Texas fury (73 page)

His good-bye to Billie and Thad in Vermont was brief but warm. "I'll keep in touch," he promised.

Billie broke the connection and called Julie at her office. "Please, Julie, stop by on your lunch hour or on your way home from work." Thad nodded complacently. He was still nodding when she dialed a second time. "Maggie, darling, I have a favor to ask of you. Do you think you could find a rental house that's close, but not too close, to Cary's?"

"Of course, and I'm not even going to ask why."

{483}

"I always said you were the wisest of the lot. I'll talk with you later."

Julie sat at the kitchen table with Thad and Billie, sipping coffee. Billie excused herself and returned a few moments later with a parcel wrapped in brown paper and string. "For me? It isn't my birthday. What is it?"

Billie's eyes filled. Thad looked away. "It isn't from Thad or me. It's for you and it's from Amelia. She said I would know when the time was right to give it to you. This is the right time."

Julie's hands trembled so that she could barely untie the string. Thad clipped it with the paring knife.

"Cary gave that to Amelia years and years ago. I think she loved it more than anything in the world. More even than the pearls she gave you at Christmastime. You do understand about the pearls, don't you?"

"I never understood why she would want me, someone who was almost a stranger, to have something that was her mother's."

"She wanted them to stay in the family."

"But that would mean .. . she knew..." Billie nodded.

"Does Cary know that she knew?" Julie asked in a hushed voice.

"I'm not sure, and I don't think it matters now. What matters is what Amelia wanted, and she wanted you to have this." Julie had unwrapped the sundial. "Cary will understand why it was given to you. Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be. Please don't cry, Julie. It's Amelia's legacy to you and to Cary. She didn't know how else to say she approved without saying the words outright."

"This is for you, Julie," Thad said, holding out a white envelope.

"What is it?"

"A ticket to Hawaii on the seven a.m. flight tomorrow."

"My job .. .

"We'll take care of things from this end. When you get to Hawaii, go to Maggie's."

"Maybe it's too soon. Maybe Cary—"

"Cary needs a friend. Be that friend. The rest will fall into place. You better get home now and pack. Thad will take you to the airport tomorrow and close up your apartment."

{484}

"Aunt Billie, are you sure this is what Amelia—" "It's what she wanted," Thad said gently.

Julie walked along the beach, enjoying the early-morning sunrise. Her heart fluttered when she noticed Cary sitting on the sand, staring out at the ocean. "Hi," she said softly.

"Julie!"

"I was sort of in the neighborhood. Would you like to walk back with me? I made coffee. I'm staying about a quarter of a mile down the beach," she said breathlessly, praying he wouldn't refuse her request.

"Sure; why not?" Cary said flatly.

"How's it going?" she asked gently.

"Good some days, bad other days. Why didn't you take my call after we got back?" The tone of anger in his voice surprised him.

"Because Billie told me about Amelia's heart attack. I thought you and I. .. that you just... that you were hurt and angry with Amelia and I was someone who was handy. I didn't think I could bear to hear the guilt in your voice. I thought my heart would break," she said honestly, the hint of a sob in her voice.

"I don't feel anything, Julie. I try. I get up, I do what I have to do, but I don't fee I anything."

"That's normal. I know you don't want to hear this, but time has a way of healing grief. Billie said that to me. It was Thad who bought my ticket to come here. I have a lead on a job I'm to see about tomorrow, and Maggie rented a house for me. I'm all set. I think what I'm trying to say is I'd like to be a friend if you'll let me." She waited for a response. When Cary didn't comment, she turned to walk back up the beach; Cary fell into step beside her.

"Nice little place you have here. Let's have our coffee outside."

"Would you like some toast?" Julie called from the kitchen. When he didn't answer she decided to make it anyway. She stopped in the doorway with the tray in her hands to watch Cary. He was holding the sundial, staring at it intently. The screen door slammed behind Julie, jarring the moment.

"Where did you get this?" Cary asked hoarsely.

"From Amelia. She gave it to Billie to give to me. Billie said when you saw it, you'd understand."

{485}

Cary's grief exploded like a bomb. When it was over he lay back in the lounge chair. "I can't believe she knew. She never once—"

"Billie told me Amelia felt you and I were meant for one another, and she would like to see us together after she was gone. I don't know if that was right or wrong of her; I can only tell you what Billie told me. The pearls were to stay in the family, and the sundial was to let you know you have to get on with your life. There's no need for you to feel pressured. You'll make decisions when the time is right. Amelia ... Amelia tried her best to make it right... for all of us," Julie said in a shaking voice.

Cary stared out at the blue jewel of the Pacific. A gentle smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Come on, friend, I'll buy you a cup of coffee; yours is lousy." His voice was light, almost breezy, when he reached for Julie's hand.

Their beginning.

By day Cary worked at the building site of the refinery. He wasn't exactly a hands-on carpenter or builder this time around, but more of a supervisor who shouted words impatiently to men he considered slow workers. It took him a full week to realize that no amount of shouting and bellowing would change things. Warm sunshine and bright smiles and affirmative head shakes finally made him smile, too. He learned to relax and let his men work at their own pace. He hired a local foreman who claimed unabashedly to know more than Cary had ever known. He made his statement with laughing eyes and a show of pearl-white teeth. Cary was free to tour the island, take Julie to lunch, meet Maggie and Rand for coffee, visit their house, and swim with Chesney, who was family now.

Evenings were his own, and he made up his own schedule. Every other day he took a long walk after dinner, stopping to see Julie on the way home. It wasn't until the third or fourth visit to Julie's little house that she hesitantly and shyly made a suggestion. Cary's eyes widened in shock that this lovely woman could be so in tune to his thoughts.

"What did I say wrong, Cary? Is it too soon to think about building a memorial to Amelia? Or isn't it a good idea? I could help you. I could quit my job; I have some savings, and I can live off that. I'd like to be part of ... I want to help," she said simply.

Cary cleared his throat. "For months now I've been thinking

{486}

about doing what you just suggested. I came here because I made a commitment to Rand with the refinery, and I have to honor it. I did hire a foreman to give myself more free time. I want my blood and sweat and all my energies to go into building the center. For Amelia. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Of course I understand. But you haven't said yet if you will accept my help."

"All I have is notes on scraps of paper." He told her then about the day he thought Amelia's spirit was in the apartment, and about finding the map. She didn't laugh or look at him as if he'd lost his mind. Instead her eyes widened and she smiled.

"Cary, if I tell you something, will you promise you won't laugh or think me insane?" Cary nodded.

"It's nothing like what you just said, but so many times when I would start to think of you and Amelia, I would inevitably feel guilty, but the guilt never lasted for more than a minute. And it wasn't that I shook it off. It was as though Amelia came into my thoughts and drove them away. Are you going to laugh?" Julie asked anxiously.

"No. I think I believe in all that far-out stuff. I believe Amelia's... spirit was there that day. There is no other explanation. I'll never tell anyone else either."

Julie's heart swelled. "It will be our... your... experience. Will you show me your notes and tell me more about the memorial?"

Cary shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. Should he share this, his memorial to Amelia, with Julie? He stared at Julie and saw only a warm, caring, wonderful person who would commit herself to him and to his plan for the memorial. She would work beside him. She'd never whimper or complain that he was working twenty hours a day to pay tribute to his wife. Amelia always said true love was unselfish. "I'd like to show you what I have. I can use some input."

Cary's voice grew excited. "I want this to be wonderful, one of a kind, marvelous, extraordinary. I don't want this little city even to hint at illness and old age. I want it to be a modern structure, like Miranda. Glass and steel and perpetual sunshine, and if the sun isn't shining, I'll find a way to manufacture it. I want a zoo with every animal there is, and I want pets, hundreds of pets, and no goddamn goldfish either. I want warm flesh-and-blood animals that shed and eat and crap all over the place. Did you know that pets can make an older person's blood pressure go down if its high?"

{487}

Julie's eyes widened. "No, I didn't know that."

"Well, it does. And pets make people laugh, and feel good. Parks and trails, horses and ponies for when the old people's grandchildren come to visit. They can come and stay for weeks. Do you know some of those nursing homes Amelia investigated wouldn't allow grandchildren except for a few hours a week?"

"I didn't know that either," Julie said.

Cary shook his head. "You'd be surprised at the restrictions that are put on the elderly. It's a sin. There won't be any of that in my city."

Julie clapped her hands. "Bravo! Now you see what Amelia was trying to do. She just didn't have enough time." Tears burned her eyes and she looked away.

"Julie?" "

"Yes."

"It's going to take me a lot of years to do what I want to do. I have to do it right. I'll be old by the time I finish, if God allows me to finish. Will you ... would you ..."

"I don't care how long it takes. Yes, I'll help if you want me to. I owe ... I want to give back; do you understand?"

"That's just the way I feel. I want to give back for all my good years. I owe so much, and it doesn't matter who I owe it to. It will be my pleasure to have you work with me, but with a salary. It won't be much to start with," he said hesitantly.

"I know how to be frugal. I told you I have some money saved. Just tell me what to do."

"Go back to Texas. I'll draw up a work plan for you. You can start laying the groundwork. Get a lead on the animals."

Go back to Texas. He was sending her away. "If that's where I'll do the most good, then I'm almost gone. But aren't you putting the cart before the horse? Don't you have to build the city before you get the animals?"

"Probably. Amelia always said I did things ass-back wards. It works. Trust me."

"I do, Cary."

He'd expected her to say no, she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay here with him. He knew his suggestion was a test of sorts. Her smile told him all he needed to know. "You can stay in my apartment if you don't mind that Amelia's—"

"I don't mind, Cary, and I won't change a thing."

"When can you leave?"

"Two days; is that soon enough?"

{488}

"That's not much time."

"No it isn't, but then, we'll only be a phone call away." Distance. "Welcome aboard, partner. It's so good to be alive," Cary shouted. Julie smiled from ear to ear.

The last leaves of autumn lay on the ground when Riley brought in Adam's second gusher. He'd worked around the clock for the past three months. A month off, he told himself, as he set about airing out Sunbridge after his long absence. This time when he walked up the hill, he wouldn't have anything in his hands. He'd done what he set out to do. Hail the conquering hero! He grinned. He'd stand tall at his father's marker and tell him what he'd done. Then he was going to ride, walk, and crawl over every inch of Sunbridge land. He had so much to do. Call old friends, call Ivy, mend some fences, call Ivy, lay in a store of food, call Ivy, order a new suit for Sawyer's wedding, call Ivy. Invite Ivy to go to New York with him. Adam had told him to use the loft since he and Jeff were in Japan helping Sawyer close up shop. He and Ivy in New York. Just the two of them. That would be something for the old memory book.

The post office had delivered his mail earlier, two cardboard boxes of God only knew what. The bank had paid all his bills for him while he labored at the drilling site. The cartons probably held little more than junk, but still he had to go through it. It took him thirty minutes before he found three pieces of first-class mail. The first letter was from a Yale classmate. It was one of those keep-in-touch letters, filled with news of old friends. 'Let's all plan on getting together in New Haven the week after Thanksgiving,' the letter said. 'Bring a chick if you have one.' Riley laughed aloud. He wondered what they'd all think of Ivy. He continued to read, catching up on old times and loving every minute of it. Damn, he felt good. He settled back on the kitchen chair to finish the letter. 'Saw you splashed all over the papers. You Colemans must have an in with the publishing industry. You looked ugly as hell! Give Cole my regards. Take your arm out of the sling long enough to write, even if it's just to say hello. Good friends should stay in touch.'

The second letter was nothing more than a piece of paper folded over to look like a card. Inside was a drawing of a soda bottle with a squirt of soda splashing upward. There was no signature. Riley grinned.

The third letter he'd saved for last. It was from Cole and it contained his own letter and two other pieces of paper.

{489}

Dear Riley,

I tried to time this letter so it would arrive when your second gusher came in. I know we pretty much said it all when you took over, but you know how I am with the written word these days. It's my opinion that when you see it in black and white, it means more somehow.