Threads of Steel (Bayou Cove) (13 page)

“Good. My morning is booked, but you tell me when you can come after noon, and I’ll be there with my assistant. I’d like to do the bridesmaids’ measurements within the next few days as well.”

They made the arrangement as Elizabeth flew out the door.

Mrs.
McEntire
went straight to the sidebar. “Would you like a sip of sherry? My daughter has a way of driving me to drinking.” She laughed after she said it, but Anna Marie wondered how much truth there was in her statement.

“Only a sip, please.
I have to drive home.”

The lady poured a small amount into one crystal glass and handed it to Anna Marie. She poured more into another one and immediately took a drink. “If you’ll follow me into my husband’s study, I’ll give you a check.”

The couple swallows of sherry warmed her throat as it went down, but the feeling of the check as she tucked it into her purse warmed her entire body.

“Stephen,” she said into the phone as soon as she pulled out of the drive. “It’s ours. The wedding is ours.”

* * *

As the wrought iron gates closed behind her car, Anna Marie imagined the click of the lock. She was a visitor in this area of the city, nothing more. She would make their daughter’s wedding a social event to be talked about for years, but afterwards, she’d walk away to do another and probably never be invited into this home again.

She smiled at that thought. Why would she want to be invited back? This isn’t where she belonged. The
McEntires
were very nice, but nothing presented itself as a common ground between them for anything but a working acquaintance.

With her hands on the steering wheel, she stopped the car at the road and waited for her turn in the line of traffic. Where did she belong?
Certainly not here, but where?

She and Stephen had found their place in the work community in the city, but is this city where she really felt as home?

“Of course it is,” she said out loud and pressed on the gas. She turned down St. Charles, but couldn’t keep herself from looking into her rear-view mirror at the
McEntires
’ gabled roof peeking through the tops of the trees.

“So grand,” she whispered
.

Immediately the words made her think of Miss Ellie’s house back in Bayou Cove. It too had been grand in its day for that part of the coast. Its rooflines were as intricate as the
McEntires
’ and its columns were as stately, though on a smaller scale
.

She stopped at a light and looked back over her shoulder. No longer could she see the house, but was she really thinking about the
McEntires
’ home or was she thinking about Miss Ellie’s? She hoped someone in Miss Ellie’s family would care for it and restore it to its original beauty
.

At one time the home was surrounded by other well-kept family homes. Now some of them had been turned into law-offices or other types of businesses. Still the street had the feel of a street in the Victorian era. She and
Doti
and Nancy had loved being in that home, and all of them dreamed of living in such splendor.

Now, it would probably be divided into apartments or offices.

“Oh well,” she said out loud. What went on in Bayou Cove was no longer her business.

Her home was in this city where the streets never slept and life continued into the night. Smells and noise awakened the senses, and music quickened the blood.

This is where she lived and this is where she belonged.

She met Stephen and a few friends at a local lounge for a celebratory drink, then headed home. Night had already fallen by the time she stopped at a local deli to buy a shrimp
po
-boy to take home.

Juggling her take-out bag, her purse, and her sketch book, she fumbled with the key to the door. As soon as she stepped into the house her cell phone sounded.

“Oh, good gosh.
”
Dumping her armful on the couch by the door, she grabbed the phone from the bottom of her purse. “Hello,” she said with a loud whoosh of air.

“Oops.
Must’ve caught you at a bad time.
Should I call back? This is Doug.” The voice on the other end of the phone shocked her.

“Doug?”

“Yes, Doug McCall from the golf course.”

Her heart fluttered
.

“Doug, I know who you are. I’m just totally shocked that you’d call me.” She slumped down on the couch and tried to catch her breath
.

“And why wouldn’t I call you? I usually try to track down the women who leave town after playing only one round of golf with me.”

His good humor lifted her spirit.

“You make it sound like it happens a lot.”

Doug laughed.
“No, not really.”

“Not really” wasn’t as good as “never,” but it could’ve been worse. Even so, his words eased over her, calming her nerves and loosening the knots in her stomach.

“I was just checking on you, Anna Marie. I wanted to make sure you got back to New Orleans okay last night.”

“Thank you. Traffic wasn’t bad at all. I was totally exhausted though. I think I was asleep by nine o’clock.” She wondered what he did with his nights, but didn’t ask.

“I don’t imagine you called
Doti
?”

“No, but maybe tonight.
I have to think about it.”

“Well, she did make the first move. It’s in your court now.”

“Gee, whose side are you on?”

Doug laughed. “No side, just voicing an opinion that probably isn’t any of my business.”

“I guess I made it part of your business when I hung onto you throughout my ordeal these past few days. And yes, you do make sense. I think I’ll get up enough nerve and call her.”

“Good.” After a moment of awkward silence, he added. “I’d better go. I just wanted to check on you. Uh, do you mind if I call you some other time. It’d be great if we could actually play another round of golf one day.”

She smiled into the phone. “Even though we played our first round under false pretenses, I think I’d like that.”

“False pretenses?”

“Yes. You know, letting me think you were just an average old golfer who hung around the course. Instead, you turn out to be the golf pro that the other players draw straws to get.”

“Guilty as charged, but like I told you, you probably wouldn’t have played with me had you known.” He chuckled low in the phone. “You had fun, didn’t you? I didn’t make you feel bad about your game.”

“No, you didn’t. In fact, you were very patient, and I was comfortable with you. I’ll look forward to playing with you again.”

“Great. I don’t guess you’re coming back anytime soon?”

“No, not unless the seamstress godmother drops down and does some magic for our business. This is our busiest season. With Halloween, Mardi Gras, and spring functions, we’re usually swamped, and I might add, I just got that huge wedding contract I’d mentioned to you.”

“Hey, that’s great. Congratulations.”

“Still, if you can get to New Orleans, give me a call. Maybe my mean old boss will give me an afternoon off.”

He laughed. “Uh, Anna Marie, you are one of the bosses.
”

Doug was right. She might be one of the bosses, but the business that she and Stephen had made into a success needed both hers and Stephen’s constant attention.

After a reluctant good-bye on her part, she took her
po
-boy from the bag and grabbed a plate from the cabinet. The phone sang again. She groaned. With her mouth watering, she thought about ignoring the call until later, but it was Nancy. She answered it.

“Anna Marie, are you home?” Nancy sounded breathless.

“Yes. I just
unwrapped
a beautiful shrimp
po
-boy. Can I call you back?”

“No, wrap that sandwich back up. Have you checked your mail?”

She pulled out a chair and sat at her kitchen table. “No, Nancy. I just got in with my supper that’s getting cold.”

“Phooey on that sandwich,” she said, making Anna Marie laugh.

“Okay, I’m wrapping. This news had better be good.” She grabbed one of the shrimp that fell out of the bread and popped it in her mouth.

“I don’t know how good it is, but it’s big,” Nancy said. “Go get your mail.”

Blowing out a loud breath, she shoved the
po
-boy into the microwave to keep it warm,
then
walked to the hall table where she’d thrown the mail when she came inside.

“Okay, here’s my mail. Now what am I looking for?” But as soon as she asked, she saw an envelope from Lowery, Lowery, and Anderson, attorneys from Bayou Cove.

“Did you find it? Anna, open it.
Quick.
Open it and see if it says the same thing as mine.”

She put down the phone and ripped open the envelope. As she read, her breath caught in her throat.

Picking the phone back up, she found her voice. “Nancy, does yours say that Miss Ellie left us something in her will?”

“Yes. And the biggie is her requesting that you and
me
and
Doti
appear together to hear what she has to say. Why would she do something like that and what could she have left us?”

Anna Marie sat down and caught her breath. “Maybe this is her way of getting us together again. Maybe she didn’t leave us anything. This might be her way to play peacemaker. She was so upset when we split our friendship. She always said she’d do something that would get us back together.”

“You’re probably right. I’ve never been mentioned in anyone’s will. How does this work?”

“I don’t know, but if this law firm is responsible for all her things, they’ll let us know.”

“Will you go?”

Anna Marie swallowed. “I don’t know. I planned to talk with
Doti
, but I don’t know if I really want to come face-to-face with her.”

“But you have to.”

It took a long moment before she could answer. “I’ll think about it. I’ll have to see what these attorneys say. I’m not setting foot any place where Miss Ellie’s family will be. You saw the way they looked at me at the funeral.”

“But they might not be where we meet.”

“I know and I promise I’ll make an effort. You could go and tell me what she left me, if anything. It’s probably a crystal vase or that lamp I always used to ogle.”

Anna Marie heard a loud huff from the other end of the phone.

“Nancy, you have to understand. I can’t leave Stephen again. We just received a huge wedding contract, and I have to be here, but I promise I’ll call the
Lowerys
in the morning.”

“Well, you can call, but I think you need to be there. Anyway, it’s not like you’re on the other side of the world. You can be here in downtown Bayou Cove in less than two hours. You can just take a morning or an afternoon off.”

“You make it sound easy.”

It was too late to call the law office by the time she hung up the phone with Nancy. She’d lost her appetite so she put the sandwich in the refrigerator and picked up her phone again and hit her programmed numbers.

“Surprise,” she said when Doug answered. “You told me I could call you again. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Doug chuckled. “Hmm, let me see. I can go in the other room so we won’t disturb my harem of exotic dancers I have over tonight.”

“That’s funny.” She hesitated. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

She told him about the letter and read him several paragraphs. When she finished, she waited for him to comment. “Are you still there?” she asked when she got nothing but silence.

“Yeah, I’m still here. Anna Marie, I don’t know much about the law, but you definitely need to call the office bright and early in the morning and before then be making tentative plans to drive back over here.”

“You think I’ll have to do that?”

“Like I said, I don’t know much about things like that, but it wouldn’t hurt to think about coming back over. Hey, I might get that next round of golf after all.”

That brought a smile to her face. “Yes, that would be nice.”

“And you know what else you need to do?”

“I’m listening.”

“I’d call
Doti
before coming. That way, if you have to see her, it won’t be so hard.”

“Okay, you and Nancy must’ve been talking. You’re ganging up on me.”

He chuckled again. “No, not ganging up, just making a suggestion.”

“A strong suggestion, one that is about as unpleasant a task as everything else I’ve had to do this past week.”

* * *

Doti
Daniels sat on the side of her bed staring at the phone she’d just hung up. After all the years since she and Ronnie walked away from the courthouse after his and Anna Marie’s divorce, she had finally spoken with her old friend.