Lucky Thirteen (28 page)

“
Ground rule number one,” Chris said upon meeting. “I’m in charge.”

Lindsay laughed. “You said you’d have some rul
es. My first rule is: Don’t
ever
search my things.”

Chris arched an eyebrow. Behind his fiancée’s back, Raif touched his index finger and thumb to his lips a couple of times and winked at his soon-to-be stepdaughter. The girl’s smile got bigger. “I think this is going to work just fine,
Chris.”

They stowed Lindsay’s things in Raif’s Nissan. She said, “I have a few more things being shipped to the address you gave me.”

“What address was that?” asked Raif.

“
Yours,” Chris confessed.

“Okay.
” Raif grinned and kissed her hand. “Sure of yourself, weren’t you, lady?”

As they drove,
Chris explained the circumstances surrounding the girl’s birth. Lindsay accepted Chris had acted only with the child’s best interests at heart even if her decision had been made under duress. Mother and child connected, and a bond formed easily, to Chris’s relief.

The first night there, Chris invited Larkin and Ray to eat with her, Raif, and Lindsay. Ray and Larkin were cordial
to each other. Lindsay eyed them and gave her mother a questioning look and received a wink. Lindsay said, “I think I’m gonna love my new family.” Within days, she set about planning a wedding in a month.

Mother and daughter went together to pick up Chris’s wedding dress and shop for shoes. As Chris tried on pair after pair, Lindsay brought a pair of flat peau de soie pumps
with a strap around the ankle to her. The girl sighed. “Chris, were you ever a ballerina?”

Every time the child called her by name, the woman’s heart ached to be called
Mom
, but that would take time. She answered, “Yes, until my mother died. Why?”

“The dress looks so much like a flowing tutu.” She handed the shoes to her mother. “Try these. You wouldn’t want to be taller th
an Raif, would you?” Her grin turned mischievous.

“Good point. What else is on your mind?”

“You’re observant.”

“Goes with
both territories, mother and cop.”

Matching brown eyes looked into Chris’s. “Did you love my dad?”

A moment’s pause elapsed before Chris replied, “As much as a fourteen-year-old can love, but I have always loved you. I did what I thought was best for you. I hope you truly understand.”

“I do. The Kershes loved me lots.” She sighed. “Just before they died, I had a pregnancy scare.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry. It was a false alarm.”

Showing some agitation, Chris asserted, “As soon as I get back from my honeymoon, you and I have a doctor’s appointment.” She rubbed her face in anxiety. “Birth control is a better alternative than an unexpected pregnancy, but use condoms anyway.”

Lindsay laughed. “I don’t even have a boyfriend here yet. Relax.”

“Any attractions?”

“A few. One in particular, but this is the South, so I’m not sure how it would fly.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. “I’m not a native southerner. Who?”

Lindsay
leaned in and whispered to her mother. Pulling back she asked, “So, what do you think,
Mom
? Tar and feathers or do you believe in love at first sight, at least first meet?”

Tears welled in Chris’s eyes. “I believe you’ll make wise choices.” She stroked her daughter’s hair.
Lindsay rested a hand on top of her mother’s. The bond sealed.

♣♣♣

While the women put the wedding together, Raif supervised the laying of the foundation of his dream house
.
I told you this would be the wedding gift to my wife.
I really hope you like it
.

As he gave instructions to the contractor, Chris drove up. She c
ame over and slipped an arm around her fiancé’s waist. “I love my house.”

The architect indicated the builder could get to work. “Really?”

“When I saw the blueprint, I told Ray I would give my right arm to live in this house.”

Raif kissed her. “No need to
sacrifice a limb, only give me your heart.”

“Always and forever.”

Lindsay met all her new family, and they loved her. She loved them, and Larkin no less than the others. As they talked during wedding plans, Lindsay discovered how much the two of them had in common. She related to “Aunt” Larkin on a deep level because Larkin had lost both her parents at a young age and could understand the feelings Lindsay had. Lindsay sensed her new aunt needed her assistance more than her new mother.
I’ll fix you up, too, as soon as I get Mom situated.

♣♣♣

As the women planned the wedding and Raif
worked on building his house, Ray continued negotiations with the state attorney general for Audrey’s parole. The female attorney general was sympathetic to the case. She read the documents Ray presented and interviewed several witnesses in the original case. She tracked Audrey’s family to Minnesota and received a cold reception. The comment made was, “Our daughter died in 1977.” She left it at that and told Ray what was said.

“Fuck ’
em,” he muttered. “Can you present a case for Audrey’s release? I’ll personally guarantee her compliance with any conditions.”

“I think I can,” said Darlene Houston.

“In time for my brother’s wedding?”

The state official puffed out air. “No promises. I’ll call you.”

A week before the wedding, Ray received a call. “You can meet Audrey van Zandt at the front gate of the prison in three hours,” Houston’s voice relayed in triumph.

“I’m on my way.
I owe you big time.”

After reviewing the case and hearing Audrey’s story, the Louisiana Supreme Court heard arguments; and the judge’s sentence of life without parole was commuted to twenty-five years to life. After thirty-one years, Audrey van Zandt was paroled and came home to Eau Bouease.

With only a navy blue polyester blend skirt and a simple white button-up blouse to wear and a few toiletries and under garments in a small valise, Audrey slid into the passenger seat of Ray’s Mustang.

“What will I do out here, Ray?” She
broke several miles of silence. “I have nowhere to live and no job.”

“Well, actually, you do.”

“Huh? How?”

“I was optimistic. I know you completed
your high school requirements and got a degree in library science while in prison.”

“Yes.”

“Raif and I rented you an apartment in the same complex where I live, three doors down, and with my recommendation, you have a job in the library as an assistant.”

She laughed
, but it sounded more like a sob. “I need a few more clothes. Did you buy those too?”

He shook his head. “No. Raif did. He has good taste in women’s clothes. I think you’ll be pleased.”

“I already am. My boys are awesome.”

Audrey spent time getting to know her sons, but never usurped Dorothy Reynolds as Ray’s mother or Raif’s surrogate mother. She adored Chris and understood her on a deep, personal level. And the moment she met Larkin she turned to Ray and said, “Why aren’t you having a double wedding? You’re obviously head-over-heels for that woman. The harder you try to deny it, the more you both suffer.”

“Not you, too, please,” Ray whined.

So, on Raif’s wedding day, Audrey celebrated the joy of one son but fretted the misery of the other.

♣♣♣

Raif and Chris’s wedding went off without a hitch. Raif had his actual mother filling the seat where the mother of the groom was supposed to sit.

All in all, February 13
th
, was the perfect day for the couple. The wedding was informal and held in the morning. The groom wore a simple, but elegantly cut tailored suit while Chris chose a cream-colored, street-length satin and silk dress that resembled a ballerina’s costume with a soft, flowing, romantic tutu. She wore the shoes Lindsay had chosen, flats so she would not be taller than Raif. Before only family and their closest friends, among freshly sprung daffodils, beneath Japanese magnolia branches heavy with bloom, between rows of azaleas and under a brilliant azure sky, they were married at the Reynolds’s beach-front home in Biloxi in the gazebo. Larkin caught the bouquet on a deliberate aim from the bride.

Lindsay sidled up to Ray
. “Well, Uncle Ray, when are you gonna tell her you love her?”

“You don’t know the whole story there, kid
. Leave it alone,” he responded.

She snorted.
No way, Uncle Ray.

Raif and Chris flew to Tahiti for two weeks, leaving Lindsay
, who was eaten up with curiosity, to investigate the whole story.

♣♣♣

Lindsay settled into her new life
. She made the decision to attend school where Larkin taught although she was by no means a discipline problem. She chose to go where she knew someone. In addition, she made it her business to get to know the whole story about Larkin and Ray.

During the two weeks she stayed with Larkin while Raif and Chris were on their honeymoon, Robert LaFontaine came around often
. She watched him closely and with suspicion.
Too slick
, she assessed, but said nothing.

Cyclops hissed and arched his back before running up the stairs.
Smart cat
, Lindsay thought.
Animals sense things.

Lindsay gagged as she listened to the prosecutor gloat about the way the Latrice case had feathered his nest. She was shocked when LaFontaine told Larkin, “The coven members seem to have had their spells broken now that the nut is dead. I’m negotiating deals for pleas. I can save the taxpayers lots of money.”

Lindsay intruded, “They’ll still go to prison, won’t they? Mom told me about this case.”

In a tone of condescension, Robert answered, “Yes, they’ll go to prison, but without trials.”

Lindsay plastered on a smile. “Excuse me. I’m going to call Dupree. We need to talk.” Behind Robert’s back, Lindsay flipped him the bird.

Larkin’s mouth dropped.

“What?” demanded Robert.

“Nothing.” She shook her head and
acted as if nothing had happened.

Lindsay got to know Dupree Parks who had become a model student and had a huge role in the up-coming musical performance, a Broadway review
. Larkin had discovered the young man’s voice and was tutoring him so he could take his GED and get out of high school and the Eau Bouease ghetto. As soon as he passed his GED and took the ACT, Dupree was assured a place at a junior college near Larkin’s hometown, thanks to her connections. He had latched on to her like a drowning man to a life preserver. He knew God had sent him an angel in Miss Sloan. He determined not to blow his last chance at salvation. He would not let his dream shrivel and die like a raisin in the sun.

While Larkin spent an extra
ninety minutes after school with Dupree, Lindsay pestered her uncle Ray. Through her sneaky veiled questions, she determined
Ray is totally in love with Larkin but feels she chose LaFontaine over him.
On the other hand, I know Larkin loves Ray, but thinks he rejected her and blames her for his close call with death.
By watching Larkin and Robert, Lindsay learned,
Aunt Larkin dates LaFontaine for companionship. She’s not in love with him. She’s basically said she doesn’t really even like him very much.
The girl comprehended,
Aunt Larkin is guilty of using Robert to goad Uncle Ray.
Lindsay figured out
LaFontaine is obsessed with Larkin. She would make the perfect wife for someone with his ambitions
. Lindsay might have been only sixteen, but she did not equate obsession and love. She dug deeper and uncovered the long history between Raiford Reynolds and Robert LaFontaine.

Once she had
all the information, she got busy. She confided everything to both her new parents who already knew much of the story and her new best friend, Dupree. At school as the two of them ate lunch together, she said, “We have to do something.”

Dupree sighed. “Lindsay, your mind works overtime. What you want
me to do to help Miss Sloan? I would do anything to protect her. She saved my life.”

Plans were hatched to get Larkin and Ray together.

“I’ll
talk
to them first,” she said.

“Good luck.” Dupree shook his head in doubt.

Plan one met with utter dismal failure. “They said I’m a little girl who ‘doesn’t have a clue about the nuances of a complicated matter,’” she complained to Dupree. “The only people who don’t know Larkin and Ray are in love are Larkin and Ray. Even LaFontaine realizes it and goes out of his way to keep them from communicating.”