Alvarado Gold (13 page)

I wish I could tell him about the war going on within me. I’d only ask for one thing. It wasn’t sinful to ask but I’d bargained and lost. The loss was too much. “There is a time for everything in one’s life, I guess. I can’t help but feel I’m missing the point. Is it all that simple?”

We needed to exit the freeway. I didn’t wait for his answer and I didn’t want to discuss theology with him. I needed to make my peace with God on my own terms. I didn’t want Gary to tell me what I should do. Deep down inside, I knew. I knew what God wanted of me but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to give in and admit…maybe…I’d been wrong. If there was a time and a purpose for everything, then it was Mom’s time to go and it was God’s will she die. I just didn’t want to accept His will. That was more devastating than the secret I kept. God made a decision and I wasn’t willing to accept it.

I moved the vehicle towards the ramp we needed to take. “I think that’s our turn off. We need to go over the tower bridge. Susan and Brad have this old Victorian house. I’ve never seen it but Mel says it’s really something. Can you see if you can find H Street on this city map? It’s near the Governor’s mansion.”

He asked a question then that changed the focus of our conversation. “What does Brad do for a living? They must be pretty well off.”

“He’s in investments. I think they’re doing well but I also know they’re careful. Susan said the money from Grandpa would come in handy for the boys’ college fund. So it doesn’t sound like they’re totally rolling in it.”

I breezed through traffic and, with a little co-piloting from Gary, we found Susan’s house. Brad and the boys were doing some last minute clean up in the yard. I hadn’t seen Brad in years but he recognized me immediately.

“Addie. It’s so good to see you. How long has it been? Three years?” He bent down and coiled the garden hose tightly under the hydrant.

“I think so. Brad Junior was a year old or so.” The boys stopped and walked over. They nodded at me politely but obviously didn’t know who I was. Brad introduced them. Brad Junior was a cookie cutter model of his dad. Wesley, who’d just turned three, twisted at the end of his father’s arm.

“Brad, I’d like you to meet my friend, Gary Wright.” I motioned to Gary and he waved as he walked away with the boys toward the basketball net in the driveway.

Brad smiled, “Well, he’ll be a big hit with them.”

I hoped he would be with everyone else, too. “Mel here, yet?”

“She’s in the house with Susan. The wedding isn’t until seven this evening. The way those two are acting you’d think it was in fifteen minutes.” A genuine smile grew on his lips. Luckily for Susan, he’d agreed to go through with renewing their vows. Most men wouldn’t.

I slowly pushed open the front door and the house instantly brought me a feeling of nostalgia. The corner windows were framed with lace curtains with just a hint of forest green in small floral designs near the hem. The hardwood floors gleamed and two mohair chairs with tapestry cushions from Grandpa and Grandma’s living room stood facing the fireplace. Green Depression glass pieces were on the mantle and a large floral arrangement sat on a cherry wood table between the chairs. I’d bet the boys weren’t allowed in this room.

“Susan? Mel? Where are you?” I called.

From the second floor I could hear Mel’s voice, “We’re up here, in the room on the left of the landing.”

Susan and Brad’s bedroom was as charming as the living room. Three walls were wallpapered with a deep maroon colored, floral pattern. The fourth wall was painted a rich shade of Burgundy. Ivory curtains hung at the floor-to-ceiling windows which flanked both sides of the four poster, canopy bed. The rest of the room was furnished in antiques. This wouldn’t be hard to take at all. It was good to see them. “Hey. How are all the wedding plans going?”

Susan sat at an antique dressing table as Mel brushed her hair. Their backs were to me but our reflections smiled at each other in the mirror.

“Hectic. I’ve put Richard to work setting up chairs.” Mel came over and gave me a hug.

“I don’t know when I’ve been so fidgety.” Susan, sitting at her vanity, weakly smiled.

I went over and rested my hands on her shoulders. “It’ll be fantastic.” As I spotted Grandma’s wedding dress hanging on the back of the closet door, I moved across the room. “This turned out beautifully. I remember the last time I saw Grandma Millicent. Even though she was in her seventies, I bet she was still small enough to fit into the dress. She and Grandpa survived a lot, the dust bowl and the great depression. She never complained.” Their trials only made their relationship stronger. He courted her for two years, nice and slow. Maybe I let this thing with Gary go too fast.

Susan smiled and looked at the dress. “It is going to be wonderful, isn’t it?”

I was wrapped up in my own thoughts and didn’t answer her. I’d only met Gary in early June and it wasn’t even September. Everything had seemed right, though, near perfect.

“Where’s that guy of yours?” Mel looked out the window. “Is that him with the boys? I thought you were worried he knew too much about the gold.
Now
, he’s here for the weekend?”

“He’s here on business.” Why was I on the defensive all of a sudden? “It just worked out that way.” Had Mel hit some unknown feeling I tried to cover up? I felt relieved when she changed the subject.

“Where did he get that ugly shirt?”

“On a trip to Hawaii. It is kind of a joke between us. I dared him to wear it. Take it easy on him, will you, Mel? I want him to think we’re close to normal.” I winked at her.

She grinned, “Anyone who’d wear a shirt like that is fair game.”

Seven o’clock arrived quickly. Gary and I sat in the front row of the fifty or more white chairs set up in the backyard. I’d chosen a mauve shift dress with a short jacket; on the lapel, my emerald brooch. Gary looked fantastic in a steel gray suit. The color made his eyes have the violet cast I loved. The evening breeze warmly rose up from the river, light and enjoyable. In the corner of the garden stood a gazebo, the posts wrapped in lavender and white netting. The lush landscape twinkled. There were tiny lights everywhere. Brad must have worked on it for weeks. Near the house, the caterer set out the dinner buffet. The three-tier cake with fondant icing could have been the centerpiece at a wedding one hundred years ago. We were part of a fairly tale.

Brad and the boys took their places in front of the gazebo. The soft strains of classical music played as Mel walked down the aisle, her dress period antique, too. I’d have to ask where they’d found it.

I looked around at the assemblage of my family. Mel, after an ugly divorce, had found her soul mate in her second husband, Richard. Clay married three times, none of which stuck, and Susan and Brad renewing their vows. Love and commitment had failed to find me and before I’d left for Grandpa’s funeral, the only other relationship I even counted, Jim Crawford, ended bitterly. Now, Gary stood beside me.

When Susan emerged from the house on Clay’s arm, I returned from my thoughts. She glowed in Grandma’s wedding dress. Everyone stood as the bride approached the gazebo. Just as she reached Brad, Clay gave him her hand. Gary took mine. He startled me. My first instinct was to jerk my hand away. But I didn’t. It had become my fairy tale, too.

Gary leaned down and whispered, “Where’s Donnie?”

I felt my chest burn and tears stung my eyes. Something ripped into a part of me I didn’t know existed. The clock struck twelve on my Cinderella story.

Chapter Eighteen

I slid my right hand out of Gary’s grasp and pretended to look for something in my purse. I found an old, crumpled tissue. People cry at weddings, I would use that as my excuse.
How could he have known about Donnie?
I’d never mentioned him. I knew, now, why Gary was so interested in the gold. Some scheme he’d planned with Donnie.

Mel had been right. I’d been too anxious.
Why did I let myself believe in him?
I should have stuck with my own convictions. I’d made up my mind not to go down romance road again but I wouldn’t listen to myself or anyone else.

The rest of the wedding blurred. I kept going over every conversation I’d had with him. I’d been careful not to tell him anything about my family’s relationship with Donnie. Gary didn’t know about the box that held the key. All he knew was we had the map and the coordinates. If he shared the information with Donnie, then the threats were the result.

Somewhere in the back of my consciousness, I heard the rise and fall of the minuet played by the string quartet. I could see the smiles on Brad and Susan’s faces, smell the star lilies and carnations so delicately arranged throughout the garden and even hear them exchange their vows, but it had all been drowned out by the deafening roar of deception in my ears.

Susan reached back and swept the long train of the antique lace veil behind her. As she handed her bouquet to Mel, Susan stood facing Brad. Her face illumined by love. The minister blessed their rings and spoke of the unbroken circle the bands represented. Every word registered a contradiction in my life. All I’d hoped for…gone.

When the minister presented Susan and Brad to their guests and invited everyone to join in the buffet, I wondered how I’d get through the rest of the evening.

Gary took my elbow and directed me to the line forming for dinner, “Addie, are you okay?”

“We need to talk but not here in front of fifty people. We’ll have two hours in the car on the way back. I need to rethink a few things.”

“What’s wrong? All of the color has drained from your face.”

“I need to use the powder room. Get your plate. I’ll find you.” I headed for the house, grabbed Mel by the arm and retreated into the kitchen.

As I pulled Mel into a quiet alcove, the caterer glared at us and rolled his eyes.

“What are you doing, Addie?” Mel burst with exasperation when we reached the niche. “We need to be outside, not in here.”

Hot tears ran down my cheeks and splashed onto my jacket creating dark, uneven patterns. “Gary knows Donnie.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I can’t even think straight. Now, I have to ride back home with him. Mel, what if he was the one making the threats? I’m so stupid. I should have listened to you.”

“I don’t think he’s dangerous. You would have recognized his voice if he’d been the one who left the message on your machine. Slow down and take a deep breath. Ask him what’s going on.”

“Believe me, I will. Go ahead and say it, Mel. Fools rush in–whatever cliché you want to use. I’m the biggest fool of all.” I ran upstairs to change my clothes.

When I came back down to the reception, I wore jeans and a sweater. I’d decided to go home alone. I walked to the table Gary had claimed for the two of us and with fists clinched at my side, fumed, “I’m leaving.”

“Why are we leaving now?” Gary looked at me in disbelief as he quickly reviewed my casual dress. “I thought we were staying until nine.”

“You can stay as long as you like, I said I’m leaving.” I heard my voice quiver. I glanced around the backyard and spotted my cousins. Clay, Susan and Mel stood together by the waterfall near where the pond met the edge of the patio. As I approached them, I did my best to sound light-hearted. “I’m taking off, gang. See you all next week in Barnesville.”

Susan reached out and touched my arm. “I wish you wouldn’t go so soon.”

“I hadn’t planned it this way.” I sucked in my lower lip and held it between my teeth and tried not to cry. A trait I hated about myself. I was too stubborn for tears but anger or sadness set forth the well-spring. “Did Mel tell you two what happened?”

Clay and Susan nodded.

Clay put his arm around me. “Are you afraid of him, Addie?”

“No. Not really. I was at first, but now I just need to get to the bottom of this.” Clay moved away when Gary walked up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. 

“Thank you, Susan, for letting me join in. I guess we need to be heading back.”

I tightened my shoulders and Gary removed his hand. “I guess you didn’t hear me the first time. You’re not going back to San Jose with me.”

Disregarding the guests gathered at the buffet and another look of scorn from the caterer, I ran through the house and out to the car. Gary followed right behind me. When I opened the trunk to put in my things, I picked up his duffel bag and tossed it out where it landed near his feet. “Tell me exactly how you know Donald Joseph Barnes,” I exploded.

“He came into the BLM the day you and Susan did, later in the afternoon. He had the same questions about Barnesville. He told me about the gold. I thought you were all in this together.”

“I’ll bet you did. How much did he tell you?”

“The stories about some grandfather of yours and his brothers burying the gold after a cattle drive. He wanted help finding the land and pinpointing the area. No different than when you and Susan came in.”

“Didn’t you think it was strange we were looking for the same information? Did it strike you as odd I’d never mentioned him? You never asked about him until tonight. Has he offered you something? Are you and Donnie in some kind of deal?”

“Whoa. Take it easy. Why are you firing all these questions at me? I told you he just came in, same as you did.”