Secrets in the Lowcountry--The River (37 page)

T
he woman stepped into the hallway,
onto the small rug
and appeared uneasy
.

“Le
t’s sit on the front porch
and talk there
.” Taylor
led her straight through the house, open
ed
the other s
creen door, and gestured for Ms. LeFarge
to precede
her
.
“Please take a seat.”
She
indicated a table with four chairs
sitting on the patio
. The attractive woman hesitate
d
for an instant before sitting in a chair that faced the river.

“
Having been raised near the river, I find seeing water peaceful.” She placed a thin, red leather folder on the table. “I have a story to tell you
about my brother, Sam and Rod
.”

“Oh.”

“They
shared their early childhood.
Their f
riendship started
almost from the time they could walk.
”

Taylor’s spine straightened and her mind raced. For some reason, she didn’t want to hear this story alone.
Her father had left for work early this morning.
Was Mary still here?
“Before you begin, would you care for a glass of sweet tea?”

“Indeed, I would.
I’m parched.
”

“Stay right here and
relax.
I’ll bring the pitcher and glasses outside.”

“May
I help?”

“No. I’ll just be a minute.” Taylor almost fled into the house. Pushing open the swinging kitchen door, she called, “Miss Mary?”

“Right here
dear one.
W
ho was at the door? I was in the pantry and couldn’t get to the door
. When I heard
your voice
, I went back to straightening the shelves.
”

“
I’ll explain in a minute. Please, g
rab a few
cookies, while I get the iced tea pitcher and three glasses.”

A few minutes later, Mary and Taylor strolled onto the patio. She put the tray containing the tea items on the table. “Miss Mary, may I present Ms. LeFarge, Samuel’s sister?” Taylor saw the surprise in Miss Mary’s face.
“
Ms. LeFarge, may I present Mary Campbell
, a dear friend of our family
?
”

“I’m sorry to intrude on y’all, but after talking to Sheriff Trotz I wondered if you might like a little information about Rod before he moved here and a little about our connection?”

“We certainly would and
I decided instead of my re-tellin
g your story, Mary should hear you
first-hand. You don’t object, do you?”

Shaking her head no caused her wavy, shoulder length hair to bob back and forth touching her
lovely,
oval shaped face.

Mary served the iced tea, placed the lemon and mint close to the newcomer,
and slid
her shortbread cookies
closer
. “Please help yourself.”

“T
hank you.” She selected one of the glasses
, added a slice of lemon and a
stem
of mint, and
then
took a sip. “Wonderful. Only a Southerner can make a good iced tea.
”

“T
hank you,” Mary said
blushing
.

Delilah smiled.
“As I mentioned to Miss Harris
…
”

“Taylor, please.
And before you begin, may I say m
y family is
very sorry for your loss?
”

She nodded. “
Do call me
Delilah
. As for my tale, m
y brother and Rod grew up
and played
together until his family moved away to Beaufort. Our mothers are distant cousins and our fathers’ friends since
their
boyhood
s
.
Both of our dads
joined and
served in the Marines. After their discharge, they re
mained friends and worked at the
air station
in Bayou, Louisiana
until it closed. My dad moved to Baton Rouge and
found a job, while
Rod’s
family went
to Beaufort.
We lost track of them until tw
elve years ago when Rod came back. His mother’s kin had
all
died
of
f and she’d inherited
a
house
, a small cottage by the
river
close to Bayou
.

“Somehow,
Rod
found us in Baton Rouge and came for a visit.
My papa and mama had passed away in a freak flood a year before.
” She stopped, took another sip of tea, and frowned. “Guess
all
that doesn’t matter.

“
He t
old us his parents had decided to buy a motor home and explore the country. He had power
of attorney to settle the property in Louisiana
.
W
e lost touch
with him
again
after he left
.
Or at least I did.
”

She looked from one to the other, with a worried expression. “Please forgive me if my story seems long
and convoluted
but I don’t know how else to explain our connection.”

“You’re telling us new information. Feel free to continue,” Taylor said.

She nodded. “M
y brother
always had trouble staying
or keeping
any
job
. He
got involved with drugs, and to be honest, after
years of
trying to help, I gave up on him
.
About five years ago,
Bubba.” She flushed. “Bubba’s his nickname and Rod always called him that. Somehow that name just slipped out; maybe because I’m talking about Rod. Anyway, my brother,
Sam
called
me
saying
Rod had offered him the use of the cottage
for vacations
if he would maintain the house and the land.
There’s not much left
in Bayou
nor do many people live there since the military left. I guess Rod wanted to protect his parents’ interest. Since that contact, Sam and I
text
ed
or email
ed
occasionally, but don’t visit.
In fact, I don’t
have
or didn’t until the Sheriff gave me
,
have an actual
postal
address for him.
” Again, she shrugged as if embarrassed by her tale.
“
Two months ago,
he emailed
me
saying
Rod
had offered him a job
here
and he was taking it
.
Sam
added he needed to complete ‘something’, didn’t say what and then he’d leave.
”

Mary and Taylor peeked at one another, but kept quiet
at this new information
.

“I don’t know any of the details
regarding the job
.” She stopped. “To be honest, Sam and I quarreled
again
about …” She shook her head. “Private matters.
But he is …was
my brother and the only family
had
left.
I haven’t
received a text or an email from him
for a while.” She flushed. “I didn’t
worry. Sam’s never been good about keeping in touch except when he needed money.
” Her face reddened further.
“
When Sheriff Trotz contacted me about Sam’s accident
, I came east. While the sheriff and I spoke,
h
e explained about Rod. I’m very sorry to hear a
bout your lost, but I wondered if you’d ever met my brother or knew anything concerning him
while he was here
?”

Mary and Taylor eyed one another. “Delilah, until Sheriff Trotz mentioned Sam, I’d never heard of him.”

“I thought as much. Perhaps if I had stayed in touch …”

Mary interrupted. “Child, one can only do so much.”

“What did he look like? Perhaps I saw him.” Taylor waited for the answer.

“Bubba, sorry, Sam’s two years older than I am. One day at school someone said, ‘I didn’t know your brother had a twin.’ I assured them he didn’t, and then laughed. ‘You must mean Rod Pinckney’. People say they look alike, but I never noticed. When I told my brother and Rod, they decided it would be fun to play tricks on people.”

“Did they look that much alike?” Taylor questioned.

Unzipping her red case, she reached in an
d
pulled out a photo.
Mary and Taylor leaned forward in their chairs to see. The picture showed two young teens, almost exactly the same height, brown hair streaked with blond, light colored eyes, faded jeans and wearing identical colored tees. One logo said Rod with an arrow point
ing
to the left; the other said Bubba with an arrow pointing to the right. “They enjoyed wearing these.”

Taylor grasped the photo. “Amazing.”

Mary said, “Did you show this to the Sheriff?”

Delilah nodded. “He made a copy.”

“I definitely never met him. If he arrived here before the wedding, which from what you said sounds correct, why didn’t Rod introduce us?”

“My brother
was a little crude. That’s one of the things we argued about
, one of many.” She placed the picture back in her case and rose to leave.
Mary and Taylor pushed back their chairs also
. “Oh, before I go I need an address for Rod’s parents to send them a sympathy card. H
ow are Aunt Estelle and Uncle Johnny handling Rod’s …”

“Being
missing?” Mary
supplied the unspoken words.

The other woman nodded.

“
We don’t have an address or an email. We tried to contact them, but failed.
The Sherif
f’s still trying to get in touch
.
Obviously, by your comment, you
don’t have
that
informati
on either,” Taylor sai
d.

She shook her head
sadly
and looked embarrassed
. “
Time passes and like the old saying, ‘out of sight, out of mind’. T
he last I heard was
when Rod told us
about their buying a motor home.”

Taking Delilah’s arm,
Mary guided
her
toward the door. “
We promise w
hen
we learn
something about the Pinckneys,
we’ll get in touch
with you
.
And again, we’re very sorry about your loss.
”

Pulling a card from
the side pocket of
her red briefcase, she said, “Thank you.”

Mary and Taylor watched her get into her
small sedan
and drive away.

“
At least I
know where Rod spent his
twice annual
vacations,” Taylor said.
“He probably went there shortly before the …wedding for that long weekend of fishing.”

Mary squeezed Taylor’s arm.
“Wonder why he never told you about his place in Bayou?”
She
gave her a puzzled look.

“Or why he didn’t introduce me to Sam
/Bubba
? What other secrets did he have?
We should share
Delilah
’s story with Dad and Jeff.
”

“
I’ll text
Jeff
, if you call
Dad
.”

“
Why not invite them to a
cookout
?
”

Taylor chuckled. “You and food.”

“Well, everyone has to eat.” She giggled.

*~*

As they sat having their coffee
after dinner
, Taylor
remarked again, “I’m sorry I didn’t make a copy of Delilah’s pictu
re of Sam and Rod. The resemblance was amazing!”