Deception (37 page)

“Maybe she needs more help.” Connor hadn’t even considered it, but the cook was at least fifty, and she ran an entire household with a lot of special pandering to the children. “I’ll speak with Clay about it.”

Sally rolled her eyes in happiness. “You already sound like the lady of the house.”

Connor started to argue, but she sighed instead. Sally meant no harm. She was delighted with Connor’s “fairytale” story. And under other circumstances, Connor knew she’d be happy, too. Very happy. It was what she’d dreamed about for the last several months.

That thought was so upsetting, she forced it away and concentrated on eating enough food not to arouse Willene’s eagle-eyed vigilance. Intuitively, she understood that she had to present a happy, contented facade at Oaklawn. The household was so delicately balanced that any hint of instability on her part would send everyone into orbit. And any hint of weakness would be an invitation to Renata to try another trick. A more desperate trick.

“That’s better,” Sally said, nodding with approval. “Mr. Clay don’t want to marry no stick.”

“Sally, can you show me the generator?”

“Sure.” Sally’s enthusiasm faded. “But why? Jeff handles all that.”

“Curiosity. When I was living in California, I was responsible for all the stables. We had a man in charge of the plumbing, but one night the pipes broke and the hired man was on vacation. Water’s extremely valuable in California. We lost a lot of it because I wasn’t certain how to cut everything off. I guess I just learned that it pays to know as much about a place as you can learn, in case of emergency.”

“That’s right,” Sally agreed. “Connor, were you always that smart? I mean when you were my age, did you sometimes forget to think about things like that?”

“When I was your age, Sally, life was much different for me. I had parents and all of that. I suppose I didn’t think much of the bad things that can happen. I thought my folks would always take care of me.”

“Or a husband.”

Connor paused a moment, watching the expectation and dreams in Sally’s eyes. “That’s a bad miscalculation, Sally. Don’t ever expect anyone to take care of you.”

“But surely you can let Mr. Clay take care of you.” Sally stepped forward and took Connor’s hands. “I know you’ve always done for yourself. That’s why he likes you so much. But now you’re going to marry him.”

Connor’s smile hid a host of other emotions. “Listen, Sally, if that means anything at all, it means I’ll probably be taking care of him.” She laughed. “Women nurture, men provide. It’s not exactly fair, but it seems to be the way of relationships.” She turned her hands in Sally’s and tightened the grip. “Don’t ever expect a man to take care of you. You’re your own responsibility.”

“Mr. Clay tried to take care of Ms. Talla, she just wouldn’t let him.”

Connor tensed. “How do you mean?”

“He tried to make her act right.” Sally looked over at the tray. “I’d better get back to the kitchen. Willene will be ready to snap my head off.”

“Wait a minute. How did Clay try to make his wife behave?”

“I wasn’t here.” Sally tugged her hands, but Connor kept the grip on them. “Willene said that he did everything under the sun.”

“Sally, tell me what you know.” Connor pulled the girl a half step toward her. “It’s important that I know.”

A red flush crept up Sally’s neck. “It was just talk, Connor. I’d say ask Willene, but then she’d know who told you. I should learn to keep my big mouth shut. No wonder everyone fusses at me all the time. I’m always messing up.” Tears welled in her eyes.

“I have to know, Sally.” Connor increased the pressure of her thumbs slightly.

“It’s nothing, really.” She blinked away her tears. “Willene just said that there were nights, when the children were in town, when Mr. Clay would come out here and get into it with Ms. Talla. Things got back to Mr. Clay about Ms. Talla. She’d have people out here, even when the children were here. There were parties, out in the gardens and mostly down in that garden room. Things went on … not normal things. Mr. Clay was afraid the children would see them.”

“I’ve heard most of this before,” Connor encouraged her. “So what did Clay do to try to take care of Talla?”

“He put her in the hospital.”

“Which hospital?”

“Beausonge, in Lake Charles. It was a big secret. No one is supposed to know.”

Connor didn’t have to ask about the hospital. It could be nothing else except a facility for disturbed people, people with emotional problems, dependencies.

“He had her institutionalized against her will?”

“I don’t think she wanted to go, but Beausonge is the finest institution available. They do wonderful things to help people.”

“Help people? Do what?”

“Learn to behave. But it backfired, anyway. That’s when Ms. Talla started getting all the drugs. She had prescriptions. Willene said it only got worse after that. Ms. Talla was so furious with him that she did more bad stuff out of spite. Ms. Talla said it was unjust that Mr. Clay could behave however he chose, and she could be imprisoned for doing the same things.”

Connor eased her grip on Sally’s hands until they slipped from her grasp. “How long was she in the hospital?”

“A long time. Mr. Clay did everything he could to help her. Money was no problem, and that hospital is several thousand dollars a day. He said it was worth anything to get the children’s mother back.

“How long was she there?” Connor repeated.

“At least six months.”

“And the children?”

“They were told their mother had gone to Europe to rest. That’s what everyone was told. To this day, everybody thinks she went to Switzerland to get some beauty treatment. And when she came back, she did look younger.”

“I’ll bet.” Connor spoke under her breath. There was undoubtably a lot more to this story than met the eye, but on the surface it made her skin crawl. Six months locked away, all her friends thinking she was on vacation.

“Connor, maybe you don’t understand how bad things were for Ms. Talla. She was wild, and getting worse. She didn’t care who got hurt. Little Renata was dogging her footsteps like a pale ghost, watching her all the time, taking in everything she said and did and how she had all those men coming and going. And she wasn’t nice to them. It wasn’t as if she cared about any of them. That’s why Renata is like she is today. She saw too much of how her mother acted. And got her way doing it. Mr. Clay had to do something.”

“Couldn’t he just have divorced her?” Sally wasn’t the person she should ask that question of. As soon as she said it, Connor regretted opening her mouth. “Let’s go see about Willene. Has she had any rest?”

“Very little.”

“Then let’s order her to bed.”

Sally smiled, a look of pure relief. “You can do that, at least very soon. You’ll be her boss.”

“Now that’s a frightening thought,” Connor said, forcing a smile and a light tone. “I can’t imagine anyone ever really being the boss of Willene.”

“That’s why Jeff said she never married. He said no man would put up with such pushiness in a woman.”

“I wouldn’t take Jeff’s assessment of Willene or any other woman,” Connor said gently. “It is interesting that Willene has never married. Maybe she’s given herself so completely to Oaklawn that she never had time to build a family of her own.”

“Jeff said that his mother told him that Willene had loved a man once, a real long time ago. And that he wasn’t true to her.” Sally picked up the tray and Connor held the door. When they were both on the landing, Connor made sure to lock the door behind them.

“That’s sad. Willene has a lot of love to give. She would have made a wonderful mother.” Connor shook her head.

“It is sad. Since her parents died, I know she’s glad to be back at Oaklawn full time. I know she’d come out here, after Ms. Talla died and no one was living here at all, and she’d cook for Old Henry and Jeff on the days they came to work.”

“She’s extremely dedicated to this family.”

“And she has no one of her own. She has that little house, but she doesn’t stay there much. Jeff said it was toward Mississippi. That’s how she and Mrs. Helveston see each other to talk. Willene says Jeff’s mother is a hard-working woman.” Sally cut a look at Connor. “They’re a hard-working family.”

“Jeff works hard, too, Sally, but that doesn’t make him the right man to marry.”

“He’s going to give me a ring next Christmas.”

“He’s said so?” Connor smelled a lie. “Jeff doesn’t strike me as the marrying kind.”

“Maybe not before, but I can change him.”

“It’s almost impossible to change a person, Sally.” Connor felt a deep sadness touch her. The information about Talla and Beausonge was extremely troubling. Clay had not told her the complete truth. The fact that he’d had his wife involuntarily institutionalized was no little matter.

“What’s wrong?” Sally asked.

“Who else knew that Talla went to Beausonge?”

Sally made it to the bottom of the steps before she answered. “Mr. Clay and Willene. Dr. Sumner. That’s all.”

“Not even her parents?”

“No, the Bienvilles would have had Clay put under the jail.”

“Why didn’t they do that when she got out?”

“Well, once she was there it was, it was like, part of her record or something. And they didn’t want to make a stink about it because it would get out all over town.”

“They let their daughter be sent, involuntarily, to a mental institution for half a year and they didn’t protest it because they didn’t want gossip?” Connor couldn’t help her voice rising. This was insane. This was as bad as any picture Richard Brian had ever painted of the crazy priorities of the people of Mobile.

“That’s right. Would have ruined her, and maybe the children.”

“That’s …”

“Mobile.” Willene finished the sentence as she stepped out of the dark at the entrance to the hallway. “I thought Sally had flown the coop to go build a nest with Jeff. I was coming for that tray myself.”

“I’m sorry, I got to talking with Connor and I just forgot the time.”

“And you forgot your position. You know gossip isn’t tolerated here. Mr. Clay will be asking for your resignation.” Willene’s words were cold, as harsh as a slap.

“There’s no need for Clay to know any of this,” Connor said smoothly. “I coerced Sally into talking. There are certain things I need to know.”

“And the proper person to ask is Mr. Clay.” Willene wasn’t about to budge. She blocked the hallway so that Sally couldn’t pass with the large tray and Connor was blocked behind her.

“I’ll ask Clay, but this house has secrets upon secrets. Sometimes I haven’t a clue what to ask because I haven’t learned the questions.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to know.”

“Whatever you believe, Willene, Sally will not be punished because I forced her to talk.”

“You aren’t wasting any time giving orders, are you?”

Connor heard Sally gasp at Willene’s tone. “I suppose not,” she said. “I didn’t mean it as an order, Willene. I’m not in the habit of ordering anyone around, nor do I intend to do that. But I can promise you that Sally won’t be punished. I think I have that much influence with Clay. That’s what I meant.”

Willene turned slowly. “We’re all too nerve-jangled. If we’re not careful, we’ll be fist-fighting. Now let’s go to the kitchen and make us a fresh pot of coffee.”

Connor cleaned her tack, again, and waited. For the first time in recent memory, the minutes dragged for her. And each hour got more difficult. Clay had called once from Emelle, only to say that he was going to Washington. He’d left the message with Willene. Connor hadn’t even had a chance to speak with him. If he’d left any numbers where he could be reached, Willene wasn’t giving them out.

The tension at Oaklawn was thick as cold soup. Willene was still sore over the encounter in the hall. Sally took every opportunity to avoid Connor. Renata had gone to spend a few days with her Grandmother Bienville. The request was so unusual that Willene had indicated Connor should grant it. There was almost no contact between the children and their grandmother. After what had happened in the garden room, both Connor and Willene agreed it would be best if Renata was away.

Only Danny remained his normal self. Riding was his passion. Not even Renata’s begging and tantrums could convince him to finish his Christmas vacation in the Bienville house in town. He insisted that he would stay with Ali Baba … and Connor.

Against all rational thought processes, Connor had watched the arrival of the big black Towncar at Oaklawn. The driver had gone to the door to collect Renata and her things. The only evidence that Talla’s mother had also come was when Renata walked down the steps, the back door of the car had opened and a slender arm in red wool had beckoned the child to the car. That was it.

Connor put the clean pieces of her bridle together and picked up another to clean. Life had taken a definite downward spiral. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she was so depressed. Clay had asked her to marry him. That should be joyful.

Elvie was beyond joy at her good fortune. Connor finally smiled, thinking about her friend’s wild enthusiasm about Clay’s marriage proposal. She and Elvie hadn’t spent a great deal of time together, but they were developing a solid friendship. Maybe, in the future, if things did work out and she stayed at Oaklawn, just maybe Elvie could come and help her train.

When she heard the sound of the car at the front of the drive, she looked out. Harlan Sumner. My, the gossip vine was already throbbing. No doubt Harlan had come to tell her how much he’d give her to leave town.

“I’m in the tackroom,” she called out to him without stopping her cleaning. When she felt his presence in the doorway she looked up. “So you’ve heard Clay’s asked me to marry him.”

“He’s an impetuous son-of-a-bitch. And you must be something else in bed.”

“Save your breath, Dr. Sumner. Nothing you say or do will have an impact on my decision.”

Harlan walked into the room. He picked up the bridle she’d just cleaned and let the leather slide through his fingers. “Zat so?”

“Your money doesn’t mean a thing to me.”

“I guess not, if you think you’re going to get your hands on all of Clay’s.” He laughed. “I never thought you were stupid.”