I LET THE phone ring forever, but Teagan didn’t pick up. When it went to voicemail all I said was: “If you don’t call me back, I won’t tell you about Mom, Daddy, and the stripper pole. It has LED lights. I’m just sayin’.”
It took three minutes.
“Stripper pole? Mom? Dad? Really?”
I made it sound slightly more exciting than it really was, but it kept her on the phone long enough that I could tell she wasn’t mad at me anymore.
“So, what’s happening with Honey?”
“The whole thing is being dismissed. It took a little convincing, but when it all came down to it, she’s harmless, she didn’t take anything, and the people she was stalking were so relieved to find out the whole story that they were thrilled she was caught. Now they are going to deal with their family members. You know, there is something to be said for having enough money to pay your bills, but not enough that anyone is going to mess with you to take it away.”
“So you aren’t mad at me anymore?”
“Not for that. Give me a minute. I’ll think of something.”
“Then I won’t tell you about the trunk.”
“What about it? If you lead me down that path one more time, just to shut the lid on it, all puns intended, I swear to God, Cara, I’m gonna hurt you.”
“Actually, I got so upset I dumped the whole thing out. I was going to keep the trunk but put all the stuff from inside of it in garbage bags and give it to you or Mom to deal with.”
“Me. That is too much work to put on your mother. Wouldn’t be right.”
“Yeah, right. Anyway, when I dumped everything out, there was a journal kind of thing.”
“How did we miss that?”
“My overdeveloped sense of paranoia when it comes to that trunk is the only answer I’ve come up with. I blame you for that, by the way. Your paranoia is contagious. But I really think I was just being stupid.”
“Since it blames you, I’ll agree to that one. So, what’s in the trunk?”
“I haven’t really opened anything yet.”
“Dammit, Cara.”
“But I am reading the journal, and Bernie seems to have taken a picture of each thing in the trunk and then written the story behind the thing.”
“Great. So there is a strand of pearls and Bernie wrote something like: Got these at Jameson’s?”
“No, it is a lot more detailed than that. If you have forgiven me for the whole Honey thing, you can come over tonight for dinner and take a look at the journal.”
“What are you serving?”
“Anything you want.”
“I should pick something that would make you stand up all day and make your foot explode, but I’m not that vengeful. How is your foot, by the way? Still swollen and painful from the bites?”
“Fire ants sting, they don’t bite, and it still hurts like hell.”
“Good to hear. How about I bring dinner with me, since it was kind of me who got you involved in the whole Honey thing, and then you can show me. What time does A.J. get home?”
“How about we do it at seven?”
“What about Suzi?”
“What about her?”
“Should I get dinner for her too?”
“You are a kind and caring soul, Teagan.”
“Yes, I am. Text me and let me know.”
“I will.”
“Besides, that way I get to play with Evelyn.”
“I’ll let you know.”
A.J. is a fast healer, but not that fast. Normally, the guys would go shoot hoops while we were fixing dinner, or in a case like tonight, after dinner was done but before everybody left, because my apartment really isn’t big enough to have that many people hanging around without something specific to do. But A.J. is still pretty banged up, so shooting hoops was out of the question. He and Jessie decided to go to the apartment clubhouse and shoot pool instead.
Suzi, Teagan, and I cleared the table and straightened up.
Evelyn supervised from her Moses basket.
Once we got everything under control, and Suzi plugged in Evelyn — I know that is a very unromantic way to describe breastfeeding, but it is a term that my family has always used and is a term of endearment — we sat on the couch and talked.
“Finally. So, what’s up with the trunk? You said on the phone that you were going to fill me in. It’s the only reason I fed you.”
“I love you too.”
“That goes without saying. What did you read?”
I handed the journal to Teagan. She leaned over so that Suzi could see too. Evelyn had no interest.
“What does it say, or are we supposed to just read it for ourselves?”
“You can read it if you want to. I read the opening and half of one story before Mom called and asked me to buy her a stripper pole. I’ve been trying to scrub my brain ever since.”
The look on Suzi’s face was priceless.
“Your Mom asked you to buy her a stripper pole? I don’t even want to know this.”
“It’s cheaper than a medical device that is basically the same premise. It’s for one of her neighbors to help pull herself up out of a chair and get her feet under her before she takes any steps.”
“That’s actually pretty clever. At least until someone comes into the house and sees it. Then there might be some explaining to do.”
“Tell me about the journal, dingleberry.”
“I think you might want to read it yourself. At least until the part I got to. How about you guys read it while I change Evelyn and take her for a walk. Some fresh air would be good.”
“That would be great. Thanks. I was going to bring her out earlier, but it was just too hot and muggy.”
Evelyn and I decided to walk down to the mailboxes and then for a jaunt around the water retention pond. We were about three fourths of the way when I heard Jessie and A.J. They weren’t really yelling, but they weren’t exactly being quiet.
Jessie was saying something about how he wouldn’t allow that to happen, and A.J. was saying something about how it always happens and how he isn’t going to lie for him and he isn’t going to risk his relationship with me or with my family over something so stupid.
Part of me wanted to just hang back and listen. Okay, eavesdrop. But then Evelyn decided that life wasn’t working for her and started to cry, and the guys heard her, and they both whipped around, and there I am, standing with a crying baby. It was obvious I’d heard something, but they weren’t sure what.
“You guys interested in dessert?”
Jessie thumped the pool cue onto the table. “I have work in the morning. I’m going to go grab Teagan. We’re out of here.”
We made eye contact, but A.J. didn’t say a word. He didn’t say anything to Jessie either. A.J. took Evelyn from me and said, “Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
By the time we got back, Jessie was all but dragging Teagan out of the apartment. She looked more confused than annoyed. I did the “call me: thing with my thumb in my ear and my pinky toward my chin. She nodded, but didn’t slow down.
Suzi was standing up, not quite knowing what to do. “Well, that was weird.”
A.J. handed the baby to her. “What happened?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing. Jessie walked in. Looked at Teagan. Said, ‘We’re gone.’ Grabbed her and kind of half-lifted her off the couch, and they went out the door.” Suzi looked at her brother. “What happened? You guys go to play pool, and the next thing he comes back all pissed off. What happened?”
“Nothing. His life. He can do what he wants. I’m not getting in the middle of it.”
I didn’t even ask. I figured he’d tell me later. Then Teagan would tell me Jessie’s side. I’d know what was going on soon enough.
I’m getting better at that.
Suzi begged off dessert. She said she was going to take the baby home and give her a bath and put her to bed.
I doubt she had her door unlocked before A.J. snapped. “Aren’t you going to ask?”
“Sure. Do you want dessert?” I gave him my best smile.
“You know what I meant.”
“Obviously something happened. I heard you guys.” Before A.J. could say anything I put my hand up to stop him. “All I heard was you saying you didn’t want to be put in the middle of it. You just said that again. So, fine. I won’t put you in the middle of it. Seems like whatever it is, is between Jessie and Teagan. She’s a big girl. She’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks.”
I gave him a hug. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For caring about me and my family.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too. I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll be out in a little bit. You want to watch a movie?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Pick one. I suck at it. Every time I pick a movie, we hate it.”
“You want tea?”
“Can you put on the kettle when you hear the water go off?”
“I still haven’t figured out how to make you a proper cup, have I?”
“Don’t worry about it. My dad still can’t fix my mother a cup of tea, and he’s had a lot more practice. Besides, he’s pretty much the perfect man.”
A.J. tried to look injured. “And what am I?”
“The perfect man for me.”
“Good save.”
“Actually, it wasn’t a save. It’s how I feel.”
So I didn’t make it to the shower… alone.
Teagan called early. Really early. “You mind telling me what happened last night?”
“I was going to ask you. All I know is that Jessie and A.J. were talking, close to yelling, when I went walking over there with Evelyn last night. Jessie said something that made A.J. say that he wasn’t going to be put in the middle of it, so I didn’t ask, because he doesn’t want to be put in the middle of it.”
“Jessie isn’t talking either. I get the feeling that he either asked A.J. for something and A.J. said no, or he did something that he shouldn’t have done. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what it could be.”
“We could make a list of all the things that men do that make them yell at their future brother-in-law to keep quiet about. Isn’t that how you usually approach this stuff? With a gazillion conspiracy ideas to make me all paranoid?”
“That’s what I do to you. That is not what we do with me. You are the comforting sister. So comfort me!”
“I’m sure it’s nothing. You know how guys are. A.J. is still kind of beat up from that whole thing out in front of his studio. Maybe Jessie wanted to take care of the problem like in the movies. He could probably do that.”
“You’re right. It’s probably something like that. Jessie is a little over protective. I never got to read the journal last night.”
“Put on a blinker before you change subjects so fast.”
“Sorry. Blink. Blink.”
“That’s better.”
“You’re an idiot, dingleberry.”
“I learned from the best.”
“Don’t start. I got a couple of paragraphs in, and Suzi and I were talking about Evelyn, and then Jessie barged in.”
“When do you want to try again?”
“Tonight?”
“Are you bringing Jessie?”
“Not tonight, he has a work thing.”
“I’m pretty sure A.J. does too. They’re still doing most of the work out of Morgan’s office, so I get confused about his schedule. I’ll check the calendar and let you know.”
“Cara?”
“Hmm?”
“You sure you don’t have a bad feeling about this?”
“I get bad feelings about everything. Teagan, you’ve been officially engaged about a minute and a half. Don’t tell me you’re all weirded out already. The guys are allowed to have a conversation without us knowing the details. Practice what you preach and all that. You would tell me to be reasonable. I’m being reasonable.”
“Yeah, that’s what’s weirding me out.”
“I’ll text you.”
“Thanks.”
Teagan showed up ten minutes early. That’s really not like her. “I don’t want food. Not real food. You got anything good?”
“I’ve got cantaloupe.”
“Don’t make me hurt you, Cara.”
“What’s your problem, Teagan?”
“Well, let’s see. My boss — ”
“Partner.”
“Okay, fine, my partner isn’t sharing any information with me about the whole Honey thing.”
“I thought you said it got dismissed.”
“The legal stuff did, but there’s something going on because that older couple that Honey was following are now clients of ours. Big clients. Like you said, I’m his partner now, right? I try to get all the details, and I’m basically sent back to my office. He didn’t pull that kind of crap when I was an employee. Why’s he doing it now? And why are these people who just had their house broken into — by the boss’s wife no less — now clients?”
“Good question.”
“Oh, I’ve got more. So, even if I put business aside, then I’ve got personal issues. Like what the hell is Jessie doing? Why is he yelling at A.J.? Why isn’t he telling me what is going on? I’m almost his wife, right? Why is he keeping secrets from me?”
“The last time he kept a secret from you it turned out pretty well. That whole weekend was full of secrets and surprises. Think about that.”
“Yeah, well, as much as that was the best weekend I’ve ever had, I don’t think that anything in planning it would have caused A.J. to yell at Jessie that he didn’t want to be involved.”
“You are being you. Stop it.”
“I’m not being me, I’m just, okay, I’m being me, but who else am I supposed to be?”
“Listen to your mother.”
“She isn’t here.”
“She doesn’t have to be. She’s running around in your head all the time. What would Mom say?”
“She would say that I need to write everything down so that it isn’t bouncing around in my head. Then I need to give it a minute to calm down. Then once I’m sure I know where I stand, what I can live with and what I can’t, I need to talk to the people involved in a calm and respectful way.”
“Exactly.”
“How can I do that?”
“You just gave me a step-by-step — ”
“But if I don’t have the facts, then how do I figure it out?”
“Teagan, maybe it isn’t yours to figure out. Maybe it has nothing to do with you at all.”
“Right. If it involves my soon-to-be-husband, then by definition it involves me.”
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Get engaged and then get all…” I searched for a word. “Un-Teagan-like.”
“What does that mean?”
“Jessie fell in love with Teagan. Teagan doesn’t do this crazy dependent, joined-at-the-hip, you-have-to-tell-me-everything-now stuff. You aren’t like that.”
“I’m not?”
“No, I wouldn’t like that Teagan. The Teagan I know and love would look at this and say: ‘I love Jessie. I trust Jessie. When I am supposed to know, Jessie will tell me.’”
“The Teagan you know and love is an idiot.”
“Yes, but a lovable one.”
“So you’re telling me to just back off and see what happens.”
“Other than start a huge fight that won’t get you what you want, what else is there to do?”
“I’m not sure I like this mature and reasonable thing you’ve got going on, dingleberry.”
“I’ve got chocolate.”
“I knew you were good for something.”
“I’ve also got a change of subject. You can use your brain for something else and keep it busy.”
“I’m a multitasker. I can do more than one thing at a time.”
“So, you can read the journal, and I’ll repeatedly thump you on the head. That way you can think about the journal and plan my slow and painful death.”
“That might work.”
We sat on the couch and read the journal. It only took Teagan a little while to catch up to where I was; then she read aloud.
For the next several weeks, Cassia would come by the house with all manner of lotions and potions that were making a huge difference in the health of my charge.
Teagan stopped. “I guess we know where you got that phrase now.”
“What?”
“You say lotions and potions all the time. I guess you picked it up from Bernie.”
“I’m not the one who started that. You say it too.”
“I only say it to you because you say it. You picked it up from Bernie.”
“Oh God. I wonder what else I picked up from her.”
Teagan just shook her head and started reading again.
I say as a witness before God that what Cassia was able to do was nothing short of a miracle. She brought that woman back from eminent death to, if not rigorous health, at the very least a level of health that we could maintain for some time. Mrs. McCann was able to leave her bed for the first time in months. Her sores were healing; the worst of them no longer smelled of death, but had the pink glow of new beginnings.
Had I been the wiser, I would have insisted that the family of Mrs. McCann repay Cassia’s kindness. At the very least a donation to the church and a candle for a year, but they would have none of it, and I, being such a young and abashed soul, did not insist. For my part, I did what I was able. I did all the mending that Cassia brought to me in exchange for her time. I created lace for her. The Irish create fine lace that has carried us through the famine and since. I learned at the convent in the village and find that the process relaxes me at the end of a taxing day. The handwork is precise and detailed and lends a sense of accomplishment. A lasting thing of beauty, the nuns told me. For Cassia I created a beautiful piece that had her name entwined with flowers. I made a collar for her best black dress. I did needlework for her sponsor. It was the very least I could do, as her actions not only saved Mrs. McCann, but she saved me as well, keeping a warm shelter and food available to me.
Teagan put down the journal. “This is just stupid and boring.”
“I didn’t think it was boring. I think that there’s something there. At least we know more about Bernie’s life.”
“Maybe that is a big deal for you, but me, not so much.”
“Then you don’t have to read it.”
Teagan couldn’t resist. “Maybe it tells how she met Grandma. How Grandma really was back in the day. That will brighten Mom’s life.”
“You’re right. Maybe she doesn’t want to know. I never knew that Mom’s life was so rough when she was a kid. You think about that kind of stuff now, but I never really thought about it happening back then. Grandma always seemed so proper.”
Teagan sniffed. “Thinking about your own grandmother basically prostituting her daughter, your mother — ”
“Don’t say that. Mom wasn’t a prostitute.”
“No, she wasn’t, but Grandma was willing to look the other way in exchange for whatever it was that guy was providing. What else do you call that?
“I can’t think about it that way, Teagan.”
“Just because you don’t think about it, doesn’t make it go away.”
“Maybe it will say something in the journal about what she did about Grandma when she found out what was happening to her. How she made that guy go away. Maybe it will even tell us who he was so that we can hunt him down and kill him in his sleep.”
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“Because it seems like she wrote this accounting for you. Do you really think that Bernie is going to say, ‘Oh, and by the way, this is the day that I kicked ol’ what’s-his-name to the curb. Your grandmother didn’t care that he was messing with your mother.’”
“Why are you being so crude? And angry? What’s going on with you?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just in a bad mood. The whole thing with Jessie. The whole thing with Honey. It just feels like I’m not a featured player in my own life right now, and since I can be a little bit controlling, that’s hard for me.”
“A little bit?”
“Shut up, dingleberry.”
“So you don’t want to read the journal?”
“Not particularly. I think I’m going home.”
“But you haven’t eaten all my chocolate.”
“I’m good. Sorry to eat and run. Actually, more like be a jerk and run.”
“It happens. Are you sure you’re okay? Can I do anything?”
“You can find out from A.J. what the hell is going on with Jessie.”
“I said I wouldn’t put him in the middle of it.”
“If you don’t want to help, then don’t offer to do anything. The only thing you can do in this situation is the thing you don’t want to do, so why did you even offer?”
“Okay, we’re going around in circles, and I’m gonna get dizzy. If there is anything I can do for you, besides putting A.J. in the middle of something that might not even have anything to do with you, give me a call.”
“You’re right. I just have a really bad feeling about this.”
“Talk to your almost husband, Teagan. Put on your big girl thong, and tell him how you feel.”
“You’re right. If I can’t talk to him, then we have a problem. I guess I’m just afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“I don’t know. That’s the problem.”
I’m not that much of a huggy person, but I gave Teagan a hug. She cried. Not an ugly cry. Just a couple of tears. It broke my heart. Teagan isn’t normally like this.
“You want a cup of tea? We can talk about it.”
“No, I’m going to go home. Maybe I can figure out what to say. It’s so stupid. I’m not like this. I don’t know what my problem is.”
“You and Jessie have known each other since you were kids. You have always been able to talk to him about anything. I’m not sure why you don’t feel you can talk to him now.”
“Me either. It’s so strange. Ever since the big weekend, it feels like something just isn’t right.”
“Talk to him. You don’t know until you ask. Teagan, you and all your theories about a gazillion different things are what is driving you crazy. It might be something simple and easy. Don’t make a thing out of nothing, or at least until you know what the thing is.”
Teagan left, and I sat on the couch feeling really guilty. Hadn’t Jessie and A.J.’s disagreement been about A.J. not wanting to mess up his relationship with me and with my family?
I don’t think I told her that. I only told her that A.J. didn’t want to be in the middle of it. Half a truth.
My mother was talking in my head again.
Half a truth isn’t a truth at all.
Obviously, A.J. not wanting to mess up his relationship with the family and me had nothing to do with her work and was a pretty big deal. I felt like I was throwing Teagan in the middle of a big mess without warning.
At the same time, it is her relationship with Jessie, and I don’t need to be in the middle of it.
How do you get to be our age and have problems like this? It feels like high school. Maybe it’s because we finally found our forever guys. No guy has ever come in the middle of us because no guy has ever been as important as the family. Normal people get into these relationships earlier than we did, I guess. Or maybe we just make O’Flynns so important that no guy was ever able to get a strong enough foothold. That’s probably not a really healthy thing. I’d have to think about that.
By the time A.J. got home, I’d talked myself into a really bad mood. The fact of the matter is that even if A.J. didn’t want to be in the middle of something with Jessie, that didn’t mean he should keep whatever it is from me. Now we have this big thing between us. If he really didn’t want to be in the middle of it, wouldn’t it make a lot more sense for him to just tell Jessie that he wasn’t going to keep the secret — whatever the secret is — and tell me?
I walked out in the living room, ready to tell A.J. exactly what I thought of his new secret society with Jessie, until I saw his face.
“What happened?”
He fell back onto the couch. “There was a break-in at the studio.”
“Oh, no. What did they get?”
“Cara, they completely trashed the place. They broke everything that was breakable.”
“Did they get into the safe? What about your equipment?”
“They didn’t get in the safe. Insurance covers whatever is broken. That isn’t the problem.”
“What?”
“Joe and Ben.”
“The bouncers from the bar? What about them?”
“They are in the hospital. Joe’s cut up pretty bad. Ben isn’t much better. The guys had knives. Thank God they didn’t have guns.”
“What can we do?”
“Nothing right now.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I was kind of busy.”
A.J. didn’t get it, and now probably wasn’t the time to tell him, but it wasn’t about having time. It was about keeping me out of his life. About having this huge trauma and not turning to me. I tried not to be hurt, but it didn’t work.
Since she owns the bar the guys worked at and the studio that A.J. rents space in, I assumed that Jovana would be involved. “What did Jovana say?”
“They weren’t actually working. They were in Old Town on their time off. I guess Ben is dating a girl who works at the theater, and Joe had the vintage place holding something for him, so they decided to go down there and grab lunch, see the girl at the theater, pick up the stuff from the vintage place, and then hit the gym. Somewhere between the vintage place and the gym, all hell broke loose.”
“Was it the guys who got the old man?”
“They are idiots. They had to know they would be caught on camera. It’s in the news every ten minutes. They have cameras everywhere in Old Town. The last big event down there, they arrested a couple of most-wanted types because of that facial recognition software they were experimenting with.”
“Maybe they are just stupid.”
“Or maybe there is more to it and they don’t care if they get caught. I don’t know. All I know is that Ben and Joe are good guys and they are in the hospital because they were trying to help me.”
“It would have been better if they’d just called the police.”
“They thought I was in the studio. The only reason they went in instead of just letting the guys destroy the place was to save my ass.”
“Why would they do that in daylight hours? Break into your place, I mean. You would think they would have at least waited for nighttime.”
“Maybe, but to be realistic, there are more people wandering around Old Town at night than there are during the daytime.”
“That’s true.” I tried to get my brain moving in the direction of actually helping. “Do Ben and Joe have family? Should we be contacting someone? What about medical insurance? If they don’t have it, will your insurance cover it?”
“Shit. I didn’t even think of that. I gotta make some calls.”
“You want food?”
“No. I’m gonna take a shower and think. Then I’ll try to track down some information.”
“How long are the guys going to be in the hospital?”
“Not too long. They are all cut up, but they didn’t hit any major organs. They are stitched and stapled and glued together. Now they watch them.” A.J. shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
“What happened to the bad guys?”
“They are in the hospital too. One with a suspected head injury. One with a broken jaw, well, pretty much a broken face. The big guy was complaining of chest pains. They brought him in. Cop laughed and said he wasn’t worried. It’s just a ploy.”
I didn’t say anything, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the bad guys sued A.J. faster than the good guys. Everything A.J. has worked so hard for might go away just because he did the right thing and stepped in when the bad guys were trying to hurt the old man.
I didn’t even know what to say.
While A.J. was in the shower, I called my Mom. Explained everything that had happened and asked her to say a prayer.
This could get ugly.