Threads of Steel (Bayou Cove) (15 page)

“Oh, yes ma’am. She loved you dearly. You had nothing to do with how Miss Ellie died. Even if she could’ve seen into the future, I’m sure your name would not have been removed from this document.”

He grasped her hands in his. “Please, accept her thanks and her love for what you three ladies gave her throughout the years.”

After answering a few questions, Xavier Lowery handed them each a key and a card, and they said their goodbyes, leaving the three former friends alone for the first time in fifteen years.

For a long time they sat in silence. Anna Marie watched Nancy and
Doti
look around taking in the room. Its furnishings would probably be given to the family, but the house would be theirs.

Finally Nancy spoke up. “I’m in shock.”

“Me too,”
Doti
said in a soft voice. “What do we do now?”

“I think we need to each go home and think about what she’s done for us,” Anna Marie said. “I wonder if her family will try to protest the will to get the house.”

“Is that possible?” asked Nancy.

Doti
shrugged. “I don’t know anything about the law.”

“I don’t either,” Anna Marie threw in, “but unless she was incompetent, I think it’s pretty final.”

“Will we have to pay taxes or something?” Nancy asked. “I don’t know about you two, but Harry and I are pretty strapped. I don’t think we could come up with inheritance taxes or land taxes or anything else right now.”

“Let’s not worry about anything until we have to. We have the Lowery office number. They sound like they’ll walk us through all this.” Anna Marie stood up. “Right now, though, I’d like to go through the house.
”

Without waiting for a response, Anna Marie got up and walked into the hall. She heard the other two follow. The first place she headed was the back porch because that’s where Miss Ellie entertained her guests. When she stepped outside, she could almost feel Miss Ellie’s presence.

The wide back porch had white clapboard siding that once shone in the afternoon sun, its walls meticulously dusted or scrubbed by Miss Ellie herself. Here on this porch, the girls had sat with her to discuss their love lives, lack of love lives, dates, jobs, and friends. This special place, set apart from the rest of the world, had become their sanctuary as they fumbled their way into adulthood.

Now in every corner of the porch, massive cobwebs hung, paint peeled on every wall, and dust covered everything. The round glass-top table had been cleaned, but the rust on its metal frame showed years of neglect.

“I guess no one was around to help her do the upkeep.” Anna Marie had spoken the words, but she could tell by the look on Nancy’s and
Doti’s
faces that they felt the same guilt for not doing more.

Nancy walked to the railing, running her hand along the worn board. She looked out over the flowerbeds. “I remember how Miss Ellie loved working in this garden. She’d have a hemorrhage if a weed managed to escape her shovel. Now there’s nothing left to the beds. The weeds have taken over.”

“It’s a shame we didn’t do more for her,” Anna Marie whispered. “All of us should’ve made an effort to come over here and help keep these flower beds up.”

“Oh yeah.”
Nancy turned to her and laughed. “With me dragging around my kids and you answering your cell phone every few minutes, we could’ve done a wonderful job.”

“I came over about once a month to help her, but I never was any good in the yard,”
Doti
said in a quiet voice.

Anna Marie and Nancy both stared at her, but it was Nancy who formed the words. “I didn’t know you’d kept in touch with her.”

“After Ronnie and I divorced, I came over and begged her forgiveness for what we’d done, you know, to your marriage, Anna Marie. She was forgiving. I guess she knew I needed someone to help me through those years.”

Doti
looked from one to the other. “I knew I couldn’t call you or Nancy.”

What could she say? Anna Marie wouldn’t have talked with her had she called. The hurt was too deep then, but now she tried to look at her in a different light. “I’m sorry you suffered,
Doti
, and I’m glad Miss Ellie welcomed you back. She never quit loving you.”

“I needed her and she was there, just as she always was.”
Doti
looked down at the floor, then up at Anna Marie. “How long will you be in town?”

“I’m not sure. I wanted to leave in the morning, but after hearing about the house, I might try to stay a little longer. I’m scheduled to play golf with a friend this afternoon.”

Doti
nodded. “I wanted us to talk before you left, but I have to get home. I had chemo yesterday and I’m wiped out. Dad is picking me up in a few minutes. If I don’t get in bed soon, you’ll be sweeping me up off the floor.”

“I’m so sorry you have to go through these awful treatments.” Anna Marie looked down at her watch. She really didn’t want
Doti
to be sick, but she was glad she could put off their talk a little longer. It was the chicken way out, but she wasn’t up to doing it now, not after the unexpected announcement of the house. “Do you think you’ll feel up to it in the morning?”

“Maybe.
We can try. Do you still have my number?”

Anna Marie nodded.

Seeing her now was one thing, but actually getting together with
Doti
alone to “talk” was something else.

Could she handle it?

CHAPTER
9

With the rain stopped, a tiny bit of sunshine and a mild breeze worked to dry out the golf course. Anna Marie walked around the golf cart on Hole Six and shoved her three wood back into her bag.

“Why don’t you play through and don’t wait for me. I have to find my ball.” She looked into the nearby brush. “I thought if I switched clubs, I’d at least hit the fairway, but,” she strained to see beneath a clump of shrubs, “this might take a while.”

“It couldn’t have gone far. I’ll come over and help after I swing. So when do you plan to talk with this
Doti
?” he asked as he pulled an eight iron out of his bag.

“I told her I’d get with her tomorrow morning.” She crossed her arms in front of her body. “I can tell you I’m not looking forward to it.”

“It’ll work out and you’ll feel a lot better for having done it. You said she looked sick?”

“Yes. She said she’s on chemo so I assume she must have cancer. I think she was wearing a wig too, so she must be on some strong stuff.”

Doug nodded,
then
walked out to the middle of the fairway where his balls normally landed
.

Anna Marie watched him position his feet. He glanced up, studied the course in front of him, then in one fluid motion, hit the ball straight down the fairway,
just
inches from the green. His stance and follow-through were perfect, but it was the way he looked that made her swallow hard. A tiny shiver ran down her spine when he turned toward her and smiled.

Anna Marie wondered why he wanted to play with someone who played as horribly as she did. Thanking her lucky stars that he did, she waved to him,
then
headed off into the tall brush to find her ball. Grass, still damp from the recent rain, stuck to her pants’ legs. She stomped around a few trees where she thought her ball might have landed, then bent down to search under the shrubs.

“Any luck?”

She raised her head. Doug stood just a few feet from her with his club still in his hand and a smile across his face.

He was like a breath of fresh air in the midst of her disturbing days of late. She wondered how she’d managed to run into someone with his nice disposition, but she wouldn’t question her good luck. She’d grab a little piece of solace in whatever form it came in—and if it happened to be in the form of a good-looking, sexy guy, then she’d smile and accept her good fortune.

“No luck,” she said as she faced the sea of shrubs on her right. “I might have to chalk that ball up to a loser.”

Doug grinned,
then
kicked around the grass with his golf shoes. “Hey, is that it?” He bent down in a small ditch and picked up a ball.
“Yep.
There’s your mark.”

Anna Marie stood up and reached for the ball. Her tiny pink circle told her Doug had found it. “Thanks, but I don’t think I can hit it from that ditch.”

“Don’t need to.” He took the ball and tossed it toward the lower grass near the fairway. “That looks like a good spot.”

She was going to argue until she saw his smile.

“Go on, Anna Marie.
Hit from there. You can add a point to your score if you want.”

With a nod, she headed for the ball. She was getting used to his easy-going manner that settled her nerves and made her smile at the world around her. She wished she could carry his
good mood with her as she tried to make heads or tails with the bombshell that Miss Ellie had dropped on them.

She stopped at her ball, positioned her body, but looked up to him instead. “You’ve got to show me how to keep my balls out of the grass. I know you have some secrets up your sleeves you’re not sharing with the rest of us peons.”

“No secret,” he said as he headed toward the cart.
“Just a lot of practice.
In fact, I ought to be at the top of my game for as much as I play, but I’m not. So I guess it takes a little talent along the way as well.”

“Well, if you’re about to tell me that you’re lacking in the talent department, save your breath. I might not play like a pro, but I recognize natural talent and you definitely have it.”

He chuckled. “And you’re good for the ego.
Thank you, ma’am.”

At the next tee, Anna Marie hopped out of the cart, tried to emulate Doug’s stance, swung her club, and let out a sigh as it bounced down the fairway and off to the side. “Darn. I’m getting worse the more I play.”

Turning, she looked at him as he shrugged. “You’ve had a confusing morning. You can’t expect to find your game with all that on your mind.”

She slid onto her seat, but Doug didn’t move the cart.

“Are you okay?”

Her head snapped up. “You mean about my game?

“No. About everything that’s happened today. Having to deal with a shared inheritance is enough to keep your mind in turmoil, but having to share it with the woman who stole your husband is the pits.”

Anna Marie grinned. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”

“Hey, that’s the game you’re in right now. You have to look at it from all sides, and the way I see it, all those sides come back to that. Until recently you hadn’t even talked with her. Now you’ll have to have some serious discussions. It won’t be easy for you.”

“I can’t imagine what Miss Ellie was thinking.”

“She was thinking that she wanted you three to have the house since you never forgot her.”

“But all three of us?
She knew what
Doti
and Ronnie did.”

Doug slipped off his sunshades, wiped them on his golf towel,
then
looked at her directly in the eyes. “You could simply sign away your part of the house.”

“I’ve thought about that.”

“And?”

“And, I’m not sure I want to. Miss Ellie’s last wish is probably the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me. How can I simply sign it away as if it were that vase I wanted? This is the house she loved, and maybe she knew we loved it as much as she did.”

“And she loved you three girls, or she could’ve given it to any one of her relatives.”

Anna Marie nodded. “Yes, I know she loved us as much as we loved her, but I’m sure we’ll hear some negative things from her relatives. Miss Ellie left me a share of the house, but when she was writing that will, she had no idea my dad would be the one to run over her.”

“I didn’t know the lady, but I’ve got a feeling that the circumstances surrounding her death wouldn’t have changed her mind. Come on, let’s finish this game.” He slid into the golf cart and pressed the pedal.

Trying to keep up with Doug on the golf course was difficult, but it wasn’t as hard as what lay ahead for her. She knew no matter what she did, having to talk with
Doti
wouldn’t be easy. As long as she didn’t actually talk about what happened with
Doti
and Ronnie, she could pretend
her marriage had fallen apart because she and Ronnie couldn’t get along, not because he chose one of her best friends over her
.

Even now after all these years, the heat of humiliation spread through her body. The feeling of rejection ran right alongside the sense of feeling ostracized in her hometown. Having a father in prison and a mother who struggled to keep food on the table did that to you. From the time she was in grammar school to the day she graduated from high school, she’d fought those feelings.