Left Behind, page 29
She was awake before daybreak the next morning, got dressed in a hurry, and grabbed a breakfast sandwich before checking out. Then she took an Uber down to the Julia Street Cruise terminal. The driver let her out, unloaded her luggage, and drove away. Now all Corina had to do was board, and according to her instructions, there would be people waiting at the top of the first deck, directing her as to where to go.
The sun was shining, and the wind off the gulf was brisk. She felt cute and carefree as she moved with a growing crowd of people, also in the act of boarding. But when she reached the top and presented her passport and the letter stating she was staff, she was cut out of the crowd like a steer headed for market and followed a different group being led into the bowels of the ship, out of the sunlight, and down long narrow hallways with artificial lighting and not a porthole to be seen.
It wasn’t quite what she’d expected, but she was busy listening to the guide calling out names and cabin numbers as they moved down the hallways of the sleeping quarters, dropping workers off as they went. Then she called out another name.
“Corina Dalton.”
“I’m here,” Corina said.
“This will be your cabin. Take note of the number because everything looks alike. Your bunkmate has already checked in. Staff meeting in the staff mess hall after we sail. You have a map in your paperwork to direct you there. No wandering about the ship. You are not here to sightsee. You are here to work.”
Corina’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Bunkmate? Belowdecks?
She opened the door and walked into a small austere room with no portholes, a set of bunk beds, a sofa, a little desk, and an empty mini fridge, and the aforementioned bunkmate stretched out in the bottom bunk.
She was a thirtysomething redhead with a face full of freckles and shy on height, which explained why she’d chosen the bottom bunk. She rolled out to greet Corina.
“Hi, I’m Patsy. I snore. That’s our closet. We share. The head is through that door. It’s tiny, so it’s a good thing you’re not fat. What’s your name?”
Corina blinked. “Corina Dalton. I didn’t know we’d share a room.”
Patsy laughed. “You didn’t read the fine print. This is my fourth trip out. Unpack before the ship weighs anchor. The thrusters make a hell of a noise when we depart, but then they level off. You get used to the noise.”
Corina was on the verge of pissed. “Noise? They didn’t mention noise.”
Patsy sighed. She had a feeling this was going to be a long six months, and she was right. By the end of the first day, although they were working side by side, they hadn’t spoken six words to each other.
Corina was angry and sullen and slept with the pillow over her head, trying to drown out the sound of engines. They had fourteen-hour shifts, their own mess hall, and their own store to buy toiletries and cleaning products for their own cabins. By the end of the week, her hands were cracked and bleeding. A trip to the ship’s doctor confirmed her allergy to the industrial-strength cleaning solutions, and she was sent to laundry instead.
After that, the only time she saw Patsy was in their cabin at night. Corina wasn’t mad at Patsy. She was mad at herself, but everyone who came within range of her was sucked into her misery by her attitude alone. Finally, her boss called her into the office and read her the riot act about her behavior, what was acceptable and what was not.
Corina stood there, listening.
“Do we understand each other now?” her boss asked.
“I heard you. If we were anywhere but at sea, I would have already quit.”
“You signed a contract!” he said.
“Yes, I did, to work on a ship. Not scrub shit off floors or try to sleep with that god-awful thumping noise! I wake up tired and mad because I can’t get a decent night’s sleep. So, what’s next? Throw me overboard? Make me walk the plank?”
He stared her down. “What’s next is you’re fired. You can either continue to do your work until we dock again in New Orleans, at which time you will be escorted off the ship with your pay docked for reneging on the contract you signed, or you can quit now and you will be confined to your cabin.”
Corina frowned. “Like jail?”
“Basically, it’s you not getting to roam around while waiting for a free ride home,” he said.
The stark reality of the choices was, once again, a reminder of her life. Every fucking choice she’d made had resulted in worsening her situation. She thought getting rid of Ava would end her troubles, but they’d just become worse, and so had her attitude. She leaned forward in the chair, staring at her boss with all the hate in her heart.
“Then laundry it is. Not too much starch in your shorts, right?” she said, and walked out.
***
Detective Gardner was smiling as he hung up the phone, then looked around the room at the collection of detectives who’d helped them solve this case.
“Heads up!” he said.
They all stopped what they were doing and looked up.
“Good news! Carl Henley and his son have both been indicted on multiple charges, and the evidence against them is insurmountable. Junior is testifying against his father for a lighter sentence. Lonny Pryor has agreed to plead out. Doesn’t want a trial. And the associates we pulled in who were connected to Henley are facing charges ranging from the distribution of drugs, to fencing stolen property, to prostitution, and more.”
The collective let out a whoop, then began to clap.
Gardner leaned back in his chair, smiling. They’d done it! They’d finally taken down a major player who’d blithely thumbed his nose in their faces for years. So much for being untouchable.
***
On the day that Johnny Knight ditched his last walking cast and cane, he and Carey went to the courthouse to get a marriage license. After all they’d endured, all they wanted was to belong to each other. They didn’t belong to any church. They didn’t have family left to invite. They chose to get married by a justice of the peace, with Tom Wheaton as their witness.
Probate was nearing closure.
Neither of them wanted to live in the house where Billy was murdered, so they’d decided to sell the property when Carey was able to claim full ownership and then buy their own house somewhere else in the city. Something small and cozy. Something they could call their own.
She still had nightmares of running through the woods in the rainstorm, and Johnny’s dreams were all about falling, but they had each other to wake up to, and thanks to a brother who’d loved her to the end, they had enough.
***
Linette’s parents arrived at the end of the first week of August. Ava was already amped up about her new school, and now she was faced with meeting more new adults when she just wanted someone to play with.
But they had not come unannounced. Wiley and Linette knew they were coming and had them over to the house for supper on the evening of their arrival.
Ava was playing in her room when the doorbell rang, but she knew it meant company was here, and she left the room running. Bubba was her rock, and she was in uncertain waters again.
All of a sudden, Ava had wrapped herself around Wiley’s leg, and Linette was looking nervous. He burst out laughing. “You two are something else. Linnie. It’s your parents, for God’s sake. Let them in.”
Linette sighed and headed for the door, while Wiley peeled Ava off his leg and picked her up. “Is that better?” he whispered.
Ava nodded.
“Mom! Dad! Come in! Come in!” Linette said.
Chuck and Angela Elgin entered smiling, greeting their daughter with hugs and kisses, then eyed the big man and the tiny girl at the end of the hall. Before Linette could introduce them, Wiley approached.
“Welcome! I’m Wiley, and this is my little sister, Ava. It’s great to finally put faces to the names. You raised a most exceptional woman, and she talks about you often.”
Angela was smitten.
Chuck was overwhelmed by Wiley Pope’s size. He wasn’t just tall. He was built like a linebacker with a pretty face.
“We’re happy to be here,” Angela said, and immediately dug a small package from her purse. “Ava, I’m Linnie’s mother, so when she and Wiley get married, that will make you my granddaughter. I’ve been waiting a long time for my first grandchild, and now here you are! I brought you a little gift.”
Ava took the little package, then looked at Wiley. “I can have two grammies?”
“Yes, you can. Might want to call this one Grandma, or Nana, so we’ll know which one you’re talking about.”
“Nana would be perfect!” Angela said. “And this is Linnie’s daddy. You can call him Papa if you like.”
Ava gasped. Her eyes welled. “Bubba…I will have a Papa, too?”
Wiley sighed. “Wanting to call me Daddy was her deepest wish, and we couldn’t make that happen. But having a man in her life who she can call Papa is going to ice this cake. Welcome to the family, Chuck.”
Chuck Elgin had been hesitant about the man, but Ava sealed the deal.
“I’d love to be called Papa,” he said.
Linette sighed with relief. She’d known her dad was going to pull the “Daddy’s-girl routine, and Ava had just saved her from that.
“Ava, honey, let’s go to the living room and sit down so you can open your gift, okay?”
Ava led the way, chattering, but the moment she sat down, she noticed the shades were up and the curtains still open.
“Bubba, the curtains,” she whispered.
“Ah…right!” Wiley said, He began lowering shades and pulling curtains shut, then went through the house doing the same to all the windows, while Ava began tearing into her present.
“What’s happening?” Angela whispered.
“It has to do with where Ava lived before. She doesn’t feel safe until all the windows are covered. Drive-by shootings and gang-related neighborhood, I think.”
Chuck frowned. “Bless her heart.”
“And bless Wiley’s, too,” Linette said. “He’s the one who rescued her from it.”
And then Ava squealed just as Wiley came back into the room. “Bubba! Jewelry! Now I have two necklaces! Thank you, Nana. Thank you, Papa.” She jumped up and ran to Linette. “Linnie, look! It has a pink jewel! Can I wear it for a while?”
“Absolutely,” Linette said. She put it around Ava’s neck and fastened the clasp.
The moment she did, Ava shot out of the room.
“Where’s she going?” Angela asked.
“To look at herself in the mirror,” Wiley said. “I keep telling her she’s pretty, but she has a hard time seeing that in herself.”
“Why?” Angela asked.
“Because the woman who gave birth to her told her daily that she was a mistake. Because she was ignored and abused for the entirety of her seven years, and it breaks my heart. We didn’t know she existed until just a couple of months ago,” he said.
Linette walked up behind Wiley and put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to tell you now,” she said to her parents. “Ava and Wiley may not look alike, and the age difference is obvious, but they are two peas in a pod when it comes to honesty. They didn’t come with filters. We laugh daily at Ava’s view of the world.”
“And other times say to ourselves it’s a damn good thing Corina Dalton lives a long way away,” he muttered. “Oh. FYI…if she mentions Miss Mattie tonight, just know that’s the old neighbor who used to look after her for days on end when Corina would disappear.”
“My God,” Chuck muttered. “Where’s Miss Mattie now?”
“Ava just says, ‘Miss Mattie dropped dead.’ We don’t really know what prompted it, but from Ava’s standpoint, Miss Mattie was good. Corina was mean.”
“Ava also says Corina was an ass, which I am certain came straight out of her brother’s mouth first, but one cannot deny a truth,” Linette said.
Chuck burst out laughing. His estimation of Wiley Pope was rising.
“Supper is ready. Wiley, will you please tell Ava it’s time to eat?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and was out of the room in three long strides.
“Lord, but he’s big,” Chuck said.
“All the Popes are big, Daddy. He’s one of four, and the youngest brother is taller than all of them. There is also a whole mountain of giants just like them. If they are related to the Popes, they grow tall. Come to the kitchen. I made your favorite entrée and Mom’s favorite dessert.”
“Meat loaf and mashed potatoes?” Chuck asked.
“Poppyseed cake with pineapple filling and cream cheese frosting?” Angela asked.
Linette smiled. “Yes, to both of you. Follow me.”
Chapter 19
“Is Ava asleep?” Linette asked, as Wiley slipped back into their bedroom and closed the door.
He nodded. “Yes, curled up in her covers. All you can see of her is from the nose up. Do you think your parents liked us?”
Linette patted the empty side of the bed. “Lord yes. Mother is besotted with you. You have charmed her straight to hell and back. Daddy begrudgingly approves of you, but he’ll die before he admits it, because he’s jealous. But Mama will take the starch right out of him for his attitude tonight, and the next time you see him, he’ll be your long-lost friend.”
Wiley laughed as he crawled into bed beside her. “Well, that’s quite a lot to live up to.”
“You don’t have to worry about them another second. I’m the woman you need to please, and it would please me greatly to die a little bit in your arms tonight.”
He reached across her and turned out the lights. “I hear and obey,” he whispered as he slipped his hand between her legs.
***
“They’re happy,” Angela said, as she pulled back the covers and crawled into bed.
Chuck Elgin sighed. “I saw that.”
“He’s different, Chuck. Different from any men I’ve seen in years. Like a throwback to a different time. He’s not pretending to be something he’s not, and he’s a bona fide hero. Did you know about that hospital lockdown?”
Chuck shrugged. “She talked about it tonight after they put Ava to bed. It’s the first I knew.”
“He saved her life in that bank robbery, and he saved her life in that hospital. All you have to do is see the way he looks at her to know she is his heart. He is loyal to the core. I am never going to worry about our daughter again.”
“I don’t know about all that,” Chuck muttered. “A father is always gonna worry about his daughter.”
“Well, that’s your prerogative, if you feel the need. But Linette is a grown woman, and the man who will look after her and love her now is Wiley Pope. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the family.”
“Is that tomorrow?” Chuck asked.
“Yes. Tomorrow is Saturday. We’re having lunch—they call it dinner—at his mother’s house. Apparently, his immediate family will be there,” Angela said.
“Good. You can tell a lot about a man by the woman who raised him. I’ll reserve judgment,” he muttered.
Angela plopped down into bed beside him and turned off the light. There was a brief moment of silence before she fired her last shot in a voice devoid of emotion.
“Charles Elgin. You do not go up that mountain with judgment on your mind. You will pretend you are not an occasional bigot. If you see something that you disapprove of, you will keep it to yourself, or you will answer to me when we go home, and it is a long-ass drive from here to St. Petersburg. Do you get my drift?”
Chuck hadn’t heard that tone in her voice in years, but he knew what it meant.
“Yes, honey. I didn’t mean anything I said as an insult to the man. I’m just—”
“You’re just jealous. So, grow up. We made her. We loved and raised her, and she’ll always be our daughter. But she is his now. He cherishes the ground she walks on, which is more than I can say for how you treat me.”
“But, honey—”
“You take me for granted and you know it,” Angela said. “But I love you, so I put up with it. Now shut up and go to sleep. Tomorrow is an important day for Linnie, and we aren’t going to embarrass her. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Angela snorted beneath her breath, then rolled over on her side and closed her eyes.
***
Shirley Pope knew Linette’s family was coming to visit, and that they were coming to her house for dinner tomorrow. Even B.J. was taking off a day, leaving the assistant pastry chef in charge. Aaron and Dani were coming. Amalie was closing her office for the day.
Shirley had also invited Cameron and his family, Aunt Annie and Uncle John Cauley, Marcus Glass, and Ray and Betty Raines and their son, Charlie. It was the first get-together she’d hosted since Aunt Ella’s passing, and her absence would be felt by the people who’d loved her.
Shirley had baked a ham yesterday and would make the beef roast and vegetables today, along with a half-dozen sides to go with it. Amalie and Sean had helped her last night and were at it again this morning, and Aunt Annie was bringing desserts from the bakery. It was also Shirley’s first big meal to cook since she’d gotten rid of the walking cast, and it felt good to be whole again.
As always, family began arriving early, women bringing a side dish and an extra pair of hands, while the men were shooed out of the house onto the long front porch to swap stories to their hearts’ content.
Sean had an ice chest full of cold pop and bottles of water, and the ceiling fans on the porch stirred the air enough to keep them cool, while the women had the air-conditioned house to cool their labors.
Aaron and Dani arrived, with B.J. right behind them, and then Cameron, Rusty, and Mikey came after, while the rest came stringing in. Finally, the only people left to arrive were the guests of honor.
“There they come!” Cameron said, pointing at the appearance of Wiley’s SUV, and right behind it was a car they didn’t recognize. It had to be her parents.
Sean got up and opened the door. “Mom! They’re here!” he shouted.
Shirley dropped what she was doing, wiped her hands, and went out to greet them.
