Down and Dead in Dallas, page 21
“I think we’ve really messed up, Jackson.”
“Clearly, or we wouldn’t be under house arrest.”
“No, I mean in our other lives. I’ve been so busy making every minute count, I never really thought this whole fun thing through before. Have you?”
“I thought I had, which is why I always put fun off until later. But maybe not. Where are you going with this?”
“Rose loves you. My parents loved me,” Christine said. “It’s so simple and I totally missed it.”
“I’m still missing it.”
“They love us, Jackson. And I’ll bet if they knew we turned our backs on having fun, it would break their hearts. They wanted all good things for us, including fun. Joy makes life worth living, right?”
“We have joy. In our work.”
“What about joy in others? What about being content and joyful just for the sake of being alive and breathing and being healthy and, well, just being?”
Miss Emily inhaled a sharp breath. Lester squeezed her arm. Rose waited to hear Jackson’s response, not daring to breathe. She wanted her brother happy. Like Christine said. Not feeling guilty and denying himself joy or fun. If she’d had any idea that he felt this way… The truth hit her. She looked back at Miss Emily. “You knew.”
Miss Emily winked.
Finally, Jackson answered. “Humph. I’m seeing all this a little differently now,” he said. “Serious perspective shift.”
“Me, too.”
“I think Rose would be heartbroken.”
“And worried,” Christine said. “My folks, too.”
Jackson’s voice firmed. “Well, we need to change.”
“Agreed.”
Miss Emily raised a pumped fist. “Yes!”
Lester grinned.
So did Matthew.
Rose clasped a hand over her heart. Deeply moved, she couldn’t speak.
“Okay, then,” Christine said. “Let’s list five fun things we would most like to do. If we live through this, we’ll do them. If not, well, at least we’ll know what they are.”
“No, we’ll do them together either way,” Jackson insisted. “We’ll really do them or we’ll do them in our minds, right here from our windows.”
“Now that’s romantic.” Miss Emily sighed. “Isn’t that romantic, Lester?”
“Yeah, there’s a real sweetest to it. I like that.”
Rose laid a snide glare on Lester. “Is that why you’re fighting so hard in committee to kill them?”
Lester snorted. “One thing ain’t got nothing to do with the other, Rosie girl—and you know it.”
“Shhh!”
“Last warning, Rose.” Miss Emily said softly. “Now hush. They’re getting to the good part.”
“There’s something else in that pillowcase,” Jackson said.
“Brownies?” The hope in Christine’s voice was clear to all listening.
“No, no dessert tonight, I’m afraid.”
“If we don’t kill them, Lester, we need to help the man get those brownies of his to market,” Miss Emily whispered.
“No need to be nagging,” Lester whispered back to her. “I already started on that this morning.”
“My taste buds want to declare war at no dessert, but my blood sugar thanks you for the reprieve.” Christine checked the pillowcase and pulled out a bunch of daisies. “Oh, you sent me flowers. They’re beautiful, Jackson.”
“You like them.” He smiled. “You know, for a rich woman with everything, you’re easy to please.”
“Money doesn’t make you happy. Oh, it’s been a blessing not to have to scrape by or worry about rent and paying bills. But I think if I had to choose, I’d choose a life with a man who brought me flowers he picked from my yard over one with buckets full of money any day.”
“Picked up on that, did you?”
“Uh-huh. The flowerbed by the kitchen window is looking a little bare.”
“I tried to get a few from different places, but I wanted a decent bunch. Hard, when you can’t leave the property. Millie, next door on the other side of you, has a slew of them. I don’t know what she’s doing to her flowers, but they’re thicker than thieves.”
“I saw that. She’s got a green thumb,” Christine said. “It’s a gift.”
Millie, sitting two chairs down from Rose, whispered to the man sitting beyond her. “He likes my flowers.” She glowed. “See, Ruddy? I told you people appreciate having pretty flowers to look at.”
“Yes, dear.”
Wise man to not argue, in Rose’s opinion. No way would he win in this crowd.
“I love them,” Christine told Jackson. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” A long minute passed, then another. “Um, Christine?”
“Yeah?”
“What you said… about what you’d rather have. You were kidding, right?”
“No. I meant every word.” Her voice went soft. “Having money doesn’t insulate you from problems, Jackson. It just changes the nature of them. You have a whole different set of problems.” She stopped, then started again. “You can’t buy someone caring for you from their heart. Worrying about you, cooking healthy food for you, or doing thoughtful things like remembering you love brownies and making them for you just because they want to do it. And you can’t pay someone to be thoughtful and pick you flowers just because. Those things come from the heart and they create moments, Jackson. Money can’t compete with moments from the heart. It can’t even come close.”
“That’s beautiful,” Rose whispered. “She’s head over heels crazy about him.” A tear slipped from Rose’s eye. “I just love her.”
Matthew grinned. “You love her for loving him?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Me, too.” Matthew said.
Lester pulled out a hanky.
“Lester, don’t you dare honk your nose.” Miss Emily warned him with a wagging finger. “They’ll hear you.”
“Wasn’t gonna honk.” He reached over to Miss Emily and dabbed a tear from her eye. “You sprung a little leak.”
Rose took that tenderness as a good sign for Jackson and Christine’s future.
“For goodness’ sake, Mr. Jenkins.”
Rose looked back, and her jaw dropped. Mr. Jenkins was rubbing at his eyes, too, with the hem of Abigail’s sleeve.”
Mr. Jenkins? The staid and stiff, Mr. Jenkins? Rose’s heart lifted. Jackson’s future looked… well, like he’d have a future. Maybe.
Between Miss Emily, Lester and Mr. Jenkins, they held a lot of influence with the committee. Not all of it, but a lot of it.
“Stop fretting.” Matthew slipped her hand into his. “This will all work out fine.”
Rose frowned at her husband. “The last time someone told me that, I ended up in a burn box inside a crematorium.”
“A crematorium?” Millie gasped. “Holy smoke! Did you hear that, Ruddy?”
“We all heard it, Millie. Everybody knows they had special circumstances. Hush, now so we can hear.” That came from someone in back near the street that Rose couldn’t see. Their ranks on the lawn had swelled to nearly twice as many as when she’d sat down.
Rose bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to say that about the crematorium, much less to say it loud enough for anyone to hear. It just kind of popped out.
Matthew sent her a level look to knock-off complaining. “We lived, Rose.”
“Barely.” That was no lie. “I had stinky singed hair for months—and don’t you dare say I could’ve shaved my head.”
Millie frowned at Matthew. “You actually told her that?”
“I only said it was her choice and she could shave her head.” Seeing he was losing favor, he added, “I’d love her even if she was bald.”
Rose elbowed him. “Quit trying to score brownie points.”
“Shhh!” The crowd collectively complained.
At the window, Christine stilled. “What was that noise?”
“I don’t know,” Jackson said. “Probably nothing. I’ll go check.”
Panic erupted and forty or so of those nothings scrambled to get out of the line of sight from Jackson’s front porch, huddling behind trees, diving under bushes, behind rain barrels.
Rose and Matthew watched for Miss Emily and Lester, to be sure they didn’t get run over. Miss Emily tripped over a water cooler and did a respectable tumble roll right back to her feet.
“Impressive,” Matthew said.
It was impressive… and the reason for all this hit Rose like a tomato to the window. “Those sly rascals…”
“Who?” Matthew asked, not tracking her.
“You’ll see.”
Chapter 30
March 31st
Christine sat at the window and stared across to Jackson. “It’s been a week. How much longer are they going to make us stay like this?”
“I don’t know.”
How could he not know? He’d been here often. “Are you telling me you’ve never seen anyone else in the Park under house arrest?”
“Actually, I haven’t.” He lifted a hand. “I didn’t even know there was a jail until they threatened to throw us in it.”
“Maybe there isn’t one. I didn’t see one, and you haven’t seen it.”
“No, there is a jail. Lucas never makes false claims when it comes to Park security.” Jackson twisted in the window to stretch out a bit. “I’ve been thinking about it. The jail has to be out by the ranch.”
“I don’t think so. There’s just three buildings out there. The main house, a barn, and a bunkhouse.”
“How do you know that?”
“My midnight jaunt, looking for Caro,” Christine reminded him.
“Right.” Jackson sighed. “The jail could be to the west of the ranch. That area changes a lot. They’re always building something and tearing down something else over there.”
“Why?”
“Giving people what they need.” Jackson caught himself. “But we shouldn’t be talking about that.”
“What’s the harm? We can’t leave here, and it looks like they’re in no hurry to make up their minds about what they’re going to do with us.”
Jackson stayed silent.
That made Christine think. “Character is what you do when no one is looking.” She grumbled and groused. “You’re right, okay? You’re right.”
“Or maybe it’s on the other side of the village, but I can’t see Lucas putting a jail that close to the perimeter.” Jackson speculated a little more. “The perfect place would be under the security building. That might be where it is.”
“Enough about the jail. If they sentence us to it,” Christine said, “we’ll know exactly where it is. Until then, it doesn’t much matter.”
“I guess, it doesn’t.”
“Jackson, the more I think, the sorrier I am I got you into all this. When the committee calls for us, I am going to take full responsibility for deceiving you, and Rose and Matthew, to get here.” Christine couldn’t believe anyone on the committee wouldn’t understand. This had been her only option. Her one chance to find Caro. Surely they would all see she’d had to deceive Jackson and seize the chance. “Maybe then they’ll let you go.” She didn’t hold out much hope for herself. As an outsider, was she held to a higher or lower standard?
“I appreciate the thought, but nothing you say will make much difference. I did what I did, and I knew better than to do it. The thing is, this isn’t about you or me. Not really. It’s about everybody.” He stopped, his voice trailing. “We’ve been through all this. As an insider, you protect the Park and the people in it. Period.”
“Because we’re all somebody’s bridge.” Christine let that roll through her mind. “Bridge in life and death.” She groaned. “Why didn’t I think of that before, when I read the bronze?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The bronze statue. The secret of secrets. We’re all somebody’s bridge.”
“Yeah?”
“In life, we help bridge the gap. In death, we bridge the gap. If we’re not there to bridge the gap…”
“It’s not bridged.” Jackson groaned. “Wow, I should have figured that out a long time ago.”
“Now, I’m not just worried, I’m panicking.”
“Why?”
“Before I left Dallas, I made this video and wrote this letter.”
“Okay.”
“I left it with Caroline’s counselor.”
“Dr. Nell Richmond, yeah. So?”
“I told her if I didn’t contact her on or before the 31st, to deliver them both on the first.”
“To whom?”
“An attorney.” Christine cringed. “I retained him to look for Caroline and me and told him to start looking in Even.”
“What?”
“Don’t shout, Jackson. You’ll wake up the neighbors.” She deliberately lowered her voice. “I didn’t know anything then, if you’ll recall. And I figured if I didn’t find Caro and get back to Dallas before the 31st, that it’d be because Martin or his goons had killed one or both of us.”
“So you retained the lawyer to look for you or Caro.”
Christine nodded. “Whether or not he will, I don’t know. He hand-selects his clients. But he’s got an amazing reputation for helping people who really need it, and I figured, if it came to pass, we’d really need it.”
“Nell called me,” Jackson admitted.
“You know Nell Richmond?” Christine’s surprise was evident. Her voice cracked.
“She put Caroline and me in touch. Nell is the reason I brought Caro to the Park.”
“So Nell works with everyone here?”
“No, she knows nothing about Sampson Park—and she never will. There’s a Dallas group that helps people in trouble. She knows the people in it.”
“You said she phoned you,” Christine reminded him. “About what?”
“I don’t know. I called her back but got her voice mail. Then all this happened and I haven’t connected with her yet.”
Disappointed there’d be no information coming from that venue, Christine cringed. Jackson wasn’t going to like her adding to the list of their crimes, but she had no choice. “We have to tell someone, Jackson. Before Nell passes on that video and letter to the lawyer.”
“But there is nothing in it to bring him here to look for either of you. What’s the risk?”
“This isn’t just any lawyer. If he does take the case, he’s ruthless and relentless. There isn’t a rock he won’t flip over twice.” Christine tried to impress upon Jackson the urgency to reveal this to Miss Emily. “With all the secrets hidden here, he could create a lot of problems. And what about Rose? He’s going to start looking there. Everyone in Even was at Carl Wooten’s funeral and they all saw me at the diner. That’ll take the lawyer straight to Rose and Matthew. We can’t just let that happen.”
“No, we can’t,” Jackson agreed. “Rose loves Even. If she has to move, she’s going to be spitting mad.”
“Maybe we better skip Rose,” Christine said. “She can’t stop this. We need to tell Miss Emily.”
“We have to tell them both,” he countered. “But be warned. It won’t help us or our case.”
“I know that,” Christine said. “But we have to protect the others, Jackson. It’s the right thing to do.”
“I’ll summon security.”
“How?”
“The bell-pull, remember? Everybody has one. You tug it twice for security.”
“At two in the morning?” She gauged the time by the positioning of the stars. “Maybe we should wait until dawn. I can end this problem with a simple phone call, and I can’t see Nell trying to contact the lawyer before dawn.”
“No, we need to take care of it now. There’s too much at risk.”
Christine felt an emotional blast that nearly knocked her from the window. All she’d wanted was out of here so she could continue her search for Caro. Now, she feared she wouldn’t be coming back and that her time with Jackson and their nightly talks were coming to an abrupt end. “Jackson, wait!” she cried out. “I—I…”
He smiled at her. “I know, Christine. Me, too.”
A man appeared in the yard between their windows. His white hair caught the moonlight. “Speckles, is that you?” Christine asked.
“Yep, sure is.” He nodded. “Nice night, ain’t it?”
Christine didn’t know what to say. It’d been days and days since they’d seen anyone else.
“What are you doing here?” Jackson asked.
“You summoned me, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t,” Jackson said.
“Oh?” Speckles looked totally confused. “I thought…” he looked back over his shoulder, beyond the trees and then jerked back around to face them.
“I was about to, though,” Jackson said. “We need to talk to Miss Emily.”
“Well now, ain’t that convenient?” His shrill voice elevated. “The committee’s wanting to talk to you two, too.” He swerved his wild gaze between them. “Don’t linger. Mr. Perini’s in a foul mood.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Jackson asked, halting Speckles’ retreat.
“Mostly, he’s fired up that Caroline’s still missing and Martin Easton’s swearing he don’t know where she is.”
“Caroline?” Christine stiffened. “Who’s Mr. Perini?”
“Part of the family,” Jackson said. “He’s very protective. If Martin knows what’s good for him, he will not mess with Mr. Perini.”
“What’s he likely to do?”
“He’s claimed Caroline just like he did Rose and me,” Jackson said softly. “Nobody messes with his family.”
Christine stilled. “You’re not saying…”
“I’m saying, nobody messes with his family. That’s all of us.”
Speckles straightened his back. “I don’t think now’s a good time for you two to be jawing and keeping the committee waiting. They’ll all be in a foul mood. Best step it up and get to the carriage.”
Christine and Jackson shut their windows and exited their cottages. Jackson helped her into the carriage and when he took his seat and Speckles closed the door, Jackson kissed her.
“For luck,” he said.
“We need a lot of it.” She kissed him back, then kissed him again. “And that last one was just for me.
