Something Old, Something New (3 page)

Devon and Zoey were seated at another table, working on math problems along with Amari and Preston.

As she walked up, Devon turned and beamed a smile her way. “Hi, Ms. Lily.”

“Hey, Devon.”

She nodded in greeting to Amari and Preston. “Amari, may I talk to you and Devon for a minute, please?”

Amari went stock-still. “Are we in trouble?”

“Not with me, but is there something I need to tell your dad?”

He grinned. “No, ma'am.”

Enjoying him as she always did, she led him and Devon a few steps away before she explained why she'd come.

Amari didn't seem to have a problem with her request and replied, “Sure. I told Dad I'd meet him at the garage. I can take Devon with me.”

Lily turned to Devon. “Is that okay?”

He nodded, but asked, “After that can I go to Zoey's?”

Lily chose her words slowly and carefully, “I think this time you should stay with Mr. Trent and Amari until I get back. We're all going to be family soon, Dev. Be nice if we could get to know each other better.”

Amari nodded as if he agreed, but Devon didn't seem convinced. “What if Zoey gets lonely? She misses her mom.”

Lily could see Zoey watching them. Those big dark eyes of hers were Lily's undoing, so mentally, she threw up her hands. “Okay, Amari, take Zoey, too. I'll let Dr. Reg know.”

Amari shrugged off the addition of another person to his entourage. “No problem.”

“Thanks, Amari. Devon, I'll see you this evening.”

As she turned to walk away she heard, “Ms. Lily. Hold up a minute. I need to talk to you.” It was Preston.

When he reached her, she asked, “Hey, what's up?”

He moved a few steps farther from the others before saying quietly, “Just wanted to let you and Ms. Bernadine know that I'm searching for my birth parents.”

That was not what she'd been expecting to hear, but having lived with these exceptional kids for two years, she was learning to expect the unexpected. “Have you talked to the Paynes about this?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“No?” she asked gently. “Why not?”

He shrugged as if not knowing what to say. “I don't want them to think I don't appreciate them.”

“Then tell them that. They'll appreciate the honesty. Do you want to live elsewhere? Is that what this is about?”

“No,” he countered quickly. “Not at all.”

“Then you should tell them that, too.”

He looked down at his shoes and then back up into her eyes. “Okay.”

“When did you decide to do this?”

“A few nights ago. Leah thinks it's a good idea, too.”

Lily scanned him for a silent moment. “So are you doing this for you, or for her?”

“Me,” he replied without hesitation. “She just helped me think some things through, like what if my parents are both dead, or if they turn out to be bad people like Crystal's dad.”

Lily nodded understandingly.

“But I wanted you to know in case an e-mail comes through, or something comes in the mail to Ms. Bernadine, or somebody shows up from CPS. I already registered my name on some of the sites I researched, and I posted my birthday and place of birth. That's all, though.”

“Are you sure you're going to be okay with the outcome? This might turn out to be wonderful, or something that breaks your heart.”

“I know, but I want to know. I'm tired of not knowing who I am. Zoey knew her mom, and so did Crystal. Devon had his grandma. Amari and I are the only ones who don't have a clue.”

Lily's heart went out to him. “Does Amari know about this?”

“Not yet. I haven't told him either, but I will. Maybe later tonight on the phone.”

“Okay. I'll let Ms. Bernadine know, but I want you to promise me that you will sit down with the Paynes and tell them what you're doing. They're your parents, Brain. They should know, and will probably want to help. Promise me,” she echoed, making sure he met her eyes.

He nodded tightly. “I will. I promise. I'll talk to them after school.”

She gave him a quick hug. “I'm rooting for you on this. If there's anything Ms. Bernadine or I can do, let us know.”

He gave her a smile. “I promise that, too.”

She gave him another quick, tight squeeze. He nodded good-bye, and she resumed her journey to her car.

But as she crossed the parking lot to where it sat, someone else called her name. Once again, she stopped and turned. At this rate, Bernadine was liable to fly off without her.

Gary Clark was waving at her from the driver's side of his sweet new Buick. He'd gone to high school with her and Trent, but lived now over in Franklin. He drove slowly over to where she stood.

“Hey, Gare. How are you?” The last time she'd seen him had been over the summer at the dedication of the new school.

“Been better.”

“What's the matter?”

“Just enrolled the girls in school here. We're moving back to Henry Adams.”

Before Lily could form a reaction, he added, “And you may as well know, Colleen left me. She wants a divorce.” His pain was obvious.

“I'm so sorry.” Colleen was his witch of a wife. Lily had known her in high school, too.

“How in the hell am I supposed to raise two teenage girls alone?” he asked, and ran a hand wearily over his tired face.

“She's not asking for custody?”

He blew out a breath of disgust. “Please. No.”

Lily didn't know what to say.

He shrugged. “I'm broke, Lil. The company shut down my dealership. Between that and the way Colleen has been spending, and the hits I took on the company stock . . .” His eyes were bleak. “We have no place to go, so the girls and I have to move back into my parents' old place. I drove out and looked at it yesterday. It's been empty for so long, it's a mess. Mice nests, snakes. Rotting wood. We're staying out at a motel on 183 for now.”

Lily's first reaction was to whip out her phone and call Bernadine, but something stopped her. Gary talking to Trent might be better. “Have you talked to Trent about this?”

“No.”

“You should.”

He shook his head. “A man's got his pride.”

“And this pride is going to clothe and feed your daughters how?”

The pointed question made him turn away and stare sightlessly off out into the plains.

Lily waited.

He finally met her eyes and gave her a soft smile. “You haven't changed a bit, have you, Fontaine? Always straight to the point.”

“No sense in messing around.”

“Or putting lipstick on a pig.”

“Or anything else. Talk to Trent, please, Gary. You were best friends. He'll figure out a way to help you.”

“And if I don't talk to him?”

“Then I will.”

He sighed and chuckled. “Okay.”

“Today, Gary,” she warned as she walked to her car.

“Okay. Lily. Okay.”

She gave him a wave before she drove back to the Power Plant like a bat out of hell. Her quick trip to the school had taken longer than she'd planned. First Preston and now the Clarks. She and the Boss Lady were going to have a whole lot to talk about on the flight down to Miami.

Chapter 3

W
hen it was time for Lily and Bernadine to head off to the airport, Trent walked them out to the waiting town car, where the hired driver, Nathan, dressed in a sharp blue suit, stood at the ready. Lily gave Trent a kiss good-bye.

Bernadine gave him a hug and a humor-filled warning, “Tell folks I expect this place to be still standing when I get back.”

“With Genevieve on the warpath, that might be hard.”

Both women responded with puzzled looks.

“You haven't heard about the Thrilla in Manila at the Dog this morning? Genevieve knocked Riley smooth out.”

Lily tried to contain her chuckles but failed.

“What?” Bernadine asked, as if maybe she hadn't heard him correctly.

“Out cold.” He gave them a quick rundown of the morning's drama, and when he was done, they both sighed.

“Okay,” Bernadine said, shaking her head. “If Riley presses charges and she's arrested, take care of the bail if she needs help.”

“Will do. Have a safe flight.”

Lily quipped. “Keep your head down.”

“And my dukes up.”

Nathan closed them in and drove them away.

T
rent went back to his office and used the rest of the morning to pore over the paperwork tied to the new sewer system planned for the spring. The project was necessary if the dream to revitalize the once-thriving Main Street was to be achieved. Presently, the only building from those glory days still standing was the sagging hulk that in the 1880s had been the Henry Adams hotel. There were hopes to revive it, too, someday, but pipes for water and sewage had to be laid first.

“Knock, knock.”

He looked up to see Rocky standing in the doorway.

“Got a minute?” she asked.

“Sure. Come on in.”

She took a seat.

Trent waited for her to tell him the reason for her visit, but she remained silent. Wondering if she was waiting on him to begin the conversation, which didn't make any sense, he asked, “How'd the mess with Riley and Genevieve turn out?”

“Soon as Reg got him back on his feet, Gennie knocked him out again. Crumbled like a wet cotton sheet.”

In spite of her answer, Trent got the impression that her mind was elsewhere. “Rock? You okay?”

“No,” she replied and turned to meet his eyes. “Why does he keep asking me out?”

“Who?”

“Jack.”

“Ah.”

“Don't ah me. I've told him no a hundred times, and he keeps coming back.”

Trent viewed her with humor and affection. “Man's sweet on you.”

“I need him to be sweet on somebody else.”

“What's wrong with him?”

She folded her arms tightly across her chest and sighed with frustration. “In truth, nothing. And that's why I keep trying to run him off.”

Trent never claimed to understand the women in Henry Adams, or anywhere else, for that matter; after all, he'd been divorced twice. “I'm sure there's logic behind that answer somewhere, but you'll have to explain it to me.”

“He's nice, Trent.”

“And?”

“I'm vulnerable to nice.”

He still didn't get it. “More logic, please.”

She rolled her eyes. “Never mind.”

And before he could say anything else, she got up and walked out.

He wondered if there was something in the town's water that made the females around him so special. First Genevieve, and now Rocky. The only woman who seemed relatively sane was the colonel's wife, Sheila, and that was because she'd yet to show any personality at all, but Tamar, Bernadine, or Lily could always be counted on to take up the slack.

He was still pondering Rocky's visit when another knock sounded. Seeing Gary Clark standing in the doorway, he stood up and said with surprise, “Hey. How are you?”

Gary shrugged. “Need to talk to you about something.”

The emotion on his old friend's face was plain. “Come on in.”

Gary glanced around the well-furnished office. “Nice place you got here.”

“I think so, too. Blame it on Fontaine. She picked out most of the stuff. Have a seat.”

Gary chose one of the plush brown leather chairs.

Trent rested his hip on the edge of his desk and folded his arms. “How're things going?”

“Not so good.”

“What do you mean?”

Trent listened as Gary told him the same story he'd told Lily, and finished up by confessing. “Only reason I'm here is because Fontaine threatened to tell you all this if I didn't.”

“Kudos to her. It's what friends are for.”

“You'd think she'd've grown out of being so bossy.”

Trent laughed. “I know, but that's part of her charm.” He brought the conversation back to the topic at hand. “How much work do you think your parents' place is going to need before you can move back in?”

“More than I can afford, that's for sure. Thousands more, probably.”

“Then let's take a ride out there. Once I get a look, I can make a rough estimate of what it's going to cost.”

“Doesn't matter, Trent, I can't afford it.”

“Who said anything about you being able to pay?”

Gary went still.

Trent said, “I know you'd rather eat rat poison than take charity, but let me make a phone call. I know a place where you and the girls can probably stay until we get your place back in shape.”

“Trent—”

Trent turned away and called Tamar. After a short conversation with her, he closed his phone. “Okay. Found you a place.”

“Where?” Gary asked with wonder on his face and in his voice.

“The town owns some trailers out on Tamar's property that are used for emergencies like this. They're fully furnished, and Tamar's on her way to the grocery store in Franklin to fill the fridge.”

His mouth dropped. “But—”

“No buts allowed. Your family has been here longer than mine, Gary. You're my friend, and you need help. I'd hope you'd do the same for me and my family if the shoe was on the other foot.”

“You know I would, but I can't pay for any of this.”

“We'll figure out something when the time comes. For now, consider yourself and the girls guests of the mayor. You want to drive, or shall I?”

Gary seemed frozen by the generosity. He finally said, “You.”

Trent picked up his keys and walked to the door, but Gary still hadn't moved. He was still staring at Trent with wonder.

“You coming or not?”

Gary shook himself free. “Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming.”

T
he old Clark place was in as bad a shape as Gary had predicted. Everything from the roof to the support beams to the storm cellar needed replacing. Walking carefully over rotting floorboards and through spiderwebs the size of bird's nests, Trent used the beam of his flashlight to assess the interior as best he could. The small two-story home hadn't been occupied since Gary's folks died within days of each other back in 1992.

Outside now, Trent grabbed a hand towel from his truck and ran it over his hair to rid it of the dust and cobwebs. He handed one to Gary, who did the same.

Gary asked, “So what do you think?”

Trent tilted up a bottle of water to wash the dust out of his throat. “Depends on what you want to do.” He handed a bottle to Gary. “If you plan to stay here, I see two choices. We can either have everybody pitch in to rebuild it, or you can have Bernadine build you a new place in the sub.”

He stared again and croaked, “A new place?”

“There are plenty of plots.”

“But I don't even have a job, how am I going to pay for a new house?”

Trent sighed. How to explain Bernadine to someone who had yet to benefit from her blessings? “Money is not the issue here right now. Getting you and your family up and running is. We can work out payment sometime in the future, if that's what you want.”

“But—”

“No buts allowed, remember? Do you have any job prospects, or is there something you always wanted to do?”

“Like what?”

Trent shrugged. “If a djinn gave you a wish, and you could be anything in the world you wanted to be, what would it be?”

He laughed. “I don't know.”

“Think about it, and if it benefits the town in some way, all the better.”

Gary shook his head. “The way you talk, it's like Henry Adams is made out of money.”

“You don't know the half of it.”

They stood silent for a moment and scanned the old house. Trent smiled at a memory that came to mind. “Remember when we had your sixteenth birthday party here?”

Gary laughed and choked on the swallow of water he'd just taken in. “Twenty minutes after the party started, my mother found out we'd spiked the punch and shut us down. Sent everybody home.”

“Shortest sweet sixteen party in town history.”

“Maybelle Clark was a pistol.”

“Your old man was no slouch, either. Remember the day he head-butted Mal during the Super Bowl because Mal said Terry Bradshaw couldn't read?”

Gary laughed. “Forgot about that. He was something.” Gary quieted for a moment, as if thinking back. “Pops would say I'd made a mess of my life.”

“I don't think he would.”

“He wanted me to be the first Clark to study law. And then I met Colleen.”

Trent stayed quiet.

“Who knew that hiding beneath all that beauty was the Wicked Witch of the West?” Gary asked bitterly. “When she told me she was pregnant, I stepped up. It's what a man's supposed to do, right?”

“You did the honorable thing.”

“Some honor. Told me three days after the wedding that she'd lost the baby. I should have split then, but when her father offered me part ownership of the dealership . . .” His words trailed off as if he didn't need to explain more. “My father never liked her or her family.”

Trent hadn't either, but he kept that to himself. “So now, you get to do what you always wanted to do, whatever it is.”

“I'll have to think on that one. When can I see this trailer?”

“Now if you like. Tamar said she'd leave the keys out. Rocky lives in one of the other trailers, so you'll have her as a neighbor.”

“What happened between her and Bobby Lee? One minute I hear she's married. Next thing she's divorced, gone, and now she's back.”

“You'll have to ask her.” No way was Trent going to reveal that Rocky had divorced Bob because she found him wearing her underwear. If she chose to share with Gary, she would.

“It's going to be strange living here again after all this time away. When you and I were growing up, we swore we'd leave Graham County and never come back, remember?”

“I do. Glad to be back, though.”

“Me, too.”

They spent a few more minutes looking at Gary's old house and talking about the past before he turned to Trent and said in words that sounded like they came from deep in his heart, “Thanks, man.”

“It's what friends are for. Now let's get over to Tamar's and pick up your keys so that you and your girls can get out of that motel.”

Gary nodded solemnly.

As they got back in the truck, Trent didn't remark on the tears standing in Gary's eyes, because that's what friends were for, too.

A
fter spending the flight discussing Genevieve, Riley, Preston, the Clarks, and the rest of the Henry Adams goings-on, Lily looked out the window as Bernadine's snow-white jet touched down at a small private airport outside Miami. Once they deplaned, they entered a sleek black town car and were whisked away.

The meeting with the banker was to be held not in an office building but at a beautiful estate on the water. As the hired car moved slowly past the armed security guards posted at the entrance of the elaborate wrought-iron gates, Lily could feel her eyes starting to bug at the surroundings, but she took her cue from Bernadine and acted as if she traveled to swanky places like this on a regular basis. Inwardly, however, she was awed by the riotous colors of the lush tropical flowers lining the cobbled drive, the beautiful fountains, and the glimpses of the blue ocean that dotted the way. “Who lives here?”

“Tina Craig.”

Lily paused, surprised. “Your friend Tina, who helped us get Tamar's land back from Morton Prell before Cletus sat on him and killed him?”

“Yep. She heads up the investment committee for the Bottom Women's Society, and this land buy is her baby.”

The Bottom Women's Society was an organization whose members were the divorced first wives of some of the wealthiest men in the world. Collectively they had their expensively manicured fingers in every pie, from technology to real estate to micro loans awarded to female business owners in developing countries. The society also threw one heck of an annual convention, as Lily found out when she and Crystal attended last summer's bash as Bernadine's guests.

The car eased to a halt at the front entrance of the pink brick mansion, and all Lily could do was stare, impressed by the sprawling beauty of the home and the lush surrounding grounds. “You all live very, very large,” Lily noted aloud.

Bernadine's eyes twinkled. “Have to do something with all this money.”

The driver opened the door and politely handed them both out. A tall, tanned, dark-haired woman dressed in a flowing white tunic and matching capris hurried out of the front door to meet them. She had gold hanging from her ears, neck, and wrists, and jeweled sandals on her bare feet.

“Bernadine!” she screamed. The two embraced with affection and glee while Lily looked on with a smile.

Bernadine introduced Lily.

Tina said, “Lily Fontaine. I talked with you on the phone when we were dealing with that old thief Prell.”

“Yes. It's nice to finally meet you.”

“Same here. Love that name. Lily Fontaine. Like I said before, sounds like one of those old burlesque queens.”