Happiness Key (38 page)

Help me?
Even if she had heard Alice correctly, what was Tracy supposed to help her with? Maybe Alice needed a glass of water or a trip to the bathroom, and she’d hoped Tracy could assist.

Or maybe she needed someone to protect her from Lee.

She might only have minutes before Lee and Olivia came back. Unfortunately, she was getting used to snooping through her renters’ lives, but this time she knew better than to touch Alice’s belongings. Lee would know if anything was moved. Even the hairs on the man’s head seemed to have been assigned specific coordinates. Trudging through a hurricane, he would still look exactly the same.

She walked through the house, checking to see if anything was in sight that might provide information. She noted two smoke detectors, which meant she had even less reason to be there, but everything she might find interesting had been put away. Short of rifling through drawers, she had no alternatives.

She had reached an impasse. She had to have more information, and she knew there was only one way to get it. Olivia was too young to turn on her father. Alice was too sick. Only Lee himself could tell the story. Tracy had
grown up with the children of actors, lived on the same streets, shopped at the same grocery stores. Film stars had been her neighbors, but she had never expected to make a neighbor a film star. Not until now.

“Granny cam, here we come.”

She locked the front door and let herself out the back, making sure the door locked behind her. Then she zigzagged behind the house until she was far enough away that she could safely walk along the road again. Halfway to Wanda’s house, Lee’s new Infiniti passed, and she gave a friendly wave, although she couldn’t see anyone through the tinted windows.

She could act, too. She just hoped her performance was going to be good enough.

Janya decided to cook, really cook. Not a library-inspired recipe, with ingredients, smells and tastes she wasn’t familiar with. She was hungry for food she understood, food that satisfied her hunger for all things Indian. If the women of Happiness Key enjoyed the dishes she prepared, wasn’t it time to take a chance on Rishi, who, at the very least, had been familiar with Indian cooking during his childhood?

More important, she had finally faced something she had hidden, even from herself. Although she’d couched her attempt to learn American cooking as a gesture to please her husband, not cooking the foods she loved best had been a rebellion. She’d moved to the United States to leave an unhappy life behind, but she’d brought unhappiness with her. She kept this part of herself, along with others, close to her heart. On the outside, she tried to conform to Rishi’s desires, but on the inside, she carefully hoarded secrets. What kind of marriage could be built on such a foundation?

She hoped that when Rishi came home tonight, he would see and appreciate more than the food she was preparing. She hoped he would also see her effort to express who she was through cooking it for him.

In the midst of considering this, she heard a key turning in the front door, and, surprised, she went into the living room to investigate. Rishi walked in.

“Rishi.” She heard the welcome in her own voice. “So you decided you don’t need to work all day?”

He smiled, and she smiled back. “The house smells wonderful. Like my childhood in Bhopal.”

Surprised, she confessed, “I’ve tried and failed to be a good American cook. I’ll take lessons at the rec center in the fall, but tonight we eat food I understand how to prepare.”

“Janya, I want you to be
you.
If the smells are any indication, I want you to cook what you want to cook. Please. Forever.”

“You really think you might like it?”

“I don’t know when you got the idea I didn’t want you to cook what you’re familiar with. Yes, I’m used to American food. Too much of the time as a boy I was given money to walk into town and buy my own meals, because no one was going to be home to make dinner, and I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen. So yes, that’s what I’m used to. But I never wanted it to be that way.”

She was touched, and she didn’t know what to say. How many other things had she misunderstood? How many false assumptions had she made?

How many terrible meals had she served while she was keeping herself from the man who wanted only whatever she could give him?

Since Darshan’s visit, she had opened to Rishi more and more, feeling what he felt and hoping for better than
mere tolerance. Now she went to him. There was still one thing that stood between them, and she hoped if they could find their way around it, perhaps someday, sooner than she had thought possible, they might have a real chance at happiness.

But he didn’t kiss her, which surprised her, since the moment was so right for it, and he was just American and romantic enough to find it so. Instead he stepped back.

“I have a surprise, too.”

She encouraged him with a smile. “Can it be as delicious as mine?”

“I think you’ll find it delicious. In a different way.”

“Tell me.”

“I haven’t been at work this morning. That was just a story I concocted. I went to the airport.”

For a moment Janya didn’t understand. Then Rishi stepped aside and she saw Yash—handsome, smiling Yash—walking through the open doorway.

She stood perfectly still for a moment, wondering if she were imagining her brother coming toward her. Then she clapped her hands. “Yash!” She ran forward and grabbed him, dancing up and down. “Yash, what are you doing here?” she asked in their native tongue.

He wrapped his arms around her for a brief embrace. “Have you forgotten what day it is, big sister?”

“No. Yes! Yes! It’s Saturday.”

“Today is Raksha Bandhan. And since you weren’t in India to tie the bracelet you sent, I had to come to America so you could do it here.”

That evening when her mother phoned, Janya was not surprised. Soon after his arrival Yash had left a message telling their parents where he was, but, exhausted from
his travels, he was asleep by the time Inika Desai finally returned his call.

Janya listened as her mother accused her of kidnapping her brother, of scheming to separate Yash from his family, of refusing to be a repentant, respectful daughter and distance herself from those for whom she had caused so much trouble.

When the harangue ended, Janya took a deep breath. “I was as surprised as you that Yash came to visit, but I shouldn’t have been. You see, nothing you can do will make him less of a brother to me.”

When the next flood of accusations ended, Janya replied simply. “I hope someday you’ll want to be part of my life again,
Aii.
But it will be up to you to let me know. I’ll stop calling. When your grandchildren are born, I won’t bother you with the news. But know if you change your mind, our door will be open.” Then she replaced the receiver.

She had not felt half as calm as she sounded. Now tears washed away what was left of the pretense. She had no control over the things her mother did, but she
could
control what she herself did about them. Perhaps in the future her mother would understand how much she had lost and try to find her daughter again. But for now, Janya told herself, she still had a family. She had Yash.

She had Rishi.

She felt a hand grip her shoulder, and she turned and rested her head against her husband’s chest. He put his arms around her and held her until the tears finally ceased.

She stepped back and wiped her tears with the tail of her shirt. “Rishi, this isn’t the only sorrow in my life. I need to tell you something.”

He covered her hand and held it to his cheek; then he
kissed her palm before he released it. “Not here, with your brother sleeping in the other room.”

She thought of her favorite spot on the beach, where she had never taken him. “I know where we can go.”

The evening was warm, but it felt familiar and comforting, except that the salt tang of the air was bracing in the way city air never had been.

They walked side by side, not holding hands, but their bodies brushing as they moved. Rishi was silent, as if he knew she was deep in thought and would not want to be disturbed. This was just another example of the ways he had changed, and how hard he struggled to be sensitive to her needs.

She wound through the brush, even when he protested that it was growing dark and they ought to be careful. “It’s not as wild as it seems,” she said. “This is my favorite place on the key. I should have showed it to you a long time ago.”

They emerged in the little cove where she and the other women had so often come to sunbathe and gossip. She thought of all the centuries when women in her own country had found places to be together and talk about things that mattered to them. Those places in villages and small cities were often associated with household chores like washing clothes or hauling water. But no matter where they were in the world, no matter who they were or whatever their differences, women always found other women to share their lives.

She stood looking out at the water, arms folded over her chest. Evening melodies were beginning, and Janya could see the lights of a ship moving slowly against the horizon.

“Yash told me that you helped him pay for his trip,” she said.

He sounded embarrassed. “He shouldn’t have told you. It’s no matter.”

“Of course it is. You are so good to me. You knew what having him here would do for my spirits. I’m so grateful.”

“He’s our family. I hope he’ll come often.”

“Rishi, that’s not what I need to tell you.” She faced him. “I don’t know how to begin.”

“Say it quickly. It will be easier.”

“Nothing can make it easier. I am ashamed.”

“Let me decide if you need to be.”

She wanted to turn away, but she knew she had to face him, to see his expression. “Darshan Tambe came to see me. He was on a business trip. I didn’t invite him, and I refused to open the e-mails he sent before he came, so I was not expecting to see him again. That much I did right. But he found where I lived and came here, to our house, and waited until I was alone. He asked me to meet him somewhere while you were away at work. He said he had to explain everything that had happened.”

Even though she was still facing him, she couldn’t read his expression. He was trying hard to keep his feelings to himself, but he nodded. “Go on.”

“We had been betrothed. I had been sure I loved him. I… That experience haunted me. It was so painful. Can you understand?”

He nodded again, but said nothing.

“I went. I had to know. This was a door that had been left open.”

“And you had to know where it led?”

“No, no! I had to close it. Once and for all. So I did. I’ll never see Darshan again. I made certain of that. I brought some of his gifts into our marriage. It was foolish, I know, but I… When you and I married, I just wasn’t ready to let him go, Rishi, I’m sorry. Now he has them
back, every one. And I told him if he ever contacts me again, I will tell Padmini and his parents everything.”

“He still wanted you?”

She looked down at her feet, deeply ashamed of her own actions and Darshan’s assumptions. This was the hardest part, but she owed Rishi a full explanation.

“Not as his wife. Never as his wife. As we talked, I realized he and Padmini had made certain of that together. Marrying me was not advantageous enough, so he made sure our betrothal would end. But he still wanted the things that come with marriage. He’s a very bad person. I’m so lucky he’s gone from my life.”

“Truly gone now?”

She looked up. “Forever. If I were a better person, I would even feel sorry for my cousin, who probably doesn’t know what she has ahead of her.” She paused. “But I’m not that good.”

He touched her cheek. “Why have you told me, Janya? I never would have learned this.”

“Because we’ve made a fresh start, but
you
didn’t know we had, and you needed to.”

He smiled. Gravely. “And what kind of start will it be?”

“The kind we should have made at the beginning. The kind where our pasts are forgotten and our future can be created together.”

“Americans believe in love at first sight.”

“Americans are not always right.”

“Until I met you, I thought it was silly, too. You were just one of the women my aunt and uncle thought I should consider, but I knew the moment you walked into the living room of your parents’ home that I had found the one I wanted to marry. I know it was different for you, that you were still caught up in a part of your life that had
ended. I was warned to choose someone else because you would always yearn for the man you had lost, but I hoped someday you would put the past behind you and feel what I felt that afternoon.”

She was touched, as she had been earlier, but with much more than sympathy now. She really was happy to be standing here, enveloped in the deepening August twilight with Rishi, to know that he accepted her as she was, that he cared about her in a way no man had ever cared before. And he would care for her always, without reservation.

For the first time since their introduction, she thought their marriage might bring them both happiness.

“I’ve had love at first sight,” she said. “This time, I’ll try love that grows steadily, the kind that comes from building a life and a family together. The kind that’s taking root here now, Rishi.”

His eyes said it all.

She was the one who moved first, who slipped her arms over his shoulders and brought him closer. Behind them, the waves lapped at the shore, as if searching for purchase. Seabirds squawked and called to each other as they scanned the beach for perches for the night. Janya wished them well. For the first time she understood what it was to feel truly at home in her new country and life. She had found safe harbor.

“Air freshener?” Tracy said as Wanda held up the package she’d just delivered to Tracy’s house. “Nanny cam air freshener? I’m never going to feel safe again. Never going to scratch or pull up my pantyhose or pick my nose anywhere in the whole world.”

“You never once picked that debutante nose of yours.”

“Well, I’m definitely not going to start now.”

“This is the most expensive air freshener in the world, and it doesn’t freshen a darn thing.” Wanda removed a slotted plastic box about the size of a deck of cards, which looked a lot like the ones plugged in at Alice’s house wafting lilac fumes through the air. “What do you think?”

“I think we’ve got a good shot.” Tracy took the device out of Wanda’s hand and turned it over. It looked completely innocuous. “And all I have to do is plug it into a socket?”

“It’s the easiest way to go. It’s got a built-in motion detector, so it only records when something’s moving. Works like that for maybe three to four days, even has
time-stamp technology, then you remove it and play back whatever you filmed on your computer or a television set.”

The removal part sounded like bad news to Tracy. “So I have to go back to Alice’s in a few days and retrieve it?”

“Yeah, you have to remove the whole thing, and I know that’s bad. But Kenny says the other alternatives are worse. Most cameras either have battery packs that don’t last more than a few hours, or they have to be wired in place. Then they have to send their signal to a receiver, and that would have to be positioned somewhere else, and reception—”

“I get it. The sooner I install this, the better. You didn’t say how he got hold of it.”

“The department impounded a roomful of spy toys from a business under indictment for doing a little too much spying on their own. We lucked out, but it’s not something we’re going to tell just everybody, okay?”

Tracy thought ahead. “Now I’ve got to wait for Lee to leave.”

“That’s another good thing. You can plug this in and get out in a matter of seconds. He doesn’t have to be gone more than a minute or two. Just take one of the old fresheners out and put this in its place.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t look exactly the same as the ones she has now.”

“He’s a man. More or less. Do you know a man anywhere who pays attention to what air freshener looks like?”

Two days had passed since her last trip to Alice’s, and Tracy wasn’t willing to let more time go by. She wasn’t sure what they might record, but she hoped it would be enough to get a full investigation.

“I don’t know for sure that she said ‘help me.’ If she
did, I don’t know what she wanted me to do.” Tracy had said this before, but none of the women were convinced. Both Wanda and Janya were as worried as she was.

“This time, if my phone’s busy, you just wait before you go inside, you hear? Don’t take it on yourself like you did last time. Lee came back right after you left the house. That’s cutting things way too close.”

“Even if he changes his mind a block away and starts back home, I’ll be finished.”

“You do like I say, Miss Priss. Don’t go in without telling us. Here’s my cell phone number.” Wanda jotted the number on a piece of paper and handed it to Tracy. “Now, I’ve got to scoot, but we’ll have this taken care of shortly. Don’t hide the camera so it can’t take pictures, but don’t put it in a real obvious place. Replace one of the old ones, whatever you do, and bring it home. Then you can put it back when you go over to retrieve this one.”

“You and Janya are going to try to keep an eye on the house and let me know if he leaves?”

“She’s busy with that good-looking brother of hers, but she says she’ll be watching whenever she’s home. Me, I got to go buy dog food and who knows what all, but I’ll be back in an hour or two.”

Tracy saw Wanda to the door. A thunderstorm was brewing, the spin-off of a tropical storm that was moving slowly up the coast, and even though it was only late afternoon, the sky was as dark as if the sun had just set for the night. Wind kicked sand along the road, and palm trees and live oaks bowed and bobbed in an eerie dance. Earlier that afternoon Marsh had suggested she come to his house and watch the storm blow in. As much as she’d wanted to, she had declined.

In the weeks since their barbecue, she and Marsh had fallen into a pattern. A couple of times a week they got
together, sometimes for nothing more than a walk on the beach. Bay was always with them. The boy’s presence was a safety valve. Although she and Marsh never discussed a relationship, she knew Happiness Key was the log in the water their little love boat just couldn’t get around. Until that was resolved and they could view whatever damage they had sustained, going forward was just too hazardous.

So for now they didn’t owe each other explanations. Which was good, since Marsh was a lawyer, and she was pretty sure he would have something to say about what she was planning. Something she didn’t want to hear.

She closed the door and turned the camera in her hand. The ominously dark skies reminded her of the afternoon when she had gone to Alice’s and seen the unraveled tablecloth. She had never been creeped out by thunder and lightning, but storms on the gulf were so impossible to ignore that she had developed an acute appreciation for their power. Now she wasn’t sure if it was weather or the permanent cloud that seemed to hover over Alice’s cottage that made her the most uneasy. She wished the evening were over.

Hoping to snap out of her funk, she stripped off her camp clothes and showered, slipping into comfortable shorts and a tank top. She dried her hair, then pinned it up off her neck. She was looking at the television listings, trying to figure out how to spend the evening, when the telephone rang.

“Miss Deloche?”

Tracy recognized Maribel’s voice. She almost complimented the Realtor on finally getting her last name right. Maybe Tracy had exorcized CJ’s ghost at last.

“Sold Happiness Key yet?” she asked instead.

“Well, not that cut-and-dried, but I do have a couple
of developers who are very interested. We’ve been down twice to look at it.”

Tracy plopped down on the sofa. “You’re kidding.”

“I know it’s been touch and go, but didn’t I tell you somebody would be willing to take on Wild Florida and the economy? It was just a matter of wait and see. They’re talking less money than you want, of course, but we’re in the early stages of negotiation. Leave it to me. I’ll get them higher.”

“I talked to Lee a couple of days ago, and he didn’t mention anything. In fact, he was pretty pessimistic.”

“Lee?”

Sometimes Tracy worried about Maribel. “Lee Symington.”

“I’m not sure why he was talking to you at all.”

Tracy was confused. “Umm…he’s my neighbor. And he works for you.”

“Not anymore.”

If she hadn’t already been sitting down, that would have put Tracy in a chair. “I’m sorry? What?”

“Lee and I parted company a week ago. Maybe somebody else hired him and he’s still hoping to sell your property.” There was a pause. “Although nobody’s asked for a recommendation. I would have remembered that.”

Tracy wasn’t one to read between the lines, or at least she hadn’t bothered to very often. But she was quickly piecing together all the things Maribel hadn’t said.

She went straight to the heart of it. “I need you to be honest. Will you tell me why you parted company?”

“That’s not exactly legal.”

“Maribel, I’m not going to tell anybody, but it would help. He’s, you know, sniffing around this listing with a lot of energy. Can he be trusted?”

Another long pause ensued. “Sometimes it pays to be careful,” Maribel said at last.

“Can’t you be more specific?”

“Let’s just say I wouldn’t trust the man or anything he says.”

“Wow.”

“I particularly wouldn’t let him near my bank accounts.”

“Double wow.”

“You didn’t hear this from me, understand? I don’t want him suing me, and he’s the kind who will, if he thinks he can make a buck.”

Tracy didn’t triple wow, but her mind was racing. “Okay, you didn’t tell me a thing, and I didn’t listen. But while I’m not listening, let me get an opinion. Everyone here’s worried about Alice, his mother-in-law. Lee seems to be keeping her out of sight. Do we have cause for concern? Is he capable of violence?”

“I’ll deny I said this. You’re not recording me?”

Tracy knew more about spying in Florida than she’d ever expected to. “Can’t. It’s not legal.”

“A few months ago Lee was on the verge of making a sale to a family moving into Palmetto Grove. At the last minute the buyers changed their mind and backed out. The father’s new job started looking shaky, and he decided they’d better rent a little longer, just in case.”

Tracy remembered Lee being down about a sale that had fallen through. “And?”

“The morning after they told Lee they had changed their mind, the father went outside, and all his tires had been slashed. To shreds. On top of that, the car had been keyed. You know what that means?”

“Somebody took a key and scraped the paint.”

“Exactly. Only this was more than a few scrapes, this
was extensive damage. Gouges, the kind somebody with a serious grudge inflicts. The father came to me, and of course I told him it couldn’t have been Lee, but now I’m not sure. I know he’s dishonest. I know he has a temper. Unfortunately, I’ve seen both up close. Let’s just say ever since I fired him, I’m parking my own car in my garage, and I’ve got neighbors watching the house.”

“Fired?”

“I can’t say more.”

She had already said enough. Tracy’s stomach felt like a pretzel. So all along Janya had been right about the destruction on her patio. And what about Alice’s tablecloth? The one she didn’t remember unraveling?

Because she hadn’t. Lee had. Maybe he had come home and discovered that Alice and Olivia were at Janya’s with the other women. How easy it would have been to just destroy the tablecloth, then pretend Alice had done it herself.

She thanked Maribel and hung up; then she went to the window and looked out over the street. Now she was even more anxious to get the camera in place. If Lee was trying to make sure nosy neighbors didn’t visit, might he wait to leave until the weather was unpleasant enough to scare them off?

She couldn’t see Alice’s driveway from her window, but she wondered if Lee would use the approaching storm as cover and slip out for a little while.

Slip out in his brand-new car. And what about that? Where had the money for the Infiniti come from? She was afraid she knew.

Her phone rang again, more calls than she normally got in days. Janya’s musical voice greeted her.

“He just left.”

Tracy felt every muscle in her body tense. “Let Wanda
know, okay? I’m heading over. Did he have Olivia with him?”

“It’s so dark, I wasn’t able to see.”

“Just keep your eyes open. And wish me luck.”

Tracy hung up. Fifteen seconds. Unlock the door, switch the real air freshener for the fake. Lock the front door and leave again by the back. The last visit had been a practice session, and this would be easier, because she wasn’t going to check on Alice. She would just pop in and out.

Right.

Of course she would check on Alice.

She slipped on a waterproof parka and slid the camera into her shorts pocket. She made sure her tennis shoes were tied, made sure she had the key ring with Alice’s key; then she left her own front door unlocked and took off down the road.

The street was empty, but the storm was closer now. The weather forecasters had feared it might turn into a hurricane, but it had weakened en route. Now the dark skies were her ally, as was the lack of streetlamps, although she was uncharacteristically spooked by both. She wondered if Wanda would call Ken. She hoped so. At least he would know something was in play.

Halfway to Alice’s, she remembered that Wanda was at the grocery store. Tracy had Wanda’s cell phone number at home on her kitchen counter, but that wasn’t going to do any good. And she’d been in such a rush to leave that she hadn’t brought her own cell, so now she couldn’t call Janya to alert her to the slipup.

There were no lights on at Alice’s, which seemed odd, because all the other cottages were softly lit. Even Herb’s had a lamp on a timer to discourage vandals. She gazed up the road, but she didn’t see headlights. She cut across
Alice’s grass and up to the porch. Then, heart pounding from more than exertion, she unlocked the door.

The house was so dark that she had to pause near the doorway while her eyes adjusted. Why hadn’t Lee left a lamp on for Alice? Perhaps he’d planned to return so quickly he figured it didn’t matter.

Or maybe Alice was no longer in need of one.

She didn’t dare turn on a lamp herself. She waited until her eyes adjusted, then she let the slashes of lightning give her an extra boost. With the next burst she spotted an outlet near the door, on the opposite side of a small end table. She bent over, checking the line of sight. As far as she could tell, nothing would block a view of the room, but the outlet wasn’t obvious because of the table beside it. Best of all, Alice had one of her own plug-ins installed there, which explained the faint puff of lilac whenever somebody walked through the door.

Tracy pulled out the real air freshener, which was smaller and shaped a little differently from the one housing the camera, but the two were enough alike that she thought Lee would only notice if he were suspicious enough to investigate. They were probably safe. She doubted he would give any of the women enough credit to consider this possibility.

She was furious with herself for falling prey to a sociopath after she had just divorced one. When this was over, she was going into therapy.

It only took seconds to install the camera air freshener and pocket the other. Then she crossed the room and started down the hall. Olivia wasn’t here. Either she’d been with her father in the Lee-mobile, or she had gone home with a friend after camp. Tracy had been relieved to see Olivia at the rec center that morning. The girl was
more subdued than ever, and less inclined to chat, but at least Tracy knew she was still okay.

Except who was watching over Alice?