Sex, Lies & Lipstick (A Moonlight and Magnolias Novel Book 2) Page 21

  “Everything’s gonna be okay, baby,” she sighed as she hugged me tightly. “Your momma and daddy knew this day would come. All they ever wanted was for you to be happy and have a family of your own. They’re together again, and I know they’re lookin’ down on you and smilin’ at you and those two beautiful babies.”

  “You’re right. I know,” I managed.

  “Now get yourself in the shower. You smell like sweat and drunk hippies.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Don’t give me that look. I lived through the seventies and I know what no-good smells like.”

  I shook my head at her and walked to the phone. Calling Agent Moss, I waited for him to answer.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Meet me at Lone Oak in forty-five minutes. How’s Richard handling being on lockdown?”

  “He’s not, sir. I think I’ve been called everything in the book and he’s had his attorney contact us.”

  I scoffed. “Good. He’s gonna need him. Forty-five minutes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  My room was empty and the bed hadn’t been touched. I wondered where Sam had slept last night. I quickly showered and shaved and walked the long hallway to the nursery hoping to find her.

  As I opened the door, the hinges gave a creak and she looked up to me watching her rock Katy while Dax sat at a small table and played.

  I said nothing but went to her and dropped to my knees. I kissed Katy on the head. It was the first time I’d seen her in days. A flood of emotions overcame me, but I choked them down as I swallowed hard to speak.

  “I’m sorry.” It was all I could say.

  “Apology accepted.”

  “You’re too good for me. You know that?”

  She shook her head. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’ve had some Advil and Celia’s got coffee waiting for me downstairs.”

  She nodded and kissed Katy on the head as I walked over to Dax and picked him up from the drawing table, wrapping his arms around my neck myself.

  “How’s my big boy today?”

  “Good.”

  “Mommy says you’ve been drawing. Can you show me?” I asked as I sat him back down in his chair.

  “You mean Coco?” he asked as if he was in trouble.

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Leo has them,” he said, looking down at his hands.

  “Dax,” I began. “You’re not in trouble for talking to him.”

  “Who?” Dax asked. “Coco?”

  “Is that what he told you his name was?”

  “He said I could call him that.”

  I nodded. “Where did you meet him? I mean the very first time. Where did you see him first?”

  “Here.”

  “Here, where? Lone Oak?”

  Dax nodded. “He was in the garden.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Flowers.”

  “He was hiding in the flowers?”

  Dax shook his head. “He was planting the flowers.”

  I looked to Samantha wide-eyed and stunned.

  “Where did you see him after that?”

  “Dr. King’s house.”

  “Dax drew a picture of El Cucuy by the lake,” said Samantha.

  “You did?”

  “Yeah,” he mumbled.

  “Where did you see him again?” I asked.

  “With Adelay. He was in the garden.”

  “At Mr. Leo’s house?”

  “Yeah, the big house with all the flowers.”

  “What was he doing there, Dax? Do you remember?”

  “Planting flowers.”

  “Did he work for Mr. Leo? Did Adelay know him by name?”

  Dax shook his head. “She didn’t talk to him. Only me. He says only I can see him.”

  I looked to Samantha. I could see the fear in her eyes as she tried to remain calm.

  “We’re not talking to strangers ever again. Are we, Dax?”

  “He’s not a stranger. He’s my friend.”

  “He’s not a friend, Dax,” I explained as I sat him down and looked him in the eye. “Sometimes bad people want us to think they are our friends, but what they really want is to get close enough so you’ll trust them. They want you to be comfortable.”

  “I’m not allowed to talk to him anymore,” Dax said as he looked into the crayon box for another color.

  “It’s best if you stay inside and play for a few days. Besides I think it’s going to rain today and probably tomorrow too,” I explained.

  Dax said nothing but looked up to me with the big blue eyes that matched his mother’s and blinked. “You’ve not done anything wrong, Dax. In fact, you’re being a huge help to me and the other agents.”

  “Promise me you won’t hurt him, Daddy.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “I said, promise me you won’t hurt him. He’s my friend.”

  “Dax,” I said.

  “Mac–” Sam interrupted. “May I speak with you in the other room?”

  I nodded as she put Katy in her crib.

  “Stay here, Dax, I’ll be right back,” Sam promised.

  We walked the hallway without saying a word to each other and I closed the door to my bedroom behind us.

  “I can’t promise Dax that I won’t hurt Hector. I want to hurt Hector,” I said as I paced the old creaky floor of the room.

  “He doesn’t see the bad in anyone, Mac. He’s an innocent child.”

  I grunted as I pulled on a suit jacket and adjusted its collar. “I need you to stay in the house today, understand?”

  “I’m going to see Mimi a little later.”

  “What? No.” I ordered.

  “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Mac. I’m going to Autumn Valley to see Mimi today and that’s final. You can send a agent with me, but I’m going.”

  “And who’s going to stay here with the kids?”

  “You are.”

  “What?” I asked. “I’ve got Agent Moss on his way here so we can go over everything. Hector’s somewhere close. I can feel it”

  “You just think he’s close. You don’t know. He could’ve moved on by now. Especially if he realized that Nancy…”

  “What? You think when he realized he killed my mother last night that he’d go into hiding somewhere? Wake up, Sam!” I shouted. “He wants you dead. Do you understand? Dead.”

  “I’ve never seen you like this, Mac.”

  “What? On the verge of losing everyone I love?”

  “You’ve got to calm down,” Samantha insisted. “You’re of no use to us if you’re out of your mind.”

  “I’m sorry, Samantha. I have a wife and two kids I’m trying to keep safe, a dead mother I have to bury tomorrow and a crazed psychopath hot on the trail of the people I love. Oh, and let’s not forget the psycho’s been playing with our son! Not to mention your crazy-ass cousin who’s up to God knows what.”

  “Are you finished?” she asked calmly.

  “I don’t know,” I said sarcastically. “Did I miss anything?”

  “I really don’t like you right now.”

  “You don’t have to like me. What you have to do is listen and follow orders. You are not leaving this house today.”

  “Watch me,” she said as she walked out of the room and slammed the door.

  29

  SAMANTHA

  “Polly,” I shouted up the stairs. “Polly?”

  I saw her make her way to the top of the banister sporting a guilty look.

  “Yeah, Sam. I’m right here,” she shouted over the side of the staircase. “Sam?” she asked again, still not seeing me at the bottom.

  “Oh for goodness sake,” I sighed. “Wait there. I’m coming up.”

  With each step I took toward Polly, I became weaker and more emotional. The past week was supposed to be the happiest of my life, and instead it’d been the most stressful days I’d had since Daniel died.

  “Are you okay?” Polly asked as Leo joined her in the hall
way.

  I’d almost forgotten that Leo was even in the house. Between the agents scrambling around while I consoled Mac, I was clueless as to who was really even staying my home.

  “Hey, Leo.” I tried to smile at both of them, but the feeling was escaping me.

  “How’s Mac doing?” Leo asked as he rubbed his dark two-day beard. I could tell he was sincerely worried. Leo felt bad about Hector breaking the security at Jackson House.

  “Not too good. I need you both to watch the children today. I’m going into town to see Mimi at Autumn Valley and tie up some loose ends in Nancy’s room.”

  Neither of them said a word, but both nodded and I knew from the look on Polly’s face she was with me.

  “I’m going to shower and shave and I need to meet with Mac and Agent Moss, but I’ll keep an extra eye on Dax today. He’ll need to stay inside,” said Leo.

  “He’ll understand,” I agreed.

  Leo gave me a nod and walked away, but not without giving Polly a glance.

  She watched him all the way down the hall and I stood dumbfounded as he shut the door to a guest room behind him.

  “What?” Polly said as she met my questioning face.

  “What’s going on with you and Leo?”

  “Nothing,” she sang as she began to walk away. I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily and followed.

  “Nothing isn’t going to cut it with me, Polly.”

  I followed her into Dax’s room where he still sat at his table drawing.

  “What do you want me to say?” she asked with a silly grin on her face.

  “I guess I want to know if you’re…” I paused and moved closer. “Sleeping with Leo.”

  “No,” she chided. “Why would you say that?”

  “Maybe the looks you’re giving each other? Anyway, I can’t handle anyone’s life but my own today,” I sighed. “Never mind.”

  “Is Mac that bad off?”

  I looked to the floor and held in my tears. “He’s a mess. He’s trying his best to cope by going full force after Hector.”

  “Any leads?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just trying to keep my head above water at this point.”

  She nodded and pulled me in for a hug.

  “When are you leaving to see Mimi?”

  “Now,” I replied as I took a deep breath and walked to Dax for a kiss.

  “Dax, be a good boy and listen to everything Daddy and Mr. Leo tell you today. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he relented. “Daddy says I can’t go outside today.”

  “There’s lots of fun things we can do inside, Dax,” Polly added. “I know Miss Celia was planning on making cookies today and I’d just bet she’d love to have an extra set of hands in the kitchen.”

  “Cookies?” he asked as his face lit up. “What kind?”

  “I don’t know, but if you’ll come with me we can ask her,” said Polly as she held her hand out to him.

  I hugged them both and walked into the bedroom for my purse. I gave myself a glance in the bathroom mirror and thought about the words that had once been there.

  Remember me? What did Hector want me to remember? That he still wanted me dead. Did he want to tell me he was never going away? I shook my head and opened the vanity drawer to find some lipstick. I didn’t want to look too haggard if I was going to see Mimi. She worried about me so much. The stress of the last couple of weeks had taken its toll and I couldn’t imagine what it had done to my ninety-nine year old grandmother.

  Pulling the drawer halfway open I looked into my makeup and thought again about Hector. Remember me? How could I forget him? He’d been everywhere and yet nowhere at all. Maybe he really was the boogeyman he’d proclaimed himself to be to Dax.

  My makeup had been arranged ever-so-carefully by the organizing team when the movers brought my things to Lone Oak. The lipsticks, organized by shade from darkest to lightest were each in their own little compartment in the clear acrylic holder. I ran my hands over them, deciding on a nude to match the tan sundress I’d already donned for the day. I pulled the drawer out fully to look for spare mascara.

  The second group of lipsticks came into view. The dark pinks to the reds. And there it was – an empty spot that should’ve held my favorite Chanel red lipstick.

  A pit landed in my stomach and I wondered if Hector had taken it from its spot in the drawer. I grabbed my purse from the bed and emptied it looking for Chanel Red 98. Sifting through the remnants of last week I found a pacifier, a blue crayon, gum, my wallet and finally my red lipstick. I sat on the bed and sighed.

  I decided to forgo the mascara. I’d probably only cry it off when I saw Mimi. I whisked myself through the house and out the back door without telling Mac goodbye. I’d already told him where I was going.

  I grabbed the keys to Pussy Galore, his father’s 1963 Aston Martin DB5 convertible. Mac and his father loved this car. It always seemed to give him a little pick me up when he drove it, so I decided it might do the same for me.

  As I roared out of the driveway with the top down I realized I’d not told an agent to come with me. Before I could even dig my phone out of my purse it was ringing.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  I could tell by the tone of Mac’s voice that he was on the verge of completely losing it. “I’m on my way to see Mimi. I hope you don’t mind that I took the convertible.”

  “I don’t care about the car. What I do care about is my wife. Why did you leave without an agent?”

  “I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t thinking.”

  I was being honest. My mind was all abuzz to get to Mimi and then to Nancy’s room to collect her things. I didn’t think to ask one of the agents to come with me.

  “I’ve got Agent Davis on your tail now. He’ll follow you to the nursing home and stick with you. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I agreed as I looked into my rearview mirror and saw the black sedan.

  “Sam, I’m trusting you to go to Autumn Valley to see Mimi and come straight back. I don’t have time to worry about you today.”

  “I promise,” I agreed, not divulging the fact that I’d be cleaning out and boxing up Nancy’s suite.

  “I love you, Mac.”

  I could hear his heavy sigh on the other end. “I love you too.” The crack in his voice reminded me how fresh the wounds of his mother’s death were even though he acted as if catching Hector was really on his mind. It was more of a distraction than anything. The funeral tomorrow would be brutal.

  “I’ll come straight back. Don’t worry about me. I’ll stay with my agent.”

  “Mimi?” I called to her as I pushed open the big door that lead to her suite.

  “Come in,” she chimed.

  Mimi was sitting by the window dressed in a yellow sweater set and khakis. She looked good considering I’d woken her up in the middle of the night.

  “How are you today?” I asked.

  “How am I? How are you?” she asked with the best smile she could muster.

  I nodded, fearful if I opened my mouth the tears would begin to flow.

  “I’m not buying what you’re selling, sweetheart. Come here and let me give you a hug.”

  I walked to her and knelt on the floor, burying my head in her lap. “I just want it to stop. I want it to stop and all end.”

  “What, sweetheart?”

  “Everything. All I wanted was a beautiful wedding, two happy and healthy children and a husband who loves me. What I have is Hector, who’s trying to kill me and a cousin I think might be trying to help him. Not to mention my mother-in-law just died and I’m pretty sure my husband’s ex-assistant is in love with him.”

  She stroked my hair and smiled. “I’m only going to say this once, Samantha. Get down off the cross.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  She brushed the flyaway hair that surrounded my face after the windy ride to Autumn Valley. “Get down off the cross, Sam. Someone else needs the wood
.”

  I gave her a tearful smirk. “Can’t I just wallow for a few minutes?”

  “Do you think you have time to wallow?”

  “No.”

  “Well, then,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “Then it’s time to get on with it. Isn’t it?”

  “You’re a tough old broad, aren’t you?” I deadpanned.

  “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again—you can’t live as long as I have and not have seen a few things.”

  I nodded.

  “C’mon, Samantha. Listen to what you’re saying. You did have a beautiful wedding and you have two happy, healthy children. I know Mac loves you and for goodness sake, he’s hotter that hell – women are always going to make eyes at your husband. Wear it as a badge of honor. You know he’s yours. So does he. And as far as Hector and The Dick, well, there’s just evil in the world.”

  “And what am I supposed to do about that?” I asked. “Mac is falling apart after Nancy’s death and I don’t know what to do for him.”

  “Sure you do,” she said, taking my hands. “Be yourself. Love him.”

  “What if it’s not enough? I’m continually bending beyond what I think I can take. But in my own defense, I don’t break.”

  “Of course not. You’re a wife and mother. You’re a Southern woman. Anyone knows that’s a combination you don’t fuck with.”

  “Mimi,” I gasped. “I knew where you were going. You didn’t have to drop the F bomb.”

  “It takes balls to be a woman.”

  “Yes, I know. You’ve said this to me before.”

  “If you know, then it’s time to let ‘em swing.”

  “Mimi,” I scolded.

  “Hell yes. Let them swing so big that everyone can see them.”

  “I don’t even know where to begin or what to do. I’m overwhelmed.”

  She shook her head and used her walker to stand.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “It’s where we’re going.”

  “Mimi, you need to rest. I’ve had you on a wild ride since the wedding day.”

  “Ha!” she laughed. “It’s been a wild ride for a while now, sweetheart. Come with me.”

  She motioned for me to join her as she opened the door to her suite. As the light shone from the fluorescent blubs casting a pale green light into her room, I was reminded that she was living in a nursing home, no matter how much they disguised it with upscale furnishings. People came here to live out their last days—including Mimi and Nancy.