

  “Uncle Ronald.” Ben took the cup he was offered and sat at the kitchen table. “What are you doing here so early? We’re not boiling the crawfish until ten-thirty.” Ben started to get up to find the dogs to put them out, but Ronald stopped him.

  “Elli’s dogs are outside. Lucky is, too.” Ronald, who was not in uniform, just a pair of jeans and red golf shirt, sat across from Ben. He pushed a manila folder on the table toward him. “I thought you’d want to look at this, before all hell breaks loose in a few hours. The fire marshal e-mailed me the photos from Elli’s camera last night. That included the video that’s been converted into stills.”

  Ben opened the folder and the photo on top was a picture of Elli’s shoes in midstride as she walked in a cane field. The next picture was of Jenny’s ear. The next two were of her knee and Doe’s snout and of the dogs running ahead of her. “So, I see she is not much of a photographer,” Ben said flipping to the next picture. “B
ut at least the lab was able to retrieve the…” Ben’s mouth snapped shut. He lifted the photograph of the front of the cabin that was on top of the stack. “Is this a face?”

  Ronald looked to where Ben was pointing. “I think it is. It’s hard to say. The dogs are reacting to something, that’s for sure.” He pointed to where they were standing on their hind legs and barking at the door. “Take a look at the next photo. It’s zoomed in.”

  Ben lifted the next picture. “Yeah. That definitely looks like a face. It’s too blurry to make out the details, though.”

  “This is the one I thought you’d especially want to see.” He tapped on the next photo in the pile. Ben picked it up. “The state lab zoomed in on the southeast quadrant.”

  “Shit.” Ben looked at Ronald and then at the photo again. “What the hell is my truck doing there.”

  “It’s definitely yours.” Ronald tapped the photo. “No mistaken that piece of crap you drive.”

  Ben felt his ears burn with anger. “Yeah, but I didn’t drive it there before the fire.”

  “If you say you didn’t, I believe you,” Ronald said, his voice even. “I don’t care if you have a strong motive. It doesn’t matter to me that you wanted Elli to leave Sugar Mill more than anyone else.” He shook his head and when all Ben could do was look at him because words didn’t pop into his head, he continued. “Trying to scare her, might accomplish that. Not that I think you did that.”

  “I didn’t.” Ben slammed his fist on the table.

  Ronald nodded. “Who has access to your truck?”

  “Any one of my employees. Anyone who walked into my office. I keep the keys on the desk in an old chipped dog food bowl.” Ben quickly looked through the rest of the photos. They were well-framed photos of the house, the bayou, and the sugarcane fields. There were even a few of Elli’s dogs. “Are these the only photos the state got?”

  “There were some others I didn’t want to waste the ink to print. It was of her approach to the cabin and you don’t see anything of use.” He took a sip of coffee. “The fire marshal is coming today to talk to you.”

  “I don’t know what I can tell him that will help.” Ben stood and refilled his coffee cup. “Uncle Ronald, this makes me sick. How in the hell didn’t I see someone take my truck? And why didn’t I hear it being returned?” He shook his head and lowered his voice, like he was talking to himself. Ronald watched him as he paced while sorting his thoughts. “I was working some noisy k-9 Shepherds in the training field. Considering I was on the opposite side of where the truck was parked, I guess it is plausible that I couldn’t see or hear the truck being driven away from the kennel.”

  “I was thinking, Ben, since you probably haven’t cleaned it lately, we could try to lift prints off your truck. We can see who has been in it recently. Maybe we can figure out if there were prints left behind by someone who shouldn’t have been in your truck.”

  “I guess that means you’ll have to get my fingerprints and those of my workers to see if they match.”

  “Unless we have them in our files.”

  “You don’t have mine.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know about Elli. The background checks I did on my employees all came up clean. No convictions. I didn’t do a check on Doug.”

  “I’ll dust your truck at the kennel.” Ronald said. He carried his cup to the sink and washed it. “Park it out of view of the family. We know how they are if they get wind something is brewing. Especially, Tante Izzy.” He laughed. “I’ll print you and Elli when I’m finished with the truck. We’ll be able to tell which are Joey’s because they’ll be child-sized. Let’s see if any others show up. If they do, we’ll run them in the computer. If we don’t get a match, then we can come back to print your staff.”

  “I really hate this, you know.” Ben leaned against the cabinet. “When do you expect the marshal?”

  “He didn’t say. I suspect at the most inconvenient time. That’s when an investigator likes to show up. Then and when he thinks he can get a free meal.”

  Ben smiled. “The free meal will be at the most inconvenient time. During the crawfish boil.”

  “You got that right.” The sheriff laughed. “I’ve got the fingerprint kit in my car. How about you drive the truck to the kennel now so we can get this thing done.”

  “Let me tell Elli I’m leaving for a while.” Uncle Ronald lifted a brow. “Don’t read anything into that. I just want her to keep an eye on Joey while I’m gone.”

  Ronald patted Ben on the back. “It’s none of my business.”

  “Damn straight, it isn’t.” He frowned. “I’ll meet you at the kennel.”

  * * * *

  Ben was still not back from the kennel when Elli heard the first of the Bienvenues arrive. He had wakened her about three hours earlier to ask her to watch Joey, who was still sleeping beside her. He said he had business to take care of and wouldn’t be long. Joey had slept for another hour before wandering into the kitchen where she was fixing organic, gluten-free pancakes. He ate them without complaint once she scooped homemade, chemical-free whipped cream on top of them. Afterward, they straightened the house in preparation for company, although Joey told her the family only came into the house to use the restroom or if it rained. Everything was set up outside under the huge oak tree.

  “Hello. Hello,” Ruby called from the back door. Doe, Jenny, BJ, and Donna started barking and ran to greet her. She stepped inside and closed the screened door behind her. “Hush, now. It’s cousin Ruby. Y’all know me.” She petted Doe on the head in an awkward pat. “My John and I are here with the tables. He’s setting them up now. Cousin T-Boy is coming with the crawfish and boiling pots. And everyone else will come when they come. Except Rachel. She’s at work. Y’all come on out when you want.”

  “Ben is at the kennel. It’s just Joey and me.” She looked at where Ruby’s husband was setting up the tables under the huge canopy of the old oak tree. “What can I do to help?”

  “You can spread the newspapers on the table. I remember Ben had the old papers stacked by the door, right here.” Ruby looked around the space where coats and shoes and newspapers were usually piled. Elli bit her lip. She had picked up the clutter and thrown the newspaper into a recycling bucket she set up outside. “Mon Dieu. Call him to see where he put it. I know he must have it somewhere. He always saves it for the tables.”

  Elli nodded, but didn’t tell her she had tossed it only a few minutes before. When Ruby left, she ran outside, gathered it from the shed next to the garbage cans, and carried it to the tables. It was still tied in a bundle with string. “What do I do with this now?” she asked Joey, who had followed her with the dogs outside. John walked over, took a pocket knife from his overalls, and cut the string around the newspaper.

  “It’s good to have one of these with you all the time,” he said, showing her his sharpened knife. “I gave Ruby a brand new Boker single-blade pocket knife for Mother’s Day last year. I even got her a fancy, tooled red case for it.”

  “I would have preferred pearl earrings,” she said, walking up to them. “I can’t wear a pocket knife to the garden club luncheons,” she added, sounding amused.

  “Bebe, you know you like it better than pearls.” John pulled Ruby against his big grizzly body and hugged her. Ruby didn’t push him away as Elli thought she would. Instead, she hugged him right back. “You love dat knife.”

  “I guess I couldn’t open my QVC boxes with pearl earrings,” she laughed.

  “Isn’t he the sweetest man? Taking care of me like that? Just this past Christmas he gave me Mace and a Taser. I keep them in my car. You never know when you might need them.”

  Elli wasn’t sure she’d describe a man who bought a knife, Mace, and a Taser as sweet, but she supposed the man was just trying to protect the woman he loved. “Have you ever stunned anyone?” she asked Ruby.

  “No, but I keep it fully charged and ready.” She laughed and waved to the latest Bienvenu driving up with a flat-bed trailer l
oaded with two big pots and boiling equipment. Tante Izzy drove up in her bright pink truck soon afterward. More Bienvenues followed. Soon, the dogs were bouncing from one person to another, including Donna, who ended up in the arms of one of the pretty teenage girls. Music began to play from speakers that two college-aged men installed. Tante Izzy didn’t like the music and yelled at the boys.

  “Dis is Ash Wednesday,” she shouted, pointing to the smear of ashes on her forehead. The boys smiled and pointed to the ashes on their foreheads. “The beginnin’ of Lent. We cover da mirrors and there is no loud music. It’z a day of penance. We’z don’t eat meat today, so it’z okay for da crawfish boil. It’z not a party.” The boys complained but lowered the music and changed it to a slow Cajun fiddle instrumental. “Dat’s better.”

  Elli looked around her. She had met most of the people there the day before either on the float, at breakfast, or along the parade route. She walked to the back steps and sat a moment, alone, needing to separate herself from the Bienvenues. They had made her feel part of their clan, but she knew she wasn’t and never would be. If she was to do what she came here to do, she had to keep her spirit and heart separated from them. She had to separate herself emotionally from Joey and Ben, too.

  Tears sprang to Elli’s eyes as she gazed at the scene under the oak tree as she would a movie. The moss that was draped like thick ribbons on the full, dark branches swayed in a graceful dance above the tables in the light breeze. She saw the bright, happy eyes of the family members sitting at the tables, sharing stories. Clumsy dogs played in the dull green grass. It was something that she knew must have gone on for generations. If she managed to convince Ben to sell the plantation to a venture capitalist, this family tradition would be lost. She imagined there were other huge oak trees with gunmetal gray moss swaying in the breeze where they could eat crawfish on Ash Wednesday. It would be different for them, though, because it wouldn’t be this tree that they had come to as toddlers, teenagers, young married couples, and parents. Would a change in location break the links in that chain?