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Winona entered her room and gasped in shock. Every item she owned was all over the floor and bed. She closed the door and just stared at the mess. Shaking her head, she had to wonder what Dana had been looking for.
She began picking up her clothes and noted at least she hadn’t ruined them, only messed them up. She began refolding her clothes and repacking her suitcases. She wanted to be ready at a moment’s notice, just in case Gunner allowed her to leave.
She sat down on the bed and ran her fingers over the back of her head. Her braid had been tight yesterday but she hadn’t done too much with it today. She unraveled it now and grabbing her brush she brushed out the knots and tangles. The headache she’d felt earlier was going away as she did her hundred strokes. When she released the braid, her hair spread out around her shoulders in a soft white cloud that hung to her waist. Her hair was the one indulgence she had. It hadn’t been cut most of her life.
The last time she had it short was when she was six and her “mom” had punished her for missing supper. It hadn’t mattered to her that Winona had been running an errand for her, only that she had missed getting supper ready for her parents even if she was only six.
Winona shrugged, those days were long behind her now, and that was ok with her. Her nimble fingers rebraided her hair. There was one more thing she had to do today. No matter where she was living she always baked herself a birthday cake. Dana had presented her dad with a cake this morning, but that was their cake, not hers and she made sure Winona knew it didn’t belong to her.
That was fine, she hadn’t been hurt by the other girl’s gesture. Dana had been right in one sense, she belonged here, and Winona didn’t. But it was her birthday and she’d been making her own cake for a long time.
She got up and went out to the kitchen. A few minutes later she was mixing ingredients again. No one bothered her and that was fine with her. Soon the smells of a rich chocolate cake filled the room.
Then she began mixing another kind of cake batter. This one would be a vanilla cake with strawberry accents. This one would feed everyone else but the chocolate one would be for her. Both recipes were her best creations but she couldn’t eat the strawberries. She learned very young that she was allergic to the red berries. Which her parents ignored all the time.
When the cakes were done and cooling, she was joined by a couple of the brothers. They looked at the cakes in surprise.
“What’s all this then?” one of them asked.
“Well its Gunner and Dana’s birthday today isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is but Dana usually shares a cake only with her dad and that’s all they do,” the other man commented.
Winona shrugged. “Well, I made the cake big enough so everyone could have a piece. I can’t make you all eat it but it’s there if you want it.”
“I’m Jeeter.” The brother on the right stuck out his hand.
Winona shook his hand.
“And I’m Carter,” The next one introduced himself.
“Winona,” She told them both. “What’s going on? Why are you two here?”
Jeeter groaned. “It’s our turn to cook the evening meal.”
“We have a rotation set up and two of us cook a meal and tonight it’s our turn in the rotation,” Carter informed her.
She glanced at the clock and noted the time. “You’re going to start dinner at two in the afternoon? Why?”
“Because we want to get it over with.” Carter snorted. “We can’t cook a lick but as it’s Gunner and Dana’s birthday and lasagna is his favorite meal we’re going to try to make it for him.”
“And pray it’s edible,” Jeeter added with a bit of a snicker.
Winona wanted to laugh out loud at their admission. Lasagna did sound good. She loved pasta and melted cheese with lots of yummy garlic bread. “Need some help? I make a really good lasagna.”
“God yes,” both men echoed their affirmation.
She walked over to the sink and began washing her hands. “Ok, let’s see what you guys got. Get everything out and we’ll go from there.”
Jeeter and Carter went to the pantry and began pulling out the stuff they would need for dinner. When Winona turned to look at the ingredients, she gasped. The table was filled with canned sauce.
Lifting her eyes to the two men, she noted their confused expressions. Instead of explaining, she moved to the freezer and took out a couple pounds of hamburger. Then she went to the pantry and found tomato sauce along with the seasonings she would need. Without another word, she began frying the meat and mixing in the other ingredients, she needed for the sauce.
“You guys can put those cans back and get the noodles on to boil, if you like.” She told them as the scents of her homemade sauce filled the room.
Jeeter pulled out a couple of huge pots and began boiling water for the boxes of noodles.
Carter found four loaves of French bread and laid them out on the table.
While the sauce cooked down Winona began grating the cheese and mixing the garlic for the butter, she would spread on the bread.
“Oh man, that sauce smells great,” Jeeter said as he heard his belly growl.
All three of them chuckled.
An hour later, they had layered four extra large pans with meaty sauce, noodles and heaps of cheese. Sliding them into the oven the scents of Italian cooking filled the kitchen and then spilled over into the main room.
Then came the scent of garlic bread adding to the smells with the Lasagna and soon, men began filling the large main room next to the kitchen just to sniff the air. Then the guys noticed the two cakes.
Winona, Jeeter and Carter could hear the groanings and smiled at each other.
When the food was done, they had more than enough eager help to carry it out.
~*~
When Gunner escorted Dana out for supper, he stopped at the view of the table loaded with food. He paused to take a deep breath and the scents of the food made his belly growl. “Damn, that smells good.”
Dana snorted. “I wonder what restaurant they ordered from but you’re right Daddy, it smells really good.”
Gunner grabbed a plate and scooped up a huge piece of the Italian dish he loved so much. The cheese trailed behind as he lifted the piece onto his plate. He groaned as he noted there was more than enough cheese. This reminded him of his grandmother’s lasagna. “Oh man, this looks really good.” He helped himself to a second slice then moved on to grab several slices of garlic bread. When he saw the two cakes, he thought he just might be in heaven.
Dana took a slice of the pasta and a couple pieces of the bread then she too saw the cakes. One was chocolate while the other was vanilla strawberry. Strawberry was her dad’s favorite but she looked at the chocolate with envy that she didn’t normally feel.
When everyone had filled their plates and sat down, all you could hear was the sound of forks on plates. Everyone took the first bite and moaned as the tastes of Italian food perfectly blended burst in their mouths.
Gunner groaned as the taste of his childhood came back to him. “Oh my lord, this is good.” He looked around the room. When he found Jeeter and Carter, he saw they were shoveling their food into their faces. “You guys did good, this is delicious.”
Jeeter paused then shook his head. “We had some help boss.” He pointed his fork over to the table where Winona sat alone.
She was eating her supper quietly, ignoring the rest of the group.
Dana’s fork clattered on her plate. Her fingers curled into fists but she didn’t say a word.
Gunner looked over at his daughter and took note of the rage banked in her eyes. He gazed over at Winona again, and she didn’t seem to notice Dana’s glare.
He finished his meal in silence. He had a feeling he would have to watch his daughter around Winona. When the lasagna was gone, Winona got up, went into the kitchen and brought out a stack of smaller plates for the cake. Then she cut herself a large piece of the chocolate cake. Going back to her table, she sat down and took a bite of the cake.
Gunner got up and took a piece of the chocolate cake as well. Dana never liked chocolate cake, therefore they always had white cake with strawberries for their birthday cake, but he wanted chocolate cake this year. It looked and smelled divine.
He lifted the first bite to his mouth and let out a long moan as the delicious pastry melted in his mouth.
Dana looked over at him and saw the cake on his plate. “Oh daddy, how could you?” she whispered. “We always have the strawberry cake on our birthday.”
“Didn’t say I wouldn’t have cake with you, but I wanted to try something different this year. You were still eating.” Gunner wouldn’t look at her but instead finished his chocolate cake.
He sat back in his chair and studied his daughter. She looked really pissed. Then he saw her expression change into a hurt look that didn’t quite match the look in her eyes. His eyes narrowed as he figured out she was playing him. Gunner growled under his breath, his own daughter was playing him for a fool.
He got up and went over to the serving table to get two pieces of white cake. When he came back, he set one down in front of Dana as he took his seat and began eating the white cake. It melted in his mouth and the hint of strawberries made him sigh with satisfaction.
Dana picked up her fork and took a small bite of the cake. She wouldn’t allow Winona to take away this special part of her birthday. The cake wasn’t store bought she could tell that with the first bite. It tasted divine and she almost moaned aloud as she swallowed it. Then she remembered what this imposter did for a living and she about choked on her cake. She laid down her fork and pushed the plate away from her.
“You aren’t going to eat the cake?” Gunner asked her.
“No I’m not going to eat that cake!” Dana spat out.
Gunner shrugged and reached for her plate.
She watched as her dad scarfed down the second piece of cake. Dana then threw her napkin down and stalked off.
Leaning back in his chair, he turned to watch Winona finish her cake. When she got up and went into the kitchen, he turned to see his VP Boone had sat down in Dana’s chair.
Handing Gunner a shot of his favorite whiskey he said, “Happy birthday old man.”
Gunner snorted. “Yeah, happy fuckin birthday to me. I got a daughter that’s pissed at me and possibly another one that just wants to get away from me.” He drank the shot and looked at Boone. “When the hell did life get so complicated?”
Boone shrugged. He glanced over at Winona’s chair, then back to Gunner. “What do you remember about the time Blacky brought Dana home?”
“What do you mean?” Gunner frowned.
“Did he ever say how he found your ex? I mean he had to find her within hours of her giving birth didn’t he? How could he find one baby without finding the other one?”
Gunner shrugged. “I did ask him at the time but he said when he found DeeDee she was already gone and the baby was just lying there beside her. He never said there were two babies.”
“Then someone else was there, weren’t they?” Boone reminded his boss. “Someone else had to have taken Winona to the church steps after she was born.” He looked toward the kitchen doorway. “Something tells me her life up until now hasn’t been that good. She won’t talk about it but she gets a certain look in her eyes when she remembers it.”
“I think she remembers Blacky as well,” Gunner told him. “And I don’t think it’s a good memory either. Though I can’t see how that’s possible, but I think we might want to look into what the hell he’s been doing lately.”
~*~
Boone nodded. When he got up Gunner reached out and touched his arm. “Keep an eye on her for me will you? Dana really doesn’t like her or want her around and I have no clue how far she’ll push this.” Shaking his head he said, “I’ve spoiled that girl into thinking her shit don’t stink but I’ll be damned if I let her hurt her sister in a spoiled little girl rage.”
Boone paused then asked, “You really think she would hurt Winona?”
“I’m not willing to wait and find out now am I?” Gunner stared at him.
Boone nodded then went around the table to where Jeeter and Carter were sitting. He slapped Jeeter on the shoulder. “You two got KP tonight.”
Jeeter groaned. “It will be well worth doing dishes for a meal like that.” He shook his head. “Damn, that girl can cook.”
“Did you try her cake?” Carter grinned. “That chocolate cake was to die for.”
Boone snorted and walked into the kitchen.
Winona had her hands deep in the sink as she began washing the dishes. Her back was turned to Boone until he cleared his throat. She turned around and saw him motion toward the sink. After a moment she asked, “What?”
“You are officially off duty. Come on I want to show you something.”
Winona grabbed a towel and began drying her hands as Jeeter and Carter joined them.
Boone nodded at them and then led Winona out the back door.
She paused to take a deep breath of the fresh night air. It still held the heat of the day but she could see the brilliant sunset coloring the night sky. There was a breathtaking bold assortment of colors, reds, oranges and purples. The moon was just becoming visible and it was such a beautiful sunset.
The landscape of the compound was pure Texas. Dry soil and cactus dotted the yard but that worked for Winona. Louisiana was filled with swamps and gators but there was something about Texas that called to her. Even if she would never admit it to anyone.
She glanced over at Boone and asked, “So how long is your boss going to keep me here?”
“How ever long it takes to find out the truth, I imagine.” He shrugged as he looked out over the compound.
“And what is the truth going to tell him?” She shook her head. “I don’t need a father now. I needed one growing up but I’m grown now, all this is doing is causing trouble neither of us wants.”
“He has to know.” Boone shrugged.
“The past is the past he has to let it go.”
“He can’t.” Boone growled. “Something went down almost twenty five years ago that caused his woman to run. He wants to know what that was and why she never told him she was having his kid. Then months later, Blacky comes back with Dana. He never did say how he found DeeDee or anything about you.” He shrugged. “Gunner has to know why.”
“Yeah well, Dana doesn’t want him knowing after all this time, and does it really make a difference? Cuz it doesn’t matter to me.” She turned and walked back inside then headed to her bedroom and quietly closed the door. As she shut the door, she locked it, then went over to her bed and laid down in the dark. She couldn’t shed any tears but she just stared into the nothingness around her.
She was used to being alone and that suited her well. She never felt lonely as she always had something to do. How long would she have to be here? She wanted her own life back. One she had built for herself after her miserable childhood left scars that she had thought she’d healed.
This Gunner better get his shit together and let her go, or she would again, take her life back.