Roses (57 page)

“No,” Amos said, his sigh sounding dredged from his soul. “I’m afraid this is no joke.” He rested his sad gaze on Rachel,
who stared at him out of eyes blank with disbelief. “Rachel, I am so very, very sorry. I know what a terrible blow this must
be to you.”

It was as if an explosion had gone off in her head. She could not see, hear, or feel. She blinked rapidly, as if clearing
her vision might assist her hearing. She had misheard Amos. She thought he’d said that Aunt Mary had sold the farms, but that
was not possible….

“Did we hear you right, Amos?” Alice asked in the awed tone of a lottery winner. “Aunt Mary
sold
her holdings and divided the money among
us
?”

“Er… among her
blood
heirs, Alice. I’m afraid you were not included.”

“Well, glory be!” She slapped the desk and turned to her husband, still sitting dumbfounded. “Did you hear that, William?
Your aunt did right by us after all. She
sold
her land.”

“All except Somerset,” William said with a quick glance at his daughter. “I’m assuming, Amos, that Aunt Mary left the original
farm to Rachel?”

Amos shook his head regretfully. “No. She left Somerset to Percy.”

Jolted from her daze, Rachel cried, “No—no—she couldn’t have!” Horrified awareness surged into her numb senses. “There’s been
some mistake.”

“Good God, Amos!” His look furious, William wrapped a protective arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “Why the hell would
she leave the family plantation to Percy? She must have been insane! How could you let her do that to Rachel?”

“She wasn’t insane, William, believe me, and there’s a letter here from her doctors to testify to that. She knew exactly what
she was doing despite my best efforts to convince her otherwise.”

Jimmy leaped from the chair as if ants were crawling up his pants legs. “This isn’t fair! Rachel was supposed to get Somerset.
Aunt Mary
promised
it to her. Well, she’ll just have to buy it back.” He rounded on Percy. “What do you say, Mr. Warwick? You’ll sell it back
to my sister, won’t you?”

Percy was staring off into space, still as a figure in a tableau, seemingly oblivious to Jimmy shouting into his ear as if
he were deaf. William said, “Son, take your seat and be quiet for now. This is not the time or place to discuss these matters.”
He turned his attention to Amos. “The house? Who gets the house, Amos?”

Another sigh. The bony ridges of Amos’s cheeks reddened. “The Conservation Society of Howbutker,” he said, and added in visible
embarrassment, “Mary stipulated that Rachel is to have anything in the house she wants—jewelry, paintings, furnishings. The
rest that is not historically associated with the mansion will be sold at auction and the proceeds deposited into the estate.”

William’s grip tightened around Rachel’s shoulders. “This is unbelievable.”

“Why?” Alice demanded, twisting to look at him, a line of annoyance between her brows. “You don’t think your aunt was capable
of coming to her senses?”

Still standing, Jimmy cried, “I don’t care what you say, Mr. Hines. She was crazy. She had to be, to do this to Rachel. She
had no cause to give Somerset to somebody else and leave the house to a bunch of old busybodies.”

“Hush, Jimmy.” His mother tried to draw him back into his chair. “No use taking that attitude. What’s done is done. It can’t
be helped.”

Jimmy shook off her hand and glared at her. “And aren’t you happy about
that
?”

“Amos, I don’t understand…” Rachel’s voice, quavering, cut through the war of words. “Why did she do this?”

“She listened to her conscience for once,” Alice answered. “I know you’re hurt, Rachel, but she did the right thing. In the
eleventh hour she realized it was wrong to go back on her promise to your daddy. And it’s not like you weren’t remembered,
sugar. Why, with your share of the money, you can buy as many farms as you want.” She reached to brush away Rachel’s hair,
but her daughter raised a shoulder to fend off the gesture.

“Oh, Alice, be quiet,” William said. “Can’t you see that’s not what she wants to hear?”

“Did she give you any explanation?” Rachel persisted to the lawyer, tears of disbelief standing in her eyes. “Surely she said
something….”

“I begged her to tell me, my dear, but she said… there wasn’t time. That’s why she was flying out to see you… to explain her
reasons. But she assured me that she’d acted only out of her love for you. You must believe that. Her words to me were: ‘I
know you think I’ve betrayed her. I haven’t, Amos. I’ve saved her.’ ”

“Saved me?” She struggled to understand, reaching in her mind for some clue to explain this insanity. “Oh, I see,” she said,
as if suddenly enlightened. “Her idea was to save me from the mistakes
she
made in the name of Toliver, is that it? How noble of her, but my mistakes are my own business to make and should have been
none of hers.”

“And there was another thing…,” Amos said, his voice feeble. “She mentioned that there was a curse on the land from which
she wished to protect you.”

“A curse?” Incredulity sparked with growing anger behind the shine of her drying tears. “She never said anything to me about
a curse.”

“She mentioned it to me once,” William cut in, “but she didn’t explain what it was.”

“And I mentioned it to you, Rachel, remember?” Alice said.

“Didn’t I tell you she was crazy?” Jimmy declared. “Only crazy people talk about curses.”

“Rachel, please…” Percy spoke as though shaken from a deep sleep. “I know what this is all about. I know Mary’s reasons. They’re
not what you think. They’ll take some telling, but you’ll understand once you’ve heard her story.”

“I believe I already know them, Percy. My mother is right. Aunt Mary wanted to clear her conscience before she died. This
codicil is nothing more than atonement for past sins. She sold the farms to fulfill a promise she made to my father….”

Alice shot her daughter an indignant look. “As well she should have!”

“Alice…,” William hissed. “
Shut up!”

“And she left you Somerset to settle some obligation she believed she owed you, Percy,” Rachel continued. “I now know that
the two of you were in love and would have married—
should
have married—if the plantation hadn’t come between you. So bequeathing Somerset to you was Aunt Mary’s way to say she was
sorry and to ask your forgiveness, no matter what the cost to me. Her notion of a red rose, I suppose.” Her smile felt cold
as death.

Percy shook his head in stern denial. “No, Rachel. I know it seems like that, but you’ve got it wrong. Mary did this for you,
not me. She gave up what she loved the most in the world out of love for
you
.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it, however misguided her sacrifice. Jimmy asked you a question a while ago. Will you sell Somerset back
to me?”

Despair flooded his handsome old face. “I can’t do that, Rachel. That’s not what Mary wanted. That’s why she left Somerset
to me.”

“Then we have nothing more to talk about.” She rose swiftly and slipped a copy of the codicil under her arm. Alice and William
quickly followed suit. Rachel held out her hand to the lawyer. “Good-bye, Amos. I was certain something else was troubling
you. I’m relieved that it had nothing to do with your health.”

Amos clasped her hand between both of his, his eyes sad and contrite. “I was following Mary’s wishes, my dear. I cannot tell
you how deeply sorry I am for your loss… for the loss to all of us.”

“I know you are.” She slipped her hand away and turned to go.

“Rachel, wait—” Percy stepped into her path, still a formidable figure despite his age. “You can’t leave like this. You must
let me explain.”

“What’s there to explain? Aunt Mary’s property was hers to do with as she chose. I had no claim of my own. I was only hired
help and well paid for my services. There is nothing more to be said.”

“There is much more to be said. Come with me now to Warwick Hall and let me tell you her story. I guarantee that once you’ve
heard it, you’ll understand her reasons for this madness.”

“Frankly, I couldn’t care less what her reasons were. What’s done is done.”

“What about Matt?”

“At the moment I’m not sure. I’ll need time to come to terms with his grandfather inheriting what I’d had every
reason
to believe would come to me. After that we’ll see.” She stepped aside, but again Percy blocked her way.

“Don’t you see what you’re doing?” he cried, gripping her elbows. “You’re putting your love for Somerset above your happiness.
Mary was trying to save you from that path.”

“Then she shouldn’t have encouraged it.” She removed her elbows from Percy’s grasp. “Let’s go, everyone.”

She marched out, the members of her family behind her, past Matt, lounging with his legs crossed and engrossed in a magazine,
unaware of what had transpired in the other room. She did not answer when he called her name—she could not—and by the time
he’d recovered from his confusion to pursue her, Jimmy had shot the limousine out of the parking space.

O
n the return to Houston Avenue, the silence in the car hung as thick as fog. Jimmy drove with his hands tight on the wheel,
William in the passenger seat, his heartache for his daughter evident from his sad profile, observable to Rachel sitting rigidly
beside her mother in the back. She was conscious of Alice now and then stealing a wary glance at her but wisely saying nothing.
For all her mother’s attempt to maintain an expressionless face, the slight twitching of her mouth betrayed the thrill of
triumph.

When Jimmy had parked the limousine in the garage, the quartet paused on the drive, no one making a move toward the house,
the awkward silence of unspoken but clearly discernible thoughts continuing. William cleared his throat. “We’ve got to decide
what to do,” he said, directing his comment to Rachel. “Should we stay or hit the road?”

“I want to go home,” Jimmy said. “Like right now. I hate it here. I can’t breathe. Living in Howbutker is like swimming underwater
with your mouth open.”

“I want to leave, too,” Alice said. “If we stayed, I’d feel like a trespasser.”

Beyond feeling, a block of ice wedged in her heart, Rachel said, “If you want to leave for Kermit now, go ahead, but I’m staying.”

“Not without you, honey,” her father said.

“It will have to be without me, Daddy. There’s something I must do here.”

“You be sure to take everything you can, Rachel,” Alice said. “Every fur, every piece of jewelry, every knickknack you can
get in the car. You deserve it.”

“The witch! She was a witch, Rachel!”

“Hush, Jimmy.” Alice swiped her son’s sleeve halfheartedly. “Don’t speak ill of the dead.”

“That’s a whole lot less than
you
would have said if Rachel had got everything.”

“
Son!
” William gripped Jimmy close to his collarbone. “That’s enough.”

Rachel squeezed her lids shut and pressed her fingertips to her temples. The clamor ceased. When she opened her eyes, they
were all watching her in chastised silence. “Let’s be clear about one thing,” she said. “I don’t begrudge you your inheritance.
No doubt Aunt Mary believed she was being fair in leaving things as she did.”

When Alice made to speak, William clamped a hand around her arm, and she remained silent.

“But you can understand why I’m not full of congratulations at the moment,” Rachel went on. “Suit yourselves about leaving.
It’s getting late to begin the drive back, and I’d advise you to wait until morning, when you’ve had a night’s rest. But you
do what you want. I’m staying overnight and will leave for Lubbock tomorrow to… clear out my office.” Downcast eyes and a
shuffling of feet met this sad intent, but no one protested. “So what is your decision?” Rachel asked.

“We’re leaving,” Jimmy and Alice said in unison.

William’s forlorn gaze begged her to forgive them. “Looks like we’re leaving, honey.”

A half hour later, they were packed and ready to go. “We’ll stop at a motel somewhere along the way and give you a call,”
her father said. “We won’t try to make it in one night.”

Relieved by that decision, Rachel steeled herself to endure her mother’s customary gesture of farewell, but Alice’s hand remained
around the shoulder strap of her handbag. “You think I’m happy only about the money, don’t you? I admit I’m thrilled that
we’re going to have a better life—ecstatic, even—but I’m just as happy to know that now I have a chance to get my daughter
back.”

“You’ve always had a daughter, Mama.”

With a jerk of her head, Alice indicated they step out of earshot of William and Jimmy. Softly, she said, “But you haven’t
always had a mama—is that what those Toliver eyes are accusing me of? Well, maybe now you have an idea of how I felt when
I believed Aunt Mary had gone back on her promise to your father… a promise that you influenced her to break, Rachel. When
you find out how hard it is to forgive Aunt Mary for her betrayal, maybe then you’ll understand how difficult it’s been for
me to forgive yours.”

Her mother’s look dared her to dispute her. Rachel asked after a long moment, “Did you ever… forgive me?”

Her answer appeared in the hard flicker of her eyes. No. Her long-hoped-for dream had been realized, the glimmer told her,
but through no design of Rachel’s. “It doesn’t matter now,” Alice said. “What’s past is past. All I want is for you to shake
off the dust of this place forever and come home so we can be a family again.”

“It wouldn’t be the same, Mama, and you know it.”

“We could try, Rachel. We could try to make it happen again.”

“All right,” she said, but the look they exchanged carried no conviction.

The trio climbed into the car. Her father started the motor while Jimmy adjusted his Walkman to his ears in the backseat and
Alice secured a towel over the passenger window to block the strong setting sun. Her father made one last appeal before he
closed his door. “Come with us, honey, at least for a little while. The sooner you disentangle yourself from this place, the
better. What’s so important that you have to stay behind?”