“Pardon me, ma’am?”
“That witch,” I said, loud enough for him to hear. After another quarter mile, I again heard the clink of glass on glass. “I want to ask you something, Reggie. It’s been on my mind. Why did a man like Mr. Chatham marry a woman like her? She’s pretty enough, I suppose, in a fake, beauty queen sort of way, but, my lord, she’s mean. Even Kermit, who seems as nice as he can be, said as much.”
Since I had modified the grove manager’s opinion of the woman, it seemed only fair to reference him as a source.
After a long silence, Reggie replied, “Are you asking for yourself? Or your mama?”
It was true, my motives were mixed, but I said, “I’m asking you as my client. I won’t repeat a word without your consent.”
“Can’t, Miz Hannah. Sorry. That’s another one of those confidential matters I’m not at liberty to speak about. As to your mama, this much I can tell you: her and the governor, I’ve never seen two people in my life cursed by such strong love and bad timing.”
This was a revelation. “That’s hard to believe, Reggie. Not the timing part, but, if he really loved her, then-”
“Honey, that’s what I’m getting to. Why those two never married. Mostly, it was because the governor couldn’t bring himself to leave his wife and children. His first wife; the only one he ever had, far as I’m concerned. Now, there was a lady. A fine mother, too, but Miz Lilly-that was her name, Lilly-she had female issues. I don’t know the terms for such things, but, truth is, I doubt those two ever had the same feelings as the governor had for Loretta.”
“He didn’t love his wife?”
“Very much. But it weren’t the fever kind of love. You know the difference? That kind of love, there ain’t no understanding even when it happens.”
“I’m not sure,” I said, but, in my heart, I did understand, and the admission was painful.
Reggie took me at my word. “That’s ’cause you never experienced it. Don’t take offense. Few men and women do. Lord knows, I never had such luck.” The man sniffed, already a little drunk, and there was more liquor waiting in his belly.
I said, “Why don’t you pass me a bottle of water, and grab one for yourself? Drink it down. They say if you wait until you’re thirsty, it’s too late.”
A bottle of Evian appeared near my ear. “You don’t mind, I’ll set my thirst aside for later. Where was I? Oh-talkin’ about fever love.”
“No, you were explaining why he married a woman who’s got a mean streak and half his age.”
“That’s what I’m getting to, but there’s more you’ve got to understand. The governor was all man when it come to women, but he was faithful… mostly. Particularly when he was a young man. Then Miz Lilly’s female issues come along and temptation got the best of him. Otherwise, I truly don’t believe he’d have ever strayed. You know your own self, he was a deacon at Foursquare Gospel. Never missed a Sunday, unless he had duties in Tallahassee.”
Strange, how tense I suddenly felt, no longer concerned with Lonnie Chatham’s petty insults.
I said, “We were members for as long as I can remember.”
“Yes, you were churchgoing people. All you Smiths-the good ones anyway.”
“I appreciate that,” I said, giving him a look in the mirror. “Then Loretta switched to the Church of God on Pine Island. I liked the preacher but preferred Chapel-By-The-Sea. By then, I had my own boat.”
“Foursquare Gospel,” Reggie mused, “them folks could make a joyful noise. Many a time, I sat there in the heat of a summer morning, always a back pew, watching ol’ Harney sneaking looks at your mamma-I didn’t call him governor in those days ’cause he weren’t. Called him captain, ’cause he was. He’d hired me to work one of his shrimp boats, back when we was makin’ visits to the Yucatán. You sure was pretty, the way your mama dressed you in bows and ribbons.”
I spoke to keep myself from getting emotional. “I hated those starchy dresses.”
“And let everyone know, too! The way you tugged at your sleeves and couldn’t get comfortable. Many’s the time you caused me a smile. The governor, too. He was a man for noticing details.”
In my mind, I pictured Harney Chatham striding down the aisle with the collection plate, a confident man with shoulders and a smile, always in a suit with a bolo tie and boots.
“I was just a girl,” I said, “so it didn’t strike me as odd the way he’d sneak an envelope into the plate when he got to Loretta. They’d always just nod and smile, then he’d move along as if the money was from her.”
“She was poor, your mama, with no husband, and a child to support,” Reggie said as if I was unaware.
Rather than mention my mother’s disinterest in working, or her inability to hold a job, I let the remark pass. “Mr. Chatham was being charitable,” I said. “I realize that now. But, in all those years, I never once suspected the two of them were, well, close… And in church, of all places. Reggie, you’re the only one who knows how I finally found out. I’m not bitter-really, I’m not-but I don’t appreciate being treated like a fool.”
“This sure is some fine scotch,” he responded. “Why not have a taste instead of being so hard on how life is?”
“I’m not. I blame myself for being naïve.”
“Blame? When it comes to fever love, there’s blame enough to go around. But none of that makes a lick of sense when you’re old enough to look back. Harney said as much just a few days ago. Where’s the wrongness of falling in love?”
“Marriage vows address that issue,” I responded, but not in a sharp way. “If they don’t, I’m pretty sure the Bible does. But we’re off the subject. What’s this have to do with him marrying who he did?”
“I’m tryin’ to be gentle toward your feelings, honey.”
“There’s no need. If you don’t want to discuss it, that’s fine, too.”
“Strong love and bad timing,” Reggie said again, and let it hang there before getting to the point. “Did you know Miz Lilly went to Hope Hospice a week after your mama had her stroke?”
This was a shocking piece of information. I felt my stomach knot. “I had no idea.”
“That there’s your reason for why they didn’t marry. Four, going on five years ago, it was. He lost both his women ’bout the same time-your mama in a different way, of course. Part of her was missing after that thing in her brain broke. And them operations only made it worse. No offense; she comes and goes, your mama, and she’s still a fine woman. But it was never the same for those two.”
“That’s so sad,” I whispered.
“I’ve yet to hear the preacher who can explain such shitty-awful goings-on,” Reggie agreed. “The governor was a strong man, but the year that followed just about broke him. I know. Seven days a week, I hauled him back and forth ’tween hospital beds-Miz Lilly’s and your mama’s. The two of us was always on guard against a slipup of some kind so you children wouldn’t suffer more hurt by learning the truth.”
“You must have come after hours,” I said. “I never saw you. Not once. And I visited Loretta every day.”
Reggie’s Tee-hee-hee chortle sounded almost normal. “That shows we was good at what we did. Many’s the time we sat parked in some shady spot, waiting for you to leave the hospital so as not to cause you more upset. The governor was kind that way when it came to young’uns and people he cared for.”
I didn’t trust myself to respond.
Reggie’s voice softened. “Lonnie Dupree-that’s her maiden name. She showed up about the same time, which is the thing I’m not at liberty to speak of. But I can tell you something the governor said the day after their wedding. He says, ‘Reggie, I might’ve been better off using my pistol than making the mistake I just made.’”