“And how. Guy was like that, too. Don’t know where he got it. Both Paul and I were quiet-living people even when we were young.”
“He was beautiful. Beauty generates its own energy.”
Alice watched her cat, Malarky, climb up the wisteria to nestle in a branch and gaze down at them. “Yes, he was beautiful. He took after my grandmother. Same eyes, same black curly hair. I always wished I looked like her. She was beautiful even in old age.”
“Now, Alice, you’re an attractive woman.”
“Liar”—she stretched her legs out—“but I thank you all the same.” Malarky shifted his weight, sending wisteria leaves twirling downward. “Fatty,” she called up to him.
He ignored her.
“Won’t be long before the leaves turn, even though it’s seventy-four degrees today. The other morning I walked out in the fog and it was chilly.”
“Lot of fog now. Earth’s warmer than the air.” She turned to face Sister. “Since they found Guy I’ve thought about things. I guess I knew he was gone. He would have found some way to reach me even if he had killed Nola. He wouldn’t have killed her, but even if he had. I just don’t know who killed him, but I think we’ll find out.”
“Yes, I think we will, too. Alice, did Paul ever tell you anything he’d discovered?”
“No. He said he could account for people’s movements. I guess you’d say everyone had an alibi. He didn’t really have suspects.”
“Did Guy ever talk about someone he hated or who might have hated him?”
“Mmm, sometimes Ronnie Haslip would get on his nerves. Guy thought Ronnie was flirting with him. I just laughed at him. And he and Ralph started bickering. They’d got on well as children and all through high school. But those last months of Guy’s life they were at odds.”
“Did you know why?”
“No. You know, the night before he died, he stopped off home. I was watching an old movie, Dark Victory, with Bette Davis. He sat next to me on the sofa and said he was getting bored with everyone. He needed a change.”
“Do you think he meant Nola?”
“I don’t know. He wasn’t very specific. But he said the time had come for him to do something with his life. He wasn’t upset, just kind of sober. I can’t think of a better word.”
“Did Paul find out anything that upset you?”
“No. I knew Guy partied too much with all those rich people. I knew he had some growing up to do.”
“Ronnie Haslip, Xavier, and Ralph weren’t rich then.”
“No. But the Bancrofts, the Taylors, the Jansens. Too much too soon. All of them.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever worry that Ray would fall in with that crowd, or their younger sisters and brothers, when he became a little older?” Alice sipped her drink, held one of the ice cubes in her mouth, then released it on the next swallow of gin rickey.
“I did.”
“Well, you and Raymond weren’t poor. I suppose Little Ray could have kept up with the Joneses.”
“That was Big Ray’s department. But Alice, I don’t think Raymond or I would have tolerated that behavior in our son even if we could have afforded it. This county is full of people who just suck off their trust funds.”
“Most don’t amount to a hill of beans.”
“I don’t begrudge them the money. What I can’t stand is that they don’t do anything for anybody else. They party, golf, hunt, travel, ricochet from one thing to another. They marry, have children, divorce, marry again, and think the world belongs to them. I have to tolerate the ones in the hunt club, but I sure don’t have to socialize with them.”
Alice smiled. “I’ve never heard you talk like that.”
“Alice, you’ve never heard me talk,” Sister bluntly replied.
A silence followed, then Alice spoke. “I haven’t liked myself much since Guy disappeared. I lived for my family, and when they were gone I didn’t have any friends. Well, you are right. I haven’t heard you talk, really talk. I haven’t heard anyone talk. And how much life do I have left? I don’t want to live it like this. My son has come back to me. Not as I wished, but he’s come back and, you know, he reproaches me. Guy wouldn’t want me as his mother now.”
Surprised by this outburst, Sister softly said, “Love never dies. His love is as real today as the day he died. He would want you as his mother. He wants you to be happy.”
“Do you think so?”
“I do. I draw on Raymond’s love every day. He wasn’t perfect. Neither am I. But he loved me and so did my son. I live with that love.”
Alice finished her drink. “I never thought of it that way. I only thought of what I’d lost. Well, I’ve cried through many a night. I cried when Ben Sidell told me they’d found Guy. The more I cried, the more I knew I had to do something. I can become someone my son would like to know.”
“What are you going to do?”
“The first thing I’m going to do is take some classes at Virginia Tech. I’ll have to commute, but I checked out the classes on the computer. I can take classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. I’m going to get a little apartment in Blacksburg, go down Sunday nights and return Wednesday afternoons. I heard that Lorraine Rasmussen wanted to get out in the country, money’s tight for her, and I’ve rented her rooms upstairs. We’ll share the kitchen, the living room. She’ll take care of Malarky and my chickens.”
“Well, Alice, that’s wonderful.”
“Do you want to know what I’m going to study?”
“Of course.”
“Poultry science and cattle breeding. I’ve always wanted to breed high-quality cattle, but Paul wouldn’t let me do it. He said the market was like a roller coaster. Well, he’s gone. I’m going to do what I want to do.”
“Good for you.”
“And one other thing. You were always nice to me even when I wasn’t nice to you. So if you want to go through here when you hunt, you go right ahead.”
“Alice!” Sister leapt out of her chair and gave Alice a hug.
“See, I knew all this time you just wanted to hunt my land.” Alice, her face red, laughed.
It wasn’t until she was halfway up her own driveway that Sister realized she never did buy her groceries.
CHAPTER 26
Each board meeting rotated to a different board member’s home. Ralph and Frances Assumptio hosted this one. Frances spent her time and energy cleaning and decorating. The place, farther west from Sister’s down Soldier Road, had a warm feel to it full of handsomely worn oriental rugs, old silver, and overstuffed club chairs.
One of the rules of the Jefferson Hunt was that no food or liquor could be served until after the board meeting. Past experience proved the necessity of this rule.
As usual, the entire board showed up. Shaker’s raise passed unanimously. When Ralph wasn’t looking, Ken winked at Sister, who winked back.
They had checked off everything on the agenda when Bobby Franklin, as president, asked pro forma, “Are there any new items not on the agenda?”
Crawford, wearing a flattering turquoise shirt, spoke. “I’d like us to consider building a clubhouse and showgrounds. We lack a central meeting place—neutral territory, if you will—and showgrounds would help our horse show committee immeasurably. We’d have a permanent home for our activities.”
“Wait a minute. This club has no debt. You’re talking about running up mountains of debt,” Ralph piped up, his eyebrows knit together in concern.
“One of the reasons we have no debt is because Raymond and Sister built the ‘new’ kennels on their farm at their own expense,” Bobby said, quickly giving credit where credit was due. He knew perfectly well what Crawford was up to.
“What happens when Sister leaves us?” Crawford blurted out.
“I’m not leaving,” Sister said, enjoying watching him squirm. “I would never willingly leave the Jefferson Hunt. You might vote me out, but I won’t leave on my own.”