Happiness Key (33 page)

“Say you’ll meet me again. Say you’ll come and listen to everything I have to say. Because we can be together. I know a way.”

She found this perplexing. Was he suggesting she divorce Rishi? Was he planning to break his vows to Padmini? Did he plan for them to marry and live in a place where no one would know what they had done?

She shook her head. “There is no way.”

He stepped forward then, and lifted her chin. “You must hear me out. You still love me, too. I can see it in your eyes.”

She was pulled in by his voice, by the deep waves of sound lapping over her. She was entranced by the familiarity of his scent, something masculine, a hint of sandal-wood, a touch of cedar. At the same time, the words themselves nagged at her, as if these, too, had been practiced.

He smiled sadly. “I don’t know what to say or how to say it. I’m falling back on clichés, Janya, but they express what I feel. I love you. I will not live without you.”

“Really? Have I no say in this?”

“Please, hear me out, give me a little time before you decide something that will seal our lives in place.”

“You’ll make me late. My
husband
will worry.”

“I have to leave town. I’m in the United States on business. But I can be back next week. Tell me you’ll see me then. Give me this one chance to explain it all.”

Explain. That was the word that broke down her defenses. To have this explained. To understand once and for all everything that had happened. And yes, to have it explained by the man she had loved beyond reason.

“When?” she asked.

“Tuesday. I can pick you up here or anywhere you choose. After your husband goes to work in the morning.”

“No, I work, too. But I can meet you afterward.”

“Where?”

“There’s a park not far from where I work. We can sit outside and talk.”

“Do you want to be seen?”

She hadn’t thought of that. Was she hiding from Rishi now? Rishi, who had only been kind to her, who was waiting patiently for her to learn to love him. What would he think if someone he knew saw her with Darshan? How would she explain?”

Darshan saw her confusion. “I will rent a room at the Beach Haven Motel. Can you meet me there?”

She knew the place. She and Wanda had passed it on the way to Cargo Beach. It was far enough out of town that very likely no one familiar would see her.

“I’ll meet you in the lobby,” she said. “At five. To talk, Darshan. Just to talk.”

“Of course.”

She didn’t know what to do now, what to say. She did the only thing she could think of. She turned and went inside the house, and waited for him to leave. And once he had, she wiped her eyes, because of course, in the privacy of her home, she had finally wept.

On Saturday morning the telephone woke Tracy, who had promised herself a morning of sleeping in. It still rang so seldom that this was an event.

On the other end, Sherrie was bright and chirpy, considering it wasn’t even 6:00 a.m. in Arizona.

“Good morning, good morning!”

“Why is it good?” Tracy squinted at the bedside clock again, but the time didn’t change. It wasn’t quite eight in Palmetto Beach.

“Because a colleague of Wade’s is flying into Tampa for a conference, and I gave him your phone number. He’s gorgeous and available.”

“And rich?” Tracy stretched.

“Not CJ rich, more like your father rich. Before CJ mopped up the floor with him.”

“It’ll be nice if he calls.” Tracy thought it would be okay if he didn’t, too. “So how come you’re calling now? What are you doing up at this hour?”

“The girls had a sleepover last night. I haven’t been to bed yet.”

“Ouch.” Although, truthfully, Tracy thought that might be fun.

“So what’s up with you?”

Tracy told her about the rec center, the mural and upcoming shuffleboard tournament, the joys of taming Bay Egan into something approximating a normal boy; then she ended with her neighbors.

“So the quest to find Herb’s daughter’s hit a big snag, but it’s worse than that.” As succinctly as she could, she told Sherrie about Alice and everything that had transpired. “We’re all worried about her,” she finished.

“Wow. Do you think she really ripped up the whole tablecloth?”

“I don’t know what happened, but it seems more and more suspicious. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and just watch what’s going on at that house.”

“Well, you know, you can. They call it a nanny cam, although in this case it’s more like a granny cam.”

Tracy knew what a nanny cam was, of course. But she had never considered using one in Alice’s cottage—or anywhere, for that matter.

“Isn’t that against the law?”

“Well, you’d have to check locally. But I have a friend who was concerned about the way a babysitter was treating her son. He was hyper every time my friend went out and much too quiet after she came home. So she installed one in his bedroom and one on the mantel.”

“What did she find out?”

“That the kid was a devil. He tired himself out running around the house and abusing the poor sitter, and that’s why he was so exhausted.”

“Well, I guess that was worth discovering.”

“You
are
the landlady. That probably gives you rights.”

“I’ll talk to my friends, but it’s an idea. I should have thought of it.”

“You tend to think the best of people.”

“It’s easier than wondering.”

“You always make yourself out to be lazy and completely self-involved.”

“And your point would be?”

“That you just hate to condemn people. So if you see something, you give it the best spin. That’s why you stayed with CJ so long.”

“You’re making me sound virtuous instead of like the spoiled rotten divorcée I am.”

“Trace, if you were spoiled rotten, you wouldn’t have taken that job. Or tiled your own floor. Or even gone off to Florida to wrestle this property thing into the ground. You’re a lot more than you ever thought, and every time I talk to you, you just sound better. You’re coming into your own.”

Tracy was touched. “Wow, if I look in the mirror, will I see a halo?”

“Don’t get carried away.”

They talked about Sherrie then, and when they hung up, Tracy was wide-awake and ready to start her day.

She decided against a run. Last night she had sealed the last seam on her new floor, and she wanted to show it off. An hour later she was serving good coffee and coffee cake she’d bought in town as the bakery doors were opening. The coffee cake was a splurge, but this was a celebration.

“So, what do you think?” she asked Wanda and Janya, who had finished wandering through the house, examining her work. “Am I good or what?”

“I’ve got to hand it to you,” Wanda said. “You did a
professional job. It’s sure a big step up from what you had before. Makes it look like a home.”

“And you learned all this from a book?” Janya squatted and ran her fingers over a seam.

“I did. I made mistakes, but next time I’ll do even better.”

“You planning on going into business?” Wanda asked.

“The clearance center where I bought my tile has a fall sale. We could do your floors, if any of the tile gets cheap enough.”

“You’re serious? Aren’t you trying to sell this property?”

“Do you see anybody busting down my door to buy it?” Tracy thought of Marsh’s offer. She thought of Marsh. She’d been doing that a lot lately.

“What’s the catch?”

“You have to help, and it takes time. But come September I’ll be unemployed, and I could work on it then. It’s dirty and messy.”

“What if Ken helped instead of me?” Wanda said. “I don’t think my knees will take it.”

“You think he’ll still be around?”

“I’ll get back to you on that.” Wanda looked down at the floor, then up at Tracy. “But you know, that’s a nice offer. I sure never expected it.”

“I like tile,” Janya said. “Perhaps we could do designs.”

“That would be cool. I saw some ideas in one of the books I got from the library.” Tracy ushered them into the kitchen and poured coffee into her best cups. “I’m thinking of doing tile on these counters, too. Now that I know how to install it. And up the wall for a backsplash.”

Wanda accepted her cup and saucer. “This sounds like more than a slow real-estate market. This sounds like
somebody who’s moving in to stay. You put all this sweat equity into a place, you still want to see it torn down?”

“I’m a one-day-at-a-time kind of gal. If I’m going to live here, I just want it to be a place I like waking up in.”

They took the platter of sliced coffee cake into the living room. The others sank into comfortable chairs, and Tracy made herself at home on the sofa. She wasn’t sure how she would spend her weekends now that her big project was completed, but she thought relaxing with friends was a good start.

“I noticed the Lee-wagon was parked in front of Alice’s,” Wanda said. “That why she’s not here?”

“I knew better than to ask.”

“Have you spoken to her?” Janya asked. “Since lunch at my house?”

“I’ve spoken to Lee.” He had been polite, but she’d been glad to see that his interest in her had cooled, either because of their difference of opinion about Alice, or because he was no longer optimistic about selling her property. Either way, it didn’t say anything positive about him.

Wanda plopped two more sugar cubes in her coffee. “And what’s his story?”

“He says when she’s feeling better, I can visit. For now she’s resting. They think she had another stroke.”

“Really?” Janya didn’t sound convinced. “She was fine last Saturday when we were together. And if what you say is true, she destroyed the tablecloth before she came. Would we have been so blind as not to see she was distressed?”

“How did he act?” Wanda said. “Like he was really concerned? Or like he was hiding something?”

Obviously Tracy was not a good judge of character.
Mr. Living Proof was stamping out license plates in California. “He acted…like he was acting.”

“Does this mean you’re no longer enamored of the hunky Mr. Symington?” Wanda reached for another slice of cake. “Me, I think he’s as high on the creep factor as a buzzard circling a car wreck.”

“Where do you come up with these expressions?”

“I was lucky enough to be born in the swamp, Valley Girl. You have some catching up to do.”

“Then you aren’t certain he’s telling the truth?” Janya asked.

“I don’t know what to think. Lee told me he stayed here in Palmetto Grove after his wife died because he wanted to take care of Alice. For his wife’s sake. He had to give up a good job in Atlanta. Would he do something like that if he didn’t have her best interests in mind?”

“Atlanta?” Janya asked. “He was moving the family that far away?”

“He said after Karen died, he just couldn’t do it. I guess he knew taking Olivia so far away would be hard on Alice, even if she didn’t need looking after.”

“You see, this is peculiar,” Janya said. “Because Olivia told me her mother had found a new house for them, but her father didn’t know. She told me all about the color they would paint her room, but she said the house was a secret.”

“Where?”

“I’m not certain, but not as far away as Atlanta. She said they drove there one day to begin painting. She said she would need to be in a different school, that the new house, the secret house, wasn’t right here in town.”

“Well, they could have driven to Atlanta, but that’s a long trip for a few coats of paint,” Wanda said. “And if
so, why didn’t she say so? Olivia’s old enough to remember something like that.”

“She said the house had four bedrooms, and her mother would use one as an office.” Janya put her finger on the tip of her nose, as if she were thinking. “And she talked about her parents fighting.”

They sat in silence a moment. “Four bedrooms?” Tracy asked. “One for Karen and Lee, one for Olivia, one for an office. And who would the other one be for?”

“A guest room?” Wanda guessed. “Pretty common.”

Janya shook her head. “No, she said that there would be a room for everyone, and the last room would be her mother’s office.”

“Alice,” Tracy said. “She was planning to bring Alice. That’s why Karen didn’t care if the lease here at the beach was short-term. In fact, if that’s right, short-term was a plus. Maybe they sold Alice’s house, then settled her here until Karen could find a place they could all share.”

“Of course the interesting question is whether Karen was planning to bring her husband along,” Wanda said. “Let’s face it, who rents a house without telling his majesty unless she’s planning to leave him?”

“Olivia said she had to be careful not to say anything to her father. And after her mother died, Olivia didn’t tell him because she thought it would make him sad.”

Wanda sniffed. “That child is too good with secrets. That’s not natural. None of this makes one whit of sense.”

“What exactly did Olivia say about the fighting?” Tracy asked Janya.

“She said when they fought, she wished they would stop. And after her mother died, she thought maybe she was to blame for wishing.”

“Poor kid.”

“I’m getting a bad feeling here,” Wanda said. “Like
maybe we’re not getting the straight scoop about Lee being a conscientious son-in-law who devotes himself to Alice out of love for his dead wife. He must have found out about the house after she died, at the latest. The new landlord would have tracked him down. If she was leaving him, he knew.”

Tracy set her coffee cup on the table. “I can’t stand the thought that something might be going on over there that could hurt Alice or Olivia. I check in with Olivia at camp, of course, but her attendance was spotty this week. I think Lee is keeping her home to watch Alice or to keep her away from me.”

“She hasn’t been to my house,” Janya said. “She used to come often, but not since last Saturday.”

“I’m trying to stay friendly with Lee. I want him to know we have our eye on things, but that’s not enough. We don’t have any evidence—not really, anyway—that things are amiss over there. All we have are a few vague suspicions, maybe nothing more than a difference of opinion about what Alice needs. I was telling a college friend about this earlier, and she suggested I install a nanny cam.”

Wanda whistled softly. Janya looked perplexed, so Tracy explained. “It’s a hidden camera. And it records people without them knowing.”

“Is such a thing legal?”

“I can ask Kenny.” Wanda dusted the crumbs from her hands and reached for her coffee cup. “He’ll know what, if anything, we can do.”

“Then I guess we have to decide if we should go ahead with it. It’s such a huge invasion of privacy.”

“Let’s just wait and see what he says. For all we know, it’s done all the time.”

“That’s not a pretty thought.”

Wanda turned to Janya. “Now for the fun gossip. Who was that good-looking man waiting at your house after you dropped me off on Monday night? The one you were talking to outside on your lawn.”

Tracy thought lawn was a misnomer, but she noted Janya’s startled expression.

“You saw?”

“Chase had been cooped up all afternoon while you and I were gone. He needed a walk. I just caught a glimpse. Of course, it’s none of my business….” From Wanda’s tone, that last was more a formality than anything else.

“A man I knew in India.” Janya looked as if she were debating. “Darshan.”

“What?” Tracy slapped the sofa. “Are you kidding me? The man you were going to marry? He came here? All the way to Florida? To see you? What for?” She added Wanda’s line, with the same lack of sincerity. “Of course it’s none of my business….”

“Do you always say that? Here in America, when you want to know everything?”

“Only when we’re struggling to be polite.”

“I am not sure what he wants. He says he still loves me.”

“Get out!”

Janya looked startled for the second time. “Really? This offends you?”

“No, no! That’s just an expression. It means, like, you’re kidding me, okay? I don’t really want you to
go.
I want you to tell us what he said.”

“He said my marriage was a mistake.”

“A real master of timing, this guy,” Wanda said. “Now that you’re safely married, he can say anything he wants. What’s it going to hurt?”

“But why would he bother?” Tracy could tell Janya was upset, but the question seemed reasonable. “What did he want from you? Forgiveness? A blessing on his new marriage? Or is he married yet?”

“Not until September.”

“So what, is this a last-ditch effort? He wants you to divorce your husband and marry him before he ties the knot?”

“Or maybe men in India marry more than one woman,” Wanda said, obviously fascinated by the possibility.

“No! Not Hindu men. Please, can you imagine me living side by side with Padmini?” Janya almost smiled, and Tracy was glad to see it.

“He couldn’t have come all this way just to tell you he made a mistake.” Tracy knew men, and not a one would suck down airline meals on a transoceanic journey just to explain his feelings. Even the best of the bunch.