Chapter Twenty-Six
I drove out to the Old Shloe Farm. I stopped far enough from the house and barn to get a good look at the old place.
The barn was still red but faded, and the house was decrepit but still looked majestic with a heart-wrenching grace. The porch surrounding the house looked as if it wouldn’t hold the weight of a rabbit. I didn’t want to walk on it. I didn’t like risking broken bones unnecessarily. I leaned against the hood of my truck, just staring at the two old structures.
I took out my cell phone to compare the photo to the real thing. I walked around the house and the barn. I stood on the top step of the house and stretched to check the lock. It was locked, and I didn’t really want to break a window trying to get in. If I had to, I would ask Cody to help with that. He could bring his toolbox, and we could figure out a way to get in. Yes, it would be breaking and entering, but I didn’t care at this point. Okay, I probably wouldn’t tell Cody. I’d break in alone. It’s an old house. How good can those locks be?
I walked around the barn being careful not to scuff up my dress boots. I went to the barn door and tried opening it. The hinges were stiff, but I managed to pry them apart. I left the doors open and walked inside. Empty. The musty odor almost knocked me down, so I decided to mouth breath as much as possible. Not a thing inside except spider webs and bird nests. How did the birds get inside? I looked at the windows, and they were shuttered, but there was a large crack. Mystery solved. The birds came in from the cracked shutters. The floor was mostly dirt, but there was dead grass in a few places around the walls. The horse stalls were in the back of the barn. The walls were old and dried out. Of course, they were this barn had been here for over a hundred years. I was going to be old and dried out in a hundred years as well. No, it’d be a lot sooner than that, but I didn’t want to dwell on that.
I went back to my truck and looked up at the sky, clear blue without a cloud in sight. The painting’s sky was cloudy. I looked back at the photo of the painting several times. I figured it out. That had to be it. I was hoping I was right. Man, I hoped I was right.
I called Cody.
“Hey, Chloe.” I could still hear background talking so he must still be at the shindig.
“Hey, Cody. Sounds like you’re still partying it up.”
“Yep. Do you want to come over?”
“No,” I said with no hesitation. “I do have great news, though.”
“You found the painting,” he said astonished.
“Yes. Yes I did,” I said as smugly as I could. “Sister Bonita had it all this time. I knew she either had it or knew where it was. All I had to do was ask nicely, without strangling her. People hate it when I strangle them.”
“Great! When can I see it?” He ignored the strangling part.
“I don’t actually have the painting. I took several pictures of it. But since you’re partying with the in-laws, I’ll show it to you tomorrow. It might be a good idea to check out the farm.”
“Rick and I have something to do tomorrow morning that might take up a couple of hours.” He hesitated and then said, “Why don’t you wait until we’re done, and then we can all drive up there together?”
“Oh, okay,” I said sounding reasonable. “Why don’t you meet me at the old Shloe Farm tomorrow when you can get away?” I said casually.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you. Get back to your shindig, before somebody accuses you of talking to me. And I’ll see you tomorrow about…what eleven?” I wanted him to think I was really going to wait around to meet him. I was going to get there before eleven. Way before eleven.
“Chloe, wait for us,” he said, annoyed. “Don’t do something you’ll regret. You could be followed.”
“I could be, but I wasn’t followed today. Look, Cody, just meet me there and bring a shovel. Bye.”
“Bye. Wait, a shovel? Why…?” I didn’t give him a chance to ask about the shovel. But he didn’t sound thrilled either. I, on the other hand, was extremely thrilled. I wasn’t going to call Rick though. Nope. I was going to wait until I got back to my place. Maybe he’d bring food. No. No. No. He was not coming over.
On the drive back to Alexandria I sang with the radio and had imaginary conversations with Rick. Him telling me he didn’t want to see me and me telling him I didn’t care because I didn’t want to see him. I was making myself sort of depressed so I would think about the painting again and that would help. Having no one shoot at me would really make my day as well.
I was almost to my exit off I-49. I could either go south on McArthur to my apartment or stay on the interstate a little longer and go to Rick’s house. Oh, hell, I missed my exit. I called Rick.
“Hey. How was the talk with Sister Bonita?” He sounded like he was expecting my call. How odd, because I wasn’t planning on calling him.
“Better than I imagined.” I paused. “I saw the painting.”
“What? Where was it?” He was as surprised as Cody. Did they not have faith in my abilities?
“Would you believe in her room under her bed?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Oh, yes she did,” I said laughing. “I couldn’t take it with me of course, so I took pictures of it. And Rick…” I hesitated. “I think I have it solved. I don’t know exactly where, but I know approximately where something was buried. The painting proves it.”
“Where are you? I want to see the picture.”
“I’m uh…about twenty or twenty-five minutes from your house. I was daydreaming about the painting and missed my exit.” I didn’t all out lie. I was thinking about the painting.
“Great. I’ll see you in a few.”
He disconnected before I could say anything else. It was a good thing or else I probably would have said ‘love you.’ That was why he hung up so quickly. He didn’t want to hear it again. I didn’t want to hear it again. Clearly, we were on the same page.
I was getting more and more excited the closer I came to his house. I couldn’t wait to show him the photos. I mean, I was only searching for the painting for a week, but it felt like months. It was the brain damage. I lost all track of time.
I pulled into his driveway, grabbed my purse and walked to the door. Rick opened the door before I could knock and I couldn’t help myself.
I threw myself into his arms and kissed his cheeks and mouth. He was kissing me back, but I was able to say, “Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, I did it. I saw the painting and drove out to the Old Shloe Farm, and I know something is there. Not exactly, but sort of, I know I can do this. I’m ecstatic. It’s amazing how energized you get when things come together.”
“Mama, who’s that woman kissing Uncle Rick?” A young voice said from below.
“I don’t know, Travis. Why don’t we ask Uncle Rick?” A female voice said.
What? Who said that? Oh no. He wasn’t alone. He had a woman here with his kid.
I tried pushing away from him, but he held me by the waist so I couldn’t go far and laughed, “Chloe Babineaux, these are my brothers, their wives, and their kids.”
“I should have known it was a woman coming over here to show him a picture the way he ran for the shower.” One of the men laughed.
I looked at Rick’s hair, and it was still damp. He was grinning broadly.
“Meet my brothers, Tyler and his wife Cassidy, their kids Amy and Jeremy.” A man and a woman waved along with two teenagers.
“The other one is Brandon and his wife Mackenzie or Kenzie, and their kids Travis and Mia.” Another man and woman waved. Two small children looked at me like I was hurting their favorite uncle. He introduced his family without moving his eyes away from mine.
His family was here? Where were they…?
“Where are they parked? I didn’t see another car on the driveway.” I knew I didn’t overlook two cars. I wasn’t that rattled.
“In the back,” he said, grinning. “They helped me cut a tree down.”
“Helped? Did he say helped?” One of the brothers laughed.
“Chloe, can you stay for hamburgers and fries?” One of the women asked. One was blond, and the other hasd dark hair. I wasn’t paying that much attention to their names when they were introduced.
“Yes, she’ll stay. It’s better than what she’ll eat at her apartment.”
I narrowed my eyes and pushed him away, crossed my arms and said, “Do you really think you know me so well?”
“Yep. You’d probably open a can of ravioli, or go to your parents, or go to Cody’s or go to Cheri’s place to eat.”
“I would…well, yeah; I’d probably go to Cheri’s because she’s closer,” I said with a straight mouth. Everyone laughed, but I didn’t think it was that funny. It must have been a nervous laugh for them.
I’d eaten with my parents the previous night, and my mother didn’t mention a thing about marriage or children. If I ate with her tonight, she would, and then I would have to tell her I’d only get married if I was pregnant. But if I was pregnant then I was not getting married. It was a vicious cycle.
“Wait a minute.” I narrowed my eyes, cocked my head and said, “Didn’t you say you were going to meet me at my apartment? How were you going to eat here and meet me there?”
“When you didn’t call, I knew I’d have time to cook the burgers and then bring you one when you called.”
“You have an answer for everything don’t you?” I said and rolled my eyes. He only grinned.
“Do you have your phone on you?” he asked.
“Yes. Yes, I do, and I’ll find the pictures. I don’t want you to go through all my pictures like you did when your buddies were in town,” I said searching my purse for my cell phone.
“Why? I liked the one of you in a bikini.” He laughed.
“We were all wearing bikinis. You should have said, ‘I liked the one of you and your friends in bikinis,” I said rolling my eyes.
“I only noticed you.”
“Liar. I noticed more than just you in that picture of eight hot, sweaty, shirtless SEALs.”
“You were checking out my friends?” He laughed.
“Damn straight. Have you seen that picture? I’m beginning to sweat just thinking about it,” I said, fanning my face with my hand.
“What picture?” Cassidy/Kenzie asked. I really needed to find out who’s who.
“It’s on his dresser in his room,” Brandon/Tyler said. One is older than the other, but I don’t know which. The younger one looked a lot like Rick.
“She’s been to his room?” Asked the teenage girl. What was her name?
“I gave her a tour of the house, Amy.” Rick grinned at me because my eyes were popping. I should say our eyes were popping. The girl’s eyes were as popped out as mine.
“I have got to see that picture,” Cassidy/Kenzie said.
“I have got to see the cell phone picture,” Tyler/Brandon said.
“Tell you what,” I said smiling an unhumorous smile at Rick, “I’ll show the women the cell phone picture first.” I smiled more broadly and added, “And if it’s okay with them I’ll hold the cell phone for the men while the women check out the picture on your dresser.”
“Why do they get to see the picture first?” Tyler/Brandon asked.
“Because they’re your wives and ya’ll have already seen Rick’s picture.” I laughed.
“I like this woman,” Cassidy/Kenzie laughed. I really, really need to be reintroduced.
“Alright. Deal. Show them the picture,” Rick said and smiled.
I had already dug out my phone, so I walked to the kitchen to show my new BFF’s the bikini picture.
“Wow. Nice. Sexy, but tasteful.”
“Sexy. But you’re right, a very nice picture. You and your friends are very photogenic.” They both made a comment, but I don’t know who said what.
The photo was of Nona, Tammy, Felicia, Cheri and me in bikinis. Bikini tops with our bottoms covered in wraps. We all had big grins. We had been laughing, so we had natural smiles. We had asked a mom of small children to take our photo. She had to stop laughing as well to snap the photo. Felicia had popped a boob, and we had to recover. I could pop a boob, and no one would say much. I would just get a ‘Hey; your boob’s popped out.’
“I’m gonna hold the phone, so they won’t be able to switch pictures,” I smiled. “They won’t be able to see this.” I switched photos to show them the one Cheri took of us lying on the beach. We all had one leg bent and with our shades on we looked very sexy indeed.
“No. Don’t show them that one,” Cassidy/Kenzie whispered.
“I’m sorry. I really wasn’t paying that much attention when Rick introduced ya’ll. I don’t know who’s Cassidy and who’s Kenzie.” I laughed nervously.
“I’m Cassidy,” the older, darker-haired woman said. They both laughed. Okay, so the blond is Kenzie. I was proud of myself for even remembering their names.
“So, which one is your husband?” I asked Kenzie.
“I’m married to the younger one. Wave Brandon.” We laughed, and Brandon waved, looking confused. “Brandon’s a cop. He and Rick used to work together in Pineville, and Tyler’s an engineer and works for the power plant in Alexandria.”
“Thanks. I was so surprised to see people here I wasn’t paying a bit attention.”
“I noticed. You were glaring, and Rick was grinning,” Cassidy said.
“Yeah. We do that a lot,” I snarled, and they laughed again.
I was beginning to really like these women. They laughed easily. They must be used to meeting Rick’s women. They didn’t take us seriously. You know, a woman was here meeting the family so Rick must be getting married. No. It was more like, so, here was another one of Rick’s women. She’d be gone soon.
“Hey. Stop whispering over there. We want to see the picture too,” Tyler said. Rick had walked over to the sofa and was sitting down next to him.
“Okay, okay. Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Cassidy said shaking her head.
Kenzie grabbed Cassidy’s arm and walked fast down the hall. I walked into the living room to show the photo.
Tyler tried to take the phone. “Uhn-uhn,” I said shaking my head. “I hold the phone. I don’t want you going through my pictures like he did,” I said jerking my head toward Rick.
Rick didn’t say anything, but he did laugh and waggle his eyebrows.
“What? Ya’ll couldn’t find smaller scarves?” Brandon laughed.
“She said they were called wraps. I asked her the same thing,” Rick said.
I didn’t answer. I just grinned and rolled my eyes.
“Wow. Nice picture, Uncle Rick…” The teenage boy’s eyes were about to pop out of his head.
“Go sit down,” his father commanded.
Rick laughed again and winked. I was confused. He seemed to like showing off my bikini photo. Why? Was he bragging to his brothers? Or was it, this was not a big deal because I’ve seen better. I didn’t know what to think. Well, I was thinking he was probably showing off my friend’s photos because they had more to show off in their bikini than I did.
The women walked back with huge smiles on their faces and fanning themselves.
“Okay. Now we’re even,” Rick said standing up. “Kenzie are those burgers ready for the grill?”
“Yes. They’ve been ready,” Kenzie said walking to the kitchen.
“Good,” Rick said, taking my hand. “Walk with me outside so we can talk. And bring your phone.”
Talk. He wanted to talk. He asked me… no, he told me, to bring my phone outside so we could talk. He wanted to discuss the painting and not my blunder from last night. He took my hand, and he had kissed me back when I walked into the house. Okay, we were going to pretend last night never happened. Good. I could live with that.
We walked out sliding glass doors to a patio. A grill was set up near the left edge of the patio, and a swing was on the right edge. Two lawn chairs and a glider were grouped to
gether around the swing. The cleared yard was about a half acre, and Rick had told me he owned about four acres of land. Most of it was covered with trees, and a small stream ran through his property. I was prepared to jump back inside the house if something, anything, with four legs pounced.
I stood leaning against a column looking out at the backyard. It was getting dark, but the patio light put out enough light to see a stump where a tree had been. It looked like a large tree so it must have had taken them hours to cut it down and cut up. Two pickup trucks were parked near the trees with cut logs piled in the bed of the trucks.
Rick had placed the burgers on the grill and stood beside me.
“It’s beautiful here,” I said softly. It was beautiful. Panther paradise but beautiful.
“Thanks. I like it.”
“Why did you cut the tree?” There had to be a reason. No one would cut down a perfectly good tree. Unless it was in the way and it didn’t look to be near anything.
“It was struck by lightning and was about to fall on the house.” Okay, it was a good reason. I really didn’t think it had anything to do with keeping panthers out of the back yard.
He walked to a park bench underneath the kitchen window, sat down and then asked me to sit.
I looked at him and frowned. “Do you think there’s room for both of us?” The bench wasn’t very large. I would have to sit close, almost on top of him, if I sat next to him.
“There’s room,” he said, smiling. I guess that was why he sat on the bench and not the swing.
I sat down, wriggled around to make room, and he laughed. It was cold outside, and I shivered, and he put his arm around my shoulders and started nuzzling my neck. I leaned my head over and was really enjoying it when I thought about why I was at his house in the first place. I was also there to tell him we weren’t going to see each other.
“I thought we came out here to talk. Don’t you want to see my picture of the painting?” I asked, pulling away from him. It wasn’t that easy since I was shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Yes. You’re right. It slipped my mind,” he said shaking his head.
I brought out the phone and found the photo.
“Wow. So this is what all the fuss is about,” he said and shook his head slowly. “It doesn’t look like something that’s worth killing over, does it? It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t look dangerous.”
“No. But really look at it.”
I showed him the different photos I took, and he took his time looking at each one. He got up once and turned the burgers over and took the phone back.
“I just don’t see it,” he said, sounding disappointed.
“Well, since I drove out there maybe I have a different perspective.”
“You drove out there?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t smart.”
“Look at the sunbeam.”
“I don’t…do you think something was hidden in the barn?”
“Yes. Yes, I do. That’s why I told Cody to bring a shovel tomorrow. I’ll borrow one from my father, so I can have one too.”
He looked at the photo again, widened his eyes and nodded. “You could be right. The barn is as good a place to check as any.”
We looked at the photo together, and he said, “I still can’t believe the nun had the painting the whole time.” He turned to look at me and asked, “How did you know?”
“I wasn’t positive. But when I asked her the first time I went to the convent she said she couldn’t tell me. So…” I shrugged. “…I was hoping she would tell me where it was after I explained how a whacko was gonna keep popping people off.” I really wish I would have remembered she told me that before Jr. and I got shot.
“Actually it was a hunch.” I shrugged.
He grinned and said, “It looks like it paid off.”
I took the phone back and set it in my lap. His arm around my shoulder worked it’s way to my breast, and we had just started kissing when I heard the door open, and a male voice say, “I know you’re talking but are the burgers ready?”
“Oh, no,” I flinched. Why was I kissing him? I was mad at him. I had said ‘love you’ to him, and I didn’t want to talk about it. Wait a minute. I had said ‘love you, ’ and he was kissing me? I was still going to tell him that the night before encounter wasn’t going to have an act two.
“Yes, they should be ready. I’ll bring them in,” Rick called, and the door was pulled closed. “Don’t worry; they couldn’t see us. That’s why I wanted to sit here.” He laughed and jerked his head to the window above us.
He leaned over, kissed me again, grinned and said, “Love you.” He rose and walked over to the grill and lifted the lid to check the burgers.
“I knew you couldn’t let that slide.” Oh, Lord, tell me he didn’t just say love you.
“You really didn’t think I would. Could you open the door and ask for a plate?” He grinned broadly and winked. Great. Now, what does that mean?