Sweet Mystery (19 page)

“You want a multi-million-dollar deal to take
wings and fly away? We either decide to ride out Grandfather’s
displeasure or kiss that plant goodbye.” Darcy did not seem the
least bit concerned about Henry’s reaction. “Besides, when I show
him all those lovely zeros in the profit column, he’ll be quite
happy.”

Marius brightened again at the mention of
money. “You’re right. So, when do we start?”

“I’m meeting with Latham and his bosses in
New Orleans in a week. You get started with the process to have
dredging done.”

“Right. What about Rae Dalcour? Are we just
going to let her stay? Toya won’t be happy.” Marius stood.

“I don’t care if she throws one of her temper
tantrums. Ignore her.”

Marius scrutinized Darcy. “Of course, your
weak spot for Rae Dalcour doesn’t have anything to do with it.
Right?”

“I don’t have a weak spot for anyone,” Darcy
snapped. He caught himself when he saw Marius smile with
satisfaction.

“I would have thought exactly that, until
now.” Marius leaned on the desk. “Keep your priorities
straight.”

“All she wants is to open some juke joint on
the bayou. So what if Dalcours still own property?”

“I don’t care about some old family feud.”
Marius dismissed fifty years of animosity with a wave of his hand.
“We can make big money developing that land – millions.”

Darcy gazed at him. “What are you thinking,
Marius?”

“That Toya is right about one thing – we need
to take care of Rae Dalcour.”

“Leave Rae alone,” Darcy said. “I’ll see she
comes around in my own way.”

“You got two weeks, cousin. Then I’ll take
over.”

* * *

Rae made a full turn to look around the
living room. “Darn, Andy. Looks like a tornado touched down in
here.”

Andrew lived four miles down the road from
their family home in a double-wide trailer he’d bought at a
government auction. Despite the clutter inside, the three-bedroom
home did not look too bad. Andrew took her comment with his usual
easygoing outlook.

“Serena helps me out once a week, cleaning
up.” Andrew shoved a stack of magazines on fishing and cars out of
the way, so his sister could sit on the sofa.

“You’ve got some charm. Your ex-wife helps
you clean up and your girlfriend comes over to cook. Don’t you get
a little confused sometimes?”

Andrew grunted. “Serena comes by for her
child-support check and to beg for money as much as anything. And
Marilyn is a nag.”

Rae smiled. “Those kids of yours are cute as
can be. Little Aletha Ann has the prettiest fat, brown cheeks.”

“Yeah, they’re good-lookin’ little rascals.
Hey, Robert is on the honor roll at school, too.” Andrew went to
the refrigerator and came back with two bottles of Barq’s crème
soda.

“That’s wonderful. See what good genes us
Dalcours have to pass on?” Rae took a long drink. “Um, I sure
missed this stuff. It’s good to be home.”

Andrew plopped down in the chair next to the
sofa. “No place like home.” He put his feet on the coffee table
with a satisfied sigh. “How is work at the dance hall comin’?”

“Almost through. I’m having flyers for the
grand opening printed up. Gonna have ads in the Baton Rouge
newspaper. Got a listing in four small papers that are mostly about
local interests – those are free.”

“You’ve really got this all planned out.
Sounds good.”

“We’re going to have our grand opening on
Memorial Day weekend.” Rae was pleased with the progress she’d
made.

“Three weeks away. You’ll be ready by then? I
know how much needed to be done on that place.” Andrew shook his
head. “It was in a mess.”

“I lit a fire under those guys. We’ll be
ready in another week or so. Jamal and Wes are bringing the band,
and guess who’s coming in to sing on Monday at the big outdoor
barbecue?”

“Who?”

“Kenny Neal.” Rae beamed at him.

“Get outta here, girl! You gonna make
Neville’s investment back in three days.” Andrew looked
impressed.

“I’ll settle for a modest profit to start.
But I think this thing is going to take off.” Rae heaved a sigh.
“I’ve kept one of my promises to Daddy. By the way, LaMar called
the other day. He thinks he’s got a lead.”

Andrew’s good humor evaporated. “Oh?”

“I tell you, Savannah was right about him.
He’s good. He found out the sheriff in Orleans Parish had witnesses
that saw a couple leave the car. One lady is still living in
Kenner. Anyway, LaMar thinks he can trace the couple at least to
where they stayed after leaving the car.”

Andrew twisted his hands together. “I’ve been
thinking it might be best to just forget about it. What difference
could it make after all these years?”

“It will make a difference to our family,”
Rae said.

“I don’t think anybody cares about it these
days. Nobody treats my kids bad cause their name is Dalcour,”
Andrew said. “Tell that detective to quit lookin’.”

“Since I hired LaMar, you’ve been acting real
funny. What’s up?” Rae leaned forward to stare at him hard.

“It’s just we don’t want no more trouble.”
Andrew did not look at her. “Once the dance hall starts goin’,
you’ll get respect from everybody for bringin’ business to
town.”

“I’m not buying that line, Andy. You never
cared what folks in Belle Rose thought. What’s the real reason?”
Rae persisted.

Andrew sat back against the cushion and
looked at her. “Remember I told you I went up in Daddy’s
attic?”

“Yeah, to look for his burial policy and
stuff…”

“I found some papers.” Andrew got up and
walked to the open screen door of the trailer.

“What kind of papers?” Rae got up to stand
behind him. She tugged on his arm. “Andrew, tell me what this is
about.”

Andrew turned around. His eyes were sad. “I
found some old letters that Pawpaw Vincent wrote. Love letters to
Estelle Jove.”

Rae sighed with relief. “I knew he’d been
having an affair with her. But that doesn’t make him a–”

“And there were some papers where he wrote
off for information on living in South America. He said in one
letter that money wouldn’t be a problem.” Andrew shook his head and
then walked back to drop into the chair again.

Rae felt a pounding in her head at his words.
“But Daddy was so sure...”

Could it be that their grandfather had been
so selfish that he’d left his family to face poverty and
persecution? Had they been defending him all this time when he’d
cared nothing for the pain he left behind?

Andrew looked at her with eyes clouded with
pain and anger, caused by a man whom neither of them had ever
known. “I think maybe he did exactly what they say he did, Rae. Our
grandfather was a lyin’, wife-stealin’ thief.”

Chapter 10

Rae sat down hard. “Maybe you misunderstood.
Maybe he just–”

“See for yourself.” Andrew went into a small
bedroom he used as a combination den and office. He came back with
a big, metal box.

Rae read through the letters, which left no
doubt in her mind that their grandfather and Estelle had been
lovers for almost a year. Finally, she came to one cryptic note.
Pawpaw Vincent wrote that he would meet Estelle to talk one
evening. Rae was puzzled.

“Why would Daddy keep these and not tell us?
He was defending the man right up until he died.” Rae stared at the
faded ink on yellowing paper.

“I’m pretty sure he didn’t know. They were
sewed into the linin’ of an old trunk from Monmon Marie’s house. I
wouldn’t have found ‘em, except I tore the lining when I reached
down to take out a bunch of old clothes.“

“She knew and never said anything?” Rae said
in a soft voice.

“Looks like. Why you think she never
told?”

Rae grunted. “And make things worse on
herself? Bad enough he left her with seven children. Remember
Monmon Marie was a proud person. She probably didn’t want to admit
to the world another woman took her husband.”

“You right, cher. She was that, maybe too
proud. No wonder she was always in a sour mood.”

“I just wonder how she got a hold of letters
Pawpaw wrote to Estelle.” Rae saw one mystery being replaced by
another.

Andrew shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe Mr.
Henry gave ‘em to her out of spite when she kept defendin’
Pawpaw.”

“Why didn’t he show them to the world as
proof? Henry Jove hated Pawpaw. I can’t see him missing a chance to
show the world that Pawpaw’s own words made him out a thief.”

“Like you said about Monmon Marie, maybe he
didn’t want everybody to know she was makin’ a fool outta him.”
Andrew’s eyebrows went up. “Some of them letters are pretty
hot.”

Rae waved a couple of the letters in the air.
“You know what this means, Andy?”

Andrew squinted at her. “What?”

“That it’s even more important we find out
the whole story. I’m gonna call LaMar. He needs to see these.” Rae
sorted the letters in her lap.

“You done lost your mind. We don’t need to
pay him to tell us even worse garbage!” Andrew looked disgusted.
“Bad enough knowin’ what we do.”

“Too many questions are left unanswered.” Rae
sat deep in thought for several seconds. “For instance, why didn’t
they track Pawpaw down? With this information, Henry Jove could
have maybe helped the authorities find them.”

“Hmm. Maybe he did tell ‘em and, like Tante
Ina said, the sheriff didn’t care to follow the man to another
country.” Andrew took a deep drink of his crème soda. “Maybe they
tried and lost the trail.”

“Maybe, maybe, maybe… Don’t you think
something’s strange? Like it’s a puzzle with a lot of missing
pieces?”

Andrew put the now empty soda bottle down.
“Now that you mention it, seems awful peculiar that none of this
has ever been mentioned. I mean, there’s always been a lot of talk
how Pawpaw and Estelle run off. I’ve never heard anybody say just
what the sheriff did to find ‘em.”

“Right!” Rae was getting really fascinated
with all the loose ends. “Even racism doesn’t explain such a weak
attempt to search.”

“Of course, he could have just been stupid or
incompetent. Sheriff Thibaut was a bigot and dim as an old light
bulb, from what folks say.” Andrew chuckled.

“Either way, I want to keep looking. And I
can tell you do too.” Rae poked her brother on the arm. “It’s
written all over your face.”

“Okay, so maybe I do. Just be prepared. Simon
might not be so lovey-dovey when you get the whole story.” Andrew
gazed at her. “Yeah, you never thought about that.”

“Simon isn’t a snob, Andy.” Rae knew she
sounded defensive.

“The St. Cyrs and Joves have always been
stuck up. What with bein’ descendants of French governors sent to
Louisiana. He might say all that don’t matter to him now
but...”

“He cares about me and don’t you forget it.
When you get to know him, you’ll see that you’re wrong.” Rae put as
much conviction into her voice as she could. After the hours spent
with him, she could not imagine such a reaction from Simon.

Andrew did appear to be reassured. “I hope
you’re right, little sister. I really do.”

Rae pushed any budding doubts from her mind.
“I am. Now help me put these in some kind of order.”

“Okay, but I got a lot more still in the
box.” Andrew dug out another stack of papers, tied together with
twine.

“Good gracious. Well let’s get started. I
want to call LaMar today.”

Rae and Andrew got down to the task of
separating the letters from other documents. After an hour of
coming up with a system by date and content, they had three neat
bundles. Rae took the papers home with her, and was still reading
them when Simon knocked on her door.

“Hello, beautiful.” Simon kissed her. “Looks
like you’ve got a term paper due.” He pointed to the papers stacked
up on the sofa.

“More like a research project.” Rae glanced
at the letters and old receipts.

“What exactly are you doing?” Simon sat down
in a chair opposite the sofa, so as not to disturb her work.

“Digging myself into a hole,” Rae said as she
sat down.. She leaned back into the sofa.

“You don’t look the least bit dirty to me,”
Simon teased. “Come on now, tell me about it.” He touched her
knee.

“The way things look right now, my
grandfather probably stole the money and took Estelle Jove with
him.” Rae threw down one of the love letters. She was angry at
Pawpaw Vincent for betraying her father. Lucien and the rest of the
family had deserved better than what he did to them.

“You’ve found proof after all this time?”

“He was having an affair with her. Add that
to his telling her that he would have the money to take care of
them both...” Rae sat up. “You figure it out.”

“It’s still only circumstantial.” Simon tried
to sound encouraging.

“Nice try.” Rae brought his hand to her
face.

“Maybe this is a good reason to let go of
it.” Simon carefully moved the stacks of old papers to the coffee
table. “We’ve got each other now, baby. I don’t care about the
past.” He pulled her into his strong arms.

“Your family cares, Simon. When they find out
about us–”

“My parents aren’t that narrow-minded. Dad
never bought into the old family feud. My mother is from Lafayette.
I doubt she’d care.”

Rae looked at him. “What about my reputation?
I haven’t exactly been a sweet debutante type.” For the first time
in her life, Rae worried what someone might think of her youthful
antics.

“I can’t believe this! Show me that old Rae
Dalcour rebel spirit,” Simon said, pinching her chin.

“I’ve never cared much what anybody in this
town thought, at least that’s what I tried to tell myself. But some
of the things people said did hurt.” Rae rested her head against
his chest. It felt wonderful to feel so at ease, so secure. “Guess
my reaction when I got to be a teenager was to just break out. A
lot of what I did was out of anger.”