Mattie's Call (24 page)

“ 'Net told me you two get on well at Target. I told her to keep rising at the company, but she insists on being an entrepreneur like her father.”

“She told me about his businesses.”

“I kept the insurance and he kept the good pay flowing. Work well together. Yes we do.” She pointed to her husband who held a half-filled champagne flute and laughed with Wendell and a few other men.

Yep, Nanette got her dad's height.
Gabrielle eyed the crystal bowl of pins on the souvenir table and swiped a yellow one. “Come a little closer.”

“You don't have to tell me twice.”

Gabrielle added the five-dollar bill on her dress as the other guests had done. When she was done, Alva touched her bounty.

“I'm putting all this money in our vacation account. First place we're going is Sweden. I've wanted to visit there forever. We normally went to the Caribbean islands and other locales, but never Sweden.”

“I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself, Ms. Alva.”

“Call me Alva Jean.”

“Mama, I'm taking Gigi to her table. Be back soon.”

Several men complimented her as she made her way to table six. She smiled, nodded, and kept her eyes straight ahead. Relationship drama was a thing of the past. Ms. Alva Jean was the star of tonight's show.

A handsome man stood when she arrived at the table. He pulled out her chair and introduced himself. “Hello, I'm Peter Tucker. You must be Gabrielle. I'm Wendell's uncle.”

She gave Nanette a hard glare before acknowledging him. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Peter.”

Nanette disappeared into the crowd before Gabrielle could threaten her. She refocused her attention on her potential beau, taking in everything from his tailored gray business suit, shiny cuff links, starched shirt, and matching blue-and-gray tie. She pretended to drop her purse to get a look at his shoes. Daniel Benson said, “Never trust a man who doesn't take care of his shoes.” Peter retrieved her purse, passing the shoe test with flying colors.

“You comfortable with their matchmaking?” he asked.

His grooming matched his looks. His gritty stubble gave him a distinguished air; dark brown eyes flickered with curiosity as he waited for her response.

“I told them I was done with dating.”

“So they twisted your arm, too?” he asked. When he laughed at his own question, his gleaming smile put her at ease. Light-brown skin with a smattering of freckles on his cheeks and nose mirrored Wendell's. They could be father and son instead of nephew and uncle.

“So how do you know the Coleses? Through Wendell only?”

“No. Nanette and Wendell are high school sweethearts. We've known each other's families for years. They're trying to get me to the altar, but they are the ones who need to hurry up and get married. I admire Wendell, though. He doesn't want to get married until he can provide for 'Net in the way he deems appropriate.”

“A modern-day Boaz.”

“Yes. That's Tucker tradition. You don't take on a wife if you can't provide for her.”

She liked the sound of that so much she reconsidered her earlier feelings. Maybe getting to know him wouldn't be so bad. She could use an unattached male friend. Besides, who wanted to keep man sharing with other women? Or men?

Peter glanced at the preset menu. “So what do you think about the party so far?”

“It's obvious Ms. Alva Jean is loved. She must have a thousand dollars pinned to her dress.”

“She is a wonderful woman. She and her husband took care of everyone in the neighborhood. Even though she worked, you could count on homemade snacks on the counter and a big pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge after school. She worked the day shift at Candler, so 'Net was never home alone more than an hour after school. I looked out for the younger kids before I left for the military.”

Gabrielle felt someone staring at her. Her suspicions were confirmed when she looked two tables ahead. The woman quickly dropped her head.

Her memory raced. She'd dated so many married men in the past she couldn't keep track. Could she be a forgotten wife? Someone with whom she'd had a run-in? She squeezed lemon into her water and took a sip.

“What were you saying?”

“Ms. Alva Jean. She deserves this big night and then some.”

“Indeed.”

Although others joined table six, Gabrielle and Peter prattled on like old friends. The food, served family style, was passed around the table. Periodically, Alva Jean traveled from table to table urging guests to eat their fill and drink champagne. She beamed with pride.

“The salmon's the best,” said Peter.

Feeling eyes upon her again, Gabrielle sipped champagne and looked directly into the woman's eyes. This time, they held their stare.

“Peter, I'm going to the restroom. Be back in a few.”

He stood, pulling her chair out again. He watched her walk away. He gave Wendell the thumbs-up as he took his seat.

38

S
he paced the bathroom floor, massaged her temples, and tried to figure out where she'd met the woman. She favored Randy Carter's wife, but he wasn't that old. The woman at the table had to be at least seventy. Maybe it was Randy's mother. With one stall, she knew she couldn't stay holed up in the bathroom long. She'd figure it out; she always did.

She washed her hands, opened the door, and spotted the woman standing near the bar area.

She approached Gabrielle. “Did I startle you?”

“Yes. No. I'm trying to figure out where we know each other from.”

“Let's step out on the balcony.”

Gabrielle followed her, hands trembling, stomach lurching. She felt a tongue lashing coming on. Probably an admonishment about being a serial adulteress.

“How've you been? I've thought of you all these years and wondered what happened to you.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I wasn't sure whether or not it was you until I scanned the guest list and saw your name. You're just as beautiful now as you were years ago.”

“I have no idea who you are.”

“You don't know me, but I'm Christin Sweet's grandmother. My name is Lola Roberson.”

She stiffened at the mention of Christin's name. It'd been so long since someone said it, she'd forgotten the pain.

She turned to go back inside.

Lola called out to Gabrielle's back. “I'm not here to condemn you. If you give me a chance I can clarify a few things.”

“I haven't talked about her for years. I haven't thought about it. I've pushed it out of my mind.”

“I'm sure it's painful. I want to tell you something, though.”

Gabrielle reluctantly joined Lola on a bench past the pergola. Patrons sipped wine and carried on with their conversations. No one noticed them stroll past.

“You look as if you've seen a ghost. I guess Daniel Benson meant it when he said the incident would be as far as the east is to the west.”

Gabrielle remained silent.

“Do you remember anything about Christin?”

Gabrielle nodded. She hesitated, but memories of her old friend came rushing back. “I remember she was funny, smart as a whip, and I could never please her.”

“That was my grandbaby. I only visited from New Hampshire twice a year, but I knew she was crazy about you. I never liked the way things turned out, but I'd wished someone would've told you the truth. Might have spared you years of heartache.”

“What do you mean?”

“You didn't kill Christin.”

“No one believed me. The evidence looked that way, but I swear I didn't do it. My own mother didn't believe me. If Daddy hadn't been in my corner, I…” She dropped her head.

“Those were some troubling days after she passed. I thought I would never get my breath back. The fallout was horrible.”

Christin's face flowed through her mind. She pictured them in the basement of the Colonial after they'd just gotten word they'd be bunking in the same cabin at Rock Eagle. The 4-H was one of many extracurricular activities they enjoyed, and her parents spared no expense to make sure the girls had enough clothes and items for the trip. Christin's parents couldn't afford to buy her much; her grandmother paid her camp fee. It wasn't until now she learned her grandmother's name.

“Christin's parents had her later in life. I felt like my daughter should've been satisfied with her husband and her job, but she
had
to have a child. If you ask me, they were too old to have children anyway. Maybe I shouldn't say too old. Cathy had some health issues and having a baby was a big risk. She changed not long after she gave birth. It takes energy to raise a child, and Cathy bit off more than she could chew.”

“Was Ms. Cathy depressed or something?”

“We never pinpointed the issue.”

“Is that why Christin was at our place all the time?”

“Probably. From what Cathy told me, your parents picked up a lot of her and Purnell's slack. Slowly, I think Christin began to resent you for having such a good family.”

“But we took her everywhere and shared everything with her. We did each other's hair. She wore my clothes.”

“It's not the same as having your own. You had a little brother and a baby sister. You all had that nice house and hosted parties and teas. You even had the cutest boyfriend in school. Christin was sensitive to all those things.”

“I had no idea, Mrs. Roberson.”

“You wouldn't have known.”

The night of Christin's death came rushing back. They'd headed to the dance at the pavilion from the Calloway building. Her boyfriend, Alaric James, had given her a heads-up that they needed to discuss something. Christin, possessive and clingy that night, wouldn't let Gabrielle leave her side. She finally agreed to dance with a guy from Putnam County, but she kept her eyes on them the whole time.

“Alaric told me she'd been making advances toward him, but I didn't believe him. We were friends and I didn't think she'd do that to me. He told me she'd carved their initials in a tree on the campgrounds. He'd planned to show me later that night. She followed us after we slipped away to talk.”

Lola shook her head. “Did she say anything?”

“We were near the water on a small cliff. I couldn't hear everything she said because her speech was slurred, but she kept saying she was better off dead. I tried to grab her hand as she teetered close to the edge of the cliff, but she took two steps back and fell in the water. I didn't know she couldn't swim. We found camp counselors who pulled her from the water. They took her to the hospital, but it was too late.”

“I wish she'd known how much we loved her.”

“Someone started a rumor that I pushed her. My parents had to come from Savannah to pick me up. There was no press surrounding her death; it would have been bad for the campsite. Everything was hush-hush, but Ms. Cathy insisted that I had something to do with it and begged the police to charge me. I was seventeen, but she wanted me in juvenile detention until I turned eighteen. Even my mother kept asking me if I did it. If my father hadn't stepped in and insisted I be let go, who knows where I'd be now. I had a hard time getting close to girls ever since the incident happened. One of Mama's old friends always said women are each other's competition; always play to win.”

“Gabrielle, the reason Cathy backed off of you is because she found Christin's diaries and a suicide note after her funeral. She went to Rock Eagle with no intention of coming back. She took a bunch of her mother's pills with her; they were found in her system when we received the toxicology report. Cathy and Purnell moved out of town after Christin's death.”

“I assumed it was because it was hard seeing me still alive.”

“I asked her to tell you the truth, but she chose not to.”

During restless nights, Gabrielle awakened sweaty, visualizing Christin falling. She wondered if she'd in fact pushed her, that maybe when she advanced a few steps that she'd gotten Christin off-balance. Years of guilt and isolation began to melt away as she took Lola's hands in hers.

“Mrs. Roberson, you have no idea how much this means to me. This is more than a coincidence that you're here.”

“I moved here a week after your mother went missing. When I read the story in the paper, I said I'd find a way to reach out to you. You needed to know the truth. I almost came to her funeral, but I didn't think that was an appropriate occasion to tell you what happened.”

An understanding passed between them as they faced each other.

“Gabrielle, there you are,” said Peter. His steps slowed as he noticed the women having an intimate moment.

“I'll be back in soon, Peter. I'm catching up with an old friend.”

They continued to hold hands as Gabrielle sobbed lightly. The tears were needed and cleansing.