These Sheltering Walls: A Cane River Romance (20 page)

            “Huh.
You were right.” Bix nodded at Fr. Tom. “He said if he left you two alone out
here, Gideon would convince you to come.”

            Henry
felt her face go hot. “Well, I’d better get going. I’ve got a date and I’m
still in my work clothes.” She waved as she slipped back inside By the Book,
not waiting to hear their goodbyes.

            Okay,
it wasn’t exactly a date anymore, but her pride stung. Her feelings were so
obvious that soon people would stop assuming she was engaged to Blue, and
switch their conjecture to Gideon. The only thing worse than having the small
town rumor mill fixated marrying you off to the man you were dating, was for it
to try and marry you off to the man you weren’t.

“Men occasionally stumble over the
truth, but most of them pick themselves

up and hurry off as if nothing ever
happened.”

― Winston S. Churchill

            Gideon
settled into the hard wooden chair and stacked his papers neatly in front of
him. The flame from the gas lamp shed a warm glow over the space. With the
heavy door closed, he could hardly hear the occasional traffic outside. It was
everything he’d always loved about the place and yet he felt uneasy, anxious.

             Henry
was out on a date with Blue while he sat in a dark basement and that was okay.
She was clearly afraid of him and that was okay, too. He couldn’t expect
miracles just because he had feelings for her. Vince used to say ‘pigs get fed
and hogs get eaten’. Gideon couldn’t be greedy or he’d ruin everything. One
step at a time and maybe, just maybe Henry might think of him as more than a
friend. Someday.

            Picking
up a tattered picture, he peered at it with the magnifying glass. Two little
girls stood next to a plow, their flour sack dresses hanging off thin figures.
Adele
Burel, Modeste Burel
 
1924.
The names were familiar. Gideon pulled
out his tablet and scrolled through the database. After the Burel name were
nine letters, all in Creole French. He tapped the first, read the transcript
and remembered the story. Sisters separated in childhood and Adele searched for
her younger sister all her life. The second to last letter was from Modeste’s
daughter to Adele. The two families had finally reconnected, fifty years after
being separated, but it was too late. Modeste had died the year before.

            Gideon
looked at the two little girls, thinking of how Tom had never given up on him,
how he had written him for years. Even now, Tom would search for him if he ever
wandered away. He was like an anchor in a world that could be as cold and
merciless as the ocean.

            Henry
believed she was invisible to her family, that they wouldn’t even notice if she
disappeared. Maybe it was true. Kimberly wanted her around, but it seemed to be
only for her own purposes. That day at the excavation site, Henry had spoken
angry words, but her tears betrayed her. She grieved for the family she never
had, as surely as the last letter written from Adele to Modeste’s family.

            Gideon
tapped the link to the last letter and read it again.

           
My
heart is broken. I hoped to reunite with my dear sister and in my dreams it
would be as if we were never separated. Now all that is left is seeing her in
heaven someday.

            Tom
had once told him that Sally still celebrated his birthday by baking a cake.
Gideon had shaken off the comment. He couldn’t imagine his foster mother
feeling anything other than anger and disappointment. Once she’d sent a letter
back with Tom when he’d gone home for a visit but Gideon had never opened it.
Every time he’d looked at it, he’d felt a wave of despair and fear, until he’d
finally hid it in a box and stuffed it into the back of his closet.

            His
phone buzzed in his pocket and he jumped.  Henry’s skittishness about the
basement was rubbing off on him. He pulled out his phone and saw it was Tom.

            “Are
you picking up Bix and Ruby or should I?” Tom asked.

            “I
will,” Gideon said. “What time did you tell Henry to be there?”

            “I
never got a chance to say. You want to call her? Or you could just wander over
to Oakland.” He could hear Tom smiling through the phone.

            “I’ll
send her an e-mail.”

            “I
think a face to face meeting is better,” Tom said. He clearly thought Gideon
should take any excuse to run over and see Henry.

            “That
didn’t go very well last time.”

             “How
do you mean? She seemed fine this afternoon.”

            Gideon
let out a long breath. Sure, Henry hadn’t run screaming down the sidewalk. “I
think she’s afraid of me.”

            He
held the phone away from his ear as Tom burst into laughter.

            “Remember
when you told me to lay off the weight lifting? You were right.”

            Tom
took a few more seconds to speak normally. “My friend, you’ve always told me
you’re great at reading people. Now I know that’s a lie.”

            He
shifted in the chair. “I know what I saw.”

            “Which
was what, exactly? Please elaborate on how Henry is terrified of you, because
what I saw yesterday wasn’t terror.”

            “It’s
hard to explain.” Gideon felt his face go hot just remembering. “Let’s just say,
when I got close to her, she almost hurt herself jumping away.”

            “Close
to her? How close?”

            Gideon
rolled his eyes at the ceiling. “You want a blow by blow of the entire
conversation?”

            “Yes,
sir.” Tom’s tone wasn’t teasing anymore. “I think Henry just might be the one
person you can’t read.”

            He
thought of the first time they’d met and how he couldn’t quite puzzle her out. “She
was crying. I was hugging her. And then I…” He slumped in his chair. It was
humiliating to admit. “I tried to kiss her and she jumped backward. It couldn’t
be more clear if she had waved a chair at me.”

            There
was a long pause. “Why was she crying?”

            “It
wasn’t anything I did. It was something she was saying and it made her cry.”

            “Something
about the site? History?”

            “No,
no. Something personal.”

            “Got
it.” Tom was smiling again. “So, definitely not talking about the weather.”

             “No.
I guess we’re just not the type.”

            “And
then you…. hugged her?”

            He
didn’t answer. He knew what Tom was thinking. Gideon wasn’t a hugger. He wasn’t
even a toucher. He could be perfectly happy not touching another human being
ever. Or so he had thought.

            “And
then you tried to kiss her.” Tom seemed to be mulling it over. “You thought
that was a good time to make your move?”

            “I
wasn’t thinking anything, obviously.” Gideon hated the sharpness in his voice.
It still rankled. He shifted a stack of papers and waited for Tom’s verdict.

            “Well,
I’m no expert on women, but I do like to think I understand people. There could
be a lot of different explanations. She was clearly struggling and maybe she
reacted more from those emotions than anything to do with you. Also, she’s
dating Blue. I reckon that might have some bearing on whether she’s running
around kissing other men.”

            “She
looked afraid.” He hated to say the words. Closing his eyes, he could see her
expression so clearly. Her tear-streaked face, the dirt smudge on her cheek,
her red and puffy eyes were all as clear as a picture to him.

            “Okay,”
Tom said. But he clearly didn’t think Gideon had gotten it right. “So, that’s
why you decided to invite her to dinner? She’s afraid of you and that’s your
next step?”

            He
knew what Tom was doing. He wanted Gideon to say it, to put words to his hopes.
But people who did that were tempting fate. They were asking to be
disappointed. “I don’t have a master plan, here. I just don’t want her to be
afraid of me.”

            “That’s
all?” Tom sounded smug.

            “Yes,
sir.”

            “Because
you’ve always cared what people thought about you before.”

            Gideon
sighed.

            “Okay,
don’t get huffy about it. Here I thought we were trying to get her to dump Blue
and take up with you, but instead we’re just going to make sure she’s just
comfortable. I’ll be sure to tell Bix and Ruby about the change of plans.”

            He
sat up straight. “You didn’t say anything to them, did you?” Bix was one of the
most out-spoken men he knew and not always in a good way. Ruby was only a
little less so. The two of them on a romantic mission was asking for trouble.

            “Gideon,
I didn’t have to. Bix may be blind, but he can still see what’s right in front
of him,” Tom said. “Anyway, let’s say seven. You pick them up. And relax. It’ll
be fun.”

            “You
know, I don’t think this such a good idea―”

            “Nope.
Too late. See you at seven. And remember you’re going to be contributing to the
conversation,” Tom said and hung up.

            Gideon
put the phone back in his pocket and stared at the piles of papers in front of
him. A month ago he thought he was starting to crack under some unnamed stress,
acting out of character and yearning for change. Apparently, the few days he’d
found to spend fishing with Bix and Tom hadn’t been enough because he’d just
signed up for what could be the world’s most awkward double date.

                                                                        ***

            Henry
re-read the last paragraph. A simple search of Gideon’s full, original name had
brought up old news articles, and it was a story of unbelievable brutality and
loss.

            She
sat back, staring at the screen, unable to tear her eyes from the picture of a
young  Gideon. His hair was much lighter, but his eyes were the same dark blue.
He laughed into the camera, arms wrapped around his mother’s neck. She was
blond but with the same angled brows that made Gideon seem serious even when he
was smiling. His father stood behind them, one hand on his wife’s shoulder. He
looked much younger than his twenty eight years but maybe it was his wide smile
that showed off familiar dimples. In his arms he held a baby with soft dark
curls and a serious expression.

           
Five
year old is the sole survivor in triple homicide. Robbery is the suspected
motive. Victims Theresa Hardy and Timothy Hardy were found deceased in their
home by relatives. Gideon Hardy and Katie Rose Hardy were discovered the next
day by fishermen on the banks of Red River. Katie Rose was declared deceased at
the scene. Autopsies pending.

            Henry
stood up and stared out at the red dirt and tufts of grass behind the
Plantation. Her eyes burned and her chest felt so tight she had trouble taking
a breath. Gideon said he was wary of people trying to fix him. She’d assumed he
meant his past as a convicted murderer. There was much, much more to his story.

            Taking
a shaky breath, she sat back down at the computer. This was her Pandora’s box.
Once opened, the knowledge inside could never be forgotten. The moment she’d
typed in his name, there was no turning back.

            She
flipped to the next article.
Duane Banner was convicted and sentenced to
thirty years for the murder of the young Hardy family. Mark Daniels was
convicted and sentenced to ten years for accessory.
Henry frowned. Ten
years seemed like a very light sentence for accessory.
Ten years.
Mark
Daniels would be out now, maybe even living somewhere in the area.

            Henry
searched the name plus LaFayette and murder. When the article came up, the
first thing she noticed was Gideon’s name was now Becket. And then all the
pieces fell into place and she sucked in a breath.
Fifteen year old Gideon
Becket will be tried as an adult in the LaFayette murder of Mark Daniels, who
was recently paroled after serving a ten year sentence for the murder of ―

           
She
bolted from her chair and paced the tiny office. Her breaths were coming sharp
and fast. He’d never offered to explain. He could have. Anybody would
understand a young kid exacting revenge.
Old enough to know better.
 
That’s what he’d said the day they met. He’d offered no excuses.

            Henry
put her hands to her cheeks and was surprised to feel them wet with tears. She
didn’t know why she was crying. Maybe for the little boy who lost everyone he
loved and was dumped in the river like a piece of trash. Maybe for the teen who
was so consumed with rage he killed in revenge. Maybe for the man she knew
today who carried the weight of that tragedy in one hand and his guilt in the
other.

            At
the Zydeco Festival he’d asked her why she never asked him any questions about
it. Henry closed her eyes, remembering what she’d said.
I’ve spent my whole
life knowing more than I wanted about everyone around me.
There was evil
everywhere. Secrets and lies, brokenness and wounded people. She had never
wanted to know more. She’d never set out to discover another person’s secrets.

            She
took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. How ridiculous she must have seemed,
crying over being Kimberly Gray’s daughter. She wondered what he’d been
thinking as he held her and she sobbed at the
unfairness
of it all.