Several pages into the album there were a few photos of houseguests. Then a day spent at the beach. On one page, Caleb stood proudly next to a new Corvette that he must have just purchased. It was a sharp looking black convertible. Connor wondered what had happened to the car. He hadn’t seen it in the garage. He figured Caleb must have gotten tired of it and sold it. The next pictures were of Caleb with a cute little blonde at a barbeque here at the house. For several more pages the blonde girl was in all the pictures that included Caleb. She must have been important to him. Maybe she was the source of his broken heart. Caleb certainly hadn’t mentioned her. The last picture in the album was just halfway through the book. That was odd. His mother had always been a shutterbug. Looking closely at the last picture of Caleb with his arms around the girl, he saw she was very pregnant. They smiled happily under the banner for the Labor Day picnic. That would have been in September.
The next album contained mostly pictures of his parents at various social and charity events. Not even the newspaper clippings mentioned Caleb until halfway through the next year. There were no more pictures of the blonde.
Connor remembered asking Caleb if he had started a family, one day at the courthouse. His exact words were
Close, but no cigar.
He had avoided any further explanation. Something must have happened to the baby. Connor’s heart broke for his brother’s loss. He couldn’t imagine that kind of pain. He wondered what had become of the girl. They’d looked so happy together.
“I thought I heard noises down here,” Caleb said from the doorway. After pouring himself a drink, he sat in a guest chair in front of the desk. He looked down at the photo albums in front of Connor.
“Catching up on lost time?”
“I guess you could say that.”
Caleb pulled the album on top around to look at it from his side of the desk. The album beneath it was still opened to the enlarged picture of himself and the pregnant girl. His face froze in a pale, painful expression as he stared down at it.
“She must have been important to you.” Connor didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m sure you didn’t miss the fact that she was pregnant with my baby. That did make her pretty damn important to me.”
“What happened, Cal?”
“I killed her.” Caleb stood to leave.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Connor couldn’t allow him to leave without an explanation.
“I really don’t feel like talking about this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before? This must have been about a year after I left. No one told me anything.”
Caleb turned back around to face Connor. “Don’t you remember, brother? You were wallowing in your own self-pity. You weren’t interested in anything that was happening to the rest of us, least of all me. After all, what problems could I have, with my pretty face?” Caleb answered sarcastically. “Mom was the only one you’d have any contact with and that was after a year. She was going to tell you, but I convinced her not to worry you about it. You’d already been through enough.” Caleb poured a shot of whiskey and threw it back. “Do you want to know the most ironic part? When I got to Mayville, I found out that you had avoided me all that time because of my face. And I found you with everything that I had lost. Jordan loves you so much. My daughter would have been almost the same age as Lizzy. I envied you. I would give a lot more than my looks to have my family back.”
“We used to be so close. How did this happen to us?”
“Life happened to us. Bad things happen in life.” Caleb poured another shot.
“Why did you say you killed this girl? I know that can’t be true.”
“I was responsible. Everybody said it was an accident, but I should have been more careful.
“Two weeks after that picture was taken I was driving her home from the mall. We’d been shopping for the baby. She was due in two months. It was late and the roads were wet after a big storm. We were going down the highway with the top down. I hit an oil slick on the road. My corvette spun out. After I’d hit a utility pole my legs were pinned under the dashboard. They were both broken. Brenda had been thrown onto the road and hit by another car. By the time they cut me out and took me to the hospital, she was already gone. They’d removed the baby just before she died. It was too soon for her to survive. They let me hold her. I wouldn’t let them set my legs as long as my daughter needed me. She lasted thirty minutes. In that thirty minutes I thought about all the things I had done wrong. With a baby on the way I should have had a more sensible car. I shouldn’t have had the top down. I should have driven slower. I should have taken better care of her. I said I love you to her occasionally, but I never told her how much I loved her. I never even asked her to marry me. I just assumed we would get married one day. There always seemed to be plenty of time. Then, that night, the time was suddenly over. The baby was so tiny. Brenda had talked about names for her, but I’d told her we’d decide later. When they asked me to give her a name at the hospital, I couldn’t think of a single one Brenda had mentioned. She was gone back to God so quickly. I named her Angel, just Angel.”
“I should have been there for you, Caleb. I’ll never forgive myself for that.” A tear slid down Connor’s cheek and he wiped it away.
“I could be mad at you for that, but I’m not. You see, no one could have been there for me. I had to go through that by myself. Sure I missed you that whole time, but you couldn’t have done anything to help.”
“I don’t know how you get over something like that. I can’t imagine it.”
“After five years, I’ve come to understand how that works. You never get over it. You just get used to it, but you think about it every day. Everything reminds you, but you learn to live with it and keep going, hoping for another chance to love like that again.”
“I’m so sorry, Caleb.”
“So am I, Connor.” Caleb swallowed the last of his drink. “Always tell your family how much you love them and never forget how precious they are.”
Conner watched him walk up the stairs. He finished his drink then returned to his room and Jordan.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was past noon when the visitor Bobby Ray had been expecting knocked at his door. He threw the bed spread over the sketchbook he’d been using.
The hotel manager looked badly hung over and pissed off. He was a short, skinny man with a beard that looked like it was shaved once a week. Probably the same day he took a bath. His head was bald on top and the back hung down in a thin ponytail. He wore baggy shorts and a cotton shirt that hung to each side unbuttoned. His dirty feet sported black rubber flip-flops. His eyes were bloodshot and his teeth were stained brown from nicotine and coffee.
“I was just getting ready to come over and talk to you about checking out today. Is there anything wrong?” Bobby Ray shaded his eyes from the intruding sunlight.
“My daughter took off some time last night. I thought you might have seen her.”
“Yeah, I went over to the office last night at about seven to get a soda from the machine. She was behind the desk. Are you sure she didn’t just go out with friends?”
“If she did, she’ll have hell to pay when she gets back. She tends to talk a lot. Did she say anything to you about going anywhere?” He scratched his belly as he spoke.
“No, she did talk quite a bit. You know how girls that age are. She was complaining about having to work. I couldn’t really stick around to listen. But, I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. I’m sure she’ll turn up. She seemed like a nice enough kid.” Bobby Ray was suddenly inspired by an idea. “She seemed excited when that old brown van pulled in. That must have been around midnight. The loud muffler woke me up and I looked out the window. A tall guy with blond curly hair, probably about my age, was driving. She ran out to meet him squealing and hugging. I figured he must have been family or something. You know him?”
“No, can’t say I do. She was excited to see the guy huh?”
“Yep, she must have known him. She yelled out his name. I don’t remember it…Oh, but I remember the last name was McCrae like those two lawyers I heard about on the news. They’re those big shots that came down here from Tampa. You know the type. They act like they own the world. Sorry I didn’t get a better look.”
“I’ll sure check it out. You just leave the key on the dresser when you get ready to go. You don’t owe anything anyway.” He looked over Bobby Ray’s shoulder. “By the way, what is that smell in there?”
“Oh yeah, I was using some rubbing alcohol and spilled the whole bottle in the sink. No need to worry. No damage done.”
“Okay. Well, thanks for the information. Sorry to bother you, Mr. Bennett.”
“No problem.”
Bobby Ray had been busy all morning. His bags were packed except for the things he’d bought earlier. He had just one more thing to do. He picked up the box of hair bleach and a razor and walked into the bathroom. As he used the items, he discarded them into a plastic shopping bag that he planned to throw away when he stopped for gas down the road.
In the shower, he thought about the young girl from last night, Donna. She had been easier than he’d expected. He’d only opened two beers for himself, most of which he poured onto the ground behind her back. She wasn’t used to drinking alcohol and the other four beers went straight to her head. She was eager to get naked and try new things. She got a lot more then she’d bargained for, but he’d enjoyed it. She’d picked the secluded area herself. No one could hear her screams. The only part of the fantasy that was off was that she hadn’t been Jordan.
After he towel dried his hair, he dressed in new clothes. Bobby Ray stopped in front of the big dresser mirror to get the full effect of the changes he had made. He admired his cleanly shaved face and blond hair. He wore snug blue jeans with a western belt and black T-shirt. All the exercise was paying off with well-toned muscles. He’d have to get used to the heavy boots, but the aviator sunglasses and straw cowboy hat looked cool.
“So, a blond cowboy type is what you want, Jordan? I always aim to please.”
****
Jordan had called to check on Lizzy twice before they came to the Mayville city limits. The child’s excitement over a trip to Disney World with her new grandparents had put Jordan’s mind at ease.
“I don’t have anything to make for dinner. Why don’t we eat at the diner before we get home?”
“Do you realize we’ve never been out alone together? It would be like a first date. The only difference is, we’ve already seen each other naked.”
“I guess you’ll be disappointed to hear that I never put out on the first date.” Jordan laughed when Connor shot her a stricken look.
In the diner parking lot they ran into the Douglases as they were preparing to leave. They had a luggage box on the top of their car.
“Where are you all off to? We’re just getting home and it looks like you’re leaving.”
Holly and Charlie looked at each other with pained expressions. Finally Charlie answered. “It’s been a little tense around here all summer. I thought I’d use some vacation time and take Holly and the kids to see my parents in Ft. Lauderdale. We haven’t been up there in ages. It’s just a little holiday before the beginning of school.”
Jordan understood that she was, indirectly, the reason for the tension they were feeling. If she hadn’t come back to Mayville, Bobby Ray wouldn’t have come either. Not only did she feel guilty, but she also felt a little insecure. She’d come to rely on them for moral support as well as backup for Lizzy. She could sure understand that they needed to get away for a while. She wished she could walk away from the situation.
Connor put his arm around her to rub her shoulder. When she looked into his eyes she felt as though he could read her mind. She was relieved that he took over the conversation.
“That sounds great. Lizzy is on a little holiday with my parents.” He reached out to shake Charlie’s hand. “Call when you get back in town and we’ll have you over for dinner.”
Ten minutes later, Jordan was staring out the window when the waitress came to take their order.
“Tonight’s special is stuffed pork chops with steamed vegetables. That sounds good to me. What do you think, boss?”
“Oh, umm, that sounds fine. I’ll have that too.” She noticed that two glasses of tea were already sitting on their table. When had he placed their drink order?
“I’m glad the Douglases were able to take a vacation. That’s less people we have to worry about keeping safe. I have a feeling things are going to get back to normal any time now.” He reached over to take hold of the fingers she’d been tapping on the table.
“I know you’re right,” Jordan said. “I was just thinking. This is my home. This is where I want to live and work and raise my family. I love this town and I love my house. I don’t want to feel this dread at coming back here. I don’t want my friends and neighbors to feel unsafe around me. I just can’t believe that one mistake seven years ago has caused so many people so much grief.”
“You didn’t cause this situation, Jordan. This started years before you ever met Butler. You were just unfortunate enough to cross his path at the wrong time. No one here blames you for the things he’s done. I would venture to say that a lot of people here would have your back against him.” He gave her hand one more squeeze before the waitress set the plates down between them.
As they ate dinner, they discussed Lizzy’s need of school clothes, planting a vegetable garden, and trading in the van and Jordan’s car for a crossover. They were both desperate to find a subject that would take their minds off their current problems. By the end of the meal they were more relaxed and left the diner laughing.
Connor had just started the car when he turned the key off and looked in the rearview mirror.
“Did we forget something?” Jordan saw the confused look on his face and turned to see what had attracted his attention. A police cruiser had pulled in behind their car, blocking them in.
****
Connor rolled down the window. “What’s the problem, officer?”
“Could I see your driver’s license, sir?” The police officer was pleasant but serious.