Hacienda Moon (The Path Seekers) (17 page)
Read Hacienda Moon (The Path Seekers) Online
Authors: KaSonndra Leigh
The connection with her was beyond looks, influence, and even money. She said ghosts were in her house. He probably should’ve told her about the thing he saw outside her grandmother’s cottage the night she visited it with Saul.
Yeah right.
Then she would’ve thought he was a stalker. It was the same thing he saw outside his house on the beach just before Tandie said she had called him. Right away, he had bolted out of the door and raced to Chelby Rose in record time. Something wanted to get his attention, but why? It was hard to think of the pain in her face after he rejected her.
Why didn’t he just tell her about the curse? If there really were such a thing, that is. She wasn’t like his ex-fiancée. No, if anything, she will be the one to help him figure out how Chelby Rose was connected to the curse on his family.
As with previous girlfriends, he found himself doing what he always does best-- pushing someone away for their own sake.
Deep in his thoughts, Eric almost didn’t see the little girl standing in the street until his Jeep came within inches of striking her.
“What the hell?” It was as though she appeared out of nowhere. Eric swerved sharply to the left and then slammed on his brakes, his tires skidding to a stop inches away from the trunk of a large oak. His head banged against the steering wheel and waves of pain rushed through it.
“All right, seat belt next time, my man,” he groaned.
Eric managed to sit up even with the stars swimming around his eyelids. He squeezed his eyes closed tight and waited for them to fade. A bright light seeped across his eyelids. Slowly, he opened his eyes and turned his head to the left, feeling the presence again even before he saw it.
The blob of light stood within a foot of his window; only it wasn’t just a blob anymore. The little girl he almost ran over stood inside it. “What the fuck?” he muttered, his voice caught in his tight chest, his limbs quivering. Blood from his head wound trickled down to his mouth, easing through his parted lips. The metallic taste seeped across his tongue. Reaching toward him with her glowing index finger, she touched the wound on his forehead.
At once, a whirlwind of images surged through his mind: wings fluttering around a ship, a baby crying, a little girl drawing three circles in the dirt, and then that same child screaming for help, a woman’s naked body writhing under him as they made love on a straw mat. The emotions he felt for the woman brought a sense of longing, an ache that crossed all boundaries, including time.
And then it all vanished, leaving Eric gasping and panting. There was only a dark street and a huge oak tree before him, now. The little girl was gone.
What the hell just happened?
His mother had warned him to never return. Pastor Jeffries thought he was also making a terrible mistake by renting a house so close to Bolivia. But Eric had never been the type of man to let unseen forces rule his life.
He eased the Jeep backward. His head was still swimming but the pain was not as sharp as it was before the strange girl touched him.
Unbelievable.
He felt certain that the spirits of the little children in Tandie’s house, Saul Chelby’s old home, had something to do with what just happened. Most importantly, it was a way to find out whom or what killed his best friend.
1
5
Gentle taps echoed through the room. Someone was knocking at the front door. Tandie bolted up on the couch and glanced around, looking for Eric. The room was empty. Traces of the raspberry coffee he brewed for her still lingered in the air.
He was such a mystery.
Sexy. Addictive. A fabulous kisser. Still somewhat annoying.
Tandie scratched that last thought. Although he had left her hot and bothered, he still gave her something fantastic to remember. One question haunted Tandie, though: what freaked him out so badly last night?
The knocks increased. She stalked to the door and opened it. An elderly black couple stood outside, smiling as if they were posing for a picture in a magazine.
“Morning there, Miss Lady,” the man said.
Tandie glanced over their odd old-fashioned clothes. The woman wore her hair back in a tight bun with loose strands of hair along either side of her head. She wore a prairie style dress and kept her hands dutifully folded in front at all times. The man appeared to have ripped his coveralls right out of a Mark Twain novel. What did Bolivia hope to show her in this pair?
“Did you make it through last night’s storm all right?” The man gave her a huge grin.
“Yes, I guess I did.” Tandie shielded her eyes from the intrusively bright sun.
“I’m Lou and this is my wife, Ruth Ann. We’re the Adams.”
“Your house is so beautiful. Chelby Rose is alive again because of you.” The woman’s accent sounded proper as if she strained to make sure she pronounced each syllable with care.
“Thank you. But I can’t take all the credit though,” Tandie said, touching her sore lips as she thought about Eric Fontalvo’s kiss.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for somebody like you to come along these parts.” Lou kept the wide smile plastered across his lips, making him appear to be somewhat manic. Tandie glanced back and forth between the two.
“Well I, um, Fontalvo’s Contractor Services helped me out.” Tandie wanted to make sure she gave Eric most of the credit. After all, this was his old hometown and he’d get more business through word of mouth if she started spreading it around.
The couple passed a worried look between each other before glancing back at Tandie.
“Something wrong?” Tandie asked.
“Nothing at all.” Lou’s grin widened. Tandie thought his cheeks might break if he kept holding that position. He turned to Ruth Ann and said, “Bet old Thomas Chelby would love to know Enrique Fontalvo had a hand in restoring his house.”
“No. His name is Eric, not Enrique,” Tandie said, curious about the accusatory tone in Lou’s voice.
“But they’re both one and the same, honey.” Ruth Ann’s golden brown face glowed. Tandie didn’t need her psychic intuition to understand that she was insinuating something more.
“Where are my manners? Would you like some tea or something? I have some tasty cold cereal in the kitchen, if you’re hungry,” she said to the strange couple
.
“Why that’s mighty kind. But we need to do something else first,” Ruth Ann said. Suddenly the woman stepped toward Tandie and grasped her hands, holding them tightly.
All right, so maybe the idea of cold cereal didn’t appeal to them.
“What are you doing?” She tried to snatch her hands away, but it was almost as if they were paralyzed. “Let go of me!” She moved her eyes to Ruth Ann’s that were stretched wide.
“He needs you. You two must accept one another. Stop denying what you see, what you feel.” The woman spoke as if she were in a trance, tightening her grip on Tandie’s hands. Her husband stood beside her, his face still frozen in that crazy grin, but his gaze flickered away from her just the tiniest bit. Was he afraid of his wife?
“You’re hurting me,” Tandie said, her hand throbbing.
“He is your soul mate, girl. You know this. Why, oh why do you keep denying it?” Ruth Ann asked, her voice rising.
“What? I haven’t denied anything,” Tandie spat back at her.
“Now, listen up. Find your way back to one another. You must do so, before it’s too late.” Releasing Tandie’s hands, the woman slumped and cradled her head as if she might faint. Her husband’s clownish smile faded, and he caught his wife before she tumbled off the porch.
Behind the Adams, feet crunched across the gravel in the driveway. The couple glanced back and then turned to Tandie, their eyes wide. Ella pranced toward the house as if Tandie hadn’t said a word about calling before she came over.
“G’ day miss,” they said in unison. The couple turned abruptly away and scurried along the path outside the gates, heading in the opposite direction as Ella.
Ella turned and yelled after them at the top of her voice. “That’s right! Scurry on, you old battle axes.” She wore the same dress Tandie had seen her wearing the last few times the girl came in to work.
“Ella! Don’t speak to my neighbors that way.” Tandie stepped down to confront her.
The girl glared at Tandie with a look that darkened her face. For a moment, Ella’s eyes held a red tint. Tandie blinked and stepped backward, her heart speeding up.
“Just because you gave me my Chelby position back, doesn’t mean I’ll keep sparing you.” Ella’s narrowed eyes faded back to their normal sky blue.
Rattled by the gardener, who was probably the most unstable teenage girl she’d ever met, Tandie hoped her defensive tone hid her fears. “And what could you possibly mean by that?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” Ella said, her eyes narrowed.
“This is my house. I don’t have an obligation to you as my gardener.” Tandie stared the girl down.
“Are you trying to be an Injun giver?” Ella’s pretty face twisted into a frown. With her lips curled up and her strange blue eyes, she truly appeared dangerous.
“What? Are you trying to say Indian giver? No, it doesn’t matter. I dismissed you,”
Tandie said.
“I’m staying.” Ella folded her arms and held her head high.
“Not today, you’re not.” Tandie’s ears heated and her chest burned.
“This is my garden, my job. I stay.” The girl’s voice rose.
“And this is my house, my property, and you need to leave.” Tandie held the girl’s blazing gaze. The pair stayed that way a long moment. Ella’s strange eyes and her babyish face distorted into a frown that made Tandie think of that little killer doll, Chucky, from those old movies.
A group of ducks squawked and flew up out of the trees in the forest beside Chelby Rose, the part near the cemetery. Ella jerked toward the sound, her body tense; and then she turned her wide-eyed glance back on Tandie. Suddenly she screamed an unnaturally high-pitched shriek that could rival a fire alarm.
An eerie chill settled over Tandie’s skin and her mouth suddenly went dry. She closed her eyes and slammed her hands over her ears, drowning out the girl’s wail. When she opened them, Ella was gone. Tandie glanced around at the rose bushes, the vacant driveway, the trees whispering in the wind, and scurried back inside with haste.
16
“I’ve always wanted to come inside this house,” Shania said, glancing around as if she were a child in Disneyland as she stood outside Chelby Rose’s doorway. She was Tandie’s third visitor of the day.
“It’s a great place,” Tandie said, wondering about her sudden appearance, hoping that at least this woman wouldn’t start screaming or handing out fortunes.
“It’s all quite fascinating, the things Eric has done. He must be very good with his hands,” Shania said, her gray eyes boring into Tandie.
If only you knew.
“May I come in?” she asked.
“Sure.” Tandie stepped aside.
Shania walked over the threshold and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. The loose brown dress she wore hung limply on her body. Frieda’s friend looked as if she
had lost ten pounds or more since Tandie last saw her. “Fresh apples recently picked off of a tree in an orchard.”
“What?” Tandie asked.
She opened her eyes and gave Tandie a huge grin. “That’s how it smells in here. I’m sorry. The poet always gets the best of me.”
“Okay. Step into my study that’s really a living room, the place where the writing tries to get the best of me, anyway.” Tandie entered the room, walked over to her desk, and sat down. Shania took a seat on the newly upholstered couch, still looking around as if she were a child about to hop on a new ride.
“I know that I’m kind of late with this; but I’m sorry about your loss,” Tandie said.
“I’m taking it one day at a time,” she answered, cupping her hands in her lap.
“Shania, I didn’t have anything to do with your husband’s death. I swear.”
“That’s not why I stopped by,” Shania said, lowering her eyes. “Well, um, that’s not completely true. I should know better than to try and fool a psychic. Ms. Harrison—”
“Please call me Tandie.”
“You looked right at me that evening, Tandie.” Shania’s expression softened.
“But it wasn’t me. I was right here, in this room, the whole day,” Tandie pleaded. The woman stared at her the longest moment.
Oh no, please don’t start screaming.
“I’m not saying you killed him. You couldn’t harm a flea. I can see that.” Tears clouded her eyes, and she looked away. “I just want to understand why the man I love is gone. Why? That word is like a curse, isn’t it? It teases you with the answers, dangles them in your face, and then snatches them away.
Just like that, you have to start all over again. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Shania’s eyes filled with tears. She lowered her head into her hands and started sobbing, her body jerking in hard spasms. Tandie moved over to the couch and placed her arms around the grieving woman.
“I understand. I really do, like you wouldn’t believe,” Tandie glanced at her daughter’s picture. Why?—How many times has she asked herself that question over the last two years? Too many. And like Shania said, there hasn’t been a single time when she was ever given an answer.
Pulling back from their embrace, Shania wiped her eyes and said, “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Tandie said, wiping away her own tears.
“Do you have someone? If I’m not being too personal,” Shania said.
Yes, I have someone, but I’m scared to let him know how I feel.
“No. Well, kind of, but not really,” she said and tucked her lips. Running her tongue over them made her think of Eric’s kiss.
Shania made a light laugh. “I recognize that look. You don’t have to lie.”
“I’m not lying,” Tandie said, lowering her eyes.
“Yes, you are. I felt the way that you look right now on the day I first realized how much I cared for Virgil. I was scared shirtless at the thought of telling him. But he accepted me, even with all of my faults. Your mystery man will feel the same way too.” The two women glanced at each other and made silly giggles. It felt good to know Virgil McKinnon’s widow didn’t think she was some kind of crazy woman who possibly murdered her husband.
“I think it’s time for a subject-change.” She reached into the burlap tote she brought in, pulled out a flyer, and handed it to Tandie. “Outside of preparing mixed drinks and finger food, I do actually have another life. It’s one of the other reasons I came here tonight. The Macon House Museum is holding a charity for the VA. We need a nicely worded inscription for a dedication plaque. It’ll be the centerpiece for a sculpture we’ve created. And for that part, we need a damn good writer. I was hoping that maybe you would be interested.”
“Wow. The event is the day after tomorrow,” Tandie said as she read the date on the flyer.
“Blame it on Frieda. She told me you loved challenges.” She touched Tandie’s hand, and said, “I’ve read your books. This will be a breeze for you. Oh, I almost forgot. There’ll be a banquet after the showing. Frieda will be there to help. What do you say?”
“Okay. Deal,” Tandie said, feeling proud that her name will become a permanent part of the community. Plus this little gig will give her more time to spend with Frieda, and less time to think about Eric Fontalvo.
“This is fantastic news. The committee will probably drink themselves silly once they find out you’re on board with this. Now all I need to do is get Chelby Enterprises to approve the sponsorship.”
“Saul Chelby’s company?” Tandie muttered.
And suddenly the good mood fairy flew right out of the window.
“Is there a problem?” Shania asked.
Tandie smirked. “I just didn’t peg Saul Chelby as a charity guy. That’s all.”
“You might be surprised. Thank you, Tandie. For everything,” Shania said softly, her eyes shining brighter now.
“Ditto,” Tandie said, and for the first time in months, she looked forward to being a part of something that benefitted others.
* * *
The Macon House Art Museum’s auditorium was filled with people from all over the state. The display of bronzed soldier’s uniforms, guns, and boots that Shania had put together fascinated Tandie. The sculpture was at least seven feet tall and just as much in width. A bust made of the heads of three soldiers was molded into the middle of the top portion. Tandie’s dedication that she wrote for Shania was now framed and was hanging underneath the three heads. The middle face and the way the man’s strong features stood out made her think of Eric.
“Girlfriend, what are you doing standing over here? We’ve been looking all over the place for you,” Frieda said walking over to where Tandie stood and looking fabulous in her emerald green mini dress. She glanced at the plaque with Tandie’s work attached to it. Writing the dedication over the past couple of days eased her slightly obsessive thoughts of Eric, but the feelings were still there.
“So it’s like that, huh? The writer is making gooey eyes at her creation,” she said, a wide grin on her face.
“That sounds totally conceited,” Tandie said, wondering if there were some crazy-small chance that Eric got the text she sent him and might actually show up tonight. She squeezed her eyes shut for a short moment and then focused on her friend.
But she and Frieda had been together a long time. She caught Tandie’s move, reading more into it right away. “Okay, baby, which one?” Frieda placed her hands on her hips and tapped her pointy toe high heel.
Tandie tried to laugh. “Whatever do you mean, Frieda?”
“I mean, this is a kick ass day for you. It’s not every day you get your name tacked on a big ugly statue for people all over the world to see. You should be all jumpy and giggly.”
“I am. It’s just that, I’m...” Tandie covered her mouth and glanced around.
Frieda narrowed her eyes, grabbed Tandie’s arm, and pulled her into the hallway behind the main room. “Saul Chelby or that contractor dude? Which good-looking ass do I need to beat the crap out of first?”
Tandie made a scoffing laugh. “Violence is not the key, Frieda.”
“All right. Watch this.” Frieda spread her lips into a wide grin. “I’m laughing at your joke. I think we can see that you can be funny when you’re upset. Now, out with it.”
“I feel stupid. I made something out to be a whole lot more than I thought it was with somebody. I don’t know, Frieda, I kind of just want to forget about it,” Tandie said, the silly tears creeping up to her eyes. “Dammit, I feel like I’m turning into a well, these days.”
“What did you do, baby? Did he forget to use a condom? I understand now. You lost control, ripped his clothes off, and went at it all night long? It happens to everybody at some point, Tan. We all have red blood, and the Good Master didn’t bless us with vaginas and penises just to make our mirrors feel good.”
“Oh my God, Frieda, we’re in a public place,” Tandie said, her face on fire. “Anyway, it’s not like any of that. We just kissed.”
“A kiss? I cannot believe you’re about to cry over a kiss. Was is that bad, baby?” Frieda asked.
“It was beautiful, actually,” Tandie answered, thinking of the way Eric seemed to be so torn after they finished kissing. “It was for me, at least.”
Frieda was always so comfortable talking about sex. But Tandie felt about as red as the dress Saul’s date was
wearing. It made Tandie’s light pink baby doll dress pale in comparison.
He strolled through the doors behind them as if he were a king. Dressed in a charcoal colored suit with a white shirt underneath the jacket, he could easily pass as one.
Wearing four-inch red heels, the woman beside him stood at a level equal to Saul’s height. Her streaked blonde hair was pulled back in a tight bun. The whole package screamed leggy fashion model all over the
place.
Right away his gaze found Tandie and Frieda standing off to the side. He motioned for his date to follow as he headed in their direction.
“How nice the king and his queen have arrived,” Frieda said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. The nerve of some people,” Tandie said, letting out a long sigh
.
“Don’t think you’re slinking your way out of the talk just because Saul Chelby walked in,” Frieda muttered and then turned a beaming smile on to Saul who had the nerve to drag his leggy date over to where she was standing. “Welcome. So glad you could make it Mr. Chelby and his date.”
“Evening, ladies,” Saul beamed at them both. “The date’s name is Sasha. This is Frieda Tyson. Without her and Shania McKinnon’s talents tonight this gala would never have happened.
“Well we’re thankful for you both then,” Sasha purred.
“And this is the lovely and gifted Ms. Harrison,” Saul said, holding Tandie’s gaze only a touch longer than what would be considered inappropriate. But the woman beside him who was all smiles and giggles a moment ago suddenly looked as if someone stole her hair pieces. Her green-eyed gaze was locked on Tandie, and her posture was stiff.
Her eyes came close to bulging out and her mouth hung slightly open. “This is the Tandie Harrison I’ve heard so much about? Interesting indeed.”
No way. Saul discusses me with his dates? How insane is that?
It was Frieda to the rescue. “Shania reserved a seat for you both at a good table. We don’t want you to lose it. So I’ll say thanks for everything, Mr. Chelby. Tandie and I will scoot along on our way, now.” She attempted to pull Tandie away, but Saul interrupted.